counselling | kids + teens
Children and adolescents (or teens), build social skills and emotional intelligence as they grow. Our therapists provide a safe space for your child to learn how to process thoughts and emotions.
As a parent, it’s extremely difficult to see your child struggle, whether it be with school, emotional regulation, communication skills or bullying. At times when you’re feeling helpless or without solutions, counselling may be beneficial in providing support for your child’s mental health and wellness. Individual therapy for children and adolescents integrates a range of evidence-based practices and interventions with an understanding of developmental tasks of childhood and emerging adulthood in today’s society.
Our therapists understand the struggles that children and adolescents face, and can help in guiding them towards a path of resilience. They can help support your child in developing self-regulation skills, communication strategies and coping strategies during their developmentally vulnerable periods in life, as well as help them navigate sexuality, social media, drug use and family separation or losses.
be you. be well.
therapy can be a safe space for kids + teens to process thoughts and emotions
your wellbe therapists
Tiffany Lewis and Jordan Virtue provide therapy for teenagers 13 years and above, while all other therapists see children 6 years and above.
FAQ
If you have any questions about counselling or therapy for kids + teens, please use our chat box, or contact us.
Booking a consultation call with a therapist is a great way to answer this. During these 15 minutes, you’ll have the opportunity to share some of your challenges, and hear from a therapist around what might be helpful moving forward to work through these experiences.
Length of time in therapy is unique for each individual. There are many options including: short-term structured psychotherapy to address and work through specific challenges (6-8 sessions), or longer term psychotherapy to understand and heal symptoms and experiences that have had a significant impact on wellbeing. Additionally, using counselling and psychotherapy as a tool for ongoing self care and mental health can be a lifelong tool for wellness.
Your child's therapist will likely support and encourage them to notice how they're feeling both during and in-between sessions. Beginning to notice and tune into how they feel can begin to answer this. Your child's therapist is always holding a “big picture” perspective of their health and wellness and may offer recommendation or adjunct treatments to support their psychotherapy process, for example using mindfulness and yoga to support progress in psychotherapy.
Counselling and psychotherapy can be helpful at any age. For parents with infants and young children, being apart of the therapy process can be supportive and help to identify areas of growth for each individual and within the relationship. Children between the ages of 4- 5 may be ready to engage in individual psychotherapy with a therapist who specializes in working with children.
At this time, OHIP does not cover this type of therapy and counselling. If you have extended health care insurance,Social Work and/or Psychotherapy may be covered under your benefit plan (please consult your benefit plan package for more information). For a referral to OHIP covered counselling or other community based resources, feel free to connect with one of our Social Workers.
CBT ( Cognitive behaviour Therapy) is one treatment approach and method that has been proven to improve symptoms of anxiety and depression amongst other symptoms. Our therapists are trained and informed on a range of interventions including CBT, DBT, EFT, EMDR, SMT, and Narrative therapy. Each therapist will engage in a comprehensive assessment to support and determine the best approach moving forward. Often times, pulling strategies from a range of treatments can be impactful.
Our therapists are trained and informed on a wide range of interventions and will engage in a comprehensive assessment to support and determine with you the best approach moving forward. Often, pulling strategies from a variety of modalities is impactful. Equally important to the approach used, is what we call the ‘goodness of fit’, or the relationship you experience with your therapist. It is important for your child to feel comfortable. Therapy may not always feel easy, but you and your child should expect it to feel safe.