Kid Therapy
When challenges and difficulties arise, kids want a safe and protected space to talk to someone they like and trust. As a therapist I provide this space.
The goal of kid therapy the way I practice it (primarily through Gestalt Play Therapy) is to create more self-awareness, integration and resilience so that kids have more tools for emotional expression and additional ways of getting their needs met.
The therapeutic process is relational and dialogic and takes place in the here and now of the present moment. It is also experiential and experimental, and provides a relationship in which kids have new experiences of themselves. This approach to therapy for children and adolescents makes it alive and fun for your kiddo.
It has been said that toys are words for kids and play is there language. I use a lot of toys and games in therapy to help kids express themselves in new and more accurate ways. Play therapy also helps kids reclaim old disowned parts of themselves while encouraging them to discover new and resourceful parts.
Over the course of our work together kids become more of who they are, continuing on their developmental path from a more resourced and resilient place. This helps them better manage and enjoy their lives outside of the therapy office.
“Helping the child become aware of her process is a prime goal of the Gestalt therapist. As a child becomes more aware of her functioning in the therapy experience—who she is, what she feels, what she likes and does not like, what she needs, what she wants, what she does, and how she does it—she becomes aware and integrated. She has more choice for emotional expression, getting her needs met, and for exploring new behaviors. This awareness happens through the various experiences and experiments that the therapist provides in the process of play therapy.”
-Violet Oaklander, Play Therapy in Action