Lately, your child’s behavior is out of control. When they have a tantrum it derails your entire day and makes you feel horrible. Maybe, they’re constantly picking fights with you, your spouse, or your other children. Now, most days, your home feels like a hostile environment and it’s negatively affecting the entire family. You’ve tried to get their behavior under control. Perhaps, you’ve read books or done research online to learn ways to help them calm down when they get so upset, but nothing you’ve tried has worked.
Maybe, your child’s teachers and school counselor have shared concerns regarding their behavior. They’re acting out at school. Causing problems in the classroom. Disrupting other student’s learning or picking fights with other children. Or, they seem to be unable to concentrate or lack motivation in the classroom, and their grades are falling.
You want to help your child, but you’re not sure how.
You love your child with ALL your heart. More than anything, you want to see them be successful and happy. But, their behavior is exhausting and frustrating. There have been so many nights where you find yourself laying in bed wondering what went wrong or how you can help them. If this sounds like your situation, child therapy could be a great option for you.
As parents, it’s our responsibility to raise our children. So, when things don’t go according to plan, or your child is acting out, many parents feel like they’re failing or doing something wrong. That’s not the case. You don’t have to be embarrassed to ask for help or worried about talking to someone you don’t know for fear of being judged. Child therapy offers that space. At Renewed Hope Counseling Services, our child therapists have seen it all. They will provide you and your child a safe place to work through the challenges you’re experiencing without passing judgment.
Common Reasons to Consider Child Therapy in Greenwood, IN
In child therapy, we help children overcome a variety of mental health concerns. If you are worried about your child’s emotional development or behaviors, please don’t hesitate to come in for an evaluation.
Our child therapists provide child therapy for children experiencing the following concerns:
Trauma and PTSD- Anxiety
- Separation anxiety
- Isolation or social anxiety
- Depression
- Self-harming behaviors
- Extreme sadness or crying
- Lack of concentration or ADHD
- Grief
- Life transitions: parental divorce, move, etc.
- Frequent tantrums or explosive outbursts
- Sibling or parental conflict
- Behavioral challenges at home or at school
- Poor social skills
- Falling grades
- Changes in sleep: sleeping too much to too little
- Unexplained bedwetting or night terrors
- Unexplained physical ailments: frequent complaints that their experiencing pain with no medical reason
- Changes in eating habits: hoarding food or food refusal
These are only a few symptoms we’ve seen children present. If you’d like to learn about other common reasons to pursue child therapy, check out this article.
Our Approach to Child Therapy in Greenwood, IN:
Our child therapists will help your child deal with the challenges they’re experiencing. In addition, our child therapists will teach them coping techniques to deal with the things that are bothering them. This may mean identifying and labeling emotions. This will help them better communicate how they are feeling, so ultimately they can get their needs met in a more prosocial way. Our child therapists will also teach your child new ways to cope with big feelings like anger, sadness, frustration, anxiety, etc. And they may teach anger management skills. So when upset, your child will have tools to help them calm down quicker. Most importantly, your child will learn how to apply the skills they learned in child therapy in everyday situations.
How We Use Play in Child Therapy
For younger children, we incorporate play into our therapy sessions. Children express themselves through play. So, we use play to learn more about the things that are upsetting them, what’s happening in their lives, and how they understand the world around them. Then, we use play to help them learn new ways of coping with distress or new social skills to help them better relate to their peers, siblings, or family.
Benefits of Play Therapy
Through play therapy, our child therapists have seen tremendous growth. Play therapy allows children to come up with new and creative solutions to problems that they might not have considered before. Play therapy also gives them an opportunity to develop respect and acceptance for themselves and others. In addition, play therapy enhances a child’s ability to empathize with and respect the thoughts and feelings of others.
The Role of Parents in Child Therapy
In most cases, we also incorporate the parents into our child counseling sessions. This gives your child therapist a better idea of your family dynamic. And, access to more information about what’s happening in your child’s life. It also allows you to learn from the child therapist so you can use the same coping techniques they teach your child in session in your home. We can also teach you some techniques to improve your communication with your child. So, when the big feelings happen, you can help them calm down quicker.
EMDR for Children:
EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization reprocessing. EMDR therapy is a relatively new therapeutic technique that has been proven successful in both children and adults. EMDR therapy helps when a child feels stuck. Or, when they can’t identify what has upset or is upsetting them. Although it’s most frequently used as a treatment for trauma or PTSD, it’s also very successful in helping children. Our child therapists incorporate EMDR therapy to help children overcome issues such as anxiety, depression, grief, loss, and explosive anger. For example, consider a child that is extremely anxious. But, doesn’t know why. EMDR therapy can help them identify what caused the anxiety in the first place so their child therapist can help them work through the stress it caused.
Ultimately, our child therapist’s goal is to help your child feel more confident in handling the big emotions when they arise. We also want to help them relax. This means empowering them to feel like they have more control over their emotions and how they react. Our child therapists want to partner with you to help your child be successful, happy, and well adjusted. Through our work together in child therapy, we can work together to make this goal a reality for you and your kiddo.
Begin Child Therapy in Greenwood, IN:
You don’t have to deal with this alone. Our child therapists are skilled at helping children overcome their challenges so they are ready to take on the world.
To begin counseling in Greenwood, IN, follow these steps:
- Contact our counseling clinic to make an appointment
- Learn more about our counseling practice and our therapy team
- Being trauma treatment and find peace and healing
Other Services Offered at Renewed Hope Counseling Services
In addition to child therapy, our therapists offer a wide variety of mental health services at our counseling center in Greenwood, IN. Our therapy services include anxiety treatment, depression treatment, trauma treatment, EMDR, counseling for new mothers, perinatal anxiety and mood disorders, couples therapy and marriage counseling, teen therapy, and family therapy. We also offer professional EMDR certification and consultations and PMADS consultations. If you can’t make it into our therapy clinic, our therapists offer online therapy in Indiana to treat a variety of mental health concerns. To learn more, please reach out to our counseling clinic.