http://stephaniefoster.ca/2007/06/13/child-therapy/ Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:40:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 http://stephaniefoster.ca/2007/06/13/child-therapy/#comment-1599 Nancy B Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:55:35 +0000 http://stephaniefoster.ca/2007/06/13/child-therapy/#comment-1599 I really appreciated what you had to say about the importance of the family being involved in working together to improve communication/family functioning when a child may be in need of intervention from a therapist, or when the parent(s) feels unable to manage the child's needs/behavior. It is absolutely true that the parent is really the child's first and best therapist in most cases, and that in the context of family therapy and parent counseling, many childhood problems can be resolved. I find that too many therapists are still too quick to take on children in individual therapy, and they spend too little time working with the parents, which is a shame. In my work, since I specialize in work with young children and families, I rarely take on a child for individual therapy as the major modality. I frequently will combine family, parent, and individual sessions in order to address the specific problems the child/family are struggling with. I really appreciated what you had to say about the importance of the family being involved in working together to improve communication/family functioning when a child may be in need of intervention from a therapist, or when the parent(s) feels unable to manage the child’s needs/behavior.
It is absolutely true that the parent is really the child’s first and best therapist in most cases, and that in the context of family therapy and parent counseling, many childhood problems can be resolved.
I find that too many therapists are still too quick to take on children in individual therapy, and they spend too little time working with the parents, which is a shame.
In my work, since I specialize in work with young children and families, I rarely take on a child for individual therapy as the major modality. I frequently will combine family, parent, and individual sessions in order to address the specific problems the child/family are struggling with.

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