Introduction to Therapy Series: 6 Reasons you should bring your child/teen to therapy:

Making the decision to start therapy for your child or teen is usually a pretty difficult one for parents riddled with concerns about a variety of things… Does this mean something is “wrong” with my child? Will my child think something is wrong with them? Are they just going to complain about me? Will therapy even help them with the things I want it to help them with? And the list goes on, and on, and on!

As a child/teen therapist, I get these questions a lot and while I understand where the questions come from and the concerns parents have, I as a therapist am also, unsurprisingly, pretty pro-therapy. I believe that any and all of us can benefit from therapy and that going to therapy does not mean that anything is necessarily “wrong” with us or with our lives. Therapy can provide a safe space to explore ourselves, our lives, our reactions, and can provide us with a supportive person to walk with us through life’s challenges. I also think that children and teens respond particularly well to having an unbiased adult in their lives who can talk through situations and challenges in a way that parents, coaches, and teachers just can’t. So, I generally think that anytime is a good time to start therapy, but I thought a nice list of reasons to start might help parents make this decision!

1. Your child is experiencing symptoms that are starting to interfere with their life: This is very important – if your child is having symptoms of depression, anxiety, social skills issues, or behavioral issues that seem to be increasing and impacting your family more, that do not resolve within a week or so, an initial appointment with a therapist is definitely a good idea. Often, I find that parents struggle so much with the decision of bringing their child to therapy that they wait far longer than I would recommend. So, sooner is better than later in my eyes!
2. Your child or teen has experienced a significant loss or challenge. Therapy can be particularly helpful following a move, divorce, death of a significant person, or just a challenging time perhaps transitioning to a new school, grade, or family situation. Even if it is a short term experience just to make sure your child or teen is coping well, I would say all of these events are a great reason to bring your child or teen to therapy.
3. Your child or teen struggles to talk to you about challenges in their life. If you have a child who is either just not very verbal or who shuts down in response to difficult conversations with you, it’s a great idea to get them in therapy so that they can work on sharing and exploring their thoughts and feelings as well as learn how to have difficult conversations!
4. You believe your child does not fit in socially or is being bullied or bullying others. Kids who struggle socially or who are bullied or doing the bullying often will benefit from extra support. Considering that our social interactions are a huge part of our lives, it can be so tough for kids who feel that they do not fit in or who are being mistreated. Unfortunately, these issues place children and teens at greater risk of developing depression or anxiety in the future so it is important to support them before those issues develop.
5. Your child has a diagnosis or an IEP. If your child has a medical diagnosis or challenge going on, they will likely benefit from additional support. Additionally, if your child is diagnosed with a learning disorder, has an IEP for supports at school, or is diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder such as Autism, ADHD, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, etc., providing them with the support of therapy can be so helpful. Children and teens who feel different for any reason greatly benefit from having outside supports where they can be themselves and work on developing coping skills to manage their challenges.
6. You have thought about how your child might benefit from therapy more than a couple of times. If you are spending a lot of time considering IF you should bring your child/teen to therapy, just go ahead and bring them in. Even if you are not sure why you are thinking it would be helpful, there is something that you are picking up on as a parent that I think you need to trust! Trust your gut and call for an intake… In my experience, sometimes parents do not know exactly what is “wrong” but get the sense that something is going on with their child/teen that they do not know about. In these situations, it is always better to be overly cautious than not provide support that could have been beneficial!

As I mentioned previously, as a therapist, I am definitely pro-therapy as you may have noticed through this blog! I will always recommend that it is better to call in and talk with a therapist about your family, child, or teen and see if they think therapy could be beneficial, rather than wait and let problems or challenges manifest into more problems or challenges. However, it is important to note that at my office, we are conservative in diagnosing children and teens (meaning we do not jump quickly to labeling and diagnosing unless those diagnoses are truly warranted) and that we will let you know if we feel your child or teen does not need services. So, just because you make the call as a parent, does not mean that you are signing your child or teen up for a lifetime of therapy!!