When to seek therapy for your child?
When to Take Your Child to a Therapist
As children grow and develop, they naturally face a variety of challenges. Whether the challenges are at home, with peers or at school. Sometimes these are typical and age-appropriate, but sometimes the struggles go beyond what is expected. So how do you know when your child may need extra support?
A good indicator is when your child’s challenges begin to affect their daily life—or when they seem stuck, overwhelmed, or different from their usual self. Sometimes, mom and dad cannot fix the problem, or your child may not want to share everything with you. Therapy can offer valuable support, not just for mental health, but for emotional, social, and behavioral wellbeing. This sometimes gives a child a safe space where they can share some challenges with someone else outside of the home.
Signs Your Child May Need Extra Support
Every child is unique, and struggles can show up in diverse ways. As a parent we want to fix all the problems and sometimes we do not often notice some of the problems. One of the most important signs to look for is a shift in behavior, mood, or appetite. Other things include a drop in school performance, withdrawal, isolation from friends or family.
These changes do not always mean something serious is wrong, but they can be signs that your child may be struggling—and that it could be helpful to seek support, a safe space where they can discuss their concerns without judgement.
If you are not sure if your child may need some help, you can start with Your Pediatrician
Doctors that know your child may be able to process whether this is normal child development or if a child may need something more which may be able to be provided in a clinical setting. The physician may also be able to rule out any medical concerns that may be going on that could contribute to some behaviors that you may be seeing in the home. It’s always best to rule out medical concerns first.
As a parent, we want to “fix” all of our children’s problems and sometimes we think that if we seek help from someone outside of the home we may have failed as a parent, we ask ourselves things like “what could we have done differently”. Seeking help from a therapist means that you care and you are taking steps to help your child be able to better deal with some of the stressors and become more productive as they move through life.
What Issues Might Require a therapist?
Some situations that may benefit from therapy include:
Ongoing sadness or anxiety
Excessive worry or fear about the future
Expressions of hopelessness or low self-worth
Threats or thoughts of self-harm or harming others
Aggressive behavior, cruelty to animals, or extreme concern about appearance
Persistent nightmares or clinginess after trauma
Difficulties bonding in adoptive families.
When your child asks to talk to someone
If you are not sure if your child may need therapy, reach out for a consultation and we can discuss what can be offered in therapy and sometimes having someone outside of the home who is a professional can make a big difference in a child’s life.
Is my child too young for therapy?
The answer is no, sometimes a child needs to learn to better process emotions and learn to be heard in school or in the home when they feel alone and they may need to talk to someone to help them adjust to stressors. Sometime, parents also need support so they can better manage their child’s stressors in a different way. Therapy can help your child express their emotions and give them the tools that they can use which will help them in their adult lives. Therapy can be provided in a fun, non-threatening manner where we use play therapy techniques to help the child open up during the process. This helps your child grow and also helps the parents to grow and manage things in a different manner to have different outcomes in the home.
You know your child best!!! If something does not feel right, doesn’t look right trust yourself and reach out to help your child to see that they are not alone.