Parents often wonder, “Should I send my kid to therapy?” “I’ve already tried every reward system and punishment imaginable with no results.” “I wish my kid came with a manual.” Many parents do send their children to therapy, but it’s usually to a traditional talk therapist like in the Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, many children’s brains are not fully developed to understand why they don’t listen to their parents, let alone have a full-on mature conversation about their emotions. I often joke to parents that if you can’t talk your kid in or out of doing something, then how is a counselor, who is a stranger to child, going to do the same thing.
My style and approach to therapy is called behavioral parent training or parent coaching. I frequently work more with the parent(s) in order to teach them the skills and techniques to use with their kids at home. This empowers the parent to be the agent of change. This type of therapy can be more effective and efficient in showing improvements in the child over talk therapy.
How is this possible? Traditional therapy is one hour per week, but through behavioral parent training you get to do the techniques with your child 7 days per week. If your child struggles with noncompliance, ADHD, bedtime issues, habits/tics, homework and organizational problems, picky eating and mealtime concerns, school bullying, lying, encopresis, or enuresis, please contact our office. I like to create a collaborative and fun environment where parents will learn evidence-based techniques and unique solutions to everyday childhood problems.
