Child Therapy

We don’t do child therapy per se.

We do family therapy, working with the child and his or her parents, because therapy, effective therapy, is a learning process for both children and their parents.

We do have age limits – Ray typically works with those at least 13 years old while Chelsea works with children as young as 11 years old – but that’s negotiable. Depends on the child’s needs and the family.

Kids, even teens, are not “little adults.”

They don’t and can’t think like adults.

They react differently than adults to stress, to life and inevitable changes.

And they need parents’ help to cope with stress and any associated emotions they encounter in life.

We don’t push medications.

You love your child. You want the best for him or her. You don’t want to see your child in pain.

But all too often, that well-meaning and appropriate concern can lead to a variety of incorrect and unneeded diagnoses: ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, OCD, bipolar, personality disorders, conduct disorder, phobias, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and more.

Doctors prescribe cocktails of psychiatric medications – along with all their undesirable side effects.

But these medications work just like they do in adults – they mask symptoms without addressing the underlying causes – usually with some very serious and permanent side effects.

While someone may need medication for initial stability, pills can’t cure problems.

What we WILL do.

We’ll work in a family context.

Mom and Dad, you’ll be involved.

Siblings? Extended family? We may need them, too.

We’ll start with two assessments:

An age-appropriate assessment of the child
An assessment for parents

Together, we’ll develop a family treatment plan and then begin therapy.

What can you expect?

Therapy with children and families is usually open-ended. Typically, it will run for 10 sessions but possibly more.

We’ll focus initially on safety for the child, parents, and other family members, and then move into specific areas.

We’ll focus on what’s happened to the child, not so much on what’s wrong with the child.

We’ll personalize your child’s therapy based on several important variables:

Your child’s emotional age
Your child’s developmental stage
Marital problems
Histories of trauma to the child, either or both parents, or any other member of the family

Ray Sizemore, LCSW

Child Therapy

We don’t do child therapy per se.

We don’t push medications.

What we WILL do.

What can you expect?

Because you love and want the best for your child…