Individual Therapy with Children

You so long for that happy boy or girl –
the one who’s becoming an ever more distant dream!

Meltdowns – the tantrums and the noise and the teacher calls never end!

Or Shutdowns – it’s just not natural for a youngster to be so willfully unresponsive, effectually freezing up and checking out at the least little thing.

Nothing you do seems to help, and you’re utterly exhausted from the physical and mental anguish of trying so hard and continually failing to find a solution.

All you want for your beloved child is that sincere desire to please interspersed with some innocent mischief and the customary smiles and laughter that usually characterize a happy childhood.

Supportive parenting is fundamental.

Successful behavioral change in a young child depends on the expectations at home, consistently supporting the skills and habits started in therapy.

Young children aren’t capable of the attention and focus needed to apply for therapy work beyond the moment – beyond the confines of the therapy session. Consequently, creating effective, lasting change entails therapy not just with the child, but also with the parents.

I lend support to parents by encouraging and helping them develop the insight and skills they need, so they can then support and encourage their child’s progress between therapy visits.

Parental participation can help meet the child’s needs.

Individual Therapy typically means a traditional one-on-one session in a private setting with only the client and me being present. However, with young children, individual therapy is directed more toward the focus of treatment rather than whether the child attends alone.

It’s customary for me to require a parent or an adult caregiver who resides with the child to attend the sessions.

If the parent’s presence has the purpose of meeting the child’s indicated needs, it’s still considered Individual Therapy for insurance and billing.

As the child progresses, direct parental participation lessens.

As children mature, they gradually outgrow needing a parent’s participation in every aspect of therapy. Therefore, the inclusion of parents in sessions becomes less frequent as clients come to learn better, remember better, and become able to apply therapy concepts to daily situations on their own.

Typically, once a child can engage and participate in activities of therapy and express their thoughts and feelings effectively, parental participation becomes more of a check-in opportunity.

I often set up a routine of spending five minutes alone with a parent at the beginning of every session. The parent can use this time to express concerns, accomplishments, or anything significant that has occurred since the last session.

If needed, we can adjust plans to have some parent time in the session or schedule a separate in-depth appointment with parent(s) or family at another time.

It’s about providing support and enrichment.

Therapy will enable you and your precious one to get emotions and behavior on track so that your son or daughter and you can experience the joy and success you both so richly deserve.

I can help you and your child create lasting change.