Child PSYCHOTHERAPY
Child Psychotherapy is a play based, child led treatment. Child psychotherapists pay close attention to the child's play together with other non verbal and spoken communication in order to try to understand a child's underlying and often unspoken anxieties and concerns. This intervention also pays careful attention to the relationship each child develops with their psychotherapist to better understand a child's ways of relating to others including carers, teachers and peers.
Child psychotherapy is helpful in addressing deep seated and complex difficulties, both emotional and behavioural, because extreme behaviour can often be a way of managing profoundly difficult and confusing experiences and painful emotional states.
The aim of treatment is for the psychotherapist to gain a deeper understanding of a child's difficulties including problems arising from early adverse experiences and traumas and difficult family relationships, but also difficulties based in the present, at home, school, and with peers. By building a shared understanding of a child's personality, relative strengths and weaknesses, and ways of relating, the psychotherapist and child can work together to help the child to find healthier ways to manage. A greater understanding of their own experiences, personal strengths and difficulties, may enable the child to better regulate their emotional responses. In this way, it is hoped that the intervention will promote individual development, help children to reach their full potential, build resilience, and a stronger sense of identity with greater self esteem.
Child psychotherapy is a long-term treatment and it is expected that regular weekly sessions will be attended for a minimum of 1 year. Parent sessions sometimes are also advised to support this treatment. There will be regular treatment reviews with the parents.
Details of the sessions remain confidential, the psychotherapist will discuss themes and the progress of the treatment with the parents to assist in ensuring that emotional and health needs are addressed in overall care planning.
