Children. Oh My! If you are reading this and searching for a professional to help your child, then I would assume something’s up . When our kiddos were brought, birthed, handed over, delivered, adopted, or just dropped down from heaven we immediately began to write their story. The problem is… every great story needs a plot twist and the bends and turns of life often do not correlate with the story we had written far ahead of time. When life (what is happening with our children) does not feel congruent with our expectations we want to force it back into its box of “I got this”. Or “If I just try harder then…” But,
Some things are hard.
Hard things ARE…
Really.
Hard~
The picture of what we are experiencing with our child is not what we pictured and not what we signed up for. These feelings can be hard to reconcile as we try to alter the movies we had already created. Good news? The story is not finished. The pen has not been put down. “All of us are in the middle of a sentence and there are two stories in every sentence.” (Erwin Mcmanus). The story of your family is not finished yet. Consider me a co-editor to help with the journey ahead.
If you experiencing the challenges of a challenging child and would like more information on children with challenging behaviors, please access the “Challenging Behaviors” tab located under “Services”.
Other times, the challenges we face with our children are not from their own choices. Children are left in the wreckage of the damage inflected by others. Children require a special relationship that is almost solely focused on the emotional and social well-being of the child. It differs from adult therapy is several important ways:
FOCUS OF TREATMENT
Child therapy is very forward-oriented. Children are always in the process of becoming who they will be, so looking back on past life events, as in adult therapy, to find and re-experience the source of trouble or to problem-solve may be somewhat irrelevant. Child therapists are experts at helping children develop a strong sense of self, emotional strength, good relationships and good communication.
LANGUAGE
The language of child therapy is largely non-verbal. Child therapists use activity, unstructured play, games and relationship to communicate with children. Children can’t always translate actions into words, or feelings into words, so it’s important that child therapists be bilingual, speaking both ‘adult’ and ‘child’.
ENVIRONMENT
This is a busy world, and sometimes children lose track of themselves and need the experience of true “awareness of self” in an environment that is free of criticism (perceived or real) and expectation. Once this trusting relationship is built with a therapist, the exploration of the true self can begin. This exploration happens because of the therapist’s ability to create a therapeutic space in which growth and introspection are welcomed and demonstrated. The child psychotherapist is like a guide through the confusing territory of emotion and development.
GOALS
Aside from the relief of symptoms, child therapy works on the following five goals:
● Build Self Esteem
● Help Improve Communication
● Stimulate Development
● Build an Emotional Repertoire
● Improve the Emotional Vocabulary.
(http://www.valleychildtherapy.com/what_is_child_therapy.html)