– Child Therapy and Adolescent Therapy

Personalized Therapy for your Child in El Paso, TX

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– Your local child therapist here to help!

Are you struggling with your child’s behavior and not sure who to talk to about it?

Are you concerned about your child’s tantrums or
development, or worried about the impact of a recent stressor such as a divorce or birth of a new sibling?

Or maybe your child has experienced a loss, bullying, or another potentially traumatic event.

These are all issues we help with at A Better Place!

With play therapy, we enjoy helping families to strengthen the parent-child bond. Play is a child’s natural way of communicating, and thus is the
perfect tool for therapy with young children. If you’re concerned about your child’s behavior or emotional well-being, we would love to help. Leslie and Joe both have specific training in helping children who have experienced grief, trauma, and loss, as well as supporting families coping with adoption related issues. We understand the importance of including caregivers in a child’s therapy and will include you every step of the way. We understand that it isn’t easy to reach out for help for your child and we are here with you to make sure therapy is helpful for both of you. In addition to supporting your child through play therapy, we will also work diligently to create behavior strategies you can utilize at home.

– Reasons to consider therapy for your teen:

Difficulty adjusting to life events, such as a major relocation, divorce, death of a loved one or pet, or major illness.
A change in behavior, mood, sleep, appetite, or academic functioning.
Increase in risk-taking or self-destructive behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use, self-harm (cutting), unhealthy relationships.
Increase in oppositional behavior or extreme withdrawal or isolative behavior.
School stress, test anxiety, bullying, or peer pressure.
Problems maintaining friendships or interacting socially with peers.
Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event, including abuse, car accident, or urban violence.

Today’s teens and adolescents face a variety of unique issues.
Adolescents are still figuring out who they are and what their place is in the world. They may be struggling with questions of identity, sexuality, and relationships. Adolescence is also when a number of mental health problems (such as anxiety or depression) may first develop or become noticeable. A mental health professional who specializes in adolescent issues can be a great asset in helping a young person navigate this distinctive time in their lives.

We take careful consideration in assessing each child’s stages of development.

– Sand Tray Therapy

Sand tray therapy is effective for all ages and is a way to use your creative and unconscious mind to help facilitate change. Since our mind thinks in pictures instead of words, using miniatures to represent your world, experience or problem is very effective.

Sand tray therapy allows the client to construct his or her own sphere using miniature toys in sand. The scene created acts as a reflection of the client’s own life and allows him or her the opportunity with the help of a trained therapist to resolve conflicts, remove obstacles, and gain acceptance of self.

The idea behind Sand Tray Therapy is that it is a natural part of the human brain. Similar to our physical wounds that heal under beneficial conditions, our psyche has a natural tendency to heal itself upon proper guidance. It comes very natural for children and adolescents to play and express themselves non-verbally. Sand tray is just that; a ‘hands on’ approach which becomes a powerful therapeutic method for facilitating the psyche’s natural capacity for healing.

A trained Sand Tray Therapist always ensures the space is free and protected for the client to feel safe. In this environment the child creates a form of his or her own world using miniature objects, sand and even water. It helps honor and illuminate the client’s internal symbolic world, providing a place for expression within a safe container and ultimately a safe environment.

With sufficient time and understanding, a sand tray experience can lead the client into layers of experience that are pre-verbal and long forgotten to the conscious mind. Through the tangible emergence of personal and archetypal symbols in the tray in a safe environment, the client moves toward a sense of balance and wholeness.

– Sand Tray Therapy for Trauma, Neglect or Abuse

Many children are unable to verbalize emotional states, particularly in the face of trauma, neglect, or abuse. The nonverbal nature of sand tray therapy and the familiar medium of sand can help children achieve feelings of comfort and security. With little instruction from the therapist, the child is free to play and develop his or her own expression of situations. Oftentimes the children will experience a sense of independent play and will begin making assumptions and behavior changes without cues from the therapist. This method of therapy serves as a valuable and powerful outlet for children and an incredibly insightful method of gaining access to traumatic experiences.

Sand tray therapy is also very useful in the treatment of children who have been sexually abused. These children will often remain silent for fear of harm or even death. They are often threatened and are in highly anxious states when they come to therapy. The relaxed and interactive setting of sand tray therapy provides them the initial arena of safety that comes very natural for children and adolescents to play and express themselves non-verbally. Sand tray is just that; a ‘hands on’ approach which becomes a powerful therapeutic method for facilitating the psyche’s natural capacity for healing.

– Expressive Art Therapy

Expressive Art Therapy is the use of various art modalities in a counseling session to help patients with wellness and mental health struggles. Expressive Art therapy is a therapy of the imagination. Through therapist guidance, the aim is to help the patient achieve their own self-awareness and healing. The hoped-for result is an inward change that allows the
patient to cope with their life in a new, healthy way. The method can be used for all ages and backgrounds and is particular helpful in assisting those who suffer from trauma.

Art is believed to have the ability to evoke the unconscious, and to ‘bring forward’ our inner state of being. Then, the words may come to us more easily, from which we can begin to heal.

Do I need to be artistic to get benefits from Expressive Arts Therapy?

No! Absolutely not. This is a big misconception. With Expressive Art, it is not the end result of the art project that matters. Rather, it is the process. Instead, during the creation of art with your Expressive Arts Therapist, you are coached to come to revelations about yourself.

What type of art would I be creating in Expressive Arts Therapy?

When we mention “art” in the context of Expressive Arts Therapy, we don’t just mean visual arts. In other words, it’s not only the creation of paintings or sculptures that can help people heal inwardly. It can be poetry, dance, music, drama, photography, puppetry, sand tray, mask making, and so on. Some Expressive Arts Therapists may focus their own skill on certain types of art, but that does not mean any art form is excluded in the practice at large.

Is Expressive Art Therapy geared toward a specific age group or condition?

Expressive Arts Therapy can be used for both children and adults alike. The practice, in principle can be applied to any age group.

Do’s and Don’ts of Expressive Art Therapy

Do’s:

give yourself permission to allow whatever comes up to happen
allow the space to go inward and be quiet within
trust the awareness and insight you receive through the work getting in touch with your senses
allow your mind and body to integrate
let your brain relax and wander, find rest in the art
listen to yourself and get in touch with your inner wisdom

Don’ts:

don’t expect major shifts right away
don’t try to solve every life problem in one session
don’t think too much about how it works or what you are doing
don’t analyze what you are doing through the art
don’t stay too focused on the head or mind