Abuse & Trauma

When children have experienced abuse or trauma, they are prone to have emotional, behavioral, and thinking problems. Abused and traumatized children often exhibit signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, including intense fearfulness and helplessness, recurrent thoughts of the traumatic event, nightmares, intense upset or distress, and avoidance of persons, places, or things associated with the event. Children may also become less emotionally expressive and appear detached from others. At times, traumatized children display behaviors that resemble others problems, including Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Depression/Anxiety, and Thought Disorder. They may appear irritable, have irregular sleeping patterns, exhibit poor concentration and academic performance, show signs of excessive worry, and display exaggerated startle responses. It is not uncommon to see regressive behaviors, such as toileting accidents when a child has previously been fully toilet trained. The problems for an individual who has experienced traumatizing and abusive events may occur at home, at school, or with peers. Parents may feel overwhelmed and not know how to manage and respond to atypical behaviors. Teachers may complain about drastic behavioral and emotional changes in the child or teen. A comprehensive evaluation to rule out Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other issues may be warranted. Once a diagnosis is made, treatment interventions may include individual therapy, family therapy, medication (to manage outward symptoms), parent training and support, and social skills training. Treatment for severe trauma/abuse can be expected to be intensive and long-term. Numerous treatment options can be discussed with your therapist to determine the most appropriate strategies to manage problems associated with trauma or abuse.

It is important to note that, in the case that a child or teen has been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused, your therapist will be required to report such abuse to the proper authorities.

Academically Gifted (AG)

Parents sometimes wonder whether their child is appropriately challenged.  Most often, an individually administered IQ test is used to determine if your child can be classified as gifted.  Academic measures might also be used to help understand how your child compares to other children in his or her grade.  Psychological testing will not only give you information about your child’s skill level but also help you to better understand how best to assist your child in furthering his or her education and learning in a productive manner.

Adoption Issues

Adoptions are another way of having a family but involve unique choices and decision-making including the age of the child, special needs, ethnic diversity, language barriers, along with the psychological issues of assimilating a child into an extended family. Adoption touches families in ways never imagined. Most adoptive children make relatively smooth transitions to families and through their developmental stages of growing up with no more difficulties than what is experienced by most children. Yet, a small significant number of other children or adolescents find the road more rocky because of adoption issues. Some children need to work through their feelings of sadness, relinquishment, and identity problems. Psychological counseling can give you a better sense of what to expect at various stages of adoption and ways of thinking about problems that can sometimes ensue from being adopted.

Anger

There are many reasons why people feel and express anger. It is a healthy and normal feeling to have in response to many situations. However, when anger becomes excessive or is the dominant emotion that an individual feels, it usually has a very destructive impact on the person's relationships, ability to function successfully at school or work, and their self esteem. If left untreated, an individual may become depressed or exhibit impulsive behaviors that might get them in trouble at home with family members or in social situations. We work on helping a person and significant people in their environment understand the source of the anger as well as helping the individual learn healthier and more appropriate ways to manage their anger. At the same time, parents and teachers are given new strategies for dealing with excessive anger and avoiding unnecessary conflicts. Parent counseling, family sessions, individual an! d/or group therapy,and consultation with school personnel are some of the possible therapeutic interventions used when we are working with anger management problems. When these techniques are not working adequately we sometimes recommend a consultation to consider medication. Our goal is to help individuals gain control of their strong negative feelings and help them learn how to express them openly, directly and acceptably.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a sense of nervousness, worry, obsession, and stress which interferes with a person’s ability to function effectively.  Persistent worry or anxiety can sometimes be signaled in symptoms such as irritability, restlessness, sleep disturbances, physical problems and mood changes.  Children can be just as vulnerable to anxiety as can adults;  yet, a child may not be able to describe symptoms as anxiety-related.  They may demonstrate changes in school functioning, relationships, and recreational activities.  Treatment for anxiety may involve Individual Therapy or Family Therapy.  Learning ways to handle stress, worry or obsessions is often an important aim of therapy. 

