Child Therapy

 

Our Approach

We believe that “talking” to children isn’t always the right fit. When working with children, our therapists blend art, games, reflective discussions, and active tool building to help children learn and grow in their most natural languages.

In a gentle and supportive environment, we help children look inside to discover their natural strengths and build tools to better navigate challenges. Through child therapy session, our goals as therapist are to help your child:

  • Develop insight – the ability to look inside and understand what they’re feeling, thinking, and experiencing

  • Build empathy – the ability to recognize and appreciate someone else’s experience

  • Cultivate compassion – the ability to recognize stress states in yourself or another and show up with kindness in hard moments

  • Reinforce resilience – the internalization of strategies and tools for navigating uncomfortable, unpleasant and stressful moments

  • Learn to communication constructively – the ability to respectfully share feelings, desires, and needs while honoring the needs, feelings, and experience of others

We view a child’s symptoms from a standpoint of stress - an experience that overwhelms the ability to cope well in a situation. We teach each child about stress states in their body, mind, and brain, help each child recognize cues and signals of stress states, and actively help them cultivate new, more helpful tools for self-regulation.

 

Symptoms We Treat

Every child and every family system is unique, which is why we tailor our goals, treatment plan, and interventions to each specific situation. While we treat and support all types of challenges, we most commonly treat children experiencing challenges with:

 

  • anxiety and stress management

  • traumatic experience resolution

  • abuse or neglect

  • anger and irritability

  • depression

  • emotional regulation

  • defiant behaviors

  • grief and loss

  • social challenges

  • shame and insecurity

  • divorce transitions

  • communication tools

  • obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviors (OCD)

  • perfectionism

Family Integration

We believe that the quickest way to help a child grow is with the support of family outside of sessions. Therefore, we incorporate regular communication between therapist and caregiver, so that the strategies that the child learns in-session can be supported and developed at home. We work to help parents more deeply understand what their child is experiencing and provide guidance on how to connect with their child.

Our Process

Our process begins with a parent intake session: A 50-minute session with the therapist and parent(s) to explore family context, presenting issues, and the child’s strengths and interests. This provides the therapist with important information to tailor each and every child therapy session to your child’s growth areas.

Then, your child will begin weekly therapy sessions, with parent support sessions scheduled as-needed.