Therapy Services

Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy

Child & adolescent psychotherapy is a therapeutic treatment for children, young people, and their families who may be experiencing emotional and psychological difficulties.

This type of therapy emphasizes the significance of early childhood experiences & relationships and their impact on the internal world of the child. From the moment we are born, we are ready to relate to others around us, and these early years can shape our relationships with ourselves and others across the life cycle.

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists are particularly trained to carefully observe children & adolescent’s and understand what they may be communicating through their behaviour & play. Often children can show that they are struggling with emotional & psychological issues through behavioural symptoms, how they view themselves, or the way they relate to others.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapists are one of very few professionals who are trained to understand not only non-verbal communication but also the non-verbal communication, expressed through play. Therapists are trained to closely observe a child/adolescent and respond to what they might be communicating about their inner emotional world through their behaviour, play or words. They are skilled at helping children make sense of their feelings and put them into words. This method of treatment is very beneficial when children struggle to verbalize their feelings.

Psychotherapy for Children ( 3-12 years)

The developmental pathway from childhood to adulthood can be a rocky road for some children & their families who support them. It can be a journey full of challenges that change as children grow and develop. Some children/adolescent’s come to therapy when their parents feel their development has become stuck or regressed. Some other reasons for therapy may be that their child is finding the ordinary experiences of growing up too much to manage on their own. Their also can be many dynamics that may contribute to a child’s difficulties such as complicated family relationship, educational pressures, bullying or bereavement to name a few.

The child may begin to exhibit challenging behaviour, become silent or withdrawn which in turn causes worry for those around them. These feelings and behaviours can sometimes also impact other aspects of their lives, like hindering their capacity to learn and engage in education. Parents can sometimes also feel stuck and unsure of how to help their child and therefore seek professional help.

For younger children ( 3 – 12years) psychotherapy uses play as its medium to help children. In the therapy sessions the child will have toys to play with as well as some art materials, sand etc. This is to help the child to express what is on his or her mind.

Child psychotherapy offers a safe, reliable space where the child can discover and work through their feelings with the therapist using a mixture of undirected play, drawing and talking. Through this process, the child is helped to put their feelings into words rather than act them out. Children are helped to make sense of their experiences and to understand how these feelings can impact their behaviour and emotional wellbeing. As a result then, the child may begin to feel less anxious and better able to build and nurture their relationships with those around them while developing their uniqueness and potential.

Adolescent/Teen Psychotherapy

Steering through the turbulence of adolescence can be a stormy process for the young adolescent and their parents. As we know adolescence is a time of great change and discovery for the young person as they begin to negotiate the many challenges linked to puberty, separation and the desire for greater independence from family, the growing importance of friendships and being part of a group, the search for identity, exploring sexuality, the pressures of school exams and plans for the future.

Some of these named challenges can feel overpowering for adolescents and they can at times turn to ways to rid themselves of the confusion, such as engaging in unsafe and risk-taking behaviour like substance abuse, sexualised behaviour, violence and aggression, self-harm, while others may become withdrawn and silent. For many parents this age group can be particularly hard to understand and parenting through these years can be a struggle as sometimes it can be difficult for parents to relate to or know how to help their teen children. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy can help with a range of difficulties such as:

• Low mood depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Worry, fears & phobias
• Sleeping difficulties
• Suicidal thoughts
• Self-harm and destructive behaviour
• Addiction & substance misuse
• Difficulties at school
• Problems with peer & family relationships
• Psychosomatic symptoms
• Eating disorders
• Adverse childhood experiences eg: the impact of trauma, abuse, neglect
• Issues relating to sexuality
• Coping with life events (parental separation, death in the family, chronic illness

Psychotherapy with teens/adolescents is more like adult forms of therapy in that it involves mostly talking and thinking together about difficulties. However, greater flexibility is required when working with young people. So, any medium of expression that the adolescent uses or relates to, such as music, art, television, film, books, sport etc. can be used in the process of therapy. Within this space thoughts and feelings are slowed down and explored together with the therapist. It is a space for reflection where hidden patterns of behaviours and ways of relating can be observed and thought about, creating the opportunity to know and connect with oneself in a different way. As a result, repetitive patterns of thinking and behaviours created earlier in childhood can be broken down, relieving a young person from their troubling symptoms and creating the conditions of opportunity to experience their relationships and live life differently.

The aim of therapy is to help children & adolescents gain a greater degree of self-understanding in the setting of a secure therapeutic relationship. It provides a safe space for the child/ adolescent to make sense of sad, angry, painful or confusing thoughts and feelings. Child psychotherapists are trained to work with children of all ages, over time the therapist gains an understanding of the child’s unconscious and its role in influencing current patterns of behaviour and relating.

Here at Bonsai therapy, we believe that a child’s/adolescent’s behaviour is an important form of communication to the adult world about the nature of their internal, emotional world, which may or may not differ from their external everyday experiences. My approach as a psychotherapist is to search beneath the surface of symptoms, difficult emotions, behaviours, and relationships to help children, adolescents and their families reveal what lies beneath and understand themselves and their worries better, offering the potential for psychological growth and new beginnings.

We offer individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy sessions for children and adolescents. For both younger children & adolescents the length of therapy depends on the complexity and severity of the presenting problem. Goals for therapy may be specific (change in behaviour, improved relationships with friends or family), or more general (less anxiety, better self-esteem).

Sessions take place on the same day at the same time each week in the same room for ongoing therapy. Consistency is an important element of the therapeutic process and the building of a therapeutic relationship.

Parents/guardians will be offered regular meetings with our psychotherapist to discuss the progress the child is making, as well as to discuss all the ongoing concerns and worries they may have while the child is in treatment.