Therapy with children and adolescents is very different from adult therapy. My goal is to help your child or teen learn ways to express their needs and feelings appropriately in your family and with their friends. Techniques such as Play Therapy for children age three to about age ten, Sand-play and expressive arts for children and teens are offered to assist with expressing their feelings. I have a wooden tray with clean, fine sand inside. I have shelves with miniature toys and figures representing various themes in life. Children and teens are invited to create their own world in the tray using the miniatures. Often parents are invited to participate with their child. Children use the sand tray to make pictures and tell stories which may represent their inner emotional world.

Tips for Supporting Your Child's Therapy Experience

• Share important information with the therapist after your child’s session. Only share information with the therapist before the session if it will directly affect your child’s therapy for that day. Also, telling your child to “be sure to tell your therapist” about an issue puts pressure on the child and may seem like punishment.
• Children are allowed more freedom in therapy than they are at home. This is okay. There is no such thing as “bad” behavior in therapy. Children quickly learn that there are different rules in different places.
• Remember: sometimes the child’s behavior gets worse before it gets better. This is normal in therapy and is a sign of progress.
• Therapy is successful mainly because the child learns to trust the therapist never to reveal what is said and done in therapy. However, the child knows that the therapist will meet with the caregiver to discuss progress and general issues. Confidence is necessary to give the child freedom of self-expression which is essential for therapy to be effective.
• A therapist’s goal is not to find out what happened to your child. It is to facilitate the child’s healing, resolution of trauma, and help them learn to express their feelings.
• Children work very hard in therapy. Please try to avoid asking your child questions about the session unless they volunteer information. Things NOT to say…”Did you have fun?” “Did you like it?” Things you CAN say… “I bet you are tired. You have been working hard for an hour.”