Pediatricians, teachers, and parents often refer children to therapy for emotional, behavioral, or learning difficulties, but what can they expect once they bring their child in for treatment? According to Hallowell Child Clinician, Theresa Garvin, an LICSW who has been working with children, teens, and families for over 20 years, "parents, children, and teachers are often not sure what to expect from therapy. Many parents imagine that their child will have to sit and talk with a therapist for 1 hour about their "issues", which is often what happens in adult psychotherapy". Theresa explains that "working with children is very different than working with adults as so much of the work is developing an understanding of the child's world as seen by the child, the family, peers, and the school." Once a child clinician has the developmental, family, and school history, as well as any additional medical or psychological reports on the child, he/she then works at getting to know the child....understanding their strengths and challenges/stressors, assessing their coping strategies and social skills, and talking openly with the adults and teachers in order to come up with a few mutually agreed upon goals. "When an adult enters therapy, they are often looking to change something within themselves and/or the environment. When a child enters therapy, the therapist must also try to help the people in the environment (i.e. parents, teachers, siblings, peers) to change in order to better meet the child's needs", according to Theresa.

Keys to Success: Collaboration and Communication

Relationship building between the school, home, and therapist is an essential part of treating children as everyone involved with the child tends to want the same thing, although each may state it differently. For example, the parent may state "I want my child do get their homework done on time and without so many struggles. The teacher may state "I want the student to hand in their homework completed and on time." The child may say "I wish everyone would get off back about my homework. I hate homework!" Homework may indeed be the issue, but changing everyone's attitudes, responses, and expectations may be the work the therapist takes on in order to improve the situation. For example, the teacher could decide that the student can hand in and receive credit for homework done within 45 minutes, as long as the student put forth his/her best effort. Or…they could reduce the number of problems the student is assigned for homework. The parent can help the child to create a schedule, space, and support at home during that homework time, and perhaps help the child to write down the parts he/she didn't understand in order for the teacher to assist him/her the following day. The child may be willing to put forth more effort with less stress once he/she sees the work is time-limited and the teacher will not penalize him for the work he's done.

During therapy, the child uses his/her time to develop more appropriate strategies for managing his thoughts feelings and behaviors. The child can begin to increase self awareness and self control, which in tern, will increase their self confidence.

Hillary Clinton's quote about "it takes a village to raise a child" is very relevant to child psychotherapists. While most bring children and teens to therapy hoping for changes within, the adults in that child's life often need to make changes as well if treatment is to be successful.
When looking for a therapist for your child, it is wise to speak with the therapist first in order to find out if they are trained in working with children and families, and to see if they have experience in your child's particular struggles/disorders (i.e. ADHD, Anxiety disorder). Then meet with this therapist to see if he/she would be a good "fit" for your child. Chances are….if you feel your session with the therapist is helpful, so will your child.

Hallowell Center Article by:
Theresa Garvin, LicSW