A child therapist
Taking Your Child to a Therapist (for Parents)
What Is Therapy?
Many children and teens have problems that affect how they feel, act, or learn. Therapy is a type of treatment for these problems. It is a way to get help for your child.
In therapy, kids talk and learn how to work out their problems. Going to therapy helps them cope better, communicate better, and do better.
What Problems Do Therapists Help With?
Therapists are trained to help with all kinds of problems. For example, they help kids and teens going through tough times like:
- family problems
- school problems
- bullying
- health problems
They help with feelings like:
- sadness
- anger
- stress and worry
- low self-esteem
- grief
They help kids and teens with conditions like:
- ADHD
- depression
- OCD and anxiety
- eating disorders
- self-injury
- disruptive behavior disorders
- trauma-related disorders
Why Do Kids and Teens Need Therapy?
Kids and teens need therapy when they have problems they can't cope with alone. Or they need help when problems affect how well they do, feel, or act. If things don't get better on their own, kids may need therapy so things can improve. Sometimes, entire families need support while trying to communicate, learn, and create boundaries.
How Does Therapy Work?
In therapy, kids learn by doing. With younger kids, this means working with the whole family, drawing, playing, and talking. For older kids and teens, therapists share activities and ideas that focus on learning the skills they need. They talk through feelings and solve problems.
Therapists give praise and support as kids learn. They help kids believe in themselves and find their strengths. Therapy builds helpful thinking patterns and healthy behavioral habits.
A therapist might meet with the child and parent together or meet with the child alone. It depends on the child's age. A therapist might also meet with a parent to give tips and ideas for how to help their child at home.
What Happens in Therapy?
At first, the therapist will meet with you and your child to talk.
They will ask questions and listen. This helps them learn more about your child and about the problem. The therapist will tell you how they can help.
After that, your child will go to more therapy visits. At these visits, your child might:
- Talk. Talking is a healthy way to express feelings. When kids put feelings into words instead of actions, they can act their best. When someone listens and knows how they feel, kids are more ready to learn.
- Do activities. Therapists use activities to teach about feelings and coping skills. They may have kids draw or play as a way to learn. They may teach mindfulness and calm breathing as a way to lower stress.
- Practice new skills. Therapists help kids practice what they learn. They might play games where kids need to wait their turn, use self-control, be patient, follow directions, listen, share, try again, or deal with losing.
- Solve problems.
With older kids and teens, therapists ask how problems affect them at home, at school. They talk over how to solve these problems.
How Long Do Kids Do Therapy?
How long therapy lasts depends on the goals you and your child's therapist have. Most of the time, a therapist will want to meet with your child once a week for a few months.
How Can Parents Help?
You can do things to help your child get the most from therapy. Here are some of them:
- Find a therapist you and your child feel comfortable with. Your child's health care team can help you find someone.
- Take your child to all the appointments. Change takes time. It takes many therapy visits for your child to learn new skills and keep them up.
- Meet with your child's therapist. Ask what to do when your child shows problems at home. Ask how to help your child do well.
- Spend time with your child.
Play, cook, read, or laugh together. Do this every day, even if it's only for a few minutes. - Parent with patience and warmth. Use kind words, even when you need to correct your child. Show love. Give praise when your child is doing well or trying hard.
How to Become a Child Therapist
What Does a Child Therapist Do?
Child therapists see children with emotional disturbances from a variety of causes. Some emotional and cognitive problems can stem from physical illness or disability, developmental delays, mental illness, intellectual deficits, trauma, loss, stress, and social difficulties.
Therapists assess problems of patients from early childhood through adolescence, design interventions to help them, carry out and assess those interventions, report their findings, and coordinate their work with the rest of the health care team.
The duties of child therapists also include assessing cognitive, developmental, emotional, and social status of each child they see.
Once an assessment is made the therapist discusses problem areas with the parents and gets an idea of family dynamics as they relate to the child.
