Child therapy

I get it – you’re a parent and you want the best for your child. That’s why it’s incredibly important to you that you find someone qualified to provide your child with the guidance and therapy when it’s a time of need, whether the child is experiencing parents who are divorcing, the loss of a loved one or any other unforeseen issue that could crop up and negatively affect a child’s life.

The person needs to have experience.

The person needs to have the right education and credentials. Perhaps, most importantly, whoever you decide on has to be someone that your child can comfortably speak with. So, if you’re child needs therapy or guidance, it shouldn’t be an easy decision on who you decide to go with. It should be a well thought-out decision. You should be considering several factors, including:

• Credentials –  Is this person registered to practice in the area? These are important factors to consider because you don’t want your child seeing someone that doesn’t have the proper qualifications.
• Experience – Does the person have experience working with children that are your child’s age or working with families in your social class? That’s important to consider because while some professionals might have experience working with inner city kids, they might not have experience working with children from middle class or upper class families.
• Personable – Does this person have the personality to engage and interact comfortably with children? Your child needs to find this person friendly and approachable or else there will only be a limited connection, which will hamper the sessions.
• Availability – Will this person be available in the event of an emergency? What is this person’s availability? Will this person be able to see my child when my child is available? There needs to be a match with each other’s schedules.
• Specializations – What type of methods does the person specialize in? There needs to be an appropriate match here, too, in order to get the right help.
• Communication – Finally, the professional needs not only to be able to effectively communicate with your child, but with you, as a parent as well. This way, you stay in the loop and know exactly what is going on and how your child is being treated. This can help bring peace of mind to the parent that the child is getting the right care and guidance, especially if there was initially hesitation in seeking this type of care.

As you ask yourself the questions listed above, it’s important to know that there’s more than one kind of therapy method available. In fact, there are several types. These include:

• Cognitive Behavioral – This type of theory is ideal for kids and teenagers who may be depressed, anxious or stressed out. It works by attempting to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. This type of therapy is helpful for a number of conditions beyond those just mentioned prior.
• Psychoanalytic Therapy – Think of this type of therapy as “problem analysis.” It’s best deployed with older children because it involves in-depth analysis of problems and provides solutions to them. The analysis also helps children learn from any mistakes or any situations so that they may be able to act differently, and avoid any problems, should they face that problem again.
• Individual Therapy – Often, kids just need someone to talk to when their life takes a wrong turn. That’s where this type of therapy comes in. Essentially, it’s individual work with the child on the things that they need the most help with. This one-on-one care has proven to be very helpful for the right types of children.
• Conflict Therapy – Sometimes, problems aren’t with the individual child themselves, but with family members. This type of therapy has the professional act as the moderator between any conflicting parties so that any outstanding issues can be resolved. It’s also helpful if there isn’t a conflict between a child and parent and the child just wants to feel more comfortable by having a parent around in the sessions.

If you believe your child could benefit from therapy, you should consider it. Counseling can be very effective for treatment of child mental illness.