Cognitive Behavioral Child Therapy and Counseling

Richmond (Scott’s Addition – ample parking) and North Chesterfield, Va.)

We treat the following kid problem (ages 5+) more gently and with a greater focus on nurturance and soothing (ages 5+):

• Anxiety and Panic
• OCD (using gentle ERP)
• Self-esteem
• Depression
• Peer relationship problems
• Trauma (using TF-CBT)
• Transitions
• Phobias

We work with a sense of purpose.

 We believe that it is critically important that children learn to not only understand their emotions, but to actively soothe themselves, think more accurately and functionally, tolerate some discomfort, and face challenges without avoidance.

Do we do play therapy?

Sort of. Many (if not most) child therapists just get down on the floor and play with kids, with the expectation that they can create change simply by building a supportive relationship. Others take it further by attempting to use play to model functional social skills. We believe that both of these approaches are lacking. Roshae Harrison – our child therapist – will sometimes use play as a medium for therapy, especially with very young kids, in order to make them feel comfortable. But we do not believe that it is very helpful to just play with kids.

We write treatment plans. And we follow them.

CBT therapists do not wing it. We are constantly refining our understanding of what is going on, and we are always directing everything we do towards addressing the more specific and actionable causes of a child’s struggles. For example:

Anxiety: CBT therapists help children articulate what they are feeling and thinking. We then help them learn to think through, for example, whether they are actually in danger, or whether people actually do not like them. If they decide that they are not in danger, we help them face their fears so that they can learn to truly believe that they are safe, and so that they can learn resilience when safe situations and necessary situations become uncomfortable. 

OCD: We use EPR to help children face and overcome compulsions (opening and closing doors, repeating words, asking for reassurance, etc.) by helping them do the opposite until the urges become weaker. And we help them overcome obsessive/intrusive thoughts (for example, “if I don’t say this word, my parents will leave me or die”) in the same way so that they learn not to trust those particular thoughts, which has been shown for over 50 to be the most effective treatment for OCD. 

Assertiveness: If a child is uncomfortable speaking up when they have been wronged, a CBT therapist might play a game with the child and overtly cheat – and then prompt the child to call them out on it so that the child can learn to stand up for themselves. And then the therapist will process what just happened with the child so that the child can learn to articulate how the process played out. Then the therapist will coach the child on how to stand up for themselves in real-life situations without losing control of their emotions – and without acting out in overly aggressive ways that end up backfiring.

We don’t just play with kids and then send them home. We send them home with skills.