Paediatric Counselling
“Using creative therapies and play therapy strategies in counselling to help clients strengthen, heal and grow”
—PHILIPPA MIERENDORFF (Counsellor & Creative Therapist)
As a post graduate qualified counsellor and NESA accredited teacher, Philippa has spent the past 18 years supporting and educating children, working with disabled clients, and more recent years working to help individuals and families through stressful and difficult life situations. Counselling and Creative Therapies, is a place where clients can explore their thoughts and feelings through therapeutic creative and play strategies in a safe predictable environment allowing them to grow a sense of responsibility and control over feelings, to establish an internal sense of safety, and to explore strategies for coping with change.
How does child counselling work?
To be effective, child counselling needs to start by creating a safe environment for the child to explore and express the things they’re struggling with. Not all children can explain what’s going on for them in words so in our child counselling sessions at Necessity Kids we use a variety of different therapy modalities with children.
What to expect during a child counselling session?
At Necessity Kids the first counselling session is an opportunity for the counsellor to talk with the child’s parents or carers. The purpose of the first session is for the counsellor to gain an understanding of the issues and to meet the child. A child therapy plan can be discussed at this stage. After that, the counsellor is likely to work with parents or carers to provide them with feedback on counselling sessions with their child through email, or alternatively phone appointments or in-person update appointments can be arranged.The type of counselling used for children aged from 4yrs to 12yrs varies, according to age, the issues at hand and personality type. Sometimes more than one type of therapy will be used. A child counselling session may include:
Play therapy
Expressive therapies (art, drama, sand tray, stories)
Talking therapy
What to expect from a counselling and creative therapies sesion?
-
Acquire new social skills.
Become more empathetic.
Develop self-esteem, self-respect and self-acceptance.
Develop respect and acceptance of others.
Find new and creative solutions to their problems.
Gain confidence.
Know how and when to ask for help.
Learn to experience and express their emotions in appropriate ways.
Take more responsibility for their behaviours, actions and choices.
-
Abuse, trauma or neglect
Adoption
Anger management
Anxiety
Behavioural problems (such as aggression, defiance, oppositional and controlling behaviours)
Bereavement and Loss
Bullying
Depression
Disabilities including Autism and Developmental Delays
Divorce and separation
Learning Difficulties
Obsessive behaviours
Self-harm and suicide ideation
Separation anxiety
Sibling Rivalry
-
An ongoing shift in sleeping patterns (including increased sleep and disturbed sleep)
A significant increase in talking about worries
Frequent lying or distortions to reality when recounting events
More frequent episodes of anger or anxiety
Noticeable changes in emotional expression (either heightened or greatly subdued)
Withdrawal from friends, school and hobbies