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is the name of a condition wherein children, adolescents or adults show a persistent pattern of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity that is more frequent and more severe than individuals at a similar level of development.  An individual diagnosed with ADHD may have problems at home, in school, and/or with peers.  Parents may sense that something is interfering with their child’s ability ability to learn or function effectively in the world.  Problems related to ADHD are one of the most frequent reasons that children are referred to child psychologists. Adequate diagnosis requires the use of medical, psychological, and educational resources.  A thorough, multifaceted evaluation will be necessary to determine whether a child’s inattention is due to ADHD or other factors.  Once ADHD is diagnosed, treatment interventions may include parent training, medication, individual therapy, family therapy or social skills training.  There are a number of important modifications and management strategies which can be discussed with your therapist if ADHD is an established diagnosis.

Autism and Asperger's Syndrome

Autism is a severe developmental disorder that is characterized by communication problems, social interaction difficulties and unusual or repetitive behaviors and interests that are generally evident prior to 3 years of age. Although there is some controversy regarding the nature and definition of Asperger's, it is thought by many to be a high functioning subtype of Autism such that children with this disorder experience similar problems with communication skills, social interactions and often preoccupations with singular behaviors and interests but just not at the same level as children with Autism. Children with Asperger's also do not show the profound early impairment with speech development and language that is often observed with children who have Autism and their IQ scores are typically in the Average to Above Average range.

Behavioral Problems

There are times when children present behavioral problems at home.  Parents may struggle with getting children to follow rules, comply with commands or behave appropriately.  Treatment is available for families seeking to get at the underlying problems and put strategies in place which will help in better managing difficult behavior.  Together with your therapist, decisions can be made as to whether Parenting Classes, Compliance Training, Individual Therapy or Family Therapy may be warranted.  There are times when Psychological Testing can also help in better understanding your child’s particular needs.  We seek to help families find solutions. 

Communication Difficulties

There are few things that cause more problems in relationships than difficulties in communicating with others. A large number of people that we work with at our agency are having difficulty in communication openly, directly and successfully with significant people in their lives. Our focus with such people is to help them learn new ways to communicate appropriately , to build self esteem and to increase understanding of how important good communication is in contributing to one's ability to grow and develop into a healthy and happy individual. This goal can be achieved through the use of individual and/or group therapy, parent counseling and collateral consultation, and joint sessions with the client and one or more individuals with which they are having the most significant communications problems. Learning good communication skills is a necessity to having satisfying interpersonal relationships.

Depression

Depression is a disorder which is exhibited by depressed mood, irritability, decreased pleasure in activities, and negative thinking.  When feelings of sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, and restlessness become more intense and last for a longer period of time, depression may be involved.  Unlike adults who can often identify depression directly, however, children sometimes have more difficulty reporting depression per say but instead display troublesome behavior or moods which alert parents that something is different.  Depression can sometimes be related to a specific trauma or to more longer-standing stress.  Suicidal thinking can sometimes emerge.   Individual Therapy and Medication Therapy are the most common methods for treating depression.

Developmental Disorders

The term developmental disorder refers to a variety of chronic disabling conditions in children that are attributable to a mental of physical impairment.  Some of these conditions may include: epilepsy, sensory impairment, cerebral palsy, autism, traumatic brain injury, and mental retardation.  Developmental disorders in young people are displayed as a significant difference between expected level of development for age and current level of functioning.  For a child to be diagnosed with a developmental disorder, the problems in functioning must be present before age 18, be expected to continue indefinitely, and present a substantial disability.  A psychologist may be called upon to conduct a comprehensive psychological evaluation to pinpoint a child’s impairments in the following areas: cognitive functioning, communication, self-care, home life, academic success and social skills.  From the evaluation, recommendations are provided to facilitate the child’s optimal functioning at home, school, and with peers.  Consultation with the school system may also be part of the psychologist’s role to assist in creating individualized strategies for success.  The psychologist will also encourage the parents to set realistic goals for their child, enjoy his or her successes, and will orient the parents toward planning for their child’s academic future and independent living.