Phei Phei Oon

Phei Phei Oon (Photo Credit: Sean Onodera Shotaro)

Phei Phei Oon is a Registered Psychotherapist based in Canada. Trained as a Clinical Psychologist and Drama Therapist, Phei Phei has over 15 years of clinical experience working in vastly diverse settings, including hospitals, academia, non-profit community centres, the corporate world, and most recently, a reception centre for Ukrainian refugees. She specialises in Selective Mutism, grief and trauma. 

Phei Phei is invigorated by play, dance and drama in her own personal life and often seeks to integrate elements of these three disciplines in her clinical practice. Phei Phei draws from her studies and experience in group work, games facilitation, conscious dance, bodywork, creative arts therapies and dramatic play in facilitating individual and group therapy sessions.

Phei Phei is invigorated by play, dance and drama in her own personal life and seeks to integrate elements of these three disciplines into her clinical practice, drawing from her studies in and experience with group work, game facilitation, conscious dance, bodywork, creative art therapies and dramatic play.

Having experienced significant traumatic events in her young adult life, Phei Phei has first-hand experience with the possibility of recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder through body-based healing modalities, such as Somatic Experiencing Psychotherapy (SEP).

As a practitioner, Phei Phei uses movement practice as well as dance to resource herself and her clients. In the Spring of 2022, she worked with Ukrainian refugees in Budapest, Hungary, integrating her skills in dance, group therapy, playback theatre and SEP to facilitate healing sessions that were resource-building for the attendees.

Phei Phei grew up in Malaysia and moved to Canada twenty years ago. Having worked in Southeast Asia, and later with the diverse immigrant communities in Canada, Phei Phei appreciates the cultural sensitivities required in working with clients of various backgrounds.

Phei Phei has her own private practice which provides psychotherapy to adults and children. Her work with children diagnosed with Selective Mutism reaches clients across Canada and other parts of the world including Singapore, China, and Australia. She provides her services in English, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, and Malay. 

PRACTICE STATEMENT

My practice lies in integrating the disciplines of play, creative movement, and drama in order to resource myself as a practitioner (psychotherapist) as well as help individuals with various forms of anxiety to regulate their emotions and access a sense of safety in their own bodies. 

Specifically for my work involving children with Selective Mutism (a complex childhood anxiety disorder in which a child feels unable to speak in select social settings) I engage my clients with semi-structured games and spontaneous play, through which they can practice speaking to new conversation partners with more ease.

The ideas for my therapeutic tools often come to me when I am walking or viewing something that moves, such as water. Sometimes, the ideas come when I am dancing. I will often bring these ideas to my young clients and then identify which ones most elicit playfulness and comfort in social settings. These creative play prompts bring about a desire in my young clients to interact with new people and if the interaction requires verbal response, they are more likely to speak.

To resource myself as a practitioner, I engage in conscious dance practices (e.g., 5-rhythm dance practices and movement medicine). I also resource my body using methods drawn from Somatic Experiencing Psychotherapy (SEP). Resourcing myself as a practitioner means bringing my own body to a state of calm, clarity and presence.

I am currently researching ways to use dance, movement and dramatic play to help my young Selective Mutism clients feel safe in social settings and more at ease in speaking to new conversation partners.

ALL 5 (m-p), Student (m-p), Student PhD 2022Guest UserDramatherapy, play, psychotherapy, dance, Selective Mutism, Somatic Experiencing Psychotherapy, embodiment, somatic, life force, resilience, resourcing, trauma-informed therapy, inquiry, beauty, mindfulness, social anxiety, children's anxiety