It takes courage to seek therapeutic support, and additional strength and energy to seek that support on behalf of your child. While it can feel nerve-racking for parents to reach out to a therapist for the first time, helping your child initiate and participate in therapy is ultimately a demonstration of love and respect. By bringing your child to therapy and creating this healing space for them early on in their lives, you are providing them the opportunity to be more successful as adults. Knowing what to expect can help you and your child feel more prepared and confident to begin this therapy journey. Here is what you might expect when your child starts therapy at Self Space and some answers to common questions. 

What is Child Therapy?

Child therapy is an open and non-judgemental space for children and youth to receive emotional support while also gaining skills and tools to bring about positive changes in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Developmentally appropriate activities like games, art, and play are used in session to support children in processing their world and gaining skills and tools for positive coping and communication.

With children and youth, it is especially important that they feel safe and secure in the therapeutic environment. This often means that the first few sessions are spent just getting to know your child and building rapport. Therapy will not be successful unless your child feels safe and comfortable, and it can take a while before they really open up with their therapist. While it might feel frustrating to some parents to not see immediate improvement, know that the process requires patience and trust. 

Getting Started

All parents have the option to engage in a free 15 minute phone consultation to briefly discuss their primary concerns, ask questions, and determine whether they would like to move forward with therapy for their child at Self Space. If you decide to proceed, we will set up an initial appointment. All intake and consent paperwork will be sent electronically to complete online before the first session. Before your initial appointment, we recommend that you take some time to think about how to describe your child’s behaviors that are concerning to you and how you would like to describe these concerns with your child present. 

The First Session

The first session will include the parent and the child. If more than one parent is present in the child’s home and will be providing support to the child ongoing, both parents are welcome to attend the first session. During this first session, the therapist will get to know your child and family a bit better, learn more about your child’s history and what brought them to therapy, and hear about their strengths. It is important that both the child and parent attend this first session so the therapist can get a holistic understanding of how best to support your family. At the end of this first session, you and your child will have an open discussion with the therapist about whether it feels like a good therapeutic fit and whether you would like to proceed with more sessions for your child. 

Ongoing Sessions

If you and your child decide to proceed with therapy, ongoing sessions will incorporate talk, developmentally appropriate activities including art and play, practicing skills and strategies to support healthy coping and positive communication, and problem-solving. Your child will likely be asked to practice the skills and techniques learned in therapy outside of their sessions in their daily lives. 

Parent Involvement In Children’s Therapy

Children are usually more successful on their therapeutic journey when their parents are involved and provide support both in and out of therapy sessions. However, the level of parent involvement will depend on a number of factors including the child's age, child’s personal comfort level being in therapy sessions without their parent, and your family’s goals for therapy. Typically, parents can expect the therapeutic process to look like a mix of child only sessions, sessions with the child and parent, and at times sessions with just the parent where the therapist provides the parent(s) with resources, skills and strategies to best support the child. 

Children and youth have a right to confidentiality, meaning that the therapist will not tell parents everything that is discussed in the session. Therapists may share general information (e.g. treatment approach, recommended ways that caregivers can support their child) with parents so that they can successfully contribute to their child's therapeutic experience. However, there are limits to confidentiality and parent participation is required if a child’s therapist has a concern about their safety. 

How Long Does Your Child Need to Be In Therapy?

Child therapy is not a one size fits all approach and the length of time your child is in therapy depends on a variety of factors including your child’s specific needs, parent’s involvement in therapy, and therapy goals. Therapy can last just a few months, or a year or more.

As children and youth move through life and encounter new stressors or life transitions, the need to return to therapy may arise even after they have completed an initial course of therapy. At Self Space, we hope to build lasting authentic relationships so families always feel welcome to re-engage and receive additional support. 

Hannah Scheuer is a Self Space Therapist who works with children, teens and families navigating a variety of adverse experiences including relationship challenges, life transitions, trauma, depression, and anxiety.  She loves helping her clients become more grounded, connected, and empowered.