Marggie Marks
MSW, RSW
SHE/HER
REGISTERED SOCIAL WORKER
QUALITIES
Marggie Marks is a therapist
who offers child and teen
counselling in Calgary.
From the North Pole to the South Pole
she has counselled, lived, and flown.
Marggie uses her hopefulness and warmth
child and teen counselling Superpowers
to help kiddos from two to seventeen
explore, grow, and find their own.
Marggie’s Superhero Story
Attention Parents
Before your first session, you can share
this story with your child. You can also
scroll below to read about Marggie’s
child and teen counselling expertise
in her professional bio.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Marggie, who liked to try new ice cream flavours. Chocolate chip, vanilla, lemon curd blueberry, mandarin orange, and even queso-flavoured ice cream.
Marggie was getting to be a Big Girl, about four. She lived in the North Pole, and from her living room window, she could see polar bears gliding on the floating ice. She loved to play in the snow and eat ice cream. Although she wished she could eat ice cream every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, of course, she wasn’t allowed.
“Ice cream is for weekends and super special days, Marggie,’ her Mom said. So Marggie waited and waited. Patiently, she waited, only asking one hundred times or so, if today was a super special day. Until finally, it was Saturday.
She went to the ice cream store and got her ice cream cone, with not one but two ice cream scoops. Marggie smiled, thinking how lovely her ice cream would taste, when she ate it on her way home.
But then, by accident, Marggie dropped her ice cream cone. It fell to the ground and made a “plonkity-plonk” sound. Down it rolled, all the way to a mud puddle. Marggie felt really sad feelings. It felt to her like her sad heart sank to the muddy ground, too. Her ice cream was gone! She started to cry and could not stop.
Marggie cried a lot!
She started to walk home, but she was too sad even to walk. So she sat on a bench and cried, feeling hopeless, sad, and alone. All alone, without a single ice cream cone. Her heart felt cold and hopeless and oh so sad.
Discovering the power of hope and hugs
But then she heard a soft sound! It was a small polar bear, walking gently on the snow, who came to say hi. He was a baby bear, called a cub. Its fuzzy fur was white as snow.
She had never seen such a small, beautiful polar bear cub. (Have you ever seen a polar bear cub? In real life, you must never go near a bear. But this is just a story, so in a story, don’t worry, it’s okay.)
Here is Nanook, the polar bear cub.
He’d like to give you a warm polar bear hug.
Marggie was so surprised that she stopped feeling sad. She felt better just seeing such a beautiful little bear. That’s what the beauty of Nature does – it helps heal our hearts.
“Hi Marggie,” the polar bear said. “My name is Nanook. I am here to give you a hug. I can’t find my Mom and I need a hug too. Can I give you a hug? Is that okay?”
“Yes, Nanook,” she said. “My name is Marggie, and I would love a hug.”
- Nanook, the bear cub, gave Marggie a hug.
- Marggie got a hug from Nanook, and she gave him one, too.
- So at the same time, Nanook got a hug from Marggie and Marggie got a hug from Nanook
- That’s how hugs work!
Nanook and Marggie felt so much better after that warm hug. Hope filled their hearts.
Just then, Nanook saw his Mom! He waved goodbye to Marggie and ran back to his polar bear Mom.
(By the way, in case you were wondering,
Marggie’s Mom and Nanook’s Mom
were nearby, watching them, this whole time.
Can you spot Nanook’s Mom, watching him?)
.
How Marggie found her Superpowers
So, after that warm hug, Marggie walked home with a happy, hopeful heart. Her Mom was proud of her for being brave even after losing her ice cream cone. Marggie had made a friend on this special day, plus she had learned how friendliness, hugs, and hope work. Feeling hope and giving hope to others – what an amazing Superpower to have, share, and grow!
That was the beginning of Marggie’s adventure discovering her many Superpowers. As she grew up, she learned many things at school and lived in different parts of the world, from the North Pole to the South Pole (where she met a friendly penguin, but that’s a different story, for another day). Then she moved to Calgary, where she lives now
What happened when Marggie grew up?
When she grew up, Marggie became a Registered Social Worker. As a Social Worker, (which is another name for “Feelings Helper”) she helps kids and grown-ups find hope, figure out their feelings, and grow happier every day. She also learned how to make ice cream, which she enjoys on weekends (and for breakfast – but only on her birthday).
