Sandra Wieland, PhD.
Registered Psychologist

Individual therapy for children, adolescents, &adults
Consultation for therapists

Clinical Practice

• What is EMDR?
• What is play therapy?
• Parents's role in their child's therapy
• Stopping the Cycle

Types of training and consultation provided:

• Therapy - The Brain's Second Chance (.pdf file)
• The Internalization Model
• Dissociation: Creative Coping
• An Important Form of Therapy for Children - EMDR (.pdf file)

The Centre for Counselling and Therapy

Professional Credentials

Publications

Home

The Internalization Model

In the early 1990's, I developed the "Internalization Model" for working with individuals who had been sexually abused. This model (Hearing the Internal Trauma: Working With Children and Adolescents Who Have Been Sexually Abused, Sage Publications, 1997) highlights the messages a child, adolescent, or adult takes in about the self and the world from an abuse experience and the dysfunctional behaviours resulting from the internalizations. When a therapist, by observing the individual's conversation and behaviour, can recognize and address the internalization most relevant for the client at a particular point, therapy becomes more supportive and more effective. This model has been presented at conferences and workshops across North America and in Europe.

Techniques and Issues in Abuse-focused Therapy with Children & Adolescents: Addressing the Internal Trauma, (Sage Publications, 1998) extends the discussion on the use of the Internalization Model and applies its use to a variety of difficult therapy issues..

Since that time, I have extended the model to include the internalizations (beliefs about self and the world) that occur when a child or an adult experiences physical abuse, emotional abuse including neglect, and witnesses violence perpetrated on another person (in particular a parental figure). Recognition of these internalizations can serve as a guide for therapists and the individuals with whom they working (child or adult) as they address and work through the distress and trauma experienced. These models have been presented at conferences and workshops across Canada.