top of page

Child and Family Therapy

 Getting to the root of the problem is the first step in helping your child work through the stressors and traumatic situations they have experienced. Depending on the age of the child, play therapy (including drawing/colouring) may be one of the tools used along with talk therapy.

Play-focused therapy is a therapeutic approach that provides children with the opportunity to ‘play out’ feelings and problems. Toys are used to symbolically represent their inner and outer worlds.

 

Through the use of play the therapist is allowed into the child’s world and enabled to communicate with the child at their level which allows the child to make sense of their experiences. Play- focused therapy is a particularly appropriate treatment for children who have experienced trauma. Traumatic memories are stored at a sensory level and play allows these memories to be expressed and explored non-verbally. Eventually these memories can be integrated into a more verbal narrative.

 

An appropriate combination of structure, acceptance, and attunement in the therapeutic relationship, creates a sense of safety for the child. By projecting feelings and experiences onto toys, children are able to create psychological distance from which to explore traumatic material. Play therapy allows the child to externalize their story, where it can then be better understood and worked through.

Children Embracing in Circle

We specialize in treating trauma. This includes treating children who have experienced trauma. Many situations can be traumatic for children, as they are not able to understand and process events in the same way as adults. 

Children often do not know how to deal with the stressors they face so they cope in other ways or exhibit symptoms: 

  • Nightmares

  • Overwhelming fears 

  • Lack of appetite

  • Regressing to a younger state

  • Lack of concentration

  • Trouble performing in school

How Child Therapy Helps

  • Providing a safe space to talk about their fears or worries

  • Learning to identify and communicate feelings and thoughts in a healthy way

  • Teaching emotional regulation skills

  • Coping skills for how to stop racing thoughts

  • Improving self-esteem, communication skills and self-worth

  • Understanding boundaries

Child Therapy in Ontario

bottom of page