Child Therapy
Common signs that your child may need a therapist:
-Has problems in multiple areas of life, such as family relationships, academic performance, leisure activities and friendships.
-Lacks self-esteem or confidence
-Shows excessive worry about the future.
-Expresses feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, or inappropriate guilt Has significant changes in sleep habits or appetite.
-Has repetitive, self-destructive behaviors such as hair-pulling or skin-picking.
-Talks about or engages in any kind of self-harm.
-Talks about suicide
-Makes comments like I wish I weren’t here, or Nobody would care if I ran away.
If this sounds like your child give us a call today!
What is Play Based Child Therapy About?
Play based child therapy is a way of being with a child that honors their unique developmental level and looks for ways of helping in the child’s own language –play. Play therapy is considered one of the most effective ways to address the emotional and behavioral effects of trauma in children.
What Happens In Play Based Child Therapy?
At first, the therapist will meet with you and your child to talk. They will ask questions and listen. This helps them learn more about your child and about the problem. The therapist will tell you how they can help.
After that, your child will go to more therapy visits. At these visits, your child might:
-Talk. Talking is a healthy way to express feelings. When kids put feelings into words instead of actions, they can act their best. When someone listens and knows how they feel, kids are more ready to learn.
-Do activities. Therapists use activities to teach about feelings and coping skills. They may have kids draw or play as a way to learn. They may teach mindfulness and calm breathing as a way to lower stress.
-Practice new skills. Therapists help kids practice what they learn. They might play games where kids need to wait their turn, use self-control, be patient, follow directions, listen, share, try again, or deal with losing.
-Solve problems. With older kids and teens, therapists ask how problems affect them at home, at school. They talk over how to solve these problems.
How Can Play Based Child Therapy Help?
Often times parents are concerned about the effectiveness of play therapy as a form of treatment. They say, “it’s just playing!” play therapy is not just about playing. While play therapy might be lots of fun for the young patient there is a lot that’s being expressed and understood. Our children communicate through play. Through play a child has the chance to gain the control they rarely experience living in a world run by adults. They are free to express their emotional experience what it feels like to be them. With access to this internal realm, I can help your child discover alternative ways of coping with their worries.
Play therapy is used to help clients between the ages of three and 12 years to better express themselves and resolve their problems. Play provides a safe and comfortable environment in which children can address unresolved trauma. Play therapy generally begins with a period of observation and assessment by the counselor, followed by work to process and focus on challenges the practitioner has identified based on cues the client exhibits during play.