At Kids Reconnect, Marggie helps kids when they have challenges interacting with other kids, or problems at school, or if they are feeling anxious, or when big things or changes or worries happen in their life that they need help figuring out. In fun, playful ways, she helps kids and teens figure out how they are each super special, what their Superpowers are, and how to make every day feel special — even without any ice cream.
Marggie can’t wait to meet you when you visit her at Kids Reconnect! Until then, can you find out how many ice cream flavours there are? What is your favourite one?
Marggie’s Professional Bio
Marggie is a Registered Social Worker with the Alberta College of Social Workers. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) from the University of Calgary and a master’s degree in social work (MSW) with a Trauma-Informed Practice Specialization from the University of Calgary. Marggie also has a Bachelor of International Relations with a minor in Finance from the Universidad Externado de Colombia.
Throughout her career as a therapist, Marggie has supported clients of all ages, including children, adolescents, and parents facing crises and various physical and emotional well-being challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and trauma. She is adept at case management and has ample project management experience, including project coordination for the Telehealth network across the Nunavut Territory.
Marggie is professionally fluent in English and Spanish. She offers counselling in both languages.
Child and teen counselling that fuel hope and healing
Marggie’s unwavering optimism and ability to have and transmit hope are grounded in experience. The opportunity to respond to clients with empathy and culturally safe ways, provide advocacy, and connect clients to various community-based resources has shown Marggie how receiving adequate, essential support when facing crisis, loss, bereavement, and disabilities can change lives. Counselling support can transform what the future looks and feels like for children, teens, parents, and entire families.
Her experience counselling teens includes facilitating Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills groups for adolescents and offering brief counselling to adolescents admitted to a psychiatric unit and their parents. She also has ample experience planning and delivering programming to children and adults to promote physical literacy through a strengths-based approach and conveying gentle feedback and guidance to junior coaches and coaches in training.
Child and teen counselling that focus on kids’ strengths
Instead of focusing on labels and diagnoses when counselling children and adolescents, Marggie focuses on their strengths. She is adept at using the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model of care to connect and collaborate with her young clients. She helps each child or teen to identify the problem affecting their life and to develop the skills they need to solve it.
Equipped with the skills they need to do well, such as “how to control our behaviour,” “how to regulate our emotions,” “how to communicate our needs,” “how to think flexibly,” and “how to get along with others,” they can sustain self-directed appropriate behaviour. In other words, they can and will do wonderfully well.
“Kids do well if they can.
If they aren’t doing well, it means there’s a barrier between effort and success that must be addressed.”—Dr. Ross Greene
Marggie’s counselling experience also includes coaching and mentoring parents using behavioural strategies, such as Triple P Positive Parenting, and developing a therapy plan customized to the unique needs of each family.
Child and teen counselling can change the world
Since childhood, Marggie wanted to change the world in wonderful ways. Over time, she realized that significant change at a large, international scale begins at home, in the smallest system: the family. To start, she focused her warm heart on loving her family. Then she developed her professional capacity to help people give the love they have and share it within their own families, relationships, and communities.
Infusing her interventions with empathy, playfulness, and curiosity, Marggie draws from multiple trauma-informed, attachment-based therapy techniques and approaches to help children and adolescents. She looks forward to creating a safe space for your child or teen to open up, connect, heal, grow, and thrive.
Child and teen counselling can change your child or teenager’s world in wonderful ways. And when it does, how you experience the world—both as a parent and as an individual—will change too.
Supporting parents who are experiencing grief and loss
Marggie has a special place in her heart for parents who are grieving and can support you through the immensely difficult process of grief and loss. She has experience planning and facilitating support groups for bereaved individuals and couples experiencing pregnancy and infant loss.
¿Hablas español? / Do you speak Spanish?
A veces nos sentimos más cómodos si podemos jugar y conversar acerca de nuestros sentimientos en nuestro primer idioma. ¿Prefieres hablar español? Además de ofrecer terapia en inglés, Marggie ofrece terapia en español para niños, adolescentes, familias, parejas, y padres que prefieren hablar en espańol.
Sometimes we feel more at ease when we can play and talk about our feelings in our first language. Is Spanish your first language? Besides offering counselling services in English, Marggie also offers therapy in Spanish for children, adolescents, families, couples, and parents who prefer to speak Spanish.
