How Our Therapists Help Your Family
Through counseling children and adolescents, we help children coping with trauma to become emotionally expressive. Children and families build confidence and self-esteem though a strengths play based approach. Children encounter empathy and compassion during sessions but may also be challenged.
Initial assessment can usually be scheduled within 1-2 weeks. If you or someone you know could benefit from play therapy do not hesitate to email or call.
Play Therapy: As a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, I help children and adolescents express themselves through a variety of mediums. I use puppets, art, games & toys, to assist children who may not have the words to adequately express their thoughts and feelings.
Sandtray Therapy: Using miniatures, the child creates their version of the world in the sandtray. This provides the therapist access to a deeper level of the individual’s consciousness. This allows the child to enhance connections, apply problem solving skills, and better relate to the world around them.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Through the use of bilateral brain stimulation, children process traumatic memories until they are no longer disturbing.
Theraplay: Theraplay is a child and family therapy for building and enhancing attachment, self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement. The child and parent participate in a series of games which strengthens the parent-child relationship.
AutPlay: Kim is a certified AutPlay provider. AutPlay is a play therapy approach to working with children and parents affected by autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dysregulation issues, other neurodevelopmental disorders, and developmental disabilities. It combines the therapeutic approaches of play therapy and behavioral therapy along with relationship development approaches together in a collaborative model to assist children and adolescents in gaining needed skills and abilities. AutPlay Therapy is a combination of behavioral and developmental methodology that is both therapist-led and parent-led.
Training for Adoption Competency: Through individual counseling, a skilled clinician can help young people identify and express themselves including complex feelings related to adoption, which is important to the healing process. Most often, individual counseling helps the child or teen prepare to share their struggles with their parents in the family sessions. With teens, the promise of confidentiality gives them permission to explore the difficulties they are experiencing (however, it is important to know that confidentiality has its limits where safety is concerned.)
Motivational Interviewing: MI is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. MI is a guiding style of communication, that sits between following (good listening) and directing (giving information and advice). MI is designed to empower people to change by drawing out their own meaning, importance, and capacity for change. MI is based on a respectful and curious way of being with people that facilitate the natural process of change and honors client autonomy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on changing the automatic negative thoughts that can contribute to and worsen emotional difficulties, depression, and anxiety. These spontaneous negative thoughts have a detrimental influence on mood.
Through CBT, these thoughts are identified, challenged, and replaced with more objective, realistic thoughts.
Interested in finding out more how these techniques can help your child? Email kim@butterflybeginningscounseling.com for more information.