Child and Adolescent Theapy Personal Essay
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Grand Canyon University *
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640
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Arts Humanities
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by ChancellorIceStingray40
Child and Adolescent Therapy Personal Reflection Essay
Taylor McLean
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University
PCN-640: Specialization in Professional Counseling
Dr. Alice Crawford
January 10, 2024
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Child and Adolescent Therapy Personal Reflection Essay
Conceptualizing Problems and Solutions:
Working with children and adolescents is putting on and looking through a whole new lens. This is something that I have learned and am continuing to grow in. Children and adolescents look at the world differently and can absorb so much from their environment. It never ceases to blow my mind how adaptive and resilient youth can be when presented with difficult situations. A quote I came across by Andrew S. Garner, M.d., Ph.D. really stuck with me as it not only reminded me of the youth that I work with now but also my own individual experiences as a child. He said we see how early childhood experiences are so important to lifelong outcomes, how the early environment literally becomes embedded in the brain and changes its architecture (n.d.). We really are a product of our environment. This not only includes the physical place in which we live but also relationships, successes, challenges, trauma,
basic needs, etc. all have an impact on who we can become as adults. In my experience when working with children and adolescents, I like to explore more of who they are before getting to what is bringing them in. I tend to do this through creative outlets such as games, drawing, painting, reading and other forms of play. These resources are typically conducted throughout therapy as it provides them with a unique way to express themselves rather than traditional talk therapy. Another area that I find is important to explore is their family system and how they function within that. At times, the family can be a major support for the youth and yet, other times they can be a part of the problem. So, gaining that perspective from the youth and family members has been incredibly helpful when working with this population. 2
Reflection of Conceptualization.
One of the keys in working with children and adolescents is learning how to see the world from their perspective. This can look like using language that is appropriate, providing names to feelings and allowing for them to change it, acknowledging their thoughts/feelings/sensations as they experience them, and allowing them the opportunity to explore and communicate in a way that is comfortable for them. This can involve a lot of creativity and thinking outside of the box. Children with traumatic experiences can have a challenging time expressing them due to their developmental stage, as well as challenges in talking about feelings as emotional literacy may not be at the level of understanding that can be required (Sesar et al., 2022). This is where I have found that drawing, journaling/poetry, and games have all been beneficial as it provides alternative ways of expression. Sesar et al. (2022) also states:
Creative expression enables representation of trauma in a symbolic and metaphorical way, it reduces the anxiety which arises during classical therapy, encourages expression of memories stored on conscious and unconscious levels, and makes it possible for non-
verbal images to acquire a verbal description and a timeline. Which makes it possible to contextualize fragmented memories once again and to process them in the past (citation).
A therapy modality I have mentioned previously is working through the adaptive information processing lens and utilizing EMDR. Using EMDR with children and adolescents can provide another creative outlet as the brain is doing the reprocessing and healing without having to engage in traditional talk therapy. 3
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References
Garner, A. (n.d.). Pinterest. Retrieved (January 8, 2024) from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/314829830214972595/
Sesar, K., Dodaj, A., Vasilj, V., Sesar, D., Smoljan, I., & Mikulić, M. (2022). The Creative Art Therapies in Work with Children and Adolescents with Traumatic Experiences.
Central European Journal of Paediatrics
,
18
(1), 63–74. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.5457/p2005-114.319
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