Child & Teen Therapy in Ottawa

Therapy for Children and Teens

Childhood and adolescence bring real pressures, and young people don't always have the words for what they're feeling. Child and teen therapy gives them a space of their own to work through worries, big feelings, and hard changes, with a therapist who adapts the work to their age and stage. We work with younger children, with teens, and with the parents who support them, helping young people build healthy coping skills and resilience.

Child and teen therapy focuses on one young person. When the concern involves the whole family, such as ongoing conflict at home, a separation, or a new blended household, family therapy works with everyone together. If you're not sure which fits, we'll help you decide during your free consultation.

Therapy for Younger Children

Younger children often show what they're feeling through play more easily than they can explain it in words, so our work with them is play-based. Play therapy gives children a natural way to express themselves and process emotions, while their therapist helps them build new ways of coping at a pace that feels safe. Therapy can help younger children with:

• Worries, fears, and anxiety
• Big feelings, such as anger, sadness, or frustration, that are hard to manage
• Behavioural challenges at home or school
• School stress, from friendships to adjusting to a new class or school
• Changes at home, such as a separation, a move, or a new blended family
• Grief and loss
• ADHD-related challenges, such as frustration, self-esteem, and day-to-day stress at home or school

Our therapists can support children with ADHD-related challenges, but they don't assess or diagnose ADHD.

Therapy for Teens

Teens often want someone to talk to who isn't a parent or a teacher. Adolescent therapy creates a safe space for teens to explore identity, peer relationships, and emotional challenges, at their own pace. Common reasons teens come in include:

• Anxiety, stress, and constant worry
• Low mood, depression, or mood swings
• Questions about identity and self-esteem
• Friendships, peer conflict, and fitting in
• Pressure and comparison on social media
• School pressure, exams, and worries about the future

Your teen's therapist may draw on approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), adapted for young people, to help them notice unhelpful thought patterns and build practical coping skills.

Support for Parents

Parents are an important part of the work, and your insight into your child helps guide it. How involved you are depends on your child's age and needs: parents of younger children are usually more closely involved, while teens often need more room of their own. Your therapist will talk with you at the start about how you'll be involved.

Parent sessions, without your child in the room, offer guidance and practical strategies for what you're seeing at home, and a place to talk through your own questions about supporting your child.

Confidentiality for Children and Teens

Young people tend to open up more when they know what stays private. At the start of therapy, your child's therapist explains to both of you what will be kept between them and your child, what may be shared with parents, and the safety-related limits to that privacy: if there's a concern about your child's safety or someone else's, the therapist can't keep it confidential. That way, everyone knows the ground rules before the work begins.

Benefits of Child & Teen Therapy

Therapy for children and teens can lead to:

• Healthy coping skills for worries and big feelings.
• Increased emotional regulation.
• Support in addressing behavioural challenges.
• Improved communication and understanding within the family.
• Stronger parent–child relationships.
• Healing from past difficulties.

Supporting Your Child's Well-being

We're here to support your child, and you, through whatever they're facing. Sessions are available in person at our Hintonburg office in Ottawa, or virtually anywhere in Ontario when that format suits your child. Every family can start with a free 20-minute consultation to talk about your child's needs and whether the fit feels right.