There are a lot of reasons parents seek counseling services for their children. Some reasons to consider therapy for your children include
- Fears, Anxieties, and Phobias – Fear is a natural feeling that can limit children when those fears become overwhelming. Phobias and anxieties are also common among children. The good news is that these are highly treatable issues.
- Adjusting to life changes – Life is all about change. However, children sometimes struggle to keep up with how fast today’s society is moving. Children develop at different paces and peer pressure may push them to grow up faster than they are capable. Developing a treatment approach for children struggling with adjustment problems focuses on goals that resolve the current problem, as well as improving the child’s adjustment skills. This help’s them prepare for new challenges and upcoming life changes.
- Grief – Children and parents experiencing a period of grief can have many difficulties. Some questions arising from this kind of situation include: How do I support my child’s sadness and grief? How do I help them progress through it? How do I take care of myself so I can care for them? Everyone experiences feelings of grief and loss. However, children often need special attention, to help them deal with issues raised by the confusion, guilt, and the stress of change. Ceremonies and rituals can be helpful in healing. Children also do well with something tangible to help them grieve. Use of art and play therapy can help children express their grief in counseling sessions, integrating their feelings and allowing them to understand how to move on and be able to get back to the joy of childhood.
- Separating, divorcing, remarrying and other family changes – So many adjustments come from a divorce. These can include new siblings, issues of loyalty and identity, even moving between the individual parent’s homes. These are life adjustment issues and some are easier than others. Children may also need to grieve the loss of the traditional mother and father relationship.
Other issues I often see with children are behavioral and emotional disturbance, giftedness, trauma and post-traumatic stress, abuse, or coping with developmental disabilities such as Autism.
We hear all the time that “children are resilient” and they ARE. That is why I am excited to offer great therapeutic services for children to help them work through their difficult life challenges. Children do well in expressive therapies such as play therapy, narrative therapy, sand-tray, art, puppets and role-plays.