As parents, we want the best for our children. When they hurt, we hurt. When they are struggling, all we want to do is understand how to help them and fix whatever is wrong so they can feel better.
Sometimes, even if we really want to be, we aren’t always the best person to help our child talk about the things that are bothering them or causing them emotional pain. A trained therapist who specializes in working with children and will listen and hear what they say and are unable to say can help your child develop the skills and confidence to flourish.
Parenting Challenges & Childhood
You have learned how to care for your child and anticipate their needs since the day they were born. You discovered how to calm them when they cried, feed them when they were hungry, and care for them when they were wet, cold, and needed to be in your arms.
However, as your child has matured and grown, it has become challenging to know exactly what they need. At different times it may have been difficult to figure out how to help them. Perhaps there were even moments when you felt completely unsure or even ill-equipped with how to help them. Sometimes parents need help when their child:
- Has experienced a kind of pain that is unknown and new to you, one that you have never experienced and don’t quite know how to understand or help. This may have left you feeling uncertain, confused, and unprepared.
- Is experiencing something that leaves you feeling apprehensive, lost, and alien to what your child is going through. You don’t know how they feel and wonder how to best help.
- Struggles with anxiety which affects how much they are able to interact with others and do the things they enjoy. You’ve noticed their fear, anxiety, worry, and nervousness within school situations, social activities, or family interactions.
- Tells you about the things causing them worry and fear, and they can’t seem to be reasoned with or calmed. Your child may worry about having to have everything perfect or not allow themselves to make a mistake.
- Doesn’t handle change or transitions well. They may become fearful or overwhelmed at the thought of situations, schedules, or changed plans and can’t seem to emotionally cope without becoming fearful and upset.
You may realize their anxiety is more than what the typical child experiences and can see that your child is in pain. You may be feeling stuck and unsure of what to do next because all the things you’ve tried don’t seem to be enough to help them.
Children’s Counseling Can Help
At Health and Healing Therapy, we offer child therapy and counseling for ages 5 years old and older as well as Supportive Parent Coaching and Child and Parent Psychotherapy. Counseling for children focuses on utilizing experiential therapy involving play, art, and games. Sessions can be held in-person at our Bartlett, Illinois office or online through our telehealth service.
Our specialized child therapists are experienced in treating the unique issues that children deal with. Many kids we work with struggle with the following:
- Depression, Sadness, and Grief
- Anxiety & Worry
- Social Anxiety
- Difficulty Making Friends
- Social Skill Difficulty
- Loneliness
- Hyperactivity & Distraction
- Attention & Focus Difficulties
- High Activity Level & Listening Challenges
- Emotional Regulation & Difficulty Calming Down
- School Challenges
- Peer Pressure
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Challenges
- Isolation & Shut Down
- Social Interaction Difficulties
- Self-Esteem Issues Due to Bullying
- Little Tolerance For Change & Flexibility
- Irrational Fears & Ruminating Thoughts
- Trauma & Abuse Issues
- Parent & Child Relationship Challenges
- Adjusting to Parent Divorce or Parent Separation
- Transition to a New Home and/or School
- Family Changes
- Coping with a Parent’s Alcohol and/or Drug Problem
- Bullying Behavior
- Name Calling
- Acting Out & Arguments
- Anger Outbursts, Tantrums, and/or Aggression
Our child therapists can help you sort through what is happening with your child and work with you both to build new skills so they can feel confident, secure, calm, and happy.
Commitment, Consistency, and Care
Our children’s counseling specialists partner with you to help your child work through whatever they struggle with. They can begin to feel better about themselves and experience the joy and awesomeness that should be present in every childhood.
- Counseling for children needs a number of components for it to be as successful as possible. We need parents to commit to bringing their child consistently to counseling.
- This is why we ask that you, the parent, make a commitment agreeing that you and your child will make therapy a priority by attending counseling sessions weekly.
- Our therapists will do their best to connect to your child while creating a safe place where they can talk, express, disagree, challenge, and explore their thoughts, beliefs, confusion, emotions, and secrets.
We adults need to remember that building trust and connection within any relationship takes time and earning the trust of your child requires time together within a fun, interactive, safe, and interesting place.
Children need to feel that we can be a trusted adult who won’t judge them – rather, we will wholeheartedly accept them. In order for us to get to know your child, we will need time with them and your support and patience. Some children open up to the counseling process faster than others. Sometime therapy with children can be short-term if we are helping to support more simple skills and coping strategies. However, other child counseling experiences are longer term due to complexity of what the child needs to learn, develop, change, and process.
Meet our Therapists
At Health and Healing Therapy, the therapists who specialize in counseling children are committed to empowering and supporting the kids we see. We want the children we work with to know they are special, smart, accepted, valued, amazing, and extremely cared for.
Help your child to develop the skills and confidence to flourish.
Our therapists can help you Grow, Heal, and Thrive.
Or, call us at 630 864-7267 so we can begin to help your teen.