I'm Rachael Pasemko
I am a play therapist, supervisor, and teacher that has been supporting children, families, and the therapists that sit alongside them for over 20 years.
My work bridges neuroscience, somatic approaches, and relational play therapy into a framework that is firmly grounded in research while always following the child's lead.
NICE TO MEET YOU
CPT-S
Certified Play Therapist Supervisor
RPT-S
Registered Play Therapist Supervisor
RSW
Registered Social Worker
RCC
Registered Clinical Counsellor
What Guides My Work
Relational Embodied Play Therapy is rooted in the right hemisphere, Expressive Play Therapy, neuroscience, and relational healing. Over the years, I've come to know that presence, regulation, and relationship are what make therapeutic change possible. True healing happens beyond words, in sword fights, crayon art, or a family of bunny figurines in the sand.
this work chose me as much as I chose it
What Guides My Work
Relational Embodied Play Therapy is rooted in the right hemisphere, Expressive Play Therapy, neuroscience, and relational healing. Over the years, I've come to know that presence, regulation, and relationship are what make therapeutic change possible. True healing happens beyond words.
this work chose me as much as I chose it
through the years
timeline
2005 · Social Work Beginnings
I graduated with my Bachelor's in Social Work and began a career in child protection. I quickly realized my favourite part of the work was connecting with children. I could see their challenges and wanted to show up in a way that felt supportive.
2010 · Discovering Play Therapy
I completed the first of many trainings in Expressive Play Therapy and stepped into the playroom with children. I felt it in my body before I understood it in my head: this is it for me. I was captivated.
2012 · The Lighthouse Era
After finishing my Master's degree and immersing myself in studying play therapy, I opened my private practice, Lighthouse Therapy. I ran it solo for eight years, then grew it into a group practice, which later sold in 2024.
2016 · Landing in the Body
A supervisor told me that shifting the body’s anxiety was very difficult work. I wasn't satisfied with that answer, so I sought somatic training and began studying Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy, a journey I am still part of today as a facilitator. I also studied Synergetic Play Therapy from 2017 to 2019, to supervisor level.
2020 · Teaching and Supervising
I facilitate a warm, wise community of play therapists that gather for group supervision, supporting one another through work that can ask so much of us.
2025 · Building the Community
I offer training on the integration of Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy with Expressive Play Therapy. I have the pleasure of sitting with therapists in one to one supervision to explore their own practice and growth. I facilitate a warm, wise community of play therapists who gather for group supervision, supporting one another through work that can ask so much of us.
I am deeply committed to supporting play therapists through individual consultation and group supervision. My work draws on neuroscience, right-brain relational practice, and years of lived experience in the playroom.
I bring my own clinical reflections and learning into supervision to create a collaborative, non-judgmental space that supports therapists in deepening their practice while staying human and fully alive.
SUPPORTING THERAPISTS AND
enriching the field of play therapy
Her wisdom and experience couples wonderfully.
Rachael facilitates many valuable learning opportunities during clinical supervision. She is thoughtful, caring, and uniquely attuned in our interactions. When I was wrestling with a challenging issue, her guidance was immeasurably helpful; I felt supported and seen. Her wisdom and experience couples wonderfully. I look forward to my sessions with her!
testimonial
journal
Read about Relational Embodied Play Therapy
Reflecting on Reflections
Therapeutic Hide and Seek
Somatic Resonance in Play Therapy
Play therapy essays published on Substcak on navigating the beautiful uncertainty of child-led work. Exploring therapeutic process, relational healing, neuroscience, the art of play, and therapist wellness.
Rooted in place, committed to reconciliation.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am a descendant of white settlers, living and working on the unceded traditional territory of the Secwépemc Nation, specifically the lands of Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc. I am grateful for the land that feeds and holds me, and for the people who have stewarded it since time immemorial. I hold decolonization as an ongoing commitment, not a single act, and I recognize that we have not yet done the work reconciliation requires.
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