As parents looking out for your children’s best interests, finding the best help when they experience distress or emotional problems can be confusing.
Knowing whether you need to see a Child Counsellor, Child Psychologist or Child & Adolescent Behavioural Specialist can be difficult to decide but Dr Stuart Sadler (Chartered Clinical Psychologist), and our Child Psychologists in Newcastle, have put together some tips about which professional is best for you and your child.
Below are some details on what sets the different types of therapist apart.
Child Counsellors
Child Counsellors such as our child counsellor, Samantha Black, are professionally trained to help children get to the bottom of their emotional problems or deal with stressful or upsetting life events that might be affecting them.
These might be related to a temporary phase, such as moving schools or changes in the family home, to more present problems such as bullying at school or coping with difficulties relating to stress or worry.
Child Counsellors can help children to deal with difficulties by problem solving, talking it through with them, or helping them through approaches such as play therapy or art therapy.
Child Psychologists
Our child psychologist in Newcastle, Dr Matt Selman, holds a doctorate degree and has years of experience and advanced training in working with families. He is able to help children suffering from difficulties relating to anxiety, depression, and other emotional problems.
The key difference between a psychologist and a counsellor is that a psychologist is trained in a number of complex therapies such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Family Therapy.
This allows child psychologists to adapt their approach to fit the child and family’s need as required and work with more complex problems which might be related to the way the child thinks, behaves or how others respond to the child’s problems.
Seeing a Child Psychologist can therefore be helpful when your child’s difficulties seem related to more than current situations or when they require more comprehensive support to help.
Child & Adolescent Behavioural Specialist
Our Child & Adolescent Behavioural Specialist, Stuart Rouse, works with children and families where the child’s difficulties might be related to behaviour or the way they respond to certain problems.
This can include working with the child and/or family when the child’s difficulty is disruptive (such as them showing anger or violent behaviour), but might also include difficulties relating to your child’s attachment, lack of mixing with other children, or them showing challenging behaviour at school.
Our Child & Adolescent Behavioural Specialist can also work with parents of children suffering from problems such as ADHD, learning disabilities, autism and other difficulties to help develop routines and strategies to help manage your child’s difficult behaviour and reduce their distress. Due to the nature of this work, home visits are available but not compulsory.
When to See One of Our Child Specialists
Seeing a Child Counsellor, Behavioural Specialist or our Child Psychologist in Newcastle can be beneficial if your child needs help to manage emotional or behavioural problems, or if you’d like to develop a greater picture of all the factors influencing their mental health.
All of our therapists work in a confidential and non-judgemental way, with the aim being to help you and your child maximise their happiness and minimise distress and disruption in the home. Our other professionals are also happy to speak to you should you feel that counselling or other approaches (such as Family Therapy) might be helpful.
For more information or to book an appointment with one of our child specialists or our child psychologist in Newcastle, send us a message using the box below or call us on 07966 645 198.
Best wishes,
Dr Stuart Sadler
Lead Clinical Psychologist
