What Parents Need to Know When Taking Your Child to Play Therapy
Deciding to take yourself to therapy can be a vulnerable and scary step for anyone and is filled with lots of unknowns. Bringing your child to therapy can feel just as vulnerable and scary for both you and your child. Here are some things you can expect when you decide to bring your child to therapy for the first time.
The first appointment is the intake or parent consultation. This is an appointment with just the parents and the therapist, without your child present. The therapist will likely ask a lot of questions about your child’s history and current challenges to get an idea of what is going on for them. They might discuss what they think will be helpful and make recommendations.
During your child’s first play therapy appointment they will go with the therapist to either an office or special playroom. Some therapists will invite you to join, and some therapists might ask you to wait in a chair close by.
You should plan to stay close by unless the therapist says otherwise. It’s tempting to want to drop off your child and go run errands while they are with the therapist, but parents are an important part of therapy. You never know when there will be a day when you might be needed to participate in a session, or your child simply might need to check in with you and feel some reassurance.
If your child is going to therapy, you will likely be involved in some form as well. Whether it is joining in the actual play therapy sessions, having a brief check-in with the therapist and the beginning or end of a session, or meeting with the therapist for a separate parent meeting, you might have to put in some work too. Kids can’t be the only ones who make changes and often need their adult caregivers to make some adjustments too. This is not a bad thing because just as much as your child is learning, you are learning too!
Don’t discuss all your child’s behaviors in front of your child when you see their therapist. Kids already know and feel the things that are going wrong and often don’t need to hear it reinforced to the therapist. Most therapists are happy to discuss this during check-ins or parent sessions. And if it needs to be addressed with the child, then you and the therapist can decide that together.
Therapy takes time and there is no quick fix. It is easy to hope that you will see immediate changes to your child’s behaviors, but nothing changes overnight and the therapist is not here to make your child change on a certain schedule. Therapy can take months because change and growth take time.
If you have any questions or concerns about these things, contact your child’s therapist. They are here to support you and your child and will be happy to discuss these things with you more.
To schedule an appointment with a Wasatch Family Therapy play therapist, please call 801.944.4555 or email info@wasatchfamilytherapy.com!
