Child Counselling

Little Bear Child Counselling specialise in therapy for children up to 11 years of age, with a particular focus on children with experiences of trauma. We use a range of therapeutic approaches including play therapy, art therapy, mindfulness and trauma-informed counselling. We aim to help your child recover, heal and grow.

We focus on helping your child by:
-Teaching them ways to positively and safely express their feelings

-Providing them with strategies to manage their emotions

-Guiding them with conflict resolution, wellbeing and life skills

-Helping them to experience a sense of belonging, and develop healthy friendships and connections.

-Guiding them to develop resilience and strengthen their self-esteem

In conjunction with counselling for your child, we can provide parents with positive parenting coaching and much needed support in guiding and raising your child.

Trauma can be caused by a single event or by years of exposure to situations of abuse, neglect, violence, adversity or bullying.

Child trauma may look like:
-Anger, aggressive or violent behaviour
-Crying frequently and sadness
-Numbness, withdrawal or depression
-Feelings of hopelessness
-Bed-wetting or nightmares
-Changes in sleep patterns or eating
-Irritability
-Behaviour modelling the cause of trauma or abuse
-Fear, anxiety or being easily startled
-Regression in developmental capabilities or executive functioning
-Not speaking
-Self-harm or risky behaviours
-Separation anxiety
-Difficulty concentrating or reduction in learning capabilities

The symptoms of trauma may not be immediate, and can sometimes emerge years after the cause of the trauma.

Trauma counselling works by providing your child with a safe connection and building a relationship of trust, letting your child know they are seen and heard, are competent and capable. It is important that they know they are not to blame for the trauma in any way. They will be helped to understand that all feelings are worthy and valid and should be communicated, but there may be better ways to express them that what they have been using.

Children can recover from trauma when they are provided with a safe, consistent and predictable environment, and loving, stable relationships. While you may have been responding to your child’s trauma in the best ways, often their behaviour will change when outside of the home or interacting with other children. Having a counsellor connect with you and your child can provide the objective help to move you and your family forward from the trauma experience.