Then the therapist composes a care plan for dealing with the child’s problems. He or she might discuss the case with physicians, nurse practitioners, teachers, and other professionals concerned with helping the child. Once a plan for intervention is in effect, the therapist continues to communicate with the child and family, keeping records of the child’s progress.
At long last the child therapist is able to discharge the patient when he or she achieves a satisfactory functional level.
Where Does a Child and Adolescent Therapist Work?
Child and adolescent therapists can work for school systems, pediatric hospitals, pediatricians, juvenile detention centers, camps for handicapped children, and probation offices. Therapists wanting more independence can work in a solo or group private practice.
Why Do We Need Child Therapists?
Adults aren’t the only ones who can benefit from therapy.
Unfortunately, the mental health of children is often overlooked and ignored. Many people think children are always happy, since childhood is regarded as a time of playfulness, bliss, and no responsibility.
However, children can also deal with stress and psychological issues, just like adults. Children have specific needs and issues that may require therapy – and this type of therapy is markedly different from traditional adult therapy.
The vastly different approach that is necessary for working with a child in therapy, when compared to working with an adult, begs for the need for an entire subset of child therapy. Children need to be made comfortable in order to open up and share. They often require a playful environment, one that doesn’t even feel like therapy.
Children look at the world in a completely different way than adults. They also have a different level of understanding of the world around them. Because of this, the approach to therapy for children is much different.
If a child is suffering from some sort of mental health issue or behavioral problem, therapy can help prevent any issues from turning into more long-term issues into adulthood.
Childhood is, in essence, supposed to be a happy time, full of learning, growing, exploring, and laughing. All children deserve that happiness, leading to healthier and happier adulthood.
Related: How to Become a Youth Therapist
What are the Requirements to Become a Child Therapist?
Education
Child therapists are required to have a master’s degree in counseling or social work or a doctoral degree in psychology. Doctoral degree, however, is not mandatory for therapist/counselor licensure.
A bachelor’s degree is the first requirement for a child counselor, and most places of employment, as well as state boards, require a master’s level education.
A typical Bachelor or Arts or Bachelor of Science would include basic education, electives, basic psychology, child psychology, developmental psychology, statistics, and a choice of upper division courses specifically related to child therapy.
Some specialized upper division courses might include: early development, adolescent development, disabilities and their emotional impact, development and interpersonal relations, behavioral and emotional childhood problems, perceptual development, cognitive development,play therapy, art therapy, or language development. Some programs allow field studies or research.
Not all universities offer undergraduate programs in childhood therapy, but most offer courses in psychology and counseling. A Bachelor’s degree in a related subject, like child psychology, can be stepping stone toward a graduate degree in child therapy.
Students should check catalogs, discuss their goals with faculty and school counselors, and come up with a plan for their education in advance of applying to a university.
Admission to a master’s program requires completion of the bachelor’s degree. Some master’s programs are composed of entirely coursework, while others require original research and a thesis.
Some graduate level courses students might encounter include: hospitalized infant and toddler development, grief and loss, play therapy, crisis intervention, child abuse, family theory, social ecology, and child life, to name a few. Internships allow students to practice child therapy under supervision.
Optional
Doctoral programs require graduate students to design and carry out original research at the level published in the scientific journals.
Students arrange with members of faculty to be their advisors and help them submit research proposals. When proposals are granted, students carry out their proposed studies under the supervision of their advisors and graduate committees.
At the completion of their research, students write a dissertation detailing their work and conclusions they have drawn from it. The last step is to defend their studies before their graduate committees. Once a dissertation is approved, the student officially has his or her PhD.
Licensure
States and territories maintain standards of education and experience that child therapists must live up to in order to receive permission to practice. A license in view of consumers lets them know that their therapist has the necessary qualifications to help them and their families.
State boards of health care and counseling decide upon their own rules, so the necessary qualifications vary from state to state. Students should check with the state government in which they plan to practice to learn which hoops to jump through.
Generally, evidence of the required coursework (i.e. master’s level education) and supervised experience are required, along with a satisfactory score on a test administered by the relevant state board.
Few if any states license child therapists as a separate specialty but license counselors and psychologists with a broader description. Kansas and Maryland for instance, licenses Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPCs).
