Massive Brain Rewiring

Adolescence, which spans from ages 10 to 24, is a time when the brain undergoes massive changes. By the end of adolescence, your child’s brain has been upgraded and overhauled. It’s the emotional part of their brain that first receives this overhaul before the part that is responsible for planning, decision-making, and having perspective. This explains why your teen’s emotions often appear chaotic and explosive.

We all have emotions, and most of the time, they are appropriate for the situation. Your job is not to make your teen’s emotions disappear. Your job is to sit with them as they ride the wave of those emotions – listening, offering empathy, and letting your teen set the terms of engagement.

The process of separation-individuation

Adolescence is a time when teens build an identity that is distinct from their parents. Your teen might start to not want to be around you. Or they might even go so far as to criticize the way you dress. These are all normal signs of healthy adolescent development. As your child figures out who they want to be, they will push against who you are as a person.

So, how do you handle this time when your teen thinks everything you say and do is annoying? Don’t personalize it, and don’t hold a grudge! It’s not about you and the outfit you chose that day. Try to refocus the conversation or give your teen some space. Playfulness and humor can also be extremely helpful. Teens have the best sense of humor. Next time your teen criticizes your outfit, play along. Say something like, “I know, it’s the worst. Maybe you could give me some styling advice.”

Increased Risk-Seeking

Due to the massive brain rewiring happening during adolescence, teens are more drawn to novel and exciting experiences. The availability of dopamine in the brain increases during this time. Dopamine is the reward chemical in our brain and makes us experience positive feelings. So novel and exciting experiences start to feel really good to your teen. Because the braking power of the brain is not fully in force yet, we see increased risk-taking.

As a parent, you can support your teen by having conversations about the risks of certain behaviors (i.e., reckless driving, drug/alcohol use) and setting reasonable expectations. Open communication is key. Your teen needs to know that if they are in a dangerous situation, they can call you for help, and you will respond without judgment. Finally, find safe ways to allow your teen to experience new and exciting experiences. Small, frequent, and safe opportunities reduce the need for your teen to seek out dangerous experiences with life-altering consequences.

The post The Brains of Tweens and Teens: 3 Ways to Support Their Emotional Well-being appeared first on SWFL Family.

Play therapy is a modality in which trained clinicians use the therapeutic powers of play to help children with their mental health needs. Play is a child’s natural language. It is how children express their innermost thoughts and feelings. Words do not always come easily to children because the language part of their brain is still developing. It would be extremely challenging for a child to sit across from a therapist and verbally express everything they are thinking, feeling, and experiencing. But if you put that same child in a room with toys and creative materials, they will show you through their play what is happening in their inner world.

How Does Play Therapy Work?

You might wonder: Why can’t I just do play therapy with my child at home?

Several things set “playing at home” and play therapy apart. First, the therapeutic relationship sets the foundation for all future work. Play therapists must establish trust and a sense of safety with the child. Would you express your innermost thoughts and feelings to a stranger if you did not trust that person? Likely not. Play therapists build trust in a variety of ways, including showing empathy; accepting the child without conditions; and being genuine, warm, and friendly. As trust begins growing, the child can then begin feeling safe enough to express themselves.

Second, toys in a play therapy room are specifically chosen from several categories to empower a child to express a wide range of thoughts, feelings, and desires. Each toy in the play therapy room has a purpose.

Third, how the play therapist engages with the child during a session is based on the evidence-based theory that the therapist was trained in. So, what the therapist says, how toys are used, and what interventions are used are all based on the theory that the play therapist adheres to. Play therapy is more than just asking a child to draw what they are feeling or playing a game. Purpose and rationale exist behind every action.

5 Benefits of Play Therapy

Finally, you might wonder: Why would my child need play therapy and how can it help them?

Play therapy has many benefits for children struggling with emotional or behavioral challenges, including, but not limited to, grief and loss; divorce and family dissolution; academic and social difficulties; developmental, physical, and learning disabilities; anxiety disorders; obsessive-compulsive disorders; depression; attention deficit hyperactivity; autism spectrum; oppositional defiant and conduct disorders; anger management; and crisis and trauma. Benefits include helping children to:

1. Express their thoughts and feelings;
2. Regulate their emotions and manage stress;
3. Build self-esteem;
4. Develop healthy relationships with peers and adults; and
5. Explore and work through difficult topics like grief and trauma in a way that is more comfortable than traditional talk therapy.

Interested IN LEARNING more?

Check out the following resources:

• Association for Play Therapy’s Parent Corner
• Connected Path Counseling

The post 5 Ways Play Therapy Can Help Your Child appeared first on SWFL Family.

1. Area of Specialty

Question for the potential therapist: What is your specialty?

As much as they want to be, therapists are not capable of treating every diagnosis and mental health challenge that exists. For example, providing therapy to children is much different than providing therapy to adults. Treating ADHD is much different than treating complex trauma, for example. Each requires different levels of training and experience. If you are trying to find a therapist for your child, it is important that they specialize in working with children. There is also a difference between providing play therapy and being a Registered Play Therapist™. Becoming an RPT™
requires significant training, education, and supervision above and beyond the typical mental health licensure process. It is important for you as the parent/guardian to understand in what ways the potential therapist is qualified to help your child.

2. Credentials

Question: What are your credentials?

Therapists have all sorts of letters after their name, which can become confusing. To break it down here is what they mean:

RCSWI, RMHCI, RMFTI – these designations mean the person achieved their master’s degree in a mental health field and is a Registered Intern working towards licensure, which in Florida is a minimum of two years and requires a specific amount of client contact hours and supervision with a qualified supervisor.

LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor), LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist) – these designations mean the person is at least two years past their master’s degree and has met the requirements stated above to become a licensed mental health professional in Florida. 

Additional designations: If there are additional initials after someone’s licensure initials it most likely means that the person has additional credentials from an outside organization. For example, RPT™ stands for Registered Play Therapist and is a credential that is offered through the Association for Play Therapy. 

3. Therapeutic Approach

Question: What is your therapeutic approach with clients?

This is important. Every therapist has a different therapeutic approach. Some therapists take a more behavioral approach, meaning they are focusing on behavior change within your child. Some therapists take a more
relational approach, meaning they focus on the therapeutic relationship as the change agent. Therapists also use different theories to guide their work, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Psychoanalytic, Person-Centered. There are too many theories to list here. But understanding what approach the prospective therapist uses will help you to determine if they are a good fit for your child. I tell parents all the time, you know your child best and will know when you find the right therapist for them. 

Interested in learning more?

Connected Path Counseling
www.connectedpathcounseling.com

The post How to Choose a Mental Health Therapist for Your Child appeared first on SWFL Family.