alexandra cattaruzza

CHILD PSYCHOTHERAPY

Child psychotherapy is guided by a very careful and thorough understanding of each child's particular developmental stage, capacities and needs. It can be helpful for children to understand their difficulties, stimulate and promote healthy development, build a strong sense of self and improve relationships and communication with others.  Some of the issues that therapy can help with are general fears, sleeping problems, separation difficulties, temper tantrums, sibling relationships and difficulties in school.

The internal world is created through interpersonal experiences and so the relationship that develops between the therapist and the child is very important. Children use objects from the outside world to symbolically represent what is in their minds, in a way that gives them some sense of control. Playing and drawing are important ways for children to explore and express their emotional worlds. They are inherently therapeutic and help the child understand him or herself. They also facilitate learning and processing of emotional experiences.