As the wise Fred Rogers once said, “When we talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.”
At LMFS we help children of all ages learn to recognize and identify feelings and find healthy ways to express them. Whether your child is struggling with anxiety, attention, confidence, self esteem, social issues, worries, or depression, learning how to identify their feelings is key. From there your child will be able to understand triggers and develop healthy ways to better manage their feelings. Depending upon your child’s age we will use a combination of talk and play to help your child better understand the underlying issues that may be influencing his, her or their behavior.
For young children we believe that parent involvement in treatment is essential. After an initial assessment we will work together to examine expectations, identify goals and create a treatment plan tailored to your child’s and family’s needs.
For teenagers we believe that parental involvement and support is really important. However, your role in your teen’s treatment will be different than that of a young child’s. For treatment to be effective it is essential that teenagers have a place to talk that is safe and a person to talk to who is trustworthy. To facilitate this we highlight to the teens, as well as to their parents, that we respect teenagers’ confidentiality. But because teens are not yet adults, we also understand parents’ need to know how treatment is progressing. We will work together with you and your teen to clarify boundaries so that both you and your teens feel comfortable.