BACKGROUND

Kim Southerland, M.A., is an educational therapist and consultant in Los Angeles, California. She has worked in private practice, hospital settings, schools, and learning centers.  Her early professional training included providing evidence-based learning interventions and academic assessments to children and adolescents diagnosed with dyslexia, reading and language comprehension challenges, as well as ADHD, processing issues, and executive functioning deficits.  Kim received her master's degree in educational psychology and continued her post-graduate training in psychoeducational assessments at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

She began her career armed with the desire to foster a love of learning in children diagnosed with learning challenges, and found great joy in watching newfound confidence and the spark of inspiration light up in children who believed as early as kindergarten that they were "dumb" or "bad at school." It became her mission to help them see the incredible gifts they possessed and how their school challenges often revealed a hidden talent or simply, their unique way of learning.

FOCUS                                                                      

Over time, Kim's practice became increasingly filled with children and adolescents who excelled in the prerequisites necessary for higher education, but who felt empty and disconnected within — too often leading them to search for outer substitutes to nurture themselves. She observed the long-term effects that labels of disorder and disability have upon a child’s sense of self worth, as well as the mental and physical health challenges created by high-pressured environments that emphasize outer achievement over a child’s inner well-being. She encountered increasing numbers of children who struggled with a sense of belonging, and parents who felt overwhelmed with enormous stress due to the financial and emotional resources required to fit unique children into standardized systems.

Kim observed firsthand the crucial connection between learning and emotions as much of her work now required helping children challenge limiting thoughts or negative feelings to rebuild a sense of confidence and security to cultivate new skills. Ultimately, Kim began to recognize that what truly makes a difference in a child’s life is to be supported and valued for who they are rather than who we think they should be.

An empathic and intuitive child herself, Kim recognized that many students with learning differences also possessed heightened sensitivities that were misunderstood. These sensitivities provided an altogether different experience of the world for many children that resulted in different forms of learning, behavior, and emotions that left many children feeling misunderstood and parents and educators feeling confused. She discovered that under what is perceived as deficit or learning disabilities in our educational system are different capabilities that result from a heightened awareness beyond the five physical senses. She set out to understand how to better serve children and their families with these new insights.

INTEGRATIVE EDUCATION                                         

Since 2012, Kim built upon her extensive knowledge and training in areas such as learning theory, executive functioning, psychology, trauma, twice-exceptionality, and other similar disciplines. She trained in pioneering learning practices such as the ICU Academy, Sound Anatomy, Light Language, and energy theory. In addition to being a certified practitioner in multiple evidence-based learning modalities, Kim is also certified in the Oaklander Model of Gestalt Play Therapy for Children. She is dedicated to providing these unique teachings to her clients in order to meet their multi-faceted capabilities and multidimensional nature.

Today, her practice is based on an integrative approach that addresses the emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of a new generation of energetically aware and heart-based children.  In addition to a practice grounded in practical tools and techniques, Kim also utilizes energy integration, light language channeling, and multidimensional communication to access various realms of information and provide parents with a depth of understanding and trust in their unique child and their child’s unique life path. Kim is passionate about providing parents, teachers, and others with a greater awareness and resources that will meet the needs of supporting every child to express their true nature and develop the trust to live their unique life.