Our Practice
About Larô Therapy
Every person should own their identity, and decide their relationship with their culture and background.
We are an identity-affirming Ontario-based Psychotherapy practice that aims to facilitate self-discovery, community care, collective healing and liberation for every person of colour through play. We use relational and integrative approaches to therapy to support our clients in their healing journey and focus on creating a space where they feel understood, safe, and seen.
Why Larô?
“Larô” means “Play” in Filipino which is one of our core values. We believe that Play is a crucial part of our lives. Supporting physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth, it fosters development for humans of all ages. It provides a means to learn as you explore the world around and within you. For both children and adults, play can be used for self-expression, integration, processing, learning, and coping. We believe, that being able to play isn’t only a goal we all move towards. It is also the means to which will bring us towards healing and wellness.
“Playing is a way of being.” — Elda
A Sneak Peek Into Our Background
Larô Therapy opened its doors in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, given the high need for mental health support in extremely challenging times. Our founder, Elda, is a first-generation Filipino immigrant who understands the challenges faced by her community. She aims to promote mental health wellness by providing culturally affirming and responsive care.
Filipino Canadian psychotherapist supporting children's mental health with 'Laro (Play) Therapy'. Paula Saraza reports on OMNI News.
OMNI Television is a free, over-the-air multilingual/multicultural television system committed to reflecting Canada’s diversity by broadcasting an array of ethnocultural programming, serving multiple language communities.
Core Values
Play
Play is a crucial piece in one’s development and wellness. We believe it isn’t only a goal to move towards but a means of reclaiming one’s power and overall well-being.
Integrity
We commit to act ethically, competently, and transparently in our practice. We engage in ongoing learning to provide the best care possible to the communities that we serve.
Malasakit/Genuine Concern
With a genuine concern for our community, our goal is to take part in facilitating collective healing and inspiring conversations on mental health within the Filipino and Autistic community.
Identity-affirming
We embrace differences and respect people’s autonomy. We actively challenge and work towards healing our internalized prejudice, -normativity, -isms, and -phobias.
Collective Liberation
We work on decolonizing and destigmatizing mental health care by centering the voices of marginalized communities. We promote collective care and continually improve accessibility.