Counseling Services for Kids & Teens
When a child or teenager has a mental health issue, experiences trauma, or has other behavioral issues, they may not develop healthy ways to cope with stress and interact with others. Therapy for kids and teenagers can help them work through problems and develop healthy coping strategies for a variety of challenges. For many parents, it’s the best way to get help for a child experiencing emotional, social, or mental health problems.
How Therapy Can Benefit Kids & Teens
The biggest benefits from child counseling or counseling for teens is the ability to help them work out problems, cope with stress, and communicate better with family members, friends, and other people in their life. In addition, therapy can help them work through:
- Challenging family dynamics
- Issues at school, such as bullying or learning challenges
- Health issues or significant sickness
- Sadness and anger
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Grief or loss
Kids and teens with certain behavioral issues can also benefit from therapy, including those with:
- ADHD
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD)
- Eating disorders
- Disruptive behaviors
- Self-harm
Therapy isn’t just for kids who experience severe trauma (although it can definitely be helpful in those situations). For many children and teens, therapy is a way to learn how to deal with problems they cannot figure out on their own. It’s a way to learn coping skills that will benefit them in the future when then encounter another difficult situation. Finally, it’s a place where they can talk about anything they want and feel supported.
What Therapy Will Be Like for Your Child
There are a wide variety of ways that a therapist may work with children or teenagers. The exact type of therapy depends on the reasons that a child or teenager is seeking support, and other factors like family dynamics and social support structures available in his or her life. Sometimes child therapy or teen therapy will be just one part of a larger family therapy plan.
For younger children, sessions may involve play therapy. These allow children to express emotions that they may not understand or be able to talk about through toys and art.
Some child therapy sessions or teen therapy sessions may be done along with other members of a family, such as a parent or sibling. In other situations your therapist may recommend that the child or teen come on their own. No matter who is in the session, your child therapist is focused on helping kids learn to believe in themselves, build self-esteem, overcome stress and trauma, and build healthy habits for the future.
Come Meet with Our South Jordan, Utah Therapists
The first step toward helping your child or teen is to schedule an appointment to meet with our therapists. During that time we can discuss what he or she needs and the reasons you are seeking therapy and figure out the best way to help your child.