Our counselors’ expertise in child play therapy allows us to help families work through many of life’s challenges. By focusing on techniques like play therapy when working with kids and families, it enables children to express themselves in their language.
Do any of these situations apply to you?
- Your child’s worries get in the way of enjoying life
- You’re exhausted from dealing with your child’s explosive behavior and moods
- You’re concerned about your child’s peer relationships?
Here are just a few of the issues we help families with every day:
- ADD/ADHD
- Adoption and Attachment issues
- Anxiety
- Separation Anxiety in Kindergarten
- Behaviors at Home and School
- Bullying
- Depression
- Divorce Impact
- Emotional Regulation
- Grief
- Parent/Child Relationship Issues
- Peer relationships
- Self Esteem
- Self-Harm
- Sleep issues
- Tantrums
Parents, you usually contact us for help when you feel like you are out of ideas, or your child’s school or pediatrician suggests child play therapy to help you find solutions to the challenges your child is facing. We work with kids and families for child play therapy throughout Northern Virginia, including Fairfax and its surrounding areas.
A Little Bit About Getting Started
For children under 10, the first meeting within the child play therapy process is a parent meeting. This parent meeting is called the intake and is usually 1 to 1.5 hours. The purpose of this meeting is for us to meet each other, go over the reason(s) for the referral, and gather background information. This will be helpful in putting together a plan to help your child.
The next session, a child play therapy session, is typically for 45 minutes. We meet with you and your child for part of the time and if your child is comfortable we will meet with them the remainder of the child play therapy session alone.
We then meet with your child for the next 2 sessions to get to know them, build trust and assess what the issues are and how we can proceed with child play therapy treatment. If needed, we will request permission to contact your child’s school or other professionals working with your child.
For the 5th session we schedule a parent meeting to discuss what we have learned about your child and discuss a treatment plan.
In therapy, some children are very conversational and are ready to express their thoughts and concerns with words. However, many are not able to do this and act out what’s bothering them through behavior. This can take the form of bullying, withdrawing from others, temper tantrums, hitting, etc. This is where incorporating play therapy for kids provides a window into kids’ worlds and helps to bridge the gap between the problem behaviors and expressing them through language.
As trained child play therapists, we find that child play therapy interventions, including art, sand tray and play are extremely beneficial to many kids in addressing and resolving what’s troubling them. We also incorporate traditional therapy interventions when working with children such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, (CBT).
It is important to remember that many problem behaviors might have persisted over time, and it often takes patience and a spirit of teamwork to develop new behavior patterns.
“Our pediatrician recommended we bring our 10 year old son to a therapist, and like many parents, we were very hesitant and nervous about what to expect. From our first phone call with the Counselor, we were immediately relieved and put at ease. Our Counselor seemed to really listen and care about our challenges. In our early discussions, a lot of time was spent helping us to identify our son’s issues and goals for therapy for him. As parents we both felt comfortable and excited about the benefits counseling would have for him. From the first session to the last, our son loved his visits and the subtle but powerful change in him was almost immediate. Every session was different and our son always came out with a smile on his face and stories of the games they had played and the good talks they had had. Through these weekly meetings, our Counselor was able to help identify and help our son work through much of what had been causing him anxiety.”
Our professional counselors help parents who have tried everything. Contact us for child and play therapy throughout Northern Virginia, including Fairfax and its surrounding areas.
