Children’s Counseling in Aspen, CO

Childhood is a time of great growth in the developmental life cycle. Alongside physical growth, important neurological, social and emotional development is occurring and children are forming their understanding of the “self” in relationship to others during this period, which can often lead to them internalizing family stressors such as divorce, separation or frequent parental conflict as being their fault.

Because children do not have the cognitive capacity that adults possess, emotional stress in children will often present as temper tantrums, and other maladaptive behaviors. At Aspen Holistic Therapy, we believe in providing a child-centered approach to helping children learn healthy ways to manage emotion and helping the family learn skills to resolve challenges peacefully and effectively.

Counseling for children is similar to traditional talk-therapy for adults in that the therapist meets with a child for the purpose of working through challenges, validating the emotional experience and building skills. Because children learn through doing, and don’t have the same ability to verbalize emotional challenges as adults do, children’s therapy often includes Play Therapy, Art Therapy, Sandplay Therapy and games.

Children’s counseling can provide children with valuable skills to manage emotions and build tolerance and resilience to stressors, which can be beneficial well into adulthood.

Depending on the age of the child, the therapist may schedule an intake session with parent(s) to meet the child and perform an informal assessment, which will aid therapist in determining the appropriate length of session for the child and which therapeutic approach might be best for the child. Subsequent sessions will be with the child alone and might occasionally be with parent(s) present.

Parents know their children better than anyone, so if you feel your child might be struggling, and you are seeing concerning behaviors, reach out for a complimentary 15-minute consultation to see if therapy might be a good fit. Additionally, educational providers can also be a good source of information on how your child is behaving in the educational setting, and socially, with peers, that can inform your decision to seek therapy for your child.