Child Therapy

Child displaying increased confidence after therapy sessions in the East Bay

What’s going on with my kiddo?

Nothing is worse than watching our children struggle with baffling behaviors. Are you feeling surprised, overwhelmed, or worried about shifts in your child’s temperament or behavior? Children develop so quickly! It can be disorienting trying to keep up and discern what is “normal kid stuff” and what might require some extra attention.

At Little Dove Counseling, we provide child therapy services in Walnut Creek, CA to help you answer this question. Our team of experts adores working with children and believes child therapy should be an engaging and meaningful experience for the whole family. You may be wondering if your child would benefit from child therapy.

How do I know if my child would benefit from therapy?

Areas to consider when thinking about the need for child therapy include your child’s experiences, circumstances, and behaviors.

Experiences:

Loss of a loved one

Change of school, home, or family make up

Divorce

New baby joining the family

Adoption

Foster Care

Car Accident

Medical Trauma

Separation from a parent

Circumstances:

A chronically ill caregiver

Stressful school environments

Parents in the middle of a divorce

Medical Diagnosis

Behavior:

Difficulty sleeping/nightmares

Prolonged tantrums

Excessive tearfulness

Shutting down

Hitting/kicking/biting/throwing

Panic

Difficulty connecting with peers

Forgetfulness

Trouble completing schoolwork and daily living activities

Persistent Anger

Exhaustion/overwhelm

Fear of separating from caregivers

Our team of child therapists are specially trained to help find out what the meaning underneath the behavior is and how to address it. We believe behaviors are symptoms of needs that are not expressed clearly. When providing child counseling, we work to play detective with the parent and the child to solve this mystery.

Parents observing positive changes in child's emotional health in the East Bay

Modalities in child counseling may include…

Play Therapy

Expressive Arts Therapy

Family Play Therapy

Parent Coaching

Ok, but what does it look like in the therapy room?

We combine the language of children, which is play with therapeutic intervention. Activities may include:

Drawing

Sandtray

Dancing

Acting

Talking

Communication
Games

Emotion
Identification
Games

Attachment
Building Games

Regulating
Games

Story
Telling