- Anxiety
Anxiety in its many forms occurs frequently in children. All children and young people get anxious at times, and this is a normal part of their development as they grow up. However, if it is at a level that it is getting in the way of day to day life, impacting on schooling and relationships, or impeding their development then this is of concern.
- Emotional or behavioural difficulties
Emotional and behaviour difficulties can arise at various points throughout development and can often be temporary. However, when a child or young person is not listening to parental requests and boundaries and perhaps responding aggressively, causing damage to themselves, others, or property this can create lots of problems. Children may become very angry and find it hard to calm down which impacts on relationships and/or schooling.
- Learning difficulties and behavioural advice
Some of the frustration and anger seen in young people can be due to difficulties in their learning and understanding. When these difficulties are considered it can be possible to put in strategies for the young person and those around them to manage situations more effectively reducing distress for all.
- Adjusting and coping with physical difference or physical health
Physical health conditions affect a significant proportion of young people and can place various constraints on their lives physically, socially, and emotionally. Seeing a psychologist can provide a chance to talk about the impact of the condition and also address some of the difficulties that may have arisen due to this. For example social difficulties due to less opportunities to socialise; anger and frustration due to feeling different; or bullying due to physical differences.
- Significant Life Events
There are a number of life events that can be particularly difficult to deal with at any age including:
- Divorce
- Bereavement
- Moving home
- Change of school
Children and young people can respond to these in a variety of ways and can benefit from support in how to do this most effectively for them.
- Developmental difficulties
These relate to how children learn different skills and the rate at which this happens. Where this is not happening as predicted support may be helpful in areas such as:
- Soiling and wetting
- Feeding
- Sleep
- Self-harm
There’s no one reason why someone self harms but at the core it is someone’s way of coping with significant emotional pain. It’s now estimated that between 1:12 and 1:15 people have self harmed. Seeing someone can help to understand the core of the difficulties and work on developing safer forms or coping whilst addressing these.
- Self-esteem
Self-esteem is about our confidence in our own worth and ability. Although self esteem can alter in relation to various developmental events and life experiences it is when it becomes very low that it can create difficulties for us. It can result in people withdrawing from various things and can ultimately lead to anxiety and depression.
- Bullying
Bullying can take many forms including verbal, physical, or cyber based. It can have a significant impact on young people’s perception of themselves and their self-esteem and potentially reduce the opportunities they have available to them.