Child Counseling
Are You Concerned About Your Child’s Emotional Well-Being?
Is your child struggling with anxiety, depression, or emotional and behavioral issues?
Has your family experienced a death, divorce, or other transition that has compromised your child’s mental health?
Do you wish that your child had time throughout their busy schedule to slow down, reflect, and learn and practice emotional regulation skills?
With everything that is expected of kids these days—between succeeding in school, getting along with their peers and siblings, and making sense of the world around them—children can quickly feel out of control. As a result, they are likely to encounter feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, and other “big” emotions.
Common Mental Health Concerns In Children
Sometimes it’s hard to determine when your child’s symptoms are developmentally appropriate and when they signal a deeper mental health issue. If you’ve noticed increased tantrums, regularly disruptive behaviors, and a lack of stress management or self-soothing, you may be concerned that your child has developed depression or cognitive delays.
On the other hand, separation anxiety and other concerns are common in children ages four and older. Perhaps your child develops intense worry in new situations. Or maybe they have a hard time socializing and connecting with their peers. If they often complain about sleeping problems, stomach aches, or other pains, they may be suffering from physical symptoms of anxiety.
When children have an opportunity to feel confident and in control, they can thrive more easily. As Registered Play Therapists (RPTs) at Balance Counseling Center, we can help your child explore their emotions and gain the skills they need to be healthy, functional individuals.
Play Therapy Allows Children To Address Emotional And Behavioral Issues
Though it may seem like children have plenty of chances to play freely, the truth is that very few hours of their day are truly unstructured and free for exploration. Recess typically lasts only about 15 minutes, while PE classes tend to be highly organized. Even when children are given free time at home, such time is often spent playing video games, watching TV, or scrolling the internet—genuine play is not always incorporated into their daily routine.
But the truth is that play is essential for children to process their stress and emotions. Regardless of age, play is a child’s way of communicating. By expressing themselves through games, art, and other forms of creativity, children have an opportunity to feel more genuinely in control and self-aware.
However, emotional, social, and behavioral skills are not just cultivated through everyday play. Play typically has to happen in tandem with professional counseling in order for meaningful change to take place in children’s behaviors and awareness. Fortunately, Registered Play Therapists are trained, experienced professional child counselors who provide guidance and mental health support to kids of all ages.
Counseling Allows Your Child To Heal And Grow
Children don’t always have the necessary tools or vocabulary to discuss what’s going on internally, but play is valuable in helping them process their emotions independently. Even if certain feelings and experiences are not verbalized in therapy, parents and counselors alike will notice improvements in a child’s behaviors as a result of counseling. At Balance Counseling Center, we’ve witnessed our child clients feeling better and better even after a short time in therapy.
The Therapeutic Process
Our therapists believe that children have the natural ability to process difficult emotions and experiences when they are given ample time and space to do so. Because they are so often assessed, evaluated, and corrected in other parts of their lives, it’s important to create a safe atmosphere in therapy where children can freely express themselves. The therapeutic environment at Balance Counseling is where your child can feel more valued, independent, and in control.
Therapy begins with an initial intake that includes just you (the parent or caretaker), during which you’ll be able to discuss goals for treatment and the counseling process with your child’s counselor. From there, your child’s Play Therapist will meet with them individually to build trust, rapport, and integrate play and creativity into sessions. Because we are able to zero in on the child-therapist relationship in counseling, our clients are able to make progress more quickly.
We are a client-centered counseling practice, which means we will let your child take the lead in Play Therapy. Using forms of play, Sand Tray Therapy, and expressive arts, your child will have an opportunity to express their internal thoughts and feelings. Our job as their counselor is to guide them toward answers, interpret what they’re communicating, and help them access their strengths in a way that allows them to feel more confident and able. And many of the parents we work with are amazed by how much Play Therapy improves their child’s behaviors both at home and at school. The child clients we see at Balance Counseling Center often can’t wait to come to their next session.
We also work with parents (and adults in general) directly. It’s not unusual for one of our clinicians to work with a child, while another clinician works with the parent to reduce stress and help them untangle their feelings. As parents, if we’re dysregulated or struggling with unresolved trauma, it can negatively impact our parenting. We are here to support anyone within the family system who is looking to improve their behaviors, outlook, and everyday experience.
Let Us Help You Find Balance
Our practice owner, Amy Garman (LPCS, RPT), has been working with children for over two decades and continues to be amazed by how effective Play Therapy is. Not only is therapy quick and effective—our child clients tend to find the process fun, positive, and meaningful. Your child will likely enjoy the counseling experience so much that they will want to come back!
Childhood can be a confusing and painful time, but therapy is a way to help your child navigate their experiences. Counseling can promote healing and meaningful change in your child’s life.
Perhaps You’re Worried About Your Child, But Not Sure If Therapy Can Help…
I just don’t understand how playing will improve my child’s emotions and behaviors.
Play is a child’s way of communicating, and being creative allows children to express their inner world in a way that talk therapy can’t always achieve. Though talking can be extremely helpful for adults in counseling, children don’t always have access to the language and skills they need to express their emotions.
In addition, the nonjudgmental atmosphere of counseling helps children feel more confident, independent, and engaged in the therapeutic process. There may not be many areas in your child’s life that are free from expectation or the feeling that they have done something wrong, but therapy gives them a chance to feel in control of what is discussed and how they respond.
My child suffers from low self-esteem—can counseling help?
If your child lacks confidence or self-esteem, therapy is a great way to bolster their inherent strengths and skills. By working with a Play Therapist in a safe, nonjudgmental atmosphere, your child can build on their emotional awareness and abilities. As they practice their skills more and more, your child will feel increasingly capable of tackling problems on their own.
I’m struggling with my parenting; can you help?
Though we are primarily trained in Play Therapy and child counseling, we try to help parents whenever possible. If you struggle with parenting stress, our counselors will help you develop beneficial skills so that you can feel more patient, more aware, and less stressed.
Positive Growth And Change Are Achievable
If you’re concerned that your child is struggling with depression, anxiety, or other setbacks in their mental health, the Registered Play Therapists at Balance Counseling Center are trained, experienced clinicians who specialize in treating children.
For more information, contact us so that we can find out more about your child and match them with a counselor.
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