Mental Health In Children And Adolescents: Effective Counselling Strategies
Childhood and adolescence are life stages marked by rapid brain development and growth, which makes these intervals critical for a person’s mental health.
During this period, children and adolescents acquire socio-emotional and cognitive skills that shape their overall mental health for life and are essential for assuming adult roles in society.
Good mental health in children means reaching emotional and developmental milestones that allow you to learn healthy social skills and how to cope with problems. As such, mentally healthy children and adolescents have a positive quality of life that enables them to function well at school, at home, and in the community.
However, these early stages in life are also marred by puberty and hormonal changes, which can wreak havoc on your child’s mental health. Moreover, external factors like constant stimulation, social media, and fear about world events can also disrupt their mental health. On top of everything, there are perennial self-esteem issues, peer pressure, and bullying.
If your child is having trouble coping with any of these problems, counseling for adolescents can help them learn healthy coping skills and achieve realistic goals. In this blog, we’ll navigate some common mental health issues children face, how counseling can help, and where you can find the best psychologist in India for your child’s health.
What Are Common Mental Health in Children Problems?
Among the more common mental issues that can be diagnosed in childhood and adolescence are anxiety (fears or worries), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and behavior disorders.
Other mental health disorders that affect how children behave, learn, or handle their emotions include autism, learning and developmental disabilities, and risk factors like self-harm.
What Are The Warning Signs Of Mental Issues In Children?
Here are some of the telltale signs that your child might be struggling with mental health issues:
- Changes in social behavior or staying away from others
- Sadness that lasts two or more weeks
- Talking about death or suicide
- Trouble concentrating
- Having outbursts or being very testy or moody
- Hurting oneself or talking about hurting oneself
- Out-of-control behavior that can be harmful
- Big changes in behavior, mood, or personality
- Loss of weight
- Changes in eating habits
- Trouble sleeping
- Getting headaches or stomachaches often
- Not going to school
- Performing poorly in school
How Counseling Can Help
If mental health issues go untreated for a long time, kids could end up in crisis. Counseling provides a safe space for kids and teens to work through mental health challenges and avert such crises.
Clinical mental health counseling offers a safe space for teens to explore and understand work through childhood trauma, distressing thoughts and emotions, and build stronger connections with family members.
The Benefits of Counseling for Mental Health in Children and Adolescents
We’ve already established that adolescent counseling benefits the child and their family equally. Here are some specific ways that counseling helps kids become healthier, happier, and more resilient.
- Repairs Family Relationships
Therapy for mental health in children can be particularly effective when the whole family is involved. Attachment-based family therapy techniques can restore the ruptures between children and parents. These ruptures might have been created as a result of childhood trauma and early mental health issues.
- Heals Trauma
Adolescence is a formative period for a kid’s brain. Without treatment or therapy, chronic or acute trauma can stunt brain development and put your adolescent at a developmental disadvantage as they grow up, negatively affecting them for the rest of their lives.
Symptoms of trauma include nightmares, terror, physical pain, disassociation, and flashbacks, almost all of which can mitigated or controlled via mental health counseling.
- Gains Healthy Coping Skills
Adolescent counseling also helps children learn healthy ways to cope with challenges and discomfort. At Faculty Minds, we employ the best child psychologist in Mumbai who works with your kid to find new, sustainable ways to manage anxiety, depression, difficult family dynamics, and other triggers and challenges.
- Builds Emotional Regulation
Regulating emotions is an important skill that teenagers must learn as they transition into adulthood. However, emotion regulation can be difficult for children with mood disorders, personality disorders, developmental disabilities, eating disorders, and addictions. Regular counseling and therapy can prevent this.
- Grows Self-Compassion and Self-Worth
Low self-esteem in adolescence can lead to depression and suicidal thoughts in adulthood. Counseling allows children to build a greater sense of self-worth, which opens the way to self-compassion. Learning self-compassion enables adolescents to be kinder to themselves and develop a better sense of self.
Your Turn
Kids and adolescents need to reach different developmental milestones through the stages of life without any setbacks. However, problems with mental health in children can stunt growth in particular areas, which makes these transitions difficult.
With a team of the best child psychologists in Mumbai, Faculty Minds helps kids meet their developmental goals by working with them through each stage of development, ensuring a positive effect on social, emotional, and behavioral development.
Connect with us today and set your child on a transformative path of fulfillment and content.
