Psychotherapy with Children
For younger children, play is a natural part of life through which they learn essential skills of relating, and creating and solving problems. Inner conflicts can be explored at a safe distance, and at the child's own pace, through play. My consulting room is discreetly equipped with a range of play activities, including a doll’s house, sand tray, building blocks, doodle toys, paper and pens.
During play sessions with children, I am looking and listening for the unconscious communication present in the activities. As l reflect on what is happening, difficult thoughts can become conscious and bearable, able to be thought about and processed, freeing the mind to move on.
Teenagers and Adolescents
For older children and teenagers, talking may be preferable or more appropriate, but our adolescent emotions can be overwhelming and it can sometimes be hard to know where, or how, to begin. Eye contact can be hard and feel judgemental, leaving an adolescent feeling trapped and scared. Sometimes drawing or writing provides a useful medium for communication too. Once again, the aim is to be able to bring difficult feelings and experiences into consciousness and think about them, making connections with past and present events.
At puberty, the enormous hormonal changes we go through can leave us feeling isolated, confused, angry, out of control etc. Additionally, many questions demand our attention: school exams, bullying, identity, relationships, climate change, global conflict; the list is endless. Adolescence is a time when everything is up for grabs, and finding our place in the world can sometimes seem impossible. Sadly, many adolescents turn to self-harm as a way to escape the endless questions and painful emotions.
Unprocessed emotions and experiences can lead to depression, anxiety, confusion and fear. The internet can provide more questions than answers and in many cases, not give the objectivity we seek.
Psychotherapy, for adolescents, can sometimes be the only place where “taboo” questions can be asked and explored without judgement. A teenager expressing suicidal thoughts or self-harming can be so frightening for parents, and yet it is essential that our young people can verbalise these thoughts and understand that they are not alone or “weird”.
After School Appointments
Although many schools now have their own counselling service during the school day, young people do not always wish to access this as privacy cannot always be guaranteed. They may fear, or experience, bullying or teasing as a result of attending sessions, or worry that if their teachers find out what they have discussed they will be in trouble. Missing academic lessons may create more stress for the student too.
I offer after-school or early evening sessions on weekdays so please contact me to discuss this.