Arizona, Texas and Illinois also license child therapists as LPCs.
California, licenses child therapists as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC). New York on the other hand licenses these therapists as ‘Licensed Mental Health Counselor’.
Florida licenses psychologists and school psychologists. In Florida, candidates must pass the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology and the Florida Laws and Rules examination.
Graduates need to look up the specific licensure requirements in their own states and check back periodically for new developments.
What are the Qualities of a Good Child Therapist?
Listed below are the qualities of a good child therapist:
- Have a “Soft Spot” for Children: A good child therapist must love, or deeply like children. In fact, they must enjoy being around children, and watching them grow, develop, and mature.
- Understand Child Development: A credible child therapist should have a sound understanding of the developmental stages of children.
He or she must also be highly familiar with common age-related issues and concerns. Furthermore, it is important that a good child therapist be knowledgeable of child-appropriate treatment approaches.
- Be Willing to Consult with Other Professionals: A good child therapist must also be willing to consult with other professionals (i.e. teachers, social workers, therapists, childcare workers, psychologists, physicians, counselors, etc.). If a child is “acting out” at home, he or she is probably doing the same thing at school, daycare, etc.; therefore, it is important to work with professionals in those areas. It is also imperative to work with physicians, especially if the child is taking psychotropic medications. A willingness to collaborate with medical and educational professionals can promote the child’s success, both at home and away from home.
- Encourage Parental Participation: Lastly, a good child therapist must encourage parental participation.
In other words, he or she must actively encourage parents, to become involved in what is happening with their child. A child therapist should also maintain communication with parents on a regular basis. This communication should consist of: progress reports, parenting style suggestions, and ways to improve the child’s behaviors at home, and at school.
What Skills are Required for a Child Therapist?
Child therapists must have excellent interpersonal skills for dealing with not only the patient but adults who affect the child. He or she must be able to communicate a positive, caring attitude, and actively listen to the patient, his family, and others concerned with the case.
Therapists must have good writing skills for documenting cases. Child therapists in private practice need business and accounting skills.
What is the Job Outlook for Child Therapists?
The future looks bright for aspiring professionals in all health care fields. The Affordable Health Care Act puts help within reach of families regardless of socioeconomic status.
The current high level of divorce puts stresses on families and children.
By the year 2031 it is estimated that 12 percent more mental health counselors will be needed than were needed in 2021, resulting in 77,500 new employments.
What is the Salary for a Child Therapist?
As of October 2022, according to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly salary throughout the country for child therapists is $32 and the average annual income is $67,087. Experienced child therapists earn well over $100,000 per year.
Salaries vary from state to state and among various employment settings. Child therapists working in Nebraska, Arizona, New York and California earn the highest average annual salary of $97,409, $89,745, $84,078 and $80,778 respectively.
While Child therapists working in Texas, Connecticut and Wyoming on average earn $74,719, $76,261 and $78,535 per year respectively.
Related Reading
- Child Social Work Careers
- How to Become a Child Psychologist
- How to Get a Degree in Child Psychology
- What Can You Do With a Counseling Psychology Degree?
- What Can You Do With a Child Psychology Degree?
More Resources
- Association of Educational Therapists
- ACAChild | Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling
- Division 53—Society of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology
541 pediatrician of Nizhny Novgorod, 2598 reviews
Pediatrician: a brief description of the specialty
Doctors whose professional activities are aimed at helping to preserve and restore the health of patients who have not reached physical maturity are called a pediatrician.
In our country, it is generally accepted that the human body is physically formed by the time of its coming of age - that is, by about eighteen years, so pediatricians monitor the health of children who have not yet crossed this age limit. nine0005
Pediatrics is an extremely versatile field of clinical medicine. She is engaged in the study of all aspects that are related to the health of the child's body. Therefore, pediatricians are specialists who have the broadest view of any problem related to the child's condition, his well-being, his physical and psycho-emotional development.
