Creative Child Therapy Workshops
Provides practical training and resources for therapists working with children and families
Last year as we decorated the Christmas tree my eldest picked up an ornament and asked, “Is there any story with this one?” That simple moment highlighted for me just how powerful family rituals can be. Decorating the tree is something we do together in our house. It’s something we look forward to and my…
Often the most powerful work happens in therapy when we engage with the child around their interests and integrate these into our work. Utilising interests is often recommended in the context of motivating and engaging children. Therapists are often encouraged to either use a child’s interests to reward them after they complete a therapy activity…
We’ve always had one TV in my house. My thought has been that we can negotiate and compromise and that this is, indeed, an important thing for us to do as a family. I’m certainly not about to judge others for the number of televisions they might have, however it worked for us. That was,…
There are so many wonderful picture books that can be incorporated into therapy. Many children enjoy books and the experience of being read to can often feel nurturing. Books also have a normalising value: their existence implies that other children have experienced similar difficulties and helps the child to feel less alone in their experience.…
I often look carefully at my household recycling before deciding whether to place it in the recycling bin. It often holds many items that can be re-purposed for craft activities in therapy and is an economical way of providing the child with something they can take home at the end of the session. I’m finding…
We’ve put together our top tips for telehealth therapy with children during COVID 19 and self-isolation. Think about what you usually do and what works for your clients and do that online.As therapists we know what works for the children and families we see and we each have our own styles. Rather than trying to…
We are so excited to see our 200th enrolment in our Creative Ways to Help Children Manage Emotions online course recently! We learnt so much along the way as we created the course and it caused us to reflect on how important mistakes are in the process of learning. We thought we’d share some of…
Working with thoughts is a key part of our work as child therapists and it is an important area to reflect on. When working with children we need to ensure that we approach thoughts in a developmentally appropriate way and in a manner that reflects what we want to convey about thoughts. What follows is…
1. Learn about child development Children are not little adults! As child therapists, sometimes our role involves helping parents to understand that their child’s responses and emotions are normal and expected for their developmental stage. Other times, our role involves helping parents to recognise and understand developmental delays or difficulties their child is experiencing. Always,…
As a therapist working with children and adolescents, it is essential that I have hands-on materials to support my young clients in exploring therapeutic concepts and engaging in conversation. Card sets can be one such hands-on resource and can provide a physical and visual prop to scaffold therapeutic conversations. They can also take the pressure…