COUNSELING FOR YOUR CHILD
Play Therapy White Bear Lake / Play Therapy Duluth / Online Play Therapy
Play Therapy for Kids
The therapists at North Woods Christian Counseling are committed to delivering competent and sensitive care, meeting each client where they are at in their process of healing. Using a wide variety of toys, puppets, games, art, and other creative tools, we help children work through their emotions and get to the root causes of their distress. The following has been written to explain our approach:
Why Play Therapy?
For many children traditional talk therapy simply doesn’t work. In light of this, our team utilizes a wide variety of toys, games, puppets, and creative tools like art to make therapy more fun and effective. Play Therapy is a window into a child’s pain, an opportunity to hear a story that words alone cannot tell. For many children this experience is healing, empowering, and ultimately life-changing. Caregivers seek out play therapy for a many reasons. However, common reasons include divorce or separation, illness or death in the family, accident, abuse, neglect, or other life transitions. There are also times when a parent isn’t sure about the cause, but see a concerning change in their child’s mood or behavior. In order to meet each child’s unique needs, our team is able to provide a variety of directive and non-directive methods of Play Therapy.
Directive Play Therapy, Family Therapy, and Parent Coaching
In Directive Play Therapy our therapists actively use strategies and interventions designed to bring about healing and change. In addition to conducting sessions with children, we also may also incorporate sessions with parents and sometimes entire families. These sessions provide us an opportunity to support caregivers in connecting with their children, following through with consistent consequences, and parenting without anger. We know how hard parents work to love and support their children, and so we strive to provide constructive feedback without judgment or shame. When more intensive trauma work is warranted, either Non-Directive Play Therapy or EMDR Therapy may be helpful.
Non-Directive Play Therapy
Non-Directive Play Therapy is a powerful and effective method for children to heal from their emotional pain. By choosing their own toys and directing the play, children will unconsciously reenact their trauma through movement and metaphor. Many children actually look forward to this type of therapy because in the play room they have access to a wide variety of toys, puppets, games, and other creative outlets. They also receive undivided attention from a professional who truly cares about them. Over time, the process allows children to feel supported, validated, and empowered. Caregivers are kept in the loop, and are given helpful feedback and encouragement along the way.
Play Therapy is an ideal way for children to work through their pain because it is a language they can relate to. No matter how difficult a child’s situation, there is always hope!
Counseling for Teens
Emotional Regulation Problems
Is your teen hard to connect with? Do they shut down, give you one word answers, and isolate themselves? Or, do they blow up, oversensitive to the smallest things? These are just a few signs that your teen may be struggling to regulate their emotions. Other signs include acting out sexually, drug use, eating disorders, or excessive screen time. While each of these behaviors are concerning, they are often a symptom of something deeper. In many cases, these behaviors are attempts to “medicate” uncomfortable emotions. Frustrated parents often use fear, shame, and punishment in response, but these changes don’t tend to last. They don’t last because the underlying issues still haven’t been addressed.
Our therapists all have master’s degrees in counseling, with a strong focus on marriage and family therapy. This means that they’re trained to understand the complex emotions and relationships involved in your teen’s life, and will work closely with you to develop a plan to get to the bottom of it. Family therapy, parent coaching, and individual therapy with your teen all might be helpful in the process. Through a variety of therapeutic approaches, your teen will learn to better recognize their emotions, and develop skills to manage them. They’ll also have opportunities to heal from old hurts and improve strained relationships. Raising teenagers can at times be frustrating and discouraging. However, we want you to know that we’re here to support you, and are hopeful for you and your family. While change can be difficult, we know that healing is possible, and would be honored to support you on the journey.
Conflict Resolution and Communication
Raising teens can be challenging, to say the least. So often, teenagers want to freedom of adulthood without the responsibility. Developmentally, even the most caring of teens can think they “know it all.” It’s no wonder that power struggles and conflicts arise, sometimes leading to intense arguing and emotional outbursts. If you’re experiencing some of this at home, know that you’re not alone, and that there is hope!
When families are able to start recognizing common thinking errors and hold to the rules of health communication, the outcomes are wonderful to see! Now, teens and their parents feel understood, valued, and connected. Simple changes can make a huge difference. Sometimes it just takes a fresh set of eyes and a little extra support. If you feel that your teen, or even your whole family could improve communication or conflict resolution, we’re here to help!
We specialize in relationship issues, and can help you identify the family patterns, complex emotions, and relationship issues that lead to conflict, and give you practical tools to get things on back track. So often, family members who deeply love each other aren’t able to experience this love because of how they communicate. Common breakdowns in communication leave people feeling misunderstood, unimportant, frustrated, and alone. Thankfully, through a combination of individual therapy for your child, parent coaching, and family therapy sessions, your therapist will teach you the skills you need to move forward.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please call us at 651-243-2484 or click on the button below. We will do our best to contact you within 1 business day.
