Parent & Child Therapy
Child-centered play/art therapy, teen therapy, and therapy for parents in Center City, Philadelphia
All you want is for your child to be happy and healthy.
You've tried to do things differently for them than were done for you, but somewhere along the way, your child has begun to struggle. Your once happy child is now isolating themselves from you, having difficulty making friends, struggling with low self-esteem, or suffering in school.
You've done all you know to do to help them, but nothing seems to help. Often it feels like you're not a good enough parent to handle this. And it's beginning to affect more than just your child, too you're seeing the impacts on your marriage, the rest of your family, and your own wellbeing.
You are a good parent.
There is help.
The fact that you’re here proves it. We know that you’re willing to go to the ends of the earth for your child, but today you feel hopeless. We also know that the roots of your child’s isolation, lack of confidence, or struggles at school and home can be resolved.
Parent and child/teen therapy is a combination of working one-on-one with the child, one-on-one with the parent/caregiver, and frequently with you both together. This is critical to resolving those roots of the problems you’re seeing, because this process is about more than just addressing their behavior. It’s about helping you reattune to your child, to identify what he or she needs and to understand what’s going on under the surface.
In our time together, you won’t just understand your child better — you’ll understand yourself better too. Let us support you in becoming the best parent you can be.
How It Works
Therapy and Support for Parents
We'll spend time discussing your own background, which will better help you understand yourself as a parent, your responses/reactions to your child, and how to most effectively respond to your own and your child's deepest needs (connection and to be understood are two of the top ones!).
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Play & Art Therapy for Children & Teens
Depending on the needs of your child and family, we may work with you and your child together in therapy or engage your child in individual play therapy (or talk/creative therapies- depending on needs and age) by themself. Your consistent involvement will be crucial throughout the process! This will be a collaborative decision, informed by our joint knowledge of what will be most effective.
Why Us?
As experienced child and teen therapists, we have received extensive training in knowing how best to communicate with your child. The use of play, art, and storytelling allows us to help them work through the problems they’re experiencing in ways that make sense to them. Kids can easily tune out if we just talk at them about all that’s going wrong- but this process is much different than that!
Together, we help them experience themselves differently — as the delightful, loved child that they are. But we’re not just experienced in working with children; we are trained and experienced in working with adults, too. This means we can support you just as much as we can support your child in this process.
Choosing a therapist is a big decision! Schedule a free consultation with us today, and we’ll determine if we’re a good fit. If we’re not, we can connect with you with a number of other talented therapists in our area — because at the end of the day, this is about you and your child getting the support you need.
Bring love, happiness, & harmony back into your home.
Frequently Asked Questions
ABOUT PARENT & CHILD THERAPY
+ What are sessions like?
Generally, we will meet for 50 minutes each week. Sessions are not just about talking; we focus more on creating healing and reparative experiences for you and your child- and using play, art, and creative expression! This helps your child engage with therapy at the level that is most effective for them. Depending on your reasons for seeking therapy, we may engage in family-based play therapy to improve patterns of communication and relating (which can be done through talk or play). Other times, we may engage your child in individual play therapy that involves sand tray therapy and the use of dolls and puppets to help your child express their internal and external experiences without the requirement of adult vocabulary.
+ What makes you different?
We are not behaviorists. That means we aren't going to teach or encourage you to have token jars, enforce time outs, or use clip charts. We will not advise you to have harsher consequences when your child is struggling to behave. We *are* going to help you parent in line with your values, which we know you can do when you receive from us the co-regulation and support that we are going to teach you to give your kid/s. If you have tried behavior based strategies that leave you and your child feeling more disconnected than when you started, we can provide a new way of being with your child. We will help you build strong, lasting connections with your child and understand what is happening in their heart, mind, brain, and nervous system that contribute to challenging behaviors or mood states. This is because we know that connected, regulated kids, who feel safe and know what to do, behave well AND connected, regulated parents/caregivers who feel safe and know what to do parent in line with their values. We will help you get there.
+ I just want my child to feel better. Why do I need to be involved in therapy?
It’s important to us that you gain the skills and confidence you need to be the best parent you can be. Rather than just spending an hour per week with your child, you get to be part of the process, to learn about your child alongside your therapist and ultimately feel more effective as a parent/caregiver.
And since your own past and background influences how you parent, you can find support in those areas as well. We’ll help you unpack how your own upbringing or childhood is impacting your child and give you the tools to break old patterns and create new ones.
+ What kind of issues do you work with?
We regularly work with the challenges that come along with childhood- peer relationships, self-esteem, family conflict, life transitions, school-related challenges, and more. We are trauma and attachment specialists- so the majority of our work centers around challenges related to significant life stressors (such as adoption, sexual/emotional/physical abuse, separation from caregivers, grief, etc.). We do not specialize in working with eating disorders or substance use disorders, if they are the primary concern (but we can refer you to skilled colleagues, if that is what you are wanting to get your child support with). We do work with, and have specialized training in, working with children with dissociative disorders.
+ How do we get started?
Schedule your free consultation with All of You Therapy by clicking the button below. We’ll answer any questions you have and be sure we’re a good fit. Then we’ll schedule your first appointment. You and your child deserve to live a life of confidence, joy, and love together. We can’t wait to speak with you!