Top 10 myths about child therapy

1 The child’s mental health is independent of the family system
2 Non-directive work is superior to directive work
3 Only CAMHS work needs a CBT input
4 Teachers have no part to play in a child’s improvement
5 Young people with learning difficulties cannot benefit from therapy
6 Adolescents will not want toys in the room
7 Strategies for dealing with bullies will work
8 All referrals will be appropriate
9 Counselling needs to remain pure and boundaried
10 What goes on in schools is “emotional support” – proper therapy happens elsewhere.

You could probably add a few of your own. Feel free to comment. 

And my subjective “truth”? Well, the bottom line is, I believe young clients and therapists need to work together to agree what’s going wrong, how they will sort it out together and which kind of relationship and “working alliance” might achieve this. They can do this by talking or by any other method that establishes what is wanted and what works for them. This may or may not include family, teacher, play, CBT, other support etc.

In this way, you can end up with a 13-year-old role-playing shopping expeditions as “mothers taking their young babies out”, or an eight-year-old sketching (fairly expertly) pictures of brains to explain how he worries and defends against it with the help of his TV hero. Or a 10-year-old telling Mum what needs to be changed at home. Each client is different.

Of course, if that’s the case, then my myths are not entirely myths – there will always be one time when the statment is true for a specific child.

For those who want a straightforward slide presentation of CBT, I just found one here – and have added it to the CBT resources page. For those who are interested in play therapy with adolescents, Charles Schaeffer and Loretta Gallo-Lopez wrote an all-encompassing book, which I thoroughly enjoyed and learned from. I see this webpage lists the contents if you scroll down, and also now offers some CPD hours if you write a test paper on the book. Interesting idea. I haven’t tried it out, but it’s certainly not a myth that answering questions on reading reinforces learning.