Rug Island Play Therapy is headquartered in St. Paul, MN, and most services are provided in Eagan, MN through a contracting clinic. The Eagan clinic is conveniently located off 35E near Yankee Doodle Road. Play therapy with children is provided in person only, while parent consults can be done in person or via telehealth.
Appointments are typically scheduled Monday through Friday, 8am to 2pm, although I sometimes have appointments earlier or later. Please reach out to learn more.
Most major insurance plans are accepted. It is your responsibility to verify your insurance benefits, including in-network status. If you’re not sure, contact the number on the back of your insurance card.
Private pay is also available; contact me for more information.
Please note that billing is provided through my contracting agency. As part of their commitment to transparency, they comply with the No Surprises Act, which ensures that you have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” of expected charges for non-emergency services. This allows you to understand your anticipated costs upfront. To learn more, you can review the No Surprises Act – Legal Notice – MN document and understand your rights and protections.
Rug Island follows all applicable privacy laws, including HIPAA. A full disclosure and explanation will be provided at the initiation of services. You can also view my contracting agency’s privacy notice by clicking here.
Therapy with people under the age of 18 is a little different than it is with adults. Here are some frequently asked questions (and their answers!) about child therapy.
Who must consent to services?
Generally speaking, I prefer that both parents consent to therapy for their child. If this is not possible in your situation, we will discuss that at the onset of services to determine if services can be provided with only one parent’s consent.
Who should be involved in my child’s therapy?
Because children are inherently part of a family system, change and healing will happen faster when all important adults are involved. This can be done with all adults together, or with each adult independently, and will be determined at the start of therapy.
How will I be involved with my child’s therapy?
Typically, play therapy is one-on-one with the child and therapist. Nondirective play therapy tends to be more permissive than daily life. Parents often find it hard to to watch their child play without inhibition, and the child often struggles to be fully immersed in their play when under the watchful eyes (and rules) of their parents. In addition, many children are hesitant to discuss their problems in the presence of a parent because they do not want to hurt or burden their parents. They may feel that they are protecting their parents by not sharing things that are too hard or too big.This is completely normal, especially in school-aged children.
Parents participate through regular parent sessions, typically held every 4-6 weeks. In these parent sessions, we will discuss your child’s progress in therapy, review concerns seen outside of therapy, and answer any questions you might have. We will also discuss parenting strategies that may be supportive for your family’s situation.
How does privacy work?
Generally speaking, parents will be given an overview of their child’s therapy, but will not receive a detailed report of each session. This allows the child to have some privacy, which is increasingly important as children age. In addition, if children know that everything they say and do is reported back to their parents, they may not disclose things in therapy that they are ashamed of, that they are worried they might get in trouble for, or when they aren’t sure how the parents may react.
That said, I do share concerns about self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, being a danger to others, abuse, or life-threatening activities like drug use of risky sexual behavior.
Can you make custody recommendations, do home studies, or provide other court-involved services?
No. Therapy provided by Rug Island Play Therapy and Crystal Barrera, MSW, LICSW, is considered to be a Safe Harbor. This means that therapy is confidential and separate from any court proceedings.