Child psychology is a field of psychology as such that allows to evaluate and treat the mental, emotional, social and behavioural health of infants, young children, children and adolescents.
Child psychologists have an in-depth understanding of the basic psychological needs of children and adolescents and how their family and other social contexts influence their:
Child psychologists also have expert knowledge of mental and behavioural conditions that affect children.
Child psychologists use a wide range of procedures and skills when working with children and adolescents, including:
Child psychology can use several different types of therapy techniques based on your child’s age and unique situation. Depending on the age and needs of your child, child psychologists may work solely with you (or guardians) to help with parenting skills or how to best address your child’s behaviours.
Child psychologists can treat many kinds of behavioural, emotional, social and mental health issues in children and adolescents. They can also help children with stressors and issues in school, with their family and in life in general.
The conditions and situations a child psychologist can help treat include:
Art therapy combines the creative process and psychotherapy, facilitating self-exploration and understanding. Using imagery, colour and shape as part of this creative therapeutic process, thoughts and feelings can be expressed that would otherwise be difficult to articulate.
Art is a universal language, that is, it is the same for everyone; It allows people to express feelings and experiences in a way that sometimes has no place in words.
Abuse
Therapy seeks to protect the rights of children, as well as interrupt the violation of rights and give new meaning to traumatic experiences. Abuse can be physical, verbal, or sexual. Also included are experiences of neglect and abandonment.
Anger Issues
The aim of anger management therapy is to help minimize stressful or anger-evoking situations, improve self-control, and help children express their feelings in a healthy manner, according to various authors.
Coping with divorce, separation and other family issues
The objective is to help understand the divorce or separation, as well as to guarantee the emotional well-being of the children within the current family system.
Developmental and Learning differences
The aim is to provide a diagnosis that facilitates a specialized therapeutic intervention, at the same time that guidance is given to the family, safeguarding the individual child and family well-being.
Disruptive behaviour disorders, including conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder
The objective is to find the driving force behind the behaviour, while providing the necessary tools to acquire self-control of impulses and a better management of emotions.
Eating disorders
This type of psychotherapy focuses on behaviours, thoughts and feelings related to an eating disorder. After helping gain healthy eating behaviours, it helps the child to learn to recognize and change distorted thoughts that lead to eating disorder behaviours.
Grief and Loss
The goal is to explore thoughts related to grief and loss or other unhelpful thoughts to address how these thoughts affect mood and behaviour. Therapy helps lessen the impact with strategies such as reframing, reinterpreting, and targeting behaviours.
Identity and self-esteem issues
Through psychotherapy, people can reduce their symptoms, find ways to cope with the struggles associated with their identity problems. Low self-esteem can lead to various mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. To avoid low self-esteem, we support cultivating self-compassion, celebrating small victories, and distancing children from social media.
Mental Health conditions
The therapy consists in the first instance of developing a diagnosis to give way to talk therapy or play therapy, while using various techniques and therapeutic strategies. There are many different styles of therapy, but the psychologist works out the best approach to address the person’s problem and that fits the characteristics and preferences of the infant. It seeks to reduce active symptoms, and give better quality of life to children and their families. In many cases, medical-psychiatric support is required.
Armin Cárdenas is a psychology expert with 11 years of experience in clinical, school, health, and judicial psychology, specializing in children. His expertise includes psychodynamic child psychology and art therapy as an evaluation including intervention strategy for children and their families. He received training in Chile and Spain, and has worked in socially and culturally complex environments, including with indigenous populations and children with special educational needs, as well as with victims of mistreatment and abuse ranging in age from 3 to 17 years old. Additionally, he is a specialist in psychodiagnostics for projective and intellectual tests, as well as in psychotherapy.
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