Distress for children and teenagers can manifest itself in different ways to adults but they may still be feeling sad or depressed or overwhelmed with feelings which they don't understand nor know how to deal with.

Sometimes we may not realise they are struggling until their behaviour starts to change. Both young children and older children may withdraw and it may be difficult to engage with them or their behaviour may become more destructive or aggressive or they may be showing angry outbursts or tearfulness more often.

There can be various reasons behind these behaviours not least that they may be struggling to cope with growing up and the challenges this may present them with; they may have experienced a loss of someone important to them in their life, whether it be a death or parents separating or the break up of an important friendship; there may be confusion about relationships in the family where they feel unsure or fearful about what might happen.

Young children...

For a young child, coming to see one of our young person’s counsellors can allow them to play out their distress using toys and figures, clay and sand – this can help them come to terms with a loss or a stressful situation with a therapist talking with them about their play – helping them to resolve inner conflicts.

Older children and teenagers...

Older children or teenagers may become more aggressive or withdrawn or begin engaging in destructive behaviours such as self-harming, drug taking or stealing.

Coming to see a young person’s counsellor can be helpful for them to talk about their feelings and for the therapist to help them make sense of them and often to normalise what they may be feeling in terms of growing up and the feelings this can evoke in them.

At the Turner Centre we have six female children and young persons counsellors who are all experienced in seeing both children and teenagers and can offer appointments after school or college hours and at the weekends.

You can book an intial appointment directly with one of them online, or you can call the centre and speak to one of them over the phone. All of them will be pleased to tell you a little more about how they work and how they could work with your child.

counselling for children and teenagers in Colchester, Essex