Services

Psychotherapy with children can take on various forms and is usually informed by the characteristics, interests and needs of the child or adolescent. These therapies might range from creative therapies such as art and dance to talking about feelings, thoughts and experiences or a combination of both. For younger children play forms an important part of therapy. The play therapy can either be structured or unstructured. This again depends on the needs of the child. Difficulties that can be successfully addressed in psychotherapy include:

I have undergone extensive training in Theraplay since 2009 with the most recent course completed in 2015.

Theraplay is an attachment-based intervention that is aimed at strengthening the relationship between a parent and child. It does so by using play activities that actively engages the child and parents. By doing this, the relationship between the parent and child is strengthened and a secure attachment is formed. Furthermore it facilitates long-term mental wellness in children.

Theraplay assists parents in being better able to identify and attune to their children’s emotional and relational needs. Furthermore it assists children in organising their emotional world and experiences, adapting and relating well in social settings, and in addressing behaviours that are detrimental to them.

Theraplay has been used to address the following:

Theraplay can be beneficial for children from infancy to adolescence and has also been used in a preventative capacity.

For more information visit the Theraplay website: https://theraplay.org

Booth, P.B., & Jernberg, A.M. (2010). Theraplay: helping parents and children build better relationships through attachment-based play (3rd ed.). San Francisco:John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

I am a registered Circle of Security Parent Educator that offers Circle of Security parenting training.

The Circle of Security (COS) is an attachment based early intervention programme for children and caregivers “…designed to enhance attachment security between parents and children. Decades of university-based research have confirmed that secure children exhibit increased empathy, greater self-esteem, better relationships with parents and peers, enhanced school readiness, and an increased capacity to handle emotions more effectively when compared with children who are not secure.” (From the COS website)

The COS parenting training focuses on enhancing parent’s or caregivers’ understanding of their child so that they can better respond to the needs of their child and as such form a stronger bond with their child. Having this strong bond affords parents or caregivers the opportunity to connect with their child on a deeper level which will leave the child feeling much safer and more secure. This parent reflective programme is presented to parents or caregivers, in groups of up to ten, as couples or individuals during an eight week period during which parents will become more knowledgeable on forming a secure and strong bond with their child and maintaining this bond while being able to become more aware of and understanding of their child’s needs. Furthermore, during these eight weeks parents or caregivers will also have the opportunity to practice and reflect on these new skills they have learned.

The eight week program will be presented once a week for between an hour and two hours depending on the amount of people that will attend. Caregivers might want to attend the programme only or have their child in psychotherapy with me in conjunction with them attending the program as caregivers attend the programme without the child being present. It is thus a good addition to individual therapy for the child although attending the programme or having your child in individual therapy is not a requirement.

This programme is particularly beneficial for parents or caregivers with children of between zero and six years of age, foster parents, individuals that work with children regularly such as teachers and other care providers and for parents expecting an infant. Importantly, this programme is not only designed for and will not only benefit caregivers with difficult children but also those parents or caregivers that want to further strengthen their understanding of and bond with their child.

For more information please contact me or visit the COS website: https://circleofsecurity.net/

Family therapy can assist families in indentifying patterns in the manner in which they interact and why they do so, improve communication and trust and at times give families a safe space in which to express themselves or in which to explore subjects that are difficult to explore othewise. Family therapy can be especially useful in assisting children when parents are separating or divorcing and/or when children have to integrate into a new family after a divorce. It can also assist the divorced couple and new partners to, in a contained space, work on maintaining a united front and discuss factors such as finances, discipline and childrearing in the different homes.