Child Therapy
Are You Worried About Your Child’s Mental Health?
Have you noticed changes in your child’s behavior lately? Despite your best efforts to help them, are they experiencing:
Overwhelming emotions like anger, anxiety, and sadness?
Learning disabilities and trouble keeping up in school?
Problems forming friendships with their peers?
Behavioral changes after a challenging life event?
Maybe they’re acting impulsively, getting upset easily, and having frequent emotional breakdowns. Or perhaps they seem more reclusive than usual—they’re not wanting to go to school, saying no to fun activities, or seeing their friends less and less. They might be complaining of headaches, stomach aches, or other physical ailments—but you sense that something deeper is going on. As a result, maybe you’re thinking it’s time for your child to see a therapist.
Parenting A Struggling Child Can Be Incredibly Stressful
As a parent, you’re always looking out for your child’s best interests and making sure their wellbeing is taken care of. So it’s heartbreaking to watch your child struggle—especially when you’ve done all you can to support them. Yet because of how young your child is, they may not be able to verbally express their feelings. This makes it hard for you as a parent, because as badly as you want to help, it’s difficult to know where to start when they’re unable to communicate what’s really going on.
Whether your child’s difficulties are social, emotional, or cognitive, sometimes kids simply need more professional support. This is why therapy is so important. By getting your child started in therapy, you’re not only taking some of the burden off your shoulders, but also setting your child up for long-term success. And at Dr. Ann Marie Semich Counseling Group, our therapists specialize in giving children the tools to manage their big feelings and live happier, healthier lives.
Our Education System Teaches Kids Many Things—But Not The Role Of Emotions
As a society, we teach children how to read, write, ride a bike, and do many other useful things, but we generally don’t teach them much about understanding or regulating their emotions. We don’t educate them on what they’re feeling, why they feel the way they do, and what to do about it. Within the school system, the focus is usually on getting kids to “stop” bad behavior instead of actually trying to understand what’s causing it.
In the long term, this isn’t helpful for kids. If they don’t learn to navigate their emotional challenges when they’re young, it will be harder for them to do so when they’re older. The beauty of therapy is that it gives children a huge advantage in life, allowing them to cultivate emotional intelligence at a young age and preparing them for adolescence and adulthood.
Parents Nowadays Are Bombarded By Conflicting Advice On How To Raise Kids
Parents have so much to juggle these days and many of them feel burnt out from all their work and home responsibilities. On top of that, there is a never-ending abundance of parenting advice on social media. It’s hard to know who to trust, especially since a lot of the advice out there is confusing and contradictory.
The important thing to remember is that your child is unique—so what works for them will not be cookie-cutter solutions, but an approach that’s specifically tailored to their needs. At our practice, your child’s therapist will create a counseling plan that takes their uniqueness into account. They will match your child with the techniques that work best for them and give you parenting skills for supporting them at home outside of sessions.
Therapy Can Give Your Child Skills To Last Them A Lifetime
Many parents worry that therapy will require kids to sit still for long periods of time, but this is not the case. At Dr. Ann Marie Counseling Group, our therapists use expressive arts, play therapy, and many other fun, creative strategies to help children learn about their emotions and develop new solutions to life’s challenges.
On one hand, we will teach your child about the role of emotions—what they feel and why they feel it—and on the other, we’ll equip them with healthy life skills for regulating their emotions. They will learn to increase their emotional intelligence, which can aid in their social development and empower them to:
Boost their self-esteem
Gain self-advocacy skills
Hone their verbal and physical communication
Trust themselves and their own decision-making more
Navigate relationships with their peers more effectively
Along the way, we will give you parenting strategies for helping your child implement these changes into their daily life. After all, you’re most likely with your child more than anyone, so we want you to play a vital role in their healing journey.
What To Expect In Child Counseling Sessions
During sessions with your child, we will help them explore mindfulness practices, grounding techniques, breathing strategies, creative play, and many different coping skills. In order to cultivate agency and self-confidence, your child is invited to have a say over their treatment process and co-create their own goals for therapy.
If your child likes to paint, we will help them tie their therapeutic art experience into the goals we are working on together. If they want to spend time outdoors, we can focus on engaging in outdoor activities that cultivate mindfulness and allow them to connect with their five senses. In this way, we’ll make their hobbies and passions part of their healing process.
Additionally, many of our therapists are trauma-informed and EMDR-certified. So if your child is struggling to recover from a painful experience, we can use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy to help them overcome distressing emotions related to trauma. We can also explore certain memories through aromas or visuals, helping your child understand emotions as they surface and process them to resolution.
Ultimately, it’s important to remember that the skills your child gains here can last them a lifetime. Therapy is not just an investment, but a gift—a way of showing your love for your child and ensuring that they are prepared to make healthy choices and form healthy relationships in the years to come.
You May Have Some Questions About Therapy For Children…
How involved will I be in my child’s therapy?
Generally speaking, we will meet with you first to discuss your concerns, answer any questions you have, and develop lines of communication for counseling. Although most therapy sessions from that point on will be with your child, we are flexible to the needs of each child and family. You are welcome to attend sessions with your child from time to time if your child would prefer you in the room with them. Regardless of how things work out logistically, we will make sure that you play an active part in your child’s journey and act as a support and a guide as they work toward their goals.
What if we are too busy to consistently attend sessions?
Just as you would have your child see a doctor if they had an injury or a medical ailment, it’s important for them to see a mental health specialist if they’re struggling to manage their emotions and behavior. This may mean making changes to your schedule or your child’s schedule, but when you consider the lifelong benefits of therapy, it’s worth carving time out of your day.
What if we can’t afford child counseling?
Money is essential, but when all is said and done, chances are there’s nothing in the world you value more than your child’s wellbeing. By enrolling your child in therapy, you are investing in their future and their ability to have a foundation of healthy skills for challenges that arise throughout their life. The better a child can connect with themself and learn about what they are trying to communicate, the less they will struggle with challenging behaviors. They can gain insight into themself and develop skills that last a lifetime.
Set Your Child Up For A Happy,
Healthy Future
When you invest in your child’s wellbeing, it shows them how deeply you value them and it helps them understand how important therapy is. To connect with one of our child counselors, we encourage you to fill out our contact form.
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