Therapy Techniques
~ Child & Teen Therapy ~
Along with a strong client-therapist relationship, evidence-based practices are at the heart of counselling success. At Begin, your clinician will work with you to develop a treatment plan that is right for you.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
When two people react differently to the same stressful situation (such as being on a rollercoaster), the difference often comes down to how we think about it...after all, our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are intricately connected (CBT triangle). In this way, your clinician will help your child or teen examine their existing beliefs and identify unhelpful thought patterns, to re-evaluate they way you think, feel, and cope with stressful events.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
While identifying life's challenges is important, it is even more important to consider possible solutions. By incorporating this strength-based approach, your clinician will help your child or teen notice all the good things happening around them, as well as their own strengths and resources, to help them find helpful solutions to everyday problems.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)
Originally designed to help children and adolescents who have experienced significant trauma, your clinician will apply aspects of this approach to help your child or teen talk about and process traumatic events in a way that feels safe and supported (e.g., by talking "around" the traumatic event, such as "trauma reminders" versus talking about the trauma itself). Slow and careful exposure to traumatic memories is essential.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
When trauma happens, we can become "stuck" by the memories and triggers associated with the traumatic event. Sights and sounds remind us of what happened, to the point where we may be plagued by nightmares or flashbacks, or become debilitated by overwhelming feelings of sadness, guilt, or hopelessness. If you are struggling to manage symptoms of post-traumatic stress, your clinician may suggest EMDR therapy to help you process and resolve your emotional distress. (And it doesn't have to be eye movements; your child can choose your type of sensory stimulation as they think about and process these memories, even listening to ocean waves!)
Play Therapy
Play therapy uses (you guessed it!) play to help children learn about and cope with upsetting thoughts, feelings, and situations. Through play and other interactive activities, your child will be able to express themselves in their own, unique way, with your clinician supporting the play experience to help your child make sense of the experiences happening in their lives. From puzzles and games to role playing and drawing, play therapy is an empowering way for your child to learn and practice new coping strategies.
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