Counseling For Kids
Overview
1.
Purpose of child counseling
2.
When child counseling effective
3.
How to introduce counseling.
4.
How to start child counseling
5.
Forms of child counseling therapy
& Techniques
6.
Summary
How children differ from adults?
Communication with children NOT same as adults!!!
•
Limitation of Verbal skills
•
Handling emotions
Role of a counselor
 Understand the child as an individual
 Rapid cure/ identification of mental weaknesses
 Knowledge of child specific abilities
 Child welfare and improvement
 Understand the social and personal problem faced by the child
Goal and Purpose
Talking to children about counseling
 May feel uncomfortable for parents to bring up mental health topic;
following tips parents may use:
 Find a good time to talk and assure them they are not in trouble.
 Take your child’s concerns, experiences, and emotions seriously.
 Try to be open, authentic, and relaxed.
 Talk about how common the issues they are experiencing may be.
 Explain role of a therapist is to provide help and support.
Starting a counseling session with Child
Expression Method - Play Therapy
 Form of child lead counseling for children experiencing social emotional or
behavioral difficulties.
 Based on most children don’t have the vocabulary to talk about their
experiences as adults would, however are able to express themselves using
language of play
Develop Reversible Thinking
 As a child therapist or counselor, you will need to develop the skill of
thinking in an intellectually reversible manner:
 assess the child from the outside-in as well as from inside-out. In other words, you
will need to be able to look at the child from the perspective of the family
(outside-in) as well as how the family appears from the child’s perceptions
(inside-out).
 You may decide that you can best help children by working with the surrounding
families.
Develop an Approachable Presence
 According to The United States Department of Labor, those who work with children in a
therapeutic environment are most successful when they are compassionate, have welldeveloped interpersonal skills, are good listeners and have superior speaking skills.
 The following characteristics are important areas to develop:
 Gentleness: Children in therapy have often been abused or traumatized. Child therapists
need to feel comfortable speaking in muted tones and using words which are soothing. Their
approach needs to be calm, consistent and free of erratic gestures and expressions.
 Ability to Communicate Empathetically: The therapist needs to be able to put themselves in
the shoes of the child in order to effectively explore childhood feelings. Staying current on
popular toys, games, television characters and shows, creates a common ground from
which conversation can be initiated and developed.
 Personal Childhood Issues Have Been Resolved: On commercial airlines, parents are
instructed to first put on their own oxygen mask before tending to their children in the event
of an emergency. The same principle is vitally important in the case of being an effective
child therapist.
Summary
 develop the ability to think beyond your own mind;
 learn how to think from the standpoint of the child as well as how the
family is affecting the child.
 Develop the ability to relate with children on their own level by familiarizing
yourself and staying current with the particular aspects of the world they
encounter.
 Choose to create a warm and inviting environment from which you offer a
calm and collected presence; a presence which has been freed from
personal childhood issues and therefore feels safe and encouraging.
 Lastly, be the person you would like to spend time with--if you were once
again a child
References
 C. (2019, January 3). Develop Important Skills on the Way to Being a
Children’s Therapist | CareersinPsychology.org. CareersinPsychology.Org |.
https://careersinpsychology.org/skills-childrens-therapist/
 Ackerman, C. E. (2021, January 19). Child Therapy: 19 Counseling
Techniques & Worksheets for Kids. PositivePsychology.Com.
https://positivepsychology.com/child-therapy/
 TherapyTribe. (2019, April 2). Child Counseling: What Is Child Counseling &
What Do Child Psychologists Treat? –.
https://www.therapytribe.com/therapy/child-counseling/