We work with children and teenagers of all ages presenting with a variety of emotional and behavioral problems that commonly impact their ability to function well in school, make and maintain friendships and have positive family interactions.
Some of these difficulties can include:
- Changes in mood like appearing more sad, irritable, disconnected, frightened, anxious, angry, hostile
- Changes in behavior like being more withdrawn, regressed, avoiding certain activities, places or people, refusing to do what he or she needs to do in school or at home, being disruptive, overactive, impulsive, aggressive, having tantrums
- Changes in cognition like being more worried, disorganized, confused, having trouble paying attention or intrusive thoughts, poor concentration
- Changes in physical health like having headaches, muscle tension, gaining or losing a significant amount of weight, trouble sleeping, being restless, fidgety, lethargic, having tics
Because the child or adolescent functions within different systems in their daily lives including their family, school, community and culture, we will devise a plan that will address the ways in which the client can be supported by these systems while they are engaging in the therapy process. As such, therapy sessions can be conducted with the client with frequent parent-client sessions, with dyads (parent/client, siblings) or with the whole family.
We also sub-specialize in working with very young children (infants, toddlers, preschool age) in individual play therapy and parent-child dyadic therapy to address concerns such as tantrums, aggression, oppositionality/defiance, fears and separation anxiety. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) and family therapy approaches are commonly implemented to achieve clinical goals.
More information about these difficulties and ways to cope with them is available on the Resources page.
