Therapy for Children & Young People

Working With Children & Young People

Working with children and young people is very different - they are not mini-adults and when you are looking for a therapist it is important that they have training and experience with working with this age group.

Many young people struggle to express the difficulties they are facing. This might be a problem of finding the right words, but often it is just because they don't know. By exploring some of the things that are going on for them it can often make sense in a way that it didn't before. This might be done using words, but very often it is through activities, games and play.

How Do I Work?

It is so important to build up confidence and trust when working with young people, and this can take time and patience. At times this might be talking, but at other times it is just playing Uno, Jenga or colouring in. They are also ways to be able to express themselves, explore or maybe to just relax. I don't have a plan or a strategy - things we must do or things we should do - I am guided by what the young person needs.

By taking this approach, very often difficulties can be worked through in a much kinder and more appropriate way - and often a way that is much more effective.

What Can I Help With?

I work with a broad range of clients, both in age, but also in terms of neurodiversity and those that identify as LGBTQ+. For many anxiety sits underneath a lot of their difficulties, and exploring this and understanding better can really help - I like to help young people understand better about what might be going on in their brains and in their bodies, which can also help, along with some basic 'techniques' - which all become part of their toolkit of managing it all.