When providing medical care to sick children, pediatricians do not use surgical methods. They are among the doctors of the so-called therapeutic profile, and as the main means of combating diseases, they use pharmacological therapy. nine0005
What is the job of a pediatrician?
The work of a pediatrician differs from the work of most children's doctors in the predominance of preventive over curative activities.
With the development of medical science, doctors came to a consensus that it is the prevention of diseases that allows you to maintain human health for many years. And any treatment, no matter how gentle and effective it may be, can cause significant damage to the internal organs of the patient.
Preventive pediatrics:
- examine healthy children and evaluate the main criteria for their development;
- provide clinical advice to parents and close relatives of patients, as well as conduct health education work, teaching children the basics of a healthy lifestyle;
- control the process of vaccination of the child population against the most common and dangerous infectious diseases;
- prescribe medications in a timely manner to prevent the most common developmental disorders in children; nine0018
- supervise the process of medical examination of the child population, refer patients for laboratory and instrumental studies and consultations with doctors of narrow specialties.
However, even the most active preventive activity does not always save children from various health disorders. Those that occur in a relatively mild form and do not require skills and knowledge from narrow areas of clinical medicine are treated by a pediatrician. The main share of the diseases that this specialist encounters in his professional activities are inflammatory processes in the upper respiratory tract. If the diagnosis remains doubtful, patients are hospitalized in the pediatric department for a deep examination of his body. nine0005
When the illness becomes acute, sudden and severe, the child is assisted by members of the pediatric ambulance teams. They carry out the necessary therapeutic measures that allow you to normalize the patient's condition, and then transport him for hospitalization or wait for the visit of the local doctor.
When should I visit a pediatrician?
Parents who take a responsible approach to the issue of preserving the health of their child know that for preventive purposes it is necessary to visit the local pediatrician after certain periods of time - they will find out the exact schedule from their doctor.
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And the reason for visiting the doctor outside the schedule is the deterioration of the child's well-being or the need to document the state of his health.
How to become a pediatrician?
In Nizhny Novgorod, employees of the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Academy provide an opportunity to become a pediatrician. For many years they have been training students who later become qualified specialists in various fields of medicine.
Famous specialists of Nizhny Novgorod
Significant influence on the development of ophthalmology in Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod region was provided by such outstanding specialists as:
- V. Yu. Kryukova;
- P. S. Moderatov;
- F. D. Agafonov;
- Z. A. Spasskaya;
- A. I. Volkov;
- V. V. Safronov;
- Yu. G. Kuzmichev.
They managed to create a solid platform for scientific and practical research, as well as the training of qualified specialists in the field of eye diseases. nine0005
Children's doctor: what are the features of the work of children's medical specialists
Signs of a good pediatrician and his difference from the therapist. How to find a good pediatrician in Voronezh - we answer here.
Reception of a pediatrician on the street. Lizyukova, 24
"Healthy Child" - a network of children's medical centers. This means that all the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of our branches are primarily focused on children. And it's not about the size. Working with children requires special training, equipment and mental attitude. We know everything about it. nine0005
Why do children need their own doctor?
Answering this question, it is enough to put a baby and an adult next to each other. But again, it's not about the size.
In our opinion, one of the main properties of a good pediatrician, in addition to diagnostic talent and correct prescriptions, is the ability to win over a child, to understand him correctly, to conduct an appointment in a friendly or even cheerful manner.
In addition, a good pediatrician must be able to communicate with worried parents, even those who are very far from medical knowledge. As a result of such communication, parents:
- calm down
- understand the essence of the disease or condition
- follow the instructions correctly and without confusion.
That is, a pediatrician is partly a psychologist, partly a teacher, and partly even a lecturer. Not surprisingly, our pediatricians often broadcast live on social networks or speak at parent conferences and lectures, seminars and webinars.
However, communication skills are not everything. Let's move on to the actual medicine.
For adults - treatment, for children - prevention!
