Kids And Teens

Child therapy, or counseling for kids and teens, is an evidence-based approach to counseling, designed to help children and teens face their challenges. These challenges include mental illnesses, traumatic events, the loss of family members, social media implications, identity struggles, difficult feelings and behaviors.

What Parents Can Expect When Their Child is in Counseling?

The therapeutic process takes time. Unfortunately, there is no magic wand for therapists to wave, so mental health issues aren’t cured; they are managed. For a child or adolescent to learn counseling strategies to manage thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, it takes time.

The child will not be learning these strategies immediately. This is because the first few sessions are focused solely on building a relationship. Therefore, the parent can’t expect major changes right away. With that said, research shows up to 50% of success in therapy is the therapeutic relationship, so it’s important the child feels comfortable with the therapist.

A common misconception is that the therapist will help the child be happy. Therapists actually aren’t trying to help the child be happy all day long; rather, therapists help the child cope with emotions that are disproportionate to the event in more effective manners. Remember, people are supposed to experience uncomfortable emotions. What’s important is how the child manages the emotion so they can continue to function in their environment.

If the child is in therapy due to the distress from an environmental circumstance, be aware that their issues may not just resolve when their situation changes for the better. The long-term effects of a situation may still require treatment after the actual problem has been solved so they can continue to function optimally across settings.

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