Just like adults, children also face challenges in their lives from time to time. If they are having persistent trouble with mood or behavior, then a psychologist is a good person to talk to.
I offer a wide range of therapeutic interventions as well as basic and in-depth comprehensive assessments for children under five years of age and up to late adolescence.
The first steps
Prior to commencing any therapeutic or comprehensive assessment work with a child, I always first meet with his/her parent(s). This Initial Parent Consultation gives me an opportunity to get a clear picture of the nature of concerns from home and/or school, and gather other basic information to be able to come up with recommendations as to what the next step should be.
If psychotherapeutic or assessment work is indicated, the child’s detailed developmental, medical, and family history is always collected. This is done in order to explore the factors influencing and maintaining the child’s symptoms. This information is usually collected from interview with the parent(s) and parent-completed forms.
Treatment
I offer interventions for a wide range of child and adolescent difficulties including:
- Behavioral challenges (aggression, oppositionality, defiance, impulsivity, withdrawal)
- Emotional difficulties (sadness, worry, anxiety, fears/phobias, PTSD)
- Psychosomatic symptoms
- Feeding & eating issues
- Sleeping & waking difficulties
- Body image issues
- Adjustment difficulties (new school, divorce, adoption, bereavement or other potentially traumatic life experiences)
- Stress
- Self-esteem issues (low self worth)
- Social problems (difficulty interacting, relating & making friends)
- Separation issues
- Other difficulties of childhood and adolescence.
Parental Involvement
When working with children and young people I usually involve parents by means of regular meetings (Parent Feedback Sessions). These meetings are conducted in order to provide the parent(s) with an opportunity to express any further concerns, to review child’s progress, as well as to advise parent(s) on strategies that could be used at home to improve overall intervention effectiveness.
Apart from the regular Parent Feedback Sessions, I offer Parent Counseling, Parent Training and Parent-Child Therapy which could be used as adjunct to the child or adolescent therapy, or as stand-alone interventions. They are aimed at teaching parents specific sets of skills, which help parents to not only manage more effectively problematic child behaviors and minimize child’s emotional difficulties, but also to improve the overall quality of parent-child relationships. Click here to learn more about services for parents.
Therapeutic Approach
My choice of therapeutic methods and techniques is always informed by the most recent research findings. I use an integrative approach to therapy and I tailor therapy to the presenting needs and developmental level of a specific child or a young person. I use techniques from
- cognitive-behavioral
- behavioral
- humanistic
- psychodynamic
- attachment-based, as well as
- other psychotherapeutic approaches.
f you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
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