Child and Adolescent Therapy

Play Therapy

Child-Centered Play therapy taps into the natural method for learning, healing, and growing that your child already uses every day. Children use their play to make sense of what happens to them in their day-to-day lives, vent their feelings, and to learn and practice new skills. Have you ever noticed your child go through a phase of intense interest in one toy or game? When kids play like this, they’re often working on learning something new about themselves or the world around them.

In play therapy, kids are given a way of communicating their feelings and exploring problems that doesn’t rely on sitting still, looking an adult in the eyes, and using their words. Even smart and articulate kids can have trouble verbalizing everything that they are feeling and experiencing. In play therapy, there is no pressure to say or do the right thing, and the events and feelings that are most pressing to them at the moment are able to arise naturally through the play. The therapist is deeply to attentive to the child, providing commentary of play and reflecting, needs, wishes and emotions evident in the interactions with the toys

Play therapy helps children:

• Become more responsible for behaviors and develop more successful strategies

• Develop new and creative solutions to problems

• Develop respect and acceptance of self and others

• Learn to experience and express emotion

• Cultivate empathy and respect for thoughts and feelings of others

• Learn new social skills and relational skills with family

• Develop self-efficacy and thus a better assuredness about their abilities

• Recover from loss or trauma

Structured Play Therapy involves setting up expressive activities and game play to help children work through particular issues and address developmental needs. With this treatment, the therapist chooses the most appropriate activities or games in order to facilitate targeted skill development. We use this approach with children of all ages and in combination with other child therapy approaches.

Sandtray Therapy

Sandtray therapy makes use of a physical or virtual sandbox, toy figures, symbols and sometimes water, to create scenes of miniature worlds that reflect a person’s inner thoughts, struggles, and concerns. This form of play therapy is practiced along with talk therapy, using the sandbox and figures as communication tools. It is used with children, adolescents and adults.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children and Adolescents is an effective and evidence-based therapeutic approach that aims to help children develop healthier thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Our compassionate and skilled Thrive Alchemists work closely with children to identify negative thought patterns and behavior cycles that may be causing distress or hindering their progress. Through a combination of cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, and behavioral techniques, we empower children to learn new coping skills and make positive changes in their lives. Our child-friendly and interactive sessions create a safe space for open communication, enabling children to express themselves freely and explore their feelings. Together, we collaborate with parents and caregivers to ensure a comprehensive and tailored approach to each child's unique needs. Whether at our office or virtually, we strive to make CBT an engaging and transformative experience that nurtures emotional growth and fosters lasting resilience in children and youth.