CHILD, TEEN & FAMILY THERAPY
Identifying the unique needs of family members
Child Therapy
WHAT IS CHILD THERAPY?
Child Therapy is usually based on the idea that children best express their feelings, thoughts and experiences through play. Whereas adults often (but not always) express themselves through words and ideas, children “show and tell” what is happening for them through using the symbolic language of play.
Blue Oak therapy Center has a variety of specially selected toys and games that facilitate a therapeutic process between a child and their therapist. Our therapists are trained to “understand” the language of play and convey to a child their understanding, acceptance and response to the child’s concerns.
HOW DO I KNOW MY CHILD CAN BENEFIT FROM THERAPY?
Some of the signs your child may benefit from therapy are:
Difficulties at school, either with teachers, peers or academics
Sudden changes in mood or behavior
Difficulties with sleeping, eating or going to the bathroom
Irritability, difficult “temper tantrums”, excessive anger or aggression
Sad or scary dreams, nightmares, or fantasies
Preoccupation with ideas, thoughts or feelings that seem inappropriate to their age
Anxiety and depression often manifest differently for children than they do for adults. If your child is having a hard time with their behavior at home, at school or with friends, or if they are having a hard time transitioning from one activity to another, they may be expressing unspoken concerns and fears.
It is always a good idea to call us at (510) 649-9818 and speak with one of our child therapists about whether therapy might be helpful for your child.
HOW DOES PLAY THERAPY HELP CHILDREN?
Play therapy often has a profound healing effect on a child’s life. The ability to communicate their deepest fears, wishes and concerns and the feeling of being understood and received is extremely meaningful on its own. Additionally, our child therapists work with each individual child and their parent to structure the therapy so a child heals their wounds and gain new ways of feeling, thinking and relating.
Play therapy is child-centered, meaning its focus is on the child and their inner worlds. However, our therapists will always work closely and collaboratively with a child’s parent/s to better understand the child in the context of their home, family and community, and to make sure that the gains from therapy carry out into the child’s life outside of therapy.
WHAT CAN THERAPY DO FOR CHILDREN?
Child therapy has been shown to be greatly effective in a wide variety of situations, for children facing a variety of challenges, including:
Separation/Divorce and other family changes
Trauma that the child experienced or witnessed
Grief and loss of loved ones
Recovery from child abuse (physical, sexual or psychological)
School or academic problems
Sleeping or eating problems
Difficulties in relating to other children or adults
Aggression, irritability, anger
Behavior problems
Depression, anxiety and other emotional distress
Adolescent Therapy
WHAT IS ADOLESCENT THERAPY?
Adolescence presents incredible challenges: Teenagers often feel caught in between childhood and adulthood and struggle to find their own identity while undergoing rapid physical, emotional and intellectual growth and change.
Therapy with adolescents often integrates both play therapy and talk therapy, and is tailored around each adolescent’s particular needs and capacity. Though adolescents can use words to convey themselves a lot better than younger children, there are still parts of their experience that are hard to access through words and ideas.
There is often a gap between a teenager’s emotional and intellectual development and capacity. We offer Sand Tray Therapy for adolescents (as well as for children and adults) to specifically address this gap. Through the use of miniatures, one can create stories or scenes that reflect inner experiences and dilemmas.
Other ways to work with adolescents (and younger children) include:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is a modality of therapy focused on thoughts and behaviors. Through talking, thinking and planning together, the therapist may help a teenager with facing specific stressors, phobias or difficulties
Therapy focused on specific issues, such as substance abuse, sexual or other risk-taking, aggression towards peers or family members, truancy and more
Family Therapy
WHAT IS FAMILY THERAPY?
Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy that helps a family, rather than an individual, understand and change dysfunctional familial dynamics, interaction patterns, and communication styles. Family therapy engages the entire family (whatever the configuration may be) in sessions to uncover unhealthy relating strategies, while simultaneously supporting and strengthening a family’s healthy dynamics.
Family therapy helps alleviate emotional pain within a family dynamic by working with the family as a complex relational system, and avoids blaming one family member as the origin of the family’s problems. Research shows that family therapy proves to be very effective in cases of child and adolescent problems, trauma, incest history, domestic violence history, anger management, victims of crime, and addiction in families.
WHAT CAN THERAPY DO FOR FAMILIES?
A family therapist helps and supports families by
Developing, with family members, a family history that identifies the emotional strategies a family uses to cope with difficult emotional transitions, such as divorce, separation, loss of a family member, and trauma
Identifying the familial rules and roles that family members have followed, with or without their conscious awareness
Improving communication between family members
Strengthening healthy relational patterns
Evaluating how families make decisions
Identifying how power is exercised in a family, and helping family members learn the differences between fear and respect
Encouraging and promoting love, understanding, empathy, and forgiveness, while helping family members to understand the role of guilt and blame in family dynamics
Dissolving old wounds and resentments that get in the way of developing healthy relational patterns
Helping families to heal deep wounds due to “family secrets” that cover up shame, usually present in families with a history or incest, abuse, domestic violence, victims of crime, and addiction
Developing a “new narrative” that supports a family to open to new ways of relating and communicating
Identifying how family members, consciously or unconsciously, tend to develop compensatory behaviors as a way to maintain the equilibrium of the family. Some examples include: one parent being too rigid, the other too permissive; one child being “totally responsible”, while the other is “totally irresponsible”; one family member being “too serious”, the other “not taking anything seriously”; some member of the family yearning for contact and connection, while others withdraw avoiding any intimacy
Dealing with external stressors and changes, such as losses, death, remarriage, divorce, life transitions, cultural pressure and expectations on the family
Evaluating acculturation, immigration, multi-cultural, and diversity issues that might influence the ability of the family to function properly
Helping step-families and blended families adapt and grow as a family unit
Reorganizing a family as a cohesive unit that encourages individuals to be independent and interconnected at the same time
CAN FAMILY MEMBERS ALSO SEE AN INDIVIDUAL THERAPIST?
At the Blue Oak Therapy Center, families have the advantage of a community of therapists with different theoretical backgrounds and a variety of experiences located in the same building. This enables a family to have their family sessions with one therapist while individual family members can see another therapist for individual therapy at Blue Oak.
Our Therapists have many different specialties and theoretical backgrounds. Please call (510) 649-9818 or reach out via the link below to find out whether one of our therapists has the experience, skills and training to meet your family’s needs.