Child, Youth, and Family Counselling
At INDIGROW, we offer counselling for children, youth, and families, as well as parenting support sessions.
We work to adapt our therapeutic style to meet the developmental needs of your child. All of our clinicians who work with children, youth and families from a trauma-informed approach have experience in family therapy as well as play and art therapy techniques. Our clinicians share the perspective that it is our role to work alongside the family and broader support system when we are supporting our young clients. This helps foster safety, secure attachment, and consistent responses for children.
What are some common issues addressed in child and youth therapy?
Anxiety and worries
Low mood and sadness
Challenges self-regulating and expressing emotion in a healthy way
Trauma
Support with social skills and social interaction
Self-image and self-esteem
Attention and impulsivity concerns including ADD and ADHD
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Suicidal ideation
Parent child conflict
How do I know when I should bring my child / youth to therapy?
You may want to consider seeking therapeutic support for your child if:
Your child asks for the support of a counsellor or therapist
Your child appears to be more anxious, worried, withdrawn or sad for an extended period of time - these mood changes can be a normal part of adapting to change, but when they persist over time or your parenting instincts tell you something feels off, you may consider seeking support
Your child is engaging in self-harm
Your child is struggling to adapt to a significant life event (eg parents’ divorce, moving homes, changing schools, having a new sibling, etc)
Your child starts showing some disruptive and concerning behaviours that persist even when you, your partner and their school team have a consistent and stable approach to addressing the behaviour
You are experiencing regular communication breakdowns in your family
You have identified some patterns in your family interactions that aren’t sitting well with you and you are struggling to address or change these on your own.
You and your partner are working on co-parenting or intentional parenting through parent-support sessions and are looking for further support with those changes
When should we consider family therapy?
You may want to consider therapy as a family unit if:
How can Parent Support sessions help?
These sessions are offered to support parents in their parenting approach. This can include general co-parenting support, co-parenting after a separation or divorce, and intentional, attachment-based parenting. You may be looking for support with:
Creating a concrete parenting plan so you can help cue each other and remain on the same page while actively parenting - this allows you to have a calm, pre-planned communication behind the scenes to ensure consistent responses to to your kids
Understanding the ‘need behind the behaviour’ - all child and youth behaviour is a form of communication, sessions provide guidance in how you can work with your child to better understand and meet the need behind their challenging behaviour
Developing fair and consistent responses to challenging behaviour
Understanding the need for structure and routine specific to your child and supporting you in developing that routine in a way that feels stable and sustainable
Understanding how trauma can show up in children and how you can parent from a trauma-informed lens
Managing any parent-to-parent conflict to away from your child and ensuring your remain a team when parenting