If your child is facing any mental or emotional stress, getting help from a private children’s psychologist may seem to be a good options. A child psychologist is a professional who uses various types of psychological evaluations in accordance with different forms of therapies. He helps the child better cope with life and relationship issues, which further leads to an improvement in the mental health of the child. Child psychologists can also help treat emotional, social and behavioural health issues.
A child psychologist is a licenced and trained medical professional. He has the clinical skills to evaluate and then treat the symptoms. He is an expert in curing the social, emotional and behavioural health of children, adolescents, toddlers and even infants. Such professionals have an in-depth understanding of the fundamental psychological needs of the children.
Children psychologists also know how their family and social atmosphere may influence various behavioural aspects of the child including:
• Behavioural adaptation
• Development and growth process
• Social adjustment
• Emotional adjustment
Child psychologists usually carry expertise in mental and behavioural conditions and diseases related to them, found in children.
Functions
Child psychologists may use a huge array of procedures to get the desired and long lasting results. They work with the children and help with :
• Monitoring the intellectual, cognitive, behavioural and psychological issues through evaluation and testing
• Using child counselling to amend the behaviors of the child
• Using various interventions like talk therapy and anger management
• Creating prevention programs to counter issues such as bullying, teen pregnancy, addictions, etc.
• Taking the help of other professionals and healthcare experts who are well-versed in working with children
Besides working one-on-one with a child, child psychologists also work side by side with the regular practitioner with the comprehensive care of the child having medical problems. For instance, child counselling from a child psychologist may work with the usual practician’s attempt to treat sleep disorders in a child or an infant.
Does child therapy differ from adults?
The simple answer to this question is yes. The emotional, mental, and behavioural conditions that are affecting children are taken up by a different approach as compared to adults. This is mainly due to the difference in cognitive levels, maturity and age. Due to such factors, the child psychologists use different therapies and may even work closely with parents to implement various parenting skill while best addressing the behavior of the child.
Therapies included
Some of the most common therapies implied by doctors include:
• Therapy of art
• Behavioural therapy
• Child-parent relationship
• Play therapy centred around the child
• Anger management therapy for child
• Trauma therapy for child
• CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy
• Family therapy
• Group therapy
• Occupational therapy
• DBT or dialectical behavioural therapy
• Music therapy
Difference between child therapist and child psychologist
A child therapist attains a master’s degree in mental health-related sectors such as counselling, marriage, family therapy or psychology. However, a child psychologist attains a doctoral degree (PhD) and has extensive training in clinical practise and psychological research. Child psychologists can also conduct many tests that may not be conducted by therapists. This is done to diagnose various issues such as autism, learning differences, learning issues, etc.
