The Power of Family-Centered Counselling and Support
When you’ve made the decision to seek mental health support for your child, the next question naturally follows: What will therapy actually look like? For many parents, therapy conjures images of a child sitting on a couch talking to an adult—an approach that might work for some older youth but certainly doesn’t fit every child’s needs or developmental stage.
The good news is that modern mental health treatment for children and youth is diverse, creative, and highly individualized. At Clear Health Solutions, we offer a range of evidence-based therapies, each backed by research and proven effective for different challenges and age groups. More importantly, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we carefully match therapeutic techniques to each child’s unique age, needs, personality, and interests. Let’s explore the different approaches we use and how we ensure therapy is both effective and engaging for every young person we work with.
Education Tip: Consistent routines and open communication at home reinforce the benefits of therapy and counselling.
Understanding Evidence-Based Practice
Before diving into specific therapies, it’s worth understanding what we mean by “evidence-based.” This term gets used frequently in healthcare, but what does it actually mean for your child?
Evidence-based therapies are approaches that have been rigorously studied through scientific research. They’ve been tested with real children and youth experiencing real challenges, and the data shows they work. This doesn’t mean they work for every single child in exactly the same way, but it does mean that, on average, children who receive these therapies show significant improvement.
Using evidence-based approaches means we’re not relying on hunches or untested theories. We’re using methods that have proven track records. At the same time, being evidence-based doesn’t mean being rigid. The art of therapy lies in taking these proven approaches and adapting them thoughtfully to fit each individual child.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Reshaping Thoughts and Behaviors
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, commonly known as CBT, is one of the most widely researched and effective therapeutic approaches for children and youth dealing with anxiety, depression, and various behavioral challenges. The core principle of CBT is elegantly simple yet powerful: our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interconnected, and by changing one, we can influence the others.
How CBT Works for Young People
Children and teens often get stuck in negative thinking patterns without realizing it. A child with anxiety might automatically think “Something bad is going to happen” in new situations. A depressed teen might believe “Nobody likes me” or “I’m not good at anything.” These thought patterns feel like facts to the child, but they’re actually interpretations—and interpretations can be examined and changed.
CBT helps children become aware of their thoughts, especially the unhelpful ones. Once identified, we can examine these thoughts together. Is this thought actually true? What’s the evidence for and against it? Is there another way to think about this situation? This process, called cognitive restructuring, helps children develop more balanced, realistic thinking patterns.
The behavioral component of CBT is equally important. Children learn and practice specific coping skills and behaviors that improve their mood and functioning. A child with anxiety might practice gradual exposure to feared situations, building confidence through successful experiences. A child struggling with anger might learn and practice calming techniques before frustration escalates.
CBT for Different Ages
CBT looks quite different depending on the child’s age and developmental level. For younger children (ages 6-9), CBT is highly concrete and visual. We might use cartoons to illustrate thought bubbles, helping children see that everyone has thoughts and that thoughts can be changed. Activities, games, and hands-on exercises make abstract concepts tangible.
For tweens (ages 10-12), we can introduce more nuanced concepts while still keeping things engaging. Worksheets, thought logs, and experiments help children track their thoughts and behaviors. The language becomes slightly more sophisticated, but activities remain interactive.
Teenagers can engage with CBT in ways that mirror adult therapy while still addressing developmentally appropriate concerns. We might explore thinking patterns around social acceptance, identity, academic pressure, or future worries. Teens often appreciate the logical, problem-solving nature of CBT—it treats them as capable of understanding and managing their mental health.
What CBT Sessions Look Like
A typical CBT session might begin with checking in about the week—what went well, what was challenging, what the child noticed about their thoughts or feelings. We might review homework from the previous week (yes, therapy sometimes involves homework, but we make it manageable and relevant).
The middle of the session typically involves learning a new skill or concept. This might be identifying thinking traps like catastrophizing or all-or-nothing thinking. It might be learning a relaxation technique or problem-solving strategy. We always practice new skills during the session before expecting children to use them at home.
