Adult Involvement in Child Therapy

You may have noticed that when a family member is struggling with something, it can often infiltrate and impact the entire household.  Marriage and Family Counselors like to say that even if only one person is present in the counseling room, the dynamics of the entire family are brought into the session as well.   

Sometimes a child is identified as needing additional support and that child may be told they will be going to counseling. Through the years we have taken calls from adults who are scheduling appointments for a child in their care, expressing their hopes that a counselor can “fix” the issue. Sadly, many kids who feel “pushed” into counseling and not included in the decision making, are left to think something is wrong with them. 

We recently had a father tell us that he and his wife were only going to tell their son about therapy while on the way to the office for the initial appointment.  We quickly explained to the dad why that probably wouldn’t go over well and then coached him on ways to approach the idea with their son as something the family would be learning to manage better together. How counseling is introduced, handled, and viewed by adults has significant sway over how responsive a child will be to the process of getting therapy.

Having your child or teen attend counseling requires a time commitment, scheduling flexibility and a re-prioritizing of what is important if the family wishes to establish healthy change that is lasting.  Adults lay the groundwork for making counseling successful for all! We often encourage our clients by reminding them that putting the effort into this process and fully committing to it from the start will reduce the time needed in the counseling office in the future.

For the younger child, an adult can expect to be more highly involved in the counseling sessions.  The therapist can help the parent work on strategies to assist the child outside of the time in counseling.  We encourage adults to be present in the lobby throughout the child’s session as they may be asked to be part of the session at any time.  It also models investment, interest, and provides reassurance and safety for the child, helping them feel like it is a family effort.

For teens, the parents’ involvement may be less direct due to confidentiality laws. However, adults can let their teen and the counselor know that they desire to align with the therapy process by checking in, expressing interest, working with schedules to make the sessions a priority and assisting with driving to the appointments if needed.

The counselors at New Hope desire to equip parents and caregivers with creative ideas to be involved and connected with the child throughout the counseling process. If you would be interested in receiving more tips and tools for knowing how to introduce, join in and make the counseling experience a positive and effective one for your child, please feel free to reach out with your thoughts and questions.