#315 – 20385 64th Ave, Langley V2Y 1N5 604-533-9163
#315 – 20385 64th Ave, Langley V2Y 1N5 604-533-9163
Is your child struggling to control their emotions? Are they falling behind in school or having a hard time making friends? Do you feel like you’ve tried everything you can think of to help them, but you don’t know where to start?
child jumping around in bounce houseMaybe your child is suffering from outbursts of anger and sadness. Or perhaps they’re withdrawn all the time—they won’t tell you what’s wrong and you can’t seem to get answers out of them. They might be getting bullied at school or struggling to fit in. Or maybe you’re confused about your child misbehaving at home, since they seem to behave totally fine at school. For the first time, you might find yourself considering a child therapist.
It’s Hard To Know How To React When Your Child Is Struggling
As a parent, your greatest pain is probably seeing your child struggle. But whenever you try to help them, you might feel like you’re going too far or overreacting. You don’t want to be a helicopter parent, but you also don’t want your child to work through their issues alone. Finding a middle ground can seem uncertain or even impossible.
At Darcy Bailey & Associates Counselling, we’re here to help you deepen your relationship with your child and be a resource and an ally in their life. Additionally, we want to help your child improve their self-esteem, learn to navigate and control their emotions, and grow into a more confident and empowered version of themselves.
All good parents worry about their children. And from time to time, every parent worries that they’re not doing a good job. After all, new parents don’t get an instruction manual on how to raise kids. Most of them end up parenting the way they were parented—even if it wasn’t healthy.
No matter how loving or caring our parents may have been, nobody’s perfect. They may have expected too much out of us or been too strict or too lenient without us really knowing it. This doesn’t mean they were bad parents—it simply means that we shouldn’t assume that their parenting style is the only way.
Our culture today is all about having the picture-perfect family. We see it all over Instagram—happy parents with clean homes and well-behaved kids, seemingly doing everything right. The problem is that the picture-perfect family doesn’t exist. It’s a façade created by people who are struggling just like we are.
Additionally, there is so much parenting advice out there that it’s hard to know who to believe. Parenting blog culture is full of people telling parents the right way to raise kids. But there is no “right” way—what’s right for one kid might not be right for another. Counselling is a chance to look beyond cookie-cutter advice and help parents and children get support that’s uniquely tailored to their situation.
Let’s be honest: the last thing your child probably wants to do is sit in a chair while an adult tells them what to do. At Darcy Bailey & Associates Counselling, we take the opposite approach with children. Through the therapeutic use of art and play, we make therapy fun and engaging for children of all ages. The activities we do can help your child boost their creativity and get to know themselves on a deeper level.
Along the way, we want to empower you to support them and give you parenting skills that you can use at any time. We believe you know your child better than anyone else and we want you to be a big part of their journey.
If your child is under eight, the first session will be held with you alone so that we can do a deep dive into your child’s struggles. If your child is nine or over, you are not required to meet with us first. That said, we want to do what’s best for you and your child. We always adjust our treatment plan depending on each person’s situation.
For children on the younger side, we generally use a lot of play therapy. Through the play therapy-based use of toys and games, kids can utilize their imagination to come up with new solutions and increase their problem-solving skills. Play therapy can also help them improve their ability to communicate, share, be patient, cooperate with others, and develop social skills.
Art therapy is useful for kids of all ages. The process of making art and reflecting on it is so vital for kids. It can help them get in touch with their feelings and convey emotions that they aren’t able to put into words. Additionally, art can be very soothing and calming when kids are stressed. It gives them an outlet to pour their emotions into.
Ultimately, we believe that you can radically impact the rest of your child’s life by getting support for them. It really does take a village to raise a child—that’s why we’re here to assist you. Therapy can help your child build their confidence, manage big emotions, and improve their relationship with you.
It’s normal to feel this way. But if you feel like you’ve tried everything, a therapist can help you figure out what “everything” means to you. Maybe you’ve done the right things, but you just need to implement them more or use them differently based on the developmental age and stage of your child. In addition to giving you new skills, a therapist can help you fine-tune the things you already do well.
We want to include you in the counselling process because we respect your role as a parent and we know you want to help your child. Sessions with your child are confidential to protect their privacy, but we can still update you on what we’re working on from time to time. You’re more than welcome to do check-ins with us to make sure your concerns are addressed and you have the strategies you need to support your child at home.
We get it: your child is difficult at home but acts like an angel when they’re with other people. This is normal. Children will test their parents’ boundaries because they know their parents will love them no matter what. They usually won’t do that with a therapist. However, once rapport is built between a child and therapist, the child’s tendencies will usually surface in one way or another and allow for real-time therapeutic response and intervention.
Getting therapy for your child is a courageous decision that can benefit them for the rest of their life. To connect with a child counsellor, you can use the contact form or call 604-533-9163.
Providing virtual therapy across British Columbia and in-person therapy in Langley BC, serving Langley, Surrey, Cloverdale, South Surrey, Aldergrove, Abbotsford,Vancouver and Lower Mainland.
Respectfully acknowledging that we live, work and play on the traditional and territories of Coast Salish,Semiahmoo sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Á,LEṈENEȻ ȽTE (W̱SÁNEĆ), Kwantlen Stz’uminus, Nuxwsa’7aq (Nooksack) and Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group.
We invite you here to become familiar with the indigenous presence and the territories we occupy.