Sessions end with summarizing what was learned and establishing practice for the coming week. We send parents summaries or teach them what their child is working on so they can support skill-building at home.
Play Therapy: Speaking the Language of Childhood
While CBT works wonderfully for many children, some young people—particularly younger children or those who struggle with verbal expression—need an approach that doesn’t rely primarily on talking. That’s where play therapy becomes invaluable.
Play is the natural language of childhood. It’s how children explore their world, process their experiences, and express thoughts and feelings they may not have words for. Play therapy harnesses this natural medium, creating a space where children can work through challenges while doing something that feels familiar and safe.
The Therapeutic Power of Play
In play therapy, toys and activities aren’t just entertainment—they’re therapeutic tools. When a child builds and then knocks down a tower repeatedly, they might be processing feelings about control and chaos in their life. When they have dolls act out family scenarios, they’re exploring relationships and dynamics. When they choose aggressive play with dinosaurs or superheroes, they might be expressing anger or fear in a safe, contained way.
The therapist’s role in play therapy is to create safety, observe carefully, and intervene thoughtfully. We follow the child’s lead, entering their play world rather than directing it. Through this process, we gain insight into the child’s inner world—their preoccupations, their coping strategies, their understanding of their experiences.
We also use play intentionally to help children develop skills. A child struggling with social interactions might play games that involve turn-taking and cooperation. A child working through a difficult experience might use puppets or dolls to tell and retell their story, gradually processing and making sense of what happened.
Different Approaches Within Play Therapy
Play therapy isn’t a single technique but rather a family of approaches. Child-centered play therapy is highly non-directive, trusting the child’s natural healing process. The therapist provides unconditional positive regard and reflects the child’s feelings, helping them feel seen and understood.
Directive play therapy is more structured, with the therapist choosing specific activities to address particular therapeutic goals. We might use specific games to teach emotional regulation, art projects to facilitate expression, or structured role-plays to practice social skills.
Most play therapists, including those at Clear Health Solutions, use an integrated approach, flexibly moving between directive and non-directive techniques based on what each child needs in each moment.
Who Benefits from Play Therapy
Play therapy is particularly effective for younger children (ages 3-10) who may not have the verbal skills or abstract thinking abilities for talk therapy. It’s also valuable for children who’ve experienced trauma, as play provides emotional distance that makes processing difficult experiences more tolerable.
Children who are highly verbal might still benefit from play therapy, especially if they tend to intellectualize or have difficulty accessing and expressing emotions. Sometimes the most articulate children need play to bypass their verbal defenses and connect with their feelings.
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Finding Calm in the Storm
In our fast-paced, overstimulating world, many children and youth live in a constant state of low-level stress or anxiety. Their nervous systems are chronically activated, their minds racing, their bodies tense. Mindfulness and relaxation techniques offer a counterbalance—tools for finding calm, staying present, and regulating emotional and physical responses to stress.
What Is Mindfulness for Kids?
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgment. For children, this might mean noticing the feeling of their breath, really tasting their food, or observing their thoughts without getting caught up in them.
You might wonder how we teach something that sounds so abstract to children. The answer is that we make it concrete, playful, and brief. Mindfulness for kids isn’t about sitting still for twenty minutes (though some teens do develop longer practices). It’s about short, engaging exercises that build awareness.
We might do “mindful eating” with a raisin or piece of chocolate, noticing texture, taste, and smell. We might practice “body scanning,” imagining a friendly spotlight moving through the body and noticing sensations. We might do “thought clouds,” imagining thoughts floating by like clouds in the sky—present but passing.
Relaxation Techniques That Work
Alongside mindfulness, we teach specific relaxation techniques that activate the body’s natural calming systems. Progressive muscle relaxation teaches children to tense and then release muscle groups, helping them recognize and release physical tension. Deep breathing exercises—like belly breathing, square breathing, or pretending to smell flowers and blow out birthday candles—activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes calm.
