Children’s Counseling
Children are people, and, like anyone else, they are highly impacted by stressful circumstances, such as parent conflict, divorce, abuse, financial hardship, the death of a loved one, or any other big changes in their lives. Even positive experiences, such as starting school, or meeting new people, can be overwhelming for some kids.
Unlike adults, however, children have very little control over what happens to them, and don’t have enough life experience to allow them to keep things in perspective. They also don’t have some of the verbal skills that adults have to tell others how they feel or what they need.
When I work with children, my goal is to provide them with experiences that will teach them language skills, and emotional regulations skills that will allow them to communicate more effectively. I will also give them age-appropriate information about life events that will be reassuring, using words that they can understand. I generally incorporate play or other creative activities into the structure of my work with children. I often include parents in sessions as therapy progresses.
As a parent, I know it’s difficult to watch your child struggle and not know what to do to help them. If your child experiencing problems such as:
- Frequent and prolonged crying
- Out of control anger, aggression, threats of harm to self or others
- Oppositional, manipulative, or deceitful behaviors
- Extreme fears that interfere with normal activities
I would be happy to talk to you more about whether therapy might be a helpful step to take.