Child Counseling Techniques – When do you need them

Bringing up a child is a big challenge. It can become a happy challenge when you have all conditions favorable. Things, however, are not the same always. Children grow in very protective and safe environments find it difficult to cope with situations when life suddenly happens around. Growth and development of children doing and involving various physical, mental and psychological changes like changes in thoughts and feelings. The children once docile become aggressive in the stage of puberty; the reverse can happen too. Till the time, the performance of the child in various fields is not showing any concerning figures, all is good. But, when the children become unmanageably unruly and fail in all aspects of life, it is necessary to meet a child counselor and learn about their needs for child counseling techniques.

Situations when child counseling techniques help

Almost all the problems of children stem from our inability to put ourselves in their shoes. How a child understands what is happening inside and around is way different than how you as a parent see them. Therefore, children need someone to explain to them the changes the way they can understand. Sometimes; they need a non-judgmental ear to vent out whatever is bottled up inside them. The child counselor is trained to handle a child’s dilemma and provide them certain practices which are relatable and followable.

The child counseling provides lot of support in situations like:

Loss of a parent or sibling or pet or anyone close in the family

The fact that men are mortal is not so easy to understand for a child. Especially when it comes to the mother and her presence, children take it as granted fact. So, if anything happens to anyone or both parents, children’s mental health takes a toll. It is natural for them to miss their parents dearly. In fact, they may find it difficult to start living all over again without a parent(s).

In such a situation, the child counseling technique that works is that of listening. It is important for children to understand that missing people is okay. Living in grief, no matter how long they want, is not going to change the facts. Still, they are free to take their time to come out of grieving. New guardians or new family may need practicing monumental patience in dealing with such children. The same emotions are felt when someone closer to children such as pets, siblings or grandparents pass away.

Divorce

A dysfunctional family can disturb the mental peace of a child too. Notably, Children’s needs to want to stay in a happy life, stress-free environments. Those growing up amidst abusive relationships show signs of social withdrawal, talking to the pleasant voices they have in mind and love daydreaming where their parents are living a happy, ideal life. Such children tend to stay away from realities. This leads to an attitude of running away from responsibilities in the future. Child counseling helps such children come to terms with the facts and evolve better in terms of mental health.

Personality issues and bullying

Not all children are the same. Those children born with some deficiency or defects are braving the people around each day. Sometimes, it is their looks, their voice, their color or even the performance that makes them prone to bullying. Such children find it difficult to make friends, to become social, to become lovable and the need for acceptance is too prominent that it leads to some sort of frustration build-up. Child counseling in such cases is required to build confidence and to make peace with the fact about the traits they are born with.

Bullying is a serious issue that can be traumatic to children and they may fall into some sort of trap to become acceptable among the circle of their preference. Adopting bad habits just to please peers is one of the most concerning things that parents need to deal with. Proper love and attention and spending a lot of time in addition to following the advice of counselors help in understanding the thoughts and feelings of a bullied child.

Relocation

A lot of families need relocating to different places due to work demands or in search of new opportunities. Making new friends, getting acceptance in schools, among neighbors and, etc. poses a challenge to growing children. Not knowing what will work and how to adjust to new conditions become too much. It is observed that a few initial months, children moving to a new location feel lonely, sad and confused. They are missing old people and surroundings they have been used to. It does reflect in the form of poor grades, more time spent on reconnecting with old friends over mobile phones and other behavior problems like eating disorders, restlessness, anxiety and depression attacks, etc. Child counseling in this condition is required to develop a sense of moving on

Trauma

Children made to face conditions which are too cruel for them can scar their psyches for life. They exhibit symptoms like self-blame, lack of confidence, the tendency of self-harm, a few amongst many others. They are not able to trust people, develop a sense of withdrawal and exhibit behavior problems like bed-wetting, night sweats, trembling hands, and others. Taking children out of this state is very important. It is important for children to understand that traumatic experience is never larger than the whole life. A bad chapter in life must not dictate its whole future course. It takes a lot of effort, energy, and patience to treat such children. Empathetic counselors serve as a dependable entity to such parents who are responsible for the wellbeing of traumatized children every day.

Kinds of counseling techniques suitable for the child

Various interesting therapies are available to practice. The parents or guardians should learn them from a professional first before trying these themselves. Observing the professional through therapy sessions or letting a professional do it for you can also clarify and fix the children’s problems. Some of the common therapies are:

Family therapy

Family therapy is a type of counseling that focusses on improving the communication between family members and resolving the conflicts eventually. Moreover, Family members need to talk to work things out. The lack of communication certainly leads to bottling up of problems leading to unhealthy relationships. Mostly, this therapy is useful in solving the problem of addiction that any family member is suffering from. When family members come together and vent out their mental condition due to the addictive habits of the child or parents, it does help parent and child learn about the mistake and mending the ways.

See Also: Information about the best available free online therapy for depression and anxiety.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

This is a psychological study in which the person is made to understand the impact of feelings and thoughts on his or her actions or behavior. This therapy improves responses to the stimuli around. It is also helpful in tackling difficult situations with better actions. Therapy sessions that involve this method of correcting behavior involves games, chats, and activities.

Mad game is one such game where a child is made to recognize the situations that drive him crazy. He is then asked to think of better ways of dealing with that situation. Actually, this will work for the two ways. First, children can learn about their angry reactions or aggressive behaviors. Second, it helps them be prepared for the situation when it comes again.

Play therapy

This therapy is used to help children recognize their nature. Through play methods, the child is introduced to various emotions and reactions by giving them various situations. This therapy helps children express themselves clearly and gives them a better way to align their thoughts and feelings with their actions. It also inculcates a feeling of acceptance in children.

So, it is advisable to take the child to therapy sessions when things become too much for both of you to handle. Instead of throwing the children into the deep vent of anger, frustration and confusion, solving their problems help grooming them into happy and confident beings.

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