Guided imagery takes children on mental journeys to peaceful places—a favorite beach, a cozy treehouse, a magical forest. This technique is particularly helpful for anxiety and can be used before anxiety-provoking situations or during moments of distress.
For some children, movement-based relaxation works best. Gentle yoga, stretching, or even activities like coloring or listening to music can be deeply regulating.
Building Emotional Regulation Skills
The goal of teaching mindfulness and relaxation isn’t just immediate calm—it’s building long-term emotional regulation skills. When children learn to notice early signs of stress or anxiety in their bodies, they can intervene before emotions become overwhelming. When they have a toolbox of calming strategies, they feel more in control and capable.
We practice these techniques in session when children are already calm, so the skills become familiar. Then we help children identify when to use them in daily life. Some children benefit from scheduled “mindfulness breaks” throughout their day. Others learn to use techniques in specific situations—before a test, when feeling angry, before bed.
Age-Appropriate Mindfulness
For young children, mindfulness is very brief and sensory-based. We might practice mindful listening to a bell, noticing when we can no longer hear it. We might do mindful walking, paying attention to how our feet feel with each step. Sessions last just a minute or two.
School-age children can handle slightly longer practices and appreciate understanding why mindfulness helps. We might introduce the concept of the “monkey mind” that jumps from thought to thought, and practice settling the mind.
Teenagers often appreciate mindfulness as a practical stress-management tool. They can understand and practice longer mindfulness exercises and might even develop their own regular practice. Some teens connect with mindfulness apps or guided meditations designed for their age group.
Group Therapy: Learning and Growing Together
While individual therapy offers personalized attention and safety, group therapy provides something equally valuable—the opportunity to connect with peers, learn you’re not alone in your struggles, and practice skills in a social context.
The Unique Benefits of Group Therapy
There’s something powerful about discovering that other children are facing similar challenges. It normalizes the child’s experience and reduces shame. A child with anxiety who hears other group members describe similar worries realizes they’re not weird or broken—they’re dealing with something many people experience.
Group therapy also provides a natural laboratory for social skill development. Children practice listening, sharing, taking turns, offering support, and handling disagreements—all with the guidance of a therapist who can coach in real-time. These are skills that can be discussed in individual therapy but truly need to be practiced with peers.
Peer feedback often carries special weight. When a group member offers encouragement or shares that a coping strategy worked for them, it can be more powerful than the same feedback from an adult. Children motivate and inspire each other in unique ways.
Types of Therapeutic Groups
We offer different types of groups depending on age and therapeutic focus. Skills-based groups teach specific competencies—social skills for children who struggle with peer relationships, anger management for children who have difficulty with emotional control, anxiety management for children learning to cope with worries.
Process-oriented groups for older children and teens focus more on sharing experiences, supporting each other, and exploring feelings and relationships. These groups might be organized around common experiences—children of divorce, teens with anxiety, youth managing grief.
Psychoeducational groups combine teaching with support. Members learn about their condition—what anxiety is, how depression affects the brain—while also sharing personal experiences and supporting each other.
How We Structure Groups
Our groups are carefully structured for maximum benefit. We keep groups small—typically 4-6 children—so everyone gets attention and participation is manageable. We match group members carefully by age and developmental level. A two-year age difference can be enormous in childhood, so we’re thoughtful about grouping.
Each session follows a predictable structure, which helps children feel safe. We might start with a check-in, move to a skill-building activity or discussion, practice the skill together, and end with reflection and planning for the week ahead.
We establish clear group rules from the beginning—confidentiality (what’s shared in group stays in group), respect for all members, the right to pass on activities that feel too uncomfortable. These rules create psychological safety.
