Clinical Psychology
Clinical Psychologists are trained in the understanding of how people think, feel and behave. We see children, young people, parents and families, and offer help with a wide range of difficulties.
We provide assessment, therapy and a place for people to come to think and talk about the things that are troubling them or they are having difficulties with. The way we work is to start by talking with children and/or their parents to try and work out how best we can help. Sometimes we will meet several times, or we may only need to meet once or twice. Sometimes we will meet with the child or the young person and sometimes it may be best to just have parent consultations.
Everyone is unique and the right therapy for your child and family may include a range of models and techniques based on your reasons for seeking support. Our Psychologists are qualified to work in a number of models, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model which is helpful for
anxiety and low mood, or to use narrative, systemic and family work (which can be
helpful for anger, behaviour difficulties and a variety of other concerns)
Play Therapy
Play therapy helps children to express themselves, explore their thoughts and feelings, and make sense of their life experiences. Our psychologists may see children and young people individually or with other family members. The therapeutic relationship is developed through talking or play, depending on age.
Play is a natural activity of learning, exploration and communication for children, and it is considered highly effective for helping children to ‘play out’ what they may find difficult to put into words.
Dramatherapy
Dramatherapy is a unique form of psychotherapy that integrates story, improvisation, movement, art-making and projective play. The result is an active, experiential process that draws on the child’s capacity for creativity, utilising it as a central means of accessing and expressing feelings, gaining insight, and practicing successful new approaches to difficult situations.
Sometimes the stories dramatherapists listen to are real and sometimes they are fantasy. Sometimes stories are told by children in role, sometimes not. Stories may be enacted using objects (such as puppets, dolls, or other toys), using one’s body, or using one’s voice.
What are the potential benefits of dramatherapy?
Some specific benefits likely to be achieved in dramatherapy with children include reducing feelings of anxiety, developing new coping skills and patterns, broadening the range of expression of feelings, experiencing improved self-esteem and confidence, increasing sense of play and spontaneity, affirming body-boundaries and developing relationships.
Dramatherapy provides a developmentally appropriate means of processing events with children and adolescents for whom verbal methods alone may be insufficient. It taps into their natural propensity toward action and utilises it to engage children in play as a means of safely exploring issues and painful feelings.
Often children don’t communicate their feelings and thoughts through words alone. They have another language – that of play. Children use toys, objects, and stories to attempt to understand the world around them, as well as to communicate their needs, wants, and fears. A dramatherapist working with children is trained to speak and understand this special language.
What types of difficulties do Dramatherapists work with?
Dramatherapists work with children experiencing a variety of issues including but not limited to depression and anxiety, bereavement and loss, PTSD and complex-trauma; social, emotional and behavioural challenges, learning difficulties, neurological and developmental delay disorders.