How child and adolescent psychotherapy can help
Children and young people do not always have the words to explain what is troubling them. They may be overwhelmed by anger, fear, shame, grief or despair. Parents may feel frightened, helpless, rejected or furious. Sometimes these feelings cannot easily be expressed in words, but emerge through changes in mood, turbulent relationships, difficulties with sleep or eating, or simply a sense that something is not going well.
My starting point is thinking together about what is happening and what kind of support might be most helpful. Depending on a child’s age, needs and circumstances, I may work individually with a child or young person, with their parents or carers, or with a parent and child together.
For children, play can be an important way of communicating feelings and experiences that are difficult to put into words. In child psychotherapy, I pay attention to these different forms of communication, alongside what a child is able to tell me verbally. Through the relationship that develops in psychotherapy, children and young people can gradually find ways to understand and manage feelings and experiences that have previously been overwhelming.
