Considering Therapy for Your Child? How to Get Kids and Teens on Board

If your child or teen is struggling with communication, behavior or relationships, or no longer wants to participate in things that they used to enjoy, it may be time to seek help. How do you convince them that it’s time to take that step? And what can you expect when you get there?

In this Voices of Compassion podcast,  sat down with Dr. Vidya Krishnan, Head of Adolescent Mental Health Services at CHC to find out.

As Head of Adolescent Mental Health Services and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at CHC, Dr. Vidya Krishnan sees her fair share of anxious children and parents. But what if the therapy is precisely the thing they’re most anxious about? In this podcast episode, Dr. Krishnan shares ways to introduce therapy to our children: as an opportunity to learn how to use our words better and handle big emotions. By framing it as a safe space to manage hard things, allowing them to set some of their own goals, and creating incentives for them to engage, we can alleviate feelings of blame or shame and help ease any misgivings.

The right therapist will take the time to build a relationship with your family, help identify pain points, and — in collaboration with you and your child — develop goals to craft a unique, customized plan towards achieving them. And when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so scary after all.

All Voices of Compassion podcast episodes are available on-demand to stream or download. Listen to Considering Therapy for Your Child? How to Get Kids and Teens on Board online at podcasts.chconline.org. You can also subscribe to Voices of Compassion on Apple podcasts, Spotify and other podcast apps.

Do you need someone to talk to? CHC can help. We invite you to call or email our Care Managers at 650.688.3625 or careteam@chconline.org to set up a free 30-minute consultation. CHC teletherapy services are available now.