Children

For young children who can’t adequately express themselves, Sue often utilizes play therapy, widely accepted as the most effective medium for children to express their thoughts and feelings. Play therapy offers children a safe place to act out specific scenarios, often revealing underlying problems and/or anxieties in the process. Engaging children through play is also an effective way to teach basic problem-solving skills, emotional/behavioral regulation, and resiliency.

After an initial assessment, Sue identifies areas of concern and, with the parents, develops a mutually-agreed upon treatment plan. In some cases, Sue will meet with teachers, caretakers, and other relevant people to ensure coordinated care at home, school, and in sports/performing arts.

Overview of General Development:

Ages 5-6

• Willing to play cooperatively, take turns and begin to share
• Show jealousy toward siblings

• Understand and verbalize feelings as well as the consequences of actions
• Can dress themselves
• Show empathy and offer to help when others are in distress

Ages 7-8

• Show a competitive spirit when playing games
• Befriend children of opposite gender
• Show an interest in joining a club or sport team
• Form a sense of humor and enjoy telling jokes
• Can distinguish between fantasy and reality

Ages 9-12

• Increased coordination and strength
• Increased ability to interact with peers and engage in competition
• Develop and test values and beliefs that will guide present and future behavior
• Develop strong group identity; increasingly identify self through peers
• Acquire a sense of accomplishment based upon the achievement of greater physical strength and self-control
• Define self-concept in part by success in school

Additional developmental milestones for early adolescents include an increased ability to learn and apply skills. They begin to develop abstract thinking, but revert to concrete thought under stress; they’re not able to make all intellectual leaps, such as inferring a motive or reasoning hypothetically as their abstract thinking skills develop.

Preteens learn to extend their thinking beyond their personal experiences and knowledge, and start to view the world outside of an absolute black-white/right-wrong perspective. Interpretative ability develops during the years of early adolescence, as does the ability to recognize cause and effect sequence.

     REASONS TO SEEK HELP FOR YOUR CHILD

• Difficulties in school or home
• Difficulty making good grades, despite trying very hard
• Difficulty making or keeping friends
• Regressive behavior
• Frequent physical complaints
• Disruptive behavior
• Severe worry or anxiety, (e.g., refusal to go to school, go to sleep or take part in age-appropriate activities)
• Change in sleep and/or eating habits
• Self-destructive behavior
• Talk about death or repeatedly harm themselves
• If a child's problem strains your marriage/partnership
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