Children

Several of our counselors work with children who are elementary school age and younger. In our work with children of any age, we understand that the influence of a weekly hour of counseling is limited when compared to the influence of the parent-to-child relationship and the family system context. Consequently, our work with children includes our efforts to enfold the parent(s) and the family system into the process of influencing greater individual and relational health.

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Through this approach, the counseling hour is not merely a drop-in-the-bucket effort to influence the child toward health. Instead, it is an opportunity to understand a child’s concept of self and others, so that we can collaborate with parents to foster that child’s healthy self-concept and attachment security within the family unit.

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The goal, then, is that a weekly hour of counseling can translate into countless hours of family experiences with the child that healthily build upon counseling insights and gains.

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Understanding that children become capable of greater autonomy as they navigate each developmental milestone, parental and/or family involvement in the counseling process may be more central to the counseling of younger children than it may be for a late teen. But across the age span from preschool through late adolescence, our counseling approach prioritizes the building of secure attachment relationships between the child and the parents and others in the family system.