Child and Adolescent Counseling

Mental health and behavioral issues in young people have increased. Children and teenagers today are bombarded with overwhelming pressure and messages about who they should be, what they should do, and how they should think. Then you add issues of bullying, peer pressure, social anxiety, and social media. With so much information out there, how do you navigate your young ones through their emotions and behaviors?

All parents should be part of treatment

Teens are often ready to have their own space to talk about thier lives and learn about improving their emotional intelligence, with sometimes only a few sessions with parents. Often, however, full family work is necessary for the teen’s treatment as well.

For children, I start by meeting with parents to gain insight into their struggles and the family dynamics. I have found that working with parents in therapy is a far more effective form of treatment and intervention for children. Parents simply have the most access and consistent effect on a child’s daily life than a therapist’s weekly session. For this reason, I guide parents through a series of parental sessions to teach them how to impliment interventions in the home to create support and boundaries in their children’s lives. Then, we bring in the full family, parent and child, and/or individual play therapy sessions for the children to learn about managing their emotions.

I commonly work with parents of ADHD children as well as children with anxiety, OCD, depression, and high functioning autism. With or without a diagnosis, we can together intervene in the behaviors and emotional difficulties your child or teen may be experiencing.

I do not specialize in Assessment and Diagnosis; I focus on treatment and intervention to address the problematic behaviors and emotional dysregulation your child, family, or self might be experiencing. If you need to obtain a professional evaluation with full write-up and paperwork, please look for Psychologists and Diagnostic Practices who focus specifically on the specialty of Evaluation and Assessment.

Call (972) 379-7807 or email tricia@mightandmindcounseling.com to get started!

*A copy of the divorce decree/custody paperwork is required before beginning services for any minors with custody arrangements.

*Family Therapists are not the appropriate avenue for seeking custody recommendations and court evidence for custody battles. Therapy should be a place to safely process the upset these situations might bring and seek healing from the effects of divorce. If you are a parent looking for help with child custody battles or professionals to testify in court, you will need to seek out a Forensic Psychologist or Forensic Counselor certified to perform Child Custody Evaluations or those who specialize in court and custody involvement. You may also seek out Parenting Facilitators or those who specialize in professional coparenting support or recommendations.