The Role of a Child Therapist: Counseling for Children

For a parent, there can be no greater pain than seeing your child suffer. A child therapist is a person who is trained in counseling techniques and armed with a set of tools that can help a child in a way that engages their will and is understandable.

What is important to note is that children suffer with the same struggles, desires, and hopes that we do as adults. They fall prey to the same lies that adults do and find their freedom in the same way Christian adults do – in our savior, the Lord Jesus.

The role of a child therapist is similar to that of a counselor for adults; however, the approach and skills used may differ. For instance, when counseling young children, sometimes their communication skills are limited. Counselors have a toolbox to draw on to help elicit feelings and a sense of where the child is at. This might include play therapy.

A child therapist trained in play therapy is able to use a combination of creative methods of play, together with talking, to help the child express themselves. They will likely have figurines that can be used for pretend play, soft toys that can be characterized, as well as an art box for creative expression using drawing, painting, and clay sculpting.

What issues does a child therapist help with?

Children experience mental health disorders like depression and anxiety as adults do, and these often derive from a negative childhood experience – divorce, a death in the family, abuse, or witnessing a traumatic event. In these circumstances, a responsible parent or caregiver should enable the child to see a child therapist.

This will help the family ascertain how the trauma has impacted the child and ways to help them navigate a way through their suffering.

Should parents be involved in their child’s therapy?

It can be tricky if the parents have been a part of the child’s abuse, but it is essential for the parents of a child needing counseling to work together with the child’s therapist. They are, after all, the ones who have been entrusted with the care of the child.

They are the ones who are accountable to God for how they have taken on their responsibility. The counseling should be a partnership between the child, parents, and child therapist, with all three working together for the best interests of the child’s mental health.

What can my child expect from a session?

A session with a skilled Christian child therapist will aim to establish a warm and caring safe space for the child, where the child is put at ease and encouraged to communicate in the way that they feel most comfortable. The child therapist will spend time developing a connection and finding out how best the child will engage with therapy.

Biblical Counseling and the Child Therapist

The end game of any biblical counseling session is for each person who comes through what they have gone through to have a hope in and love for God. This stirs up a desire to know and follow Him, and to bring Him glory with their lives.

For Christian counselors, it’s not about having all the answers, but being a facilitator between the child or client and the God who does have all the answers.

How a Child Therapist Reveals the God Who Cares

A child who has been abused or bullied might feel that God does not care for them. There is little doubt that they are suffering. The biblically trained child therapist might take them to the story of Job, about how he suffered. A biblically trained child therapist may spend time encouraging reading scripture as a strong coping skill and resource.

A biblically trained child therapist may also spend time encouraging prayer as a strong coping skill and resource as well. The child therapist, together with the parents, helps the child to see a God who is merciful, who loves them more than they could ever imagine, and who is completely sovereign and at work in their lives.

We want to see children happy and thriving, and free from mental distress like depression and other issues. Their faith is the key thing that is targeted in biblical counseling. As they grow in their faith and can see God’s hand, they can learn positive ways to cope with the challenges they are facing.

If you are a parent or a child seeking the opportunity for counseling, reach out to our offices today. We will arrange an appointment with one of our many qualified Christian therapists who are skilled in working with children and adolescents. Start your journey toward wholeness today.