Outpatient Therapy

All too often when a child is expressing emotional or behavioral problems, a parent is told by family members, friends and maybe even a pediatrician to relax and wait—they’ll grow out of it. Sometimes this is good advice…but sometimes it’s not. However, if there is a specific issue going on, the earlier they get treatment, the easier it is to help them. Individual therapy focuses on young children, teens, and adolescents with one or more mental illnesses with the aim of helping them better interpret the issues they are experiencing and/or the trauma that has occurred – in a way they are able to process and understand. Mental health professionals perform many services to vulnerable youth and have the know-with-all to help your child receive the help they need to resume a healthy and productive life.

We are all members of some type of a family, whether it is comprised of blood relatives, adopted parents, or a foster family. This family unit impacts every aspect of our lives and it teaches us how to love and how to interact with others – even if they are not the healthiest. If a family becomes dysfunctional and struggles to connect, children may also find it difficult to connect with others. Nearly all families deal with some sort of dysfunction and family therapy can be used to address conflicts. By improving the communication and interaction of its members, a family can also regain a sense of wholeness, happiness, and healthiness.

Jean Piaget, a famous Swiss psychologist, is credited with coining the phrase, “play is the work of children.” Adults recognize that therapy requires a tremendous investment in emotional and mental willpower—power to change thinking and behavior patterns. These concepts are much more difficult for children to grasp through talk-therapy as they have yet to gain mastery over such abstract ideas. Play therapy allows children the opportunity to “work” on uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a method that is natural to their level of understanding. For example, role play with dolls or puppets can help children talk about difficult topics, rehearse new communication skills, or practice new coping behaviors. Games can improve a child’s ability to manage impulses or problem-solve. Play therapy is a rewarding experience not just for children—but often for caregivers too!  

Like individual work, groups occur once a week, usually for a defined period of time, such as 6 weeks. Group treatment can be helpful when a youth needs peer support to learn a certain set of coping skills. For example, CCGC usually offers teenage girl empowerment groups, in which a girl’s self-esteemed can improve when the peer group gives her positive feedback. Similarly, some children need support learning how to manage their bodies in a classroom; these skills are better enhanced when the child can actually practice them with peers, as opposed to a one-on-one setting in individual treatment. Another example is a parenting group, in which caregivers receive support from the group, whether it’s solidarity in the challenges of parenting children with behavioral problems, or bringing home some new strategies with which they can experiment! For more information regarding current groups happening at CCGC, please contact Steven Graham, LCSW at (860) 643-2101 ext. 124.