Child Specialists

You might be getting calls from your child’s school that he just won’t listen to anyone. He is constantly out of his seat and distracting the other children and they are considering corrective action.

Maybe your young child is even aggressive toward the other children and the pre-school wants to expel him.Or maybe your child is doing just fine at school but at home they are argumentative and defiant with you. Even asking them to complete the simplest task results in an explosive battle that you can never seem to win. These are some examples of things we hear from parents when they call us asking for services. We know parenting is a difficult and demanding job on the best of days and it can be downright discouraging on these days where everything is a battle.

We here at Pineapples Therapy can help.

Children act out for different reasons. Our first step in helping to dealing with tantrums, meltdowns and defiance is to understand what’s bothering your child. We’ve trained extensively in childhood development in order to help you explore the best way to handle behavior problems in your children. We’ll help you explore information on potential causes of your child’s disruptive behavior, including anxiety, learning issues and trauma. And our child specialists will share advice on how to help your kids learn to manage powerful emotions

We believe strongly that every child can benefit from three things:

Increased self-esteem

Improved communication skills

Stimulated development

And while every treatment plan is individual and unique to each client, we work on those three core concepts with every child. When you feel better about yourself, you treat others better. When you can effectively communicate your needs and wants, you don’t need to resort to negative behaviors. And when you are living up to your potential developmentally, you feel more confident and self-assured.

One of the treatment modalities we employ here at Pineapples Therapy to treat young children is Play Therapy.

What is Play Therapy you may wonder?

Definition of Play Therapy by the Association for Play Therapy (APT)

Play Therapy is defined by APT as “the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained Play Therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development. "Play Therapy should only be provided by mental health professionals who have met the required education, licensure, and additional specialized training and supervision specific to Play Therapy.

Play Therapy isn’t Just Play

Play Therapy is not the same as regular, everyday play. While spontaneous play is a natural and essential part of the developmental process, Play Therapy is a systematic and therapeutic approach.  Play Therapists are licensed mental health professionals with extensive training, supervision, and education in Play Therapy. Play Therapy incorporates a growing number of evidence-based practices and techniques, and should only be utilized by specially trained mental health professionals. While some Play Therapists do not possess a specialized Play Therapy credential, a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor (RPT-S), or School Based-Registered Play Therapist (SB-RPT) are those professionals who have met the stringent standards set by APT to become a credentialed Play Therapist. Ask to see the Play Therapist's certificate as evidence that he or she meets the requirements and is in good standing with the Association for Play Therapy. Other professionals who work with children/adolescents and incorporate toys into their work, but are not trained Play Therapists, should not represent themselves as such.

ATTACHMENT

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969). Young children need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal social and emotional development. So what happens when that is disrupted and a healthy attachment is not formed? A child that is unable to form a secure healthy attachment may be limited in their ability to build or maintain successful relationships, throughout life.

Attachment—the relationship between infants and their primary caregivers—is responsible for:

• shaping the success or failure of future intimate relationships

• the ability to maintain emotional balance

• the ability to enjoy being ourselves and to find satisfaction in being with others

• the ability to rebound from disappointment, discouragement, and misfortune

Scientific study of the brain—and the role attachment plays in shaping it—has given us a new basis for understanding why vast numbers of people have great difficulty communicating with the most important individuals in their work and love lives. Secure attachment can be disrupted by many things; abuse, neglect, prenatal trauma, a parents own unresolved trauma, separation by loss or death. Whatever the reason for the disruption, what we know is that the attachment bond shapes a baby’s developing brain. When the attachment is disrupted, a child may have difficulty trusting, soothing and self-regulating emotions, and even difficulty connecting and making healthy relationships with others.How do we help? One way we here at Pineapples Therapy help is through the therapeutic use of Theraplay.

What is Theraplay?

Theraplay is a dyadic child and family therapy that has been recognized by the Association of Play Therapy as one of seven seminal psychotherapies for children. Developed over 50 years ago, and practiced around the world, Theraplay was developed for any professional working to support healthy child/caregiver attachment. Strong attachment between the child and the important adults in their life has long been believed to be the basis of lifelong good mental health as well as the mainstay of resilience in the face of adversity. Modern brain research and the field of neuroscience have shown that attachment is the way in which children come to understand, trust and thrive in their world.In treatment, the Theraplay Practitioner guides the parent and child through playful, fun games, developmentally challenging activities, and tender, nurturing activities. The very act of engaging each other in this way helps the parent regulate the child's behavior and communicate love, joy, and safety to the child. It helps the child feel secure, cared for, connected and worthy.

Protective Factors Promote Well-Being

Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that mitigate or eliminate risk in families and communities, thereby increasing the health and well-being of children and families.

Protective factors help parents to find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively, even under stress. We here at Pineapples Therapy strive to be resource for all parents, even if they are not current clients. We believe that well equipped parents raise healthy and secure children which in turn makes our strengthens our community.

Call today if you have any questions about resources or support, even if you are not seeking counseling services.

Call Today to speak with one of our therapists about counseling services for your child.

727-509-3960