CHILD COUNSELLING Calgary

All children experience emotional ups and downs which can be normal. However,  if their feelings and emotions become too big to manage and negatively affect their day to day functioning , child counselling may be necessary. Shifts in children may present in the form of withdrawal, isolation, or big meltdowns. Please see below for more signs of distress in children. 

• Avoidance
• Prolonged sadness
• Isolation
• Difficulty focusing
• Decreasing grades
• Sleep challenges
• Changes in diet
• Clinginess 
• Unusual anger or irritability
• Routinely expressing worry
• Withdrawing from activities of interest
• Sense of helplessness and hopelessness 
• Physical signs (stomach aches, headaches, muscle aches, excessive crying)

Child Psychologists teach children how to identify, process and deal with their thoughts, feelings and emotions in a productive  and healthy way. Although sessions will typically deal with specific issues,  at the core, children are learning coping strategies that can be applied in many different situations.  The objective of a child psychologist is not to ‘fix’ problems, but to help children develop coping mechanisms to deal with problems, now and in the future. Child psychologists are empathetic and compassionate, but they are also impartial. For this reason they can provide more perspective, which can be difficult for close family members and friends.

Yes.  Depending on the age and needs of your child, our child psychologist works collaboratively  with you to help with parenting skills and how to best address your child’s behaviours, emotions and needs. 

Yes.  Parents often assume that children don't have much to worry about... because they're kids! But we don't know always know what they are experiencing internally and may not always be aware of everything that is going on in their lives. We are not with them 24/7. They may be experiencing peer conflict, bullying at school, worrying about academics or personal issues (i.e., low self-esteem, lack of confidence).  Children struggle with processing emotions equally as much as adults do. No matter how involved we are in our children’s lives, there may be struggles we haven’t unravelled yet.