Child Psychologists and Child Therapists in Bellefonte, DE.

Young children require speciality care. Traditional talk therapy is usually not approach. Most often when working with young children and sometimes even pre-teens and teens, physical interaction is required. This can be accomplished through games or special modalities such as Sand Tray therapy. The clinicians at CHRIS who work with young children infuse play and arts/crafts in the work they do as they help children tell the stories of what is bothering them.

Children communicate in many ways. I use therapeutic play, art and music to support children's self worth and to encourage secure attachments with nurturing care givers. I provide a safe, trusting holding space for each child's unique identity, and also support families in negotiating the sometimes terrifying shoals of parenting so that all family members feel respected and loved.

I see children from the age of four years and up, many of whom are referred for behavioral and emotional difficulties such as frequent and long-lasting tantrums, poor emotional regulation, defiance, physical aggression toward parents or siblings, and/or high degrees of anxiety. In these situations I meet with the child and his or her parent(s), so that I can see the interactions and better discern whether this is a strictly behavioral or a developmental problem. Treatment options may include parent coaching, family counseling, individual counseling (for older kids), referral for psychological or neurological testing, and referral to a developmental pediatrician, among others.

In our current over-scheduled, over-pressured world, families are confronting problems they have little capacity to do anything about. We can tend to cope by getting stuck in a narrow range of behaviors and responses even if they are not helpful. A child who has learned to have temper tantrums when she is angry, and her parents who have learned to punish or pamper her, are stuck in maladaptive, non-growthful environments—‘a bad play’. It’s like playing the same part in the same play on the same stage day after day. A key component in this play is often our children’s behavioral, emotional and leaning difficulties that are so disruptive or dysfunctional - all we want to do is stop it. As pare....

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In meeting with young children, I believe it is absolutely crucial to take time to develop trust and a relationship in the counseling room for them to benefit from the counseling process. I also collaborate with the parents in providing care that the child needs, as I believe the parents play the most important part in their child's healing and growth.