Children / Adolescent

Child / Adolescent Therapy

According to Dr. John Bowlby, father of Attachment Theory, when children are securely attached they are more resilient to life’s stressors. Childhood abuse in the form of emotional, physical, sexual abuse, smothering/controlling and neglect, weaken the core self of the child, leaving them more stress averse. Child abuse leads to childhood wounds, leaving the child with what Dr. Judy refers to as “a hole in the soul.”

When children and adolescents are faced with life stressors, the adverse effects surface through behavioral, social and/or emotional issues that are difficult to pinpoint. During treatment, the cause and impact on sensitive developmental stages are assessed and worked through with the involvement of parents.

Childhood and adolescence can be very intense periods. During this phase, children are learning to navigate their world and learn who they are. By allowing them to self-express their pain, they can work through their issues, and prevent them from repeating old patterns, which Dr. Judy refers to as the WTF (What The Freud!). This “working through” allows them to recode into health.

Significant life events can rupture the individual’s development. They include and are not limited to: the death of a family member, friend, or pet, divorce or a move, abuse, trauma, a parent leaving on military deployment or for any other reason, a major illness and/or drug use and abuse in the family.

These stressors can cause symptoms, such as changes in behavior, mood, sleep, appetite, academic or social functioning, and create a high risk for addiction, unwanted pregnancy, extreme stress, rage, family discord, issues keeping a job and managing finances. They also create a high risk for disease and suicide, and a continuation of passing along their mental unhealth to the next generation.

According to the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention:

60% of adults report experiencing abuse or other difficult family circumstances during childhood.

More than 13% of children are bullied both physically and emotionally.

In a single year, 39% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 reported witnessing violence.

More than 60% of youth age 17 and younger have been exposed to crime, violence and abuse either directly or indirectly.

Nearly half of children and adolescence were assaulted at least once in the past year.

FROM A MIND MAP PERSPECTIVE

From a child’s point of view, the world is a huge place and parents are the ones responsible for helping the child learn how to navigate it. When the child feels overwhelmed and fearful and does not have the proper tools to self-soothe, it results in overwhelming emotions.

Childhood wounds in the form of abuse and neglect, disconnect the child from parents, from their core self, and the world at large. As the child grows and enters adolescence, the disconnect can manifest as rebellion.

Being that they are prone to feeling extremely misunderstood, they can act out to get attention. These symptoms are a cry for help. The overwhelming desire to be heard and validated for the pain they are experiencing can be profound.  

If the underlying trauma is not addressed, it may cause issues later in life. These issues may be self-destructive behavior, to include drug use and abuse, sexual promiscuity, rage reactions, eating disorders, and other forms of acting out.

At the Psychological Healing Center®, we believe that by looking at the CAUSE®, of the dysfunction, which is the disconnection from our primary caregivers, we can uncover the root of the pain that the child is experiencing. When we are not mirrored properly as children we will have difficultly self-regulating and being at ease with ourselves through childhood and adolescence.

In treatment, we focus on the specific traumas and childhood wounds that are causing the pain and aim to heal the disconnect to address the adverse behaviors. The treatment addresses ways in which the child adolescent can self-soothe and heal the disconnect and create healthier patterns in life.  By working with the parents and the child, the family disconnect can be addressed and healed. Communication skills in the form of a Peaceful Healing Dialogue© (PHD), a dialogue created by Dr. Judy, is taught as a tool to keep the parent-child bond intact.

By helping the child/adolescent identify the problems that lead to poor self-esteem and self-image, we can help them remove the burden of labeling themselves as “bad,” which erodes self-esteem.

If your child/adolescent is struggling with depression, anxiety, sadness, anger, eating disorders, drug use and abuse, stress, poor self-esteem or grief, please reach out for a consultation. Our trained professionals will work together with you and your child/adolescent to heal the family disconnects and recode new patterns and habits that allow your child to heal and grow.