It is incredibly painful to feel at a loss with your child, to not understand them, or to feel like you can't help them. As they develop, children become exposed to ideas such as trust, autonomy, guilt, and competence, to name a few. These can be incredibly confusing and complex ideas to work through manifesting in very different ways for each child. And sometimes, both the parent and the child need extra help and support. We are ready, willing, and able to provide that for you.
When children have emotional or behavioral problems, the earlier they get treatment the easier it is to help them. However, we know that as a parent you want to avoid unneccessary treatments and costs. So, when do you wait and when do you act?
If your child is experiencing something new, something different, an adjustment period may be necessary. So, if you choose to wait, be sure to watch and wait. Keep track of behavioral issues and moods. Provide as much stability as possible and be available for your child.
If symptoms do not subside and disruptions are constant at home and / or school, it may be time to act. Issues that go unattended develop into larger problems the older a child gets. When a child is depressed, anxious, or fearful, they are not just suffering. They are also missing out on important childhood experiences and structuring their future identities around those issues.
If you are unsure, click on "Let's Begin" and send us your information. You will be matched with a therapist well versed in Child Therapy and who will be able to help you identify if therapy is right for your child.
Sometimes, we just don't have the words. If this is true for adults, how much more often must it be true for children whose vocabularly is naturally so much more limited than ours as adult's! This is why Play Therapy exists, as a sort of bridge that connects us to the world of the child.
Play Therapy offers children, typically ages 3 to 12, a safe place to engage in activities most familiar to them - play - allowing the therapist to build trust with the child and learn about what the child is struggling with. Once this occurs, the therapist can encourage the child in their play to process, problem solve, and communicate what it is they are experiencing.
Children learn about the world and their place in it through play, where they can freely act out and explore their inner feelings and deepest emotions. Rather than attempt to communicate with a child in the adult's world through verbal words, the therapist enters into the child's world and communicates using the child's language - play.
In Play Therapy, a dragon may be a bully, a baby doll may be a mom, and a firetruck may hold the ladder with which the child wants to escape. Through keen observation, intentional interactions, and trust in the child that they know where they need to go, our therapists can help a new kind of conversation develop between you and your child.
Click HERE to learn more about Play Therapy.
