When working with children, at times it may be necessary to work with the family system in which they reside in order to provide the best possible opportunity of resolving the challenges experienced. While every child & family, and their needs are unique, the therapeutic process may involve the following structure:
Assessment
An initial interview of the child and/or significant family members takes place in order to gain a clearer understanding of the possible issues. This interview lasts between 60 - 90 minutes and consists of interviews with the child and the relevant family members.
Treatment Plan
The plan for therapy is discussed and once agreed upon, therapy commences.
Treatment
Therapy takes place either with the child or with the family as a whole depending on the nature of the problem.
This can be a challenging, frustrating and overwhelming period of a child's life, and often feels like an emotional rollercoaster for them and those around them. This can affect their functioning within themselves, or the environments in which they exist, such as school, home, community or with their peers. Therapy provides a safe, supported and confidential space in which they can gain an understanding of themselves and the impact of their challenges on themselves and others. Therapy also aims to provide skills to better manage these challenges. Feedback is provided to the caregivers should this be required.
There is a range of reasons we reach out for psychological support. This may be due to some difficulties within ourselves or our relationships with others. I provide psychological services to individuals or couples. Some of the areas in which I work are listed below, however services are not limited to these:
-
Individual therapy - addressing psychological, relational or personality difficulties.
-
Couples therapy - addressing the challenges faced within the relationship and finding ways to overcome these.
-
Parenting - the impact of becoming parents cannot be underestimated. This can lead to conflict within the parent or the parental relationship. Therapy can assist with learning skills to manage the children in addition to finding ways for the parents to better support each other.