Psychology Therapies for Children
Defining the Common Mental Health Treatments Effective with Kids
Psychologist, Pauline Kafka PhD, guides parents on effective therapies commonly used with children experiencing emotional issues or behavioral problems.
When a child needs psychological assistance, parents must make important treatment decisions, often with little knowledge of their options. Even paediatricians, educators, and social workers cannot always provide guidance beyond suggesting a psychological or psychiatric assessment. This article provides basic information on the several more common and successful methods for treating children.
Therapies that Help Kids
Play therapy uses toys and the process of play to help pre-verbal or verbally impaired children heal troubling emotions. The non-threatening activity of play helps children express feelings (in words and play), improve social interaction (with therapist as the model/teacher), and gain personal mastery. This type of therapy is especially useful for children who are young, not articulate, or who are withdrawn or shy.
Art therapy uses art and the process of creating art to help process emotions, especially those arising from illness, loss, or trauma. Art therapy also creates an opportunity for personal mastery and pleasure from creativity. This therapy is also useful with children who are young, shy, or not especially verbal. The art is a tool to help them open up and experience new, more positive, thoughts and feelings.
Supportive Therapy/Grief Counselling therapies also focus on helping children cope with feelings. The main function is to provide a safe place where children can express themselves and begin to accept their situation. The therapist’s role is to provide support and empathy. Because this therapy requires the ability to converse, it is not useful for young children or verbally impaired kids. It can be helpful for articulate children, pre-teens, and teens open to talking with a professional.
Family Therapy,unlike the other therapies, directly helps the entire family. The belief is that any child problem can be corrected by shifts in relationship quality to better meet the needs of all family members. This type of therapy is effective for resolving many child behavior and emotional problems including depression, anxiety, behavior problems, and eating disorders. It is also useful in assisting families in crisis or transition.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is used to help replace dysfunctional thinking or behavior with those that are more functional. It is believed that altering thoughts or behaviors can help heal underlying emotions. CBT is useful with children struggling with anxiety, phobias (like school phobia), social issues, ADHD or other impulse control, conduct, or anger-related problems. For this therapy to be effective with children, parents need to learn the CBT techniques being taught and use them at home.
Behavior therapy aims to alter dysfunctional behavior. Therapists attempt to eliminate or lessen the problem behavior by applying reinforcement schedules (withdrawing privileges or providing reward for target behavior). Like CBT, parents must maintain these reinforcement schedules at home for them to work. This therapy is useful for behavioral problems not complicated by serious emotional, psychological, or family issues and is often employed in conjunction with drug or other therapies.
Choosing Effective Treatments
Choosing an effective therapy depends on several factors, the most critical being a thorough understanding of the problem. Certain problems respond best to particular interventions and some may be complicated enough to require multiple treatments either simultaneously or sequentially.
Treatment choice also depends on the desired outcome, the realistic outcome, available resources, and the child’s characteristics and capacities. Not all children are suited for all therapies. Parents, along with the child’s physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or educators can help evaluate child capacities so the most appropriate psychological treatment is chosen.
To understand how parents can help mental health professionals diagnose their child, refer to the Suite 101 article Children and Behavior Problems.