Who Thrives in Group Therapy
Group therapy works particularly well for children and teens struggling with social challenges, as the group provides built-in practice opportunities. It’s also valuable for children who feel isolated in their struggles—knowing others “get it” can be profoundly healing.
Some children do better starting with individual therapy before joining a group, building enough comfort and skills that group participation feels manageable. Others jump right into groups and thrive on the social energy.
We assess carefully whether group therapy is appropriate for each child at each point in their treatment. Sometimes individual and group therapy run concurrently, each offering distinct benefits.
Personalizing the Approach: How We Match Therapy to the Child
With all these different therapeutic approaches available, how do we decide what’s right for each child? The answer lies in careful assessment, ongoing evaluation, and flexibility.
Starting with Comprehensive Assessment
We begin by understanding the child holistically—their presenting concerns, developmental level, learning style, interests, strengths, and previous experiences with therapy if any. We consider practical factors too, like whether the child is verbal and reflective enough for CBT or whether play therapy might be more accessible.
We also assess the child’s preferences when appropriate. Some children are excited about learning concrete strategies through CBT. Others light up at the mention of play. Teens often appreciate being involved in deciding their therapeutic approach.
Integrating Multiple Approaches
While we’ve described these therapies separately, in practice, we often integrate multiple approaches. A child might primarily engage in play therapy but also learn mindfulness techniques for managing anxiety. A teen in CBT might participate in a social skills group. A young child might start with play therapy and gradually incorporate more CBT techniques as they develop.
This integration is intentional and thoughtful, never haphazard. We choose techniques based on what will most benefit the child in addressing their specific goals.
Adapting to Interests and Strengths
Personalization goes beyond choosing the overall approach—it extends to how we implement that approach. A child passionate about art might do CBT exercises through drawing and creative projects. A child who loves sports might learn mindfulness through mindful movement and athletic metaphors. A child fascinated by science might appreciate understanding the neuroscience behind anxiety and the techniques we’re using.
We build on children’s existing strengths. A socially skilled child might help other group members. A creative child might express insights through art. A logical child might excel at identifying thinking patterns. By recognizing and leveraging strengths, we build confidence while addressing challenges.
Evolving the Approach Over Time
Therapy isn’t static—it evolves as the child develops and their needs change. A child might start with play therapy at age six, transition to more verbal CBT techniques at age nine, and join a teen process group at fourteen. Or a child might need intensive individual work initially and gradually step down to monthly check-ins.
We regularly evaluate progress and adjust our approach. If something isn’t working, we don’t persist rigidly—we explore alternatives. This flexibility ensures therapy remains effective and engaging throughout the child’s treatment.
Making Therapy Effective and Engaging
The most evidence-based therapy in the world won’t help if a child dreads sessions and refuses to participate. That’s why making therapy engaging is just as important as making it effective.
We create welcoming, child-friendly spaces that feel safe rather than clinical. Our therapists are trained not just in techniques but in building authentic, warm relationships with young people. We infuse sessions with appropriate humor, creativity, and playfulness.
We also involve children in their own treatment. When developmentally appropriate, we explain what we’re doing and why. We invite their feedback. We celebrate their progress explicitly. This collaborative stance helps children feel ownership over their growth rather than feeling like passive recipients of treatment.
The Path Forward
Choosing therapy for your child is an important decision, and understanding the different approaches available empowers you to be an informed partner in the process. At Clear Health Solutions, we’re committed to matching each child with therapeutic approaches that fit their unique needs, engage their interests, and build on their strengths.
Whether your child benefits from the structured problem-solving of CBT, the expressive freedom of play therapy, the grounding practices of mindfulness, the social connection of group therapy, or a thoughtful combination of approaches, our goal remains the same: helping your child develop skills, build resilience, and move toward greater wellbeing.
If you’re wondering which approach might be right for your child, we welcome the conversation. Together, we can explore options, answer questions, and create a path forward that makes sense for your child and your family. Every child deserves support that works for them—and we’re here to help you find it.
