Treatment for Children

At Green Life Psychology, we provide counselling and Neurofeedback to children (4-12) and believe it is most important that we develop a safe and trusting relationship with your child but also with you as the parent/carer. We understand that attending counselling can be a bit scary for a child hence we offer flexibility around engaging them in the therapeutic process. This might mean that for the first (or more) sessions, the parent/carer can join the child in their counselling session.

We use a variety of tools to assist your child to express their emotions and tell their stories. These tools can include play, art, music and even drama.

Before the first session, we always encourage parents/carers to talk with their child about what counselling might be like. This means explaining that counselling is a safe place where they can talk about their worries, play and do artwork. It might also be useful to show your child their counsellor’s photo so they can familiarise themselves with who to expect.

When working with a child, we also engage the system around them when needed. This might be consulting with their teachers or having parent sessions without the child being present. We will not contact schools or other services regarding your child without your consent. We also understand that many parents are separated but co- parenting. In these circumstances, we like to include both parents in the counselling process when appropriate.

When working with a child, we understand that background and culture can be an important aspect of their lives. We take this into consideration in shaping our intervention with your child and your family.

At Green Life Psychology, we offer counselling to children around a broad range of issues including:

• Anxiety
• Posttraumatic stress disorder
• Sexual abuse
• Sibling sexual abuse
• Problematic sexual behaviours
• Family violence
• Dealing with changes in the family including parental divorce and separation
• School refusal
• Bullying
• Sleeping difficulties
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Behaviour issues- boundaries
• Adjustment difficulties
• Fears and phobias
• Anger
• Bullying
• Friendship difficulties
• Family relationship difficulties