Sometimes, children and teens need a little extra help.
As a parent, seeing your child struggle in any way can come as one of the biggest challenges. Unfortunately, some emotional or psychological issues can’t be bandaged or kissed away.
Whether you feel a triggering event has brought on emotional challenges for your child or your child is showing signs something is wrong, seeking child counseling can be vital. At MySpectrum, we offer comprehensive, compassionate support for children and teens who need help a parent may not be able to offer.
MySpectrum makes child and teen counseling available throughout Virginia. Our compassionate, professional services are accessible in-person and through our convenient teletherapy options.
Whether you are near our home office in North Chesterfield, our upcoming office in Springfield, or anywhere else in Virginia, we can provide therapy to your child in a way that is accommodating and comfortable.
Reasons a Teen or Child May Need Counseling
Children and adolescents face challenges just as any adult can, but they also often don’t have the skills to articulate their feelings or work through certain stressors by themselves. Some reasons children and teens may need a child therapist include:
- Issues with anxiety
- Concerns about depression
- Help with ADHD/ADD
- Divorce or home-life disruptions
- Behavioral problems
- Attachment issues
- Eating disorder concerns
- Emotional or physical trauma or abuse
- Substance use or abuse
Signs a Teen or Child Might Need Child Counseling
Unlike adults, children don’t always portray the trademark signs and symptoms associated with a particular problem when they are dealing with some form of psychological distress. Likewise, younger children can show different signs than adolescents. For example, while adults with an anxiety disorder may isolate themselves, a young child might show frustration and a teen could be more prone to simply misbehaving.
Signs that child counseling should be considered include:
- Problems at school, such as falling grades or getting in trouble
- Aggression, anger, or abusive behavior toward caregivers, parents, teachers, siblings, or peers
- Withdrawing from social activities, friends, or family
- Sleep pattern disruptions, such as insomnia, sleeping all the time, or nightmares
- Disinterest in personal hygiene
- Romanticizing death or suicidal ideologies
- Extreme clinginess to parents or fear of separation
- Struggling to follow directions
- Changes in appetite, weight loss, or weight gain
If you’ve noticed any of these signs or feel like something is wrong, child therapy online or in-person should be considered.
The Benefits of Child and Teen Counseling
Children and teens alike can experience issues in life that are difficult to overcome, including psychological challenges. However, through formal counseling with a Licensed child therapist, children are given tools they need to better understand and control their emotions, develop respect, and establish practical coping skills.
Whether a child is dealing with an undiagnosed mental illness, struggling to adjust to a life change, or has faced some type of trauma, timely and effective counseling can place that child on a positive track.
At MySpectrum, we build a customized plan of counseling for every child or teen who is brought to us for help. With a profound interest in coaching children and adolescents to a place where they are equipped to live their best life, we make our interactions energizing and fun. We respect the role of the child’s family unit by offering family therapy when needed. Not only do we provide in-office appointments, but we also offer online therapy for teens and children. For some teens, connecting online might help to normalize “going to therapy”. Reach out today for more information about our counseling for kids services.