Child Psychotherapy
How do you know if what your child is going through is an expected process or if therapy would be helpful?
Every time your child enters a new developmental stage you will notice changes. Some of these changes will be physical, such as leaning to walk, growing a couple of inches (seemingly overnight), or the changes occurring as your child approaches puberty. Often, these transformations are accompanied by emotional upheaval and you might see more temper tantrums, more clinginess, an angry response to your suggestions or directions, or increased friction with family members.
These can be a normal response to the upheaval that is part of growing up. If, however, you become concerned the disruptions are not smoothing out—they are going on too long—and nothing you’ve tried seems to help then I would be happy to meet with you to discuss how things are going with your child.
In addition to more temper tantrums, increased clinginess, and defiance, the following issues may also signal that a consultation with an experienced child therapist would be helpful:
-
Underperforming at school
-
Trouble separating from you to go to school or to play at a friend’s house
-
Headaches, stomachaches, or trouble sleeping (if physical causes have been ruled out)
-
Persistent sadness and fears
-
Anxiety
-
Difficulty making and keeping friends
Research has shown that therapy can help a child work thought these and other issues. These issues can disrupt your child’s development and one of the goals of therapy is to make sure that does not happen.
