Child and Adult counseling and therapy:
Many adults find it hard to convey their emotions and anxieties, and even more so for children. Young children have not yet developed many of the brain architectural growth, nor have they learnt the art of verbal communication.
Children find it almost impossible to communicate their feelings other than through their behavior. If your child is displaying behaviors that you are concerned about, the reason behind it could be as simple as your child not being able to express something they are finding difficult to process with themselves or their environment.
Child therapy:
Learning new ways of expressing their feelings allows for children to develop a new self- concept and ultimately identity. The following are evidence-based outcomes of child therapy:
- Respect for themselves and others
- Understand that their feelings are acceptable
- Learn how to express their feelings in a responsible manner
- Assume responsibility for themselves
- Develop creative techniques for confronting problems
- Self -control and self-acceptance
I use many different mediums which have a therapeutic goal when working with children, for some examples:
- Arts, drawing, clay
- Puppets
- Musical instruments
- Movement analysis
- Therapeutic storytelling
- Creative visualizations
- Sand tray therapy
- Role playing
“Often the hands know how to solve a riddle with which the intellect has wrestled in vain.” – Carl Jung
Home therapy services:
This includes assisting parents in setting up important routines, boundaries, and parenting techniques within your home environment to help your home life function in a less stressful manner. I did this work at length whilst working in the UK and we found this program highly effective in aiding parents, and therefore even more effective in curbing long-term mental health problems in children. With this method, the therapy is based on the eco-systemic psychological approach which aims to understand the whole family as a functioning unit, instead of just the individual within the system.
“Ones got to change the system, or one changes nothing.” – George Orwell
Adult therapy services:
Although my specialization is in child counseling and play therapy skills, I do often offer counseling for parents as added support. Trans-generational patterns occur in most families and sometimes understanding as a parent where your own adverse childhood experiences come into play allows you to discover how certain mal-adaptive patterns of behavior that you as a parent have chosen, have been determined by a reaction to your early years environment. Adverse Childhood Experiences cause certain chemicals and brain functioning to develop incorrectly and if left unattended can lead you to repeat these behaviors in the next generation.
“If a community values its children, it must cherish their parents.” John Bowlby’
Areas of specialization
- Children who are struggling to reach their full potential academically & socially
- Has nightmares and disturbed sleep
- Is being bullied & excluded at school
- Is being a bully & displays inappropriate behaviour
- Has suffered trauma
- Has been exposed to emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
- Has high levels of anxiety due to divorce, separations, death, or loss
- Is withdrawn or continually unhappy
- Cannot form stable relationships with others
- Experiencing visions or voices they do not understand.
