On May 11, a small group of parents and their children gathered at Studio Creation Luskville for a discussion aimed towards reducing stress and anxiety in the midst of the 2019 floods.

Hosted by local therapist Natalie Fraser, the event consisted of parents and their kids sitting in a circle to talk about how they’ve been affected by the flooding.

Some said they lost their homes for good, while others have been temporarily evacuated. But they all shared a similar sense of struggle and distress through their personal hardships.

With a fair amount of tears shed throughout the discussion, emotions were on full display, as Fraser guided the families with humour and insight on various ways to deal with the pain caused by their suffering.

For Fraser, the benefit behind organizing the session for parents and their children was for them to truly understand how their kids are dealing with their stress in a pure unfiltered way and also to let the kids know just how difficult the situation has been for them.

“The majority of the stress is coming from [the parents] and that’s okay,” said Fraser. “There is a lot of power in the parents telling the kids that they’re stressed and also telling the kids that they need to take care of it.”

According to the studio’s main operator Sylviana Geoffrey, the session took place because in the wake of the record floods that have taken place in the last month, she believed that the studio offered assistance to those in need of some emotional support.

“These are the times where the things we can offer to the community are the most useful,” said Geoffrey. “So, we decided to organize the group. There was a need. Some parents expressed it. The time is now. These people need support and this is a way that the community can offer support with the resources we have.”

For Geoffrey, it was important for the kids to have a place where they feel safe sharing their experiences without feeling like they’re judged or looked down upon for being weak.

“This is a space where they can express what they’re going through as human beings,” she said.

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