Child psychology is one of the many branches of counselling. This particular branch focuses on the mind and behaviour of children beginning from development in the womb to the teenage and early adult years. Child psychology not only deals with how children grow physically, but with their mental, emotional, and social development as well. It can help all children including those with special needs of any kind–it is very broad. The strategies used to support children and their families can vary to adjust to their needs.
Professionals working in this field can use one specific approach or combine a few approaches to best fit the needs of the child and the family. For example, for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, we can use a combination of Applied Behaviour Analysis and Play Therapy to help support those children.
One of the main differences in working with children as opposed to adults is that it involves proactive measures designed to support the child in learning skills to be successful in the future. Parents are also taught strategies to help build upon the skills taught to their children.
When working with children-especially children with special needs, it is important to remember that the age of a child in years is not necessarily the mental age of the child. Skills should be geared towards the child’s chronological level. Scaffolding (building on the current skills of the child) is also important to help build upon the skills that the child and family currently has.
Is your child an underachiever academically? Are your child’s teachers approaching you about challenges at school? Or do you think your child may be gifted? Early identification and intervention is essential in helping your child reach their full potential.
What kinds of treatment do I provide?
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) examines the connection between thoughts, emotions and action. Changing one of these three elements (thoughts, feelings and actions) will change the pattern. These changes can be positive or negative. We will work as a team to identify your needs. During the CBT process we will examine the connection of the three elements and where the necessary changes may need to occur. This process may involve worksheets, pattern review, as well as working through patterns that have already been cemented in and established.
- Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) focuses on explaining how learning occurs through modelling, reinforcement and practice. We use ABA strategies and methodology to help children change maladaptive or nonfunctional behaviour to more appropriate behaviours. We also teach caregivers how to identify maladaptive behaviours, how these behaviours are being used to communicate and how to replace these behaviours with more appropriate behaviours. We help teach children functional habits (i.e. teeth-brushing, routines, play skills) while supporting caregivers in learning the tools to teach other functional skills- by breaking down the steps of these techniques into a task analysis (breaking down the steps of a task).
Parent Guidance:
- We also understand that it can be difficult for guardians to understand their child’s needs. We work with guardians to better understand the diagnosis and the behaviours, as well as helping them find resources to support their child. This can come in the form of parent coaching, educational meetings on the diagnosis of the child, understanding what is developmentally appropriate and what behaviour is diagnosis related.
- We can perform a variety of assessments to explore the needs of the child and family:
- psycho-education assessments
- adaptive behaviour assessments
- general consults
- Psycho-education assessments involve a series of subtests that investigate the cognitive ability, psycho-emotional and adaptive ability of the child or adolescent being tested. The report depicting the results from the testing can be used to apply to schools, access different support from a current school, government funded programs and other support for children/adolescents and families with special needs. The psycho-educational assessment typically involves; WISC-V, WIAT-III, BASC- III and Vineland. Once the testing portion of the psycho-educational assessment is complete, we will interpret the scores and write a report based on the results of the assessment.
- Are you unclear about what a psycho-educational assessment is or how it may benefit your child? A psycho-educational assessment will evaluate your child’s reasoning abilities and overall psychological processes (attention, processing, fluid reasoning, memory), academic achievement levels (e.g., expressive and receptive language, reading, writing composition, math), as well as behaviour, social-emotional functioning comparative to same-age peers, and conceptualized within the context of your child’s development phase.
- A comprehensive psycho-educational assessment can help as it provides insight into your child’s struggles. It will give you an overall picture of your child’s unique learning profile, by assessing current cognitive functioning, your child’s strengths and weaknesses, cognitively, academically, and emotionally. A psycho-educational assessment provides a complete and accurate picture of your child which can help professionals provide you with the necessary supports to aide in your child’s learning.
Who is Child Psychology for?
- We work with children who have special needs of many kinds:
- Behavioural issues
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, learning disabilities, Down Syndrome, ADHD
- Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Sleep Disorders
- Attachment Disorders
- Trauma Related issues
- Children with social skills issues, maladaptive behaviours, aggression, and difficulties completing tasks of daily life
- Parents who are seeking answers to questions about their child’s behaviour or challenges.
- We work with the families of special needs children as well. Working with the whole family to support all of them to become more successful in participating daily life.
How does Child Psychology work?
- The first step is to meet with the parents or guardians of the child. This meeting is to establish the needs of the family, child and presenting issues.
- We will talk about what steps to take next: planning counselling sessions, scheduling an assessment time or discussing the program for the FSCD contract.
- Each one of these will be explained in detail based on the needs of your child, family and other requirements (ie: assessments, reports, programming).
- Progress will be reviewed throughout the duration of treatment. For example, the FSCD program will be reviewed at the 3 month interval.
FAQ: Child Psychology
Q: Are you covered by insurance companies?
Yes, invoices will be provided for you to give to your insurance company for reimbursement after your session with the psychologist.
Q: Have you worked with FSCD before?
Yes, I am a qualified service provider with FSCD. I have successfully completed the pre-qualifying process with the government of Alberta.
Q: Have you worked with children with multiple diagnoses before?
Yes, I have worked with several children who have multiple diagnosis and their families.
Q: How do I know if my child needs to see a psychologist, or if it is “just a phase”?
In terms of a phase, I would invite the parent to look at what other children of that age group are doing. I am also happy to answer that question over the phone or at a meet and greet.
Q: Can you see patients/children if they are not cooperative with the treatment?
I can see a child or teen if they are not interested in coming. I have worked with this before. It really depends on the individual case.
Q: Do you need both Parents to be present during the appointment?
They do not need to be present during the appointment, but I need permission from the parent or guardian with custody rights. I do need permission from both parents for testing.