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Meet our Clinical Social Worker, Anna Smolinski!
December 16, 2024
The transformative impact of play therapy
My name is Anna Smolinski. I am a Social Worker here at Kalasho Education & Youth Services.
At MINDgarden, I specialize in working with children and adolescents, offering therapeutic support that helps them rediscover hope and inner peace. My work is centered around offering a strengths-based approach, integrating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Play Therapy and Trauma-Focused Therapy.
As part of our comprehensive approach, we provide a variety of services, including individual therapy, group sessions, life skills training, art therapy and equestrian therapy. It’s truly a remarkable place where children can come in and relax utilizing different spaces. My favorite one is the library as you immediately feel relaxed seeing the cherry blossom trees and comfy bean chairs. Makes you want to sit and read.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my work at MINDgarden is witnessing the transformative impact of Play Therapy and being able to relate to children on a personal level. As someone who has personally experienced the challenges of adapting to a new country, I can deeply empathize with the struggles that many of these children face. Culture shock and adjusting to a new world can be difficult. At MINDgarden, children get the opportunity to utilize a space that feels more like a sanctuary to come in and relax and utilize play therapy to talk through challenges. I feel truly honored to be a part of that.
"Enter into children's play, and you will find the place where their minds, hearts, and souls meet." — Virginia Axline.
Hi! My name is Melissa Schreiber. I am a Recreational Therapist here at Kalasho Education & Youth Services. I’ve always believed that meaningful work starts with connection. It’s about understanding, supporting, and helping people grow—not just in their skills, but in their sense of purpose. That’s what drew me to MINDgarden, and it’s why I’m so passionate about what we do here. When I first started, I was inspired by our goal of creating spaces where kids can feel safe, valued, and empowered to share their ideas. In a world that often feels chaotic and disconnected, MINDgarden feels like a sanctuary where children can truly thrive. Being a recreational therapist has been an incredibly fulfilling and transformative journey. From the moment I stepped into the field in 2021, I knew it was the perfect fit for me. It is a career where I could combine my passion for helping others with my love for activities and mental health. I have the ability to use recreation as a therapeutic tool to enhance the physical, emotional, and social well-being of individuals facing various challenges. Through activities like group games, fitness, arts and crafts, and purposeful conversations, I help clients not only improve their mental health but also foster meaningful connections and build their self-esteem. As I look ahead, I am eager to keep moving forward and growing in this role.
Hi! My name is Sara Merditaj. I am the Executive Assistant here at Kalasho Education & Youth Services. What MINDgarden has to offer is amazing. I truly am humbled to be employed here. The center itself has energy full of zen. If I'm ever feeling stressed or going through the motions of life, there is always a place in this center that’ll calm me. My favorite is the Cherry Blossom Library. When the year of 2024 started my sister, cousins and I started our own book club. The books we choose are self-help, self-care and mental health centered books. A little bit of my background I come from an Albanian family. Being that my siblings and I are the first born generation in the United States, the American lifestyle was a culture shock to my Family. Mental health is looked down upon in our culture. We have dealt with a lot of childhood trauma that was not normal when seeing how modern Americans lived. Our culture was based on a very strict, patriarchal mentality. As I got wiser I came to realize that this has been causing generational mental health trauma. When I was child/adolescent, I always struggled with body image. I was called “fat” or a “fatso”. As you can imagine, this can take a toll on my mental health as a woman. When my sister, cousins and I started this book club there were so many books that really helped us with our inner trauma, understanding the emotions and the people we were surrounded by when growing up. My favorite book we read is called You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. This book really helped dive into my brain and rewire my thinking as an adult. “You’re not a helpless victim of your own thoughts but rather a master of your own mind” - Louise Hay. When I enter MINDgarden everyday this is the quote that runs through my mind. This is a center for how we can all nurture our inner trauma particularly for the youth. The resources this center has to offer for children, especially children of refugees and or immigrants really holds a special place in my heart. I wish when I was younger that there was something like MINDgarden to help children who were struggling with mental health at a young age. I am excited to see what the future holds and to be a part of this community.