You and I go to the doctors when we feel bad. The child's body requires not so much treatment as the prevention of diseases, the formation of immunity and general resistance to diseases. Prevention and once again prevention - such a motto could be on the coat of arms of a pediatrician, if heraldry had not lost its relevance. They go to the pediatrician not only about a cold that has happened, but also as planned, for medical examinations and preventive measures (for example, before vaccination). nine0005
Of course, a pediatrician will deal with a sudden onset of a cold, and with all diseases popular among children.
Healing children is a special skill
Examination of the child at the reception
The therapist, if an adult comes to him with a banal case of any disease, will prescribe a suitable medicine for him. On this, as a rule, the interaction of an adult with medicine ends until the next case. If the child is ill, the pediatrician acts differently. nine0005
- First of all, it is necessary to carry out an accurate diagnosis, because not every child can clearly and coherently describe his state of health.
- Secondly, when prescribing treatment, the pediatrician will prefer to reduce the drug load on the child's body. Therefore, in childhood, we were all prescribed mustard plasters, and adults even begin to forget what it is.
A pediatrician's appointment at the Healthy Child lasts at least 30 minutes - this allows you to fully conduct an examination and instruct parents about treatment. nine0005
Special cases
There are, of course, advantages to being an adult therapist. For example, the diagnostic horizon of a specialist for adults is much wider, because with age he has to deal with a much wider range of symptoms. The therapist will quickly suspect and diagnose a rare disease without the help of specialized specialists, relying only on their experience.
Healthy Child Medical Center is also located in the South-West District
It is difficult for a pediatrician to compete with an adult doctor in this regard. A pediatrician deals, in most cases, with typical representatives of childhood diseases and does not have such a rich practice of encounters with rare sores. A doctor treating children is more inclined to appoint a consultation with a narrow specialist, because the price of a mistake is too high - it is much easier to harm a child with improper treatment.
Why is it better to contact us with a sick or healthy child
The Healthy Child medical center has a healthy child department where all scheduled examinations and procedures are carried out. At the same time, the flows of healthy and sick children are separated, they do not meet each other. nine0005
You won't have to wait in line at the Healthy Child. The doctor will see you exactly at the time that was scheduled for you at the time of appointment, and if the doctor falls ill, the clinic administrator will contact you to offer other options.
In the "Healthy Child" everything is arranged with maximum comfort. Elevators, convenient parking for prams, play areas, comfortable sofas… Administrators are ready to help mom with a pram. There is no line at the register. Here the principle "calm mother - calm baby" reigns. nine0005
Also, on Tuesday and Thursday, a pediatric neonatologist conducts a free appointment at the Healthy Child medical center, who advises parents on care and nutrition, makes anthropometric measurements, and, if necessary, will give a referral to a specialist.
Privilege Program
For maximum comfort of patients and their parents in the "Healthy Child" there is a program "Privilege":
- Any interaction with medical personnel is organized for parents by a personal manager representing your interests in the medical center. He will not only ensure the presence of ALL the necessary specialists at a convenient time for you, but also answer all questions. What is important - the manager is always in touch. nine0018
- There is a comfortable VIP space for the patient for medical appointments and taking tests: there is a games room, a relaxation area for parents. All the specialists you need today will come to you here.
- Deposit system. The number of visits within the framework of the deposit is not limited and applies to all family members. Funds can be spent both on ANY medical procedures, and on developing classes, sections and other services of the Healthy Child.
I know the whole "kitchen" of the medical center from the inside, so I bring my Polina here for treatment. In Healthy Child, you can get to several excellent specialists at once in one visit, and the laboratory is one of the best in the city! nine0005
Doctor-otorhinolaryngologist Evgenia Alexandrovna Savchenko
Two of my children have been seen by doctors at the Healthy Child Medical Center for more than 5 years.
High professionalism and responsibility. Always correct diagnoses and quality treatment regimen. With the doctors of the center, I am calm about the health of my girls.
Breastfeeding and pumping specialist Elena Mikhailovna Tsurikova
Children's orthopedist at the Healthy Child Medical Center – Viktor Viktorovich Trif
I took my children to doctors when there were no private medical centers in our latitudes, but my grandchildren were more fortunate.
