Therapy for Children on Long Island
Caring for the big feelings of our littlest loved ones
Do you know your child needs support but you’re not sure where to begin?
There’s no singular way forward when someone small is experiencing something really big and we’re happy to help you navigate your next steps.
Children are not miniature adults, yet they often feel emotions as all-consuming as we do in our adult lives. With different developmental stages and expression cues, supporting your little ones through their difficult feelings and challenging behaviors can feel scary or even downright impossible.
With expert therapists across each age and stage, we are here to help you find the Pathways back to “possible”.
No one got it wrong. No one missed a step.
Recognizing the need for additional support in your child is a powerful parental experience. You may be feeling overwhelmed or as if you’ve gotten something wrong, but the need for therapy is not borne from failure- not on your part, or the part of your child.
Sometimes, we just all need a little help in navigating what we’re feeling and how to process that. Giving your children the ability to recognize that need, ask for that support and work through their roadblocks with effective coping skills, developmentally appropriate tools, and a qualified expert to support them is a powerful way to show them you’re listening.
Celebrate your child’s ability to ask for help by responding to their needs.
Types of Child-focused Therapy we offer
Play Therapy
Most often used with children in middle developmental stages from ages 3 to around 12, play therapy capitalizes on the ability of abstract informational exchange to help your child engage in emotional processing through a less invasive lens.
Play therapy works by bridging the gap between the way adults communicate and the way children do.
By bringing play to the forefront of navigating complex emotional experiences, we can not only support but actively help children feel their feelings in a way that makes sense for them.
How it works:
Our kids process the world through play. Good or bad, their toys and imaginations represent - either literally or symbolically- the shape and feeling of the world around them.
Through play therapy, we join the child in their world through their play. As we play and engage with the world at their level, they may become less guarded and create space for us to bridge the gap in communication styles as they act out their inner emotions and experiences in real-time.
Each therapist has a unique way of engaging in a child’s world, and each child will require a different combination of those methods. Through observation and re-assessment, the therapeutic plan will be a living document that responds to your child’s needs.
Play therapy will be tailored to the child, the experiences they’ve had, and the way they’re feeling in that moment. Healing and skill-building will take place with a treatment plan outlined from what the therapist learns and build upon how they can best help the child through any and all variables that may occur. Progress may look slow, or grow by leaps and bounds quite quickly, depending.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
In some relationships, the skill-building and emotional processing that needs to occur is rooted more in a shared space of engagement. If your child is at risk or has experienced abuse and is struggling to connect with other authority figures in their life or you are feeling out of your depth in how to parent them where they are, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) could be the right tool for where you are right now.
PCIT is a hybrid therapy tool that focuses on retraining the behaviors that your child’s relationships are built on—not just in your child, but in you as well. Together, you’ll work to overcome barriers or trauma that trap you in unproductive cycles of communication and emotional roadblocks.
How it works:
PCIT combines play therapy with a behavioral modification plan to work toward healing both behaviors and relationships in a way that gives your child a voice.
Each of the two primary phases of PCIT is focused on these goals. Relationship enhancement is child-directed as we begin to learn what they need and facilitate the receipt of that before moving into the discipline and compliance stage that aims to reform the way we engage with behavior correction to reduce the occurrence of dangerous incidents and increase the receptive and responsive components of communication even when you’re at odds with your child.
PCIT uses the acronym PRIDE to help build positive, supported parent-child relationships. The goal is to increase communication while reducing the occurrence of abuse and behavioral noncompliance. A consistent approach to positive and negative experiences will reinforce confidence for you and your child.
Praise for positive and appropriate behavior.
Reflection on what your child has said or done to communicate more clearly.
Imitation of your child’s play strategies to reinforce approval and attention.
Description of what you’re experiencing to strengthen verbal communication skills and pressure your child you’re paying attention.
Enjoyment of the activities you’re taking part in together.
The voice of a child is a powerful thing, but it can be difficult to hear their unique voices over the adult emotions we feel. Let us support you both in developing new ways to hear one another so you can thrive together.