4 types of Psychotherapy for treating mental illness in children

4 years ago

According to WHO (World Health organization), 50 percent of mental illnesses that occur in a lifetime begin by age 14. This is the developmental stage of any child, when they develop mentally and physically. At this point of time, their behavior is sometime difficult to judge or analyze. Actions like anger, anxiety, shyness can be due to developing stage but if the signs keep on persisting, and then it would be a warning sign and termed as disorder.

Some examples of mental disorders that are diagnosed during childhood include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Mental disorders that occur during either childhood or adulthood include anxiety disorders such as social phobia and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); and mood disorders such as depression.

A clinical psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can diagnose mental illnesses and write prescriptions for medication. Often, the two will work together to provide a combination of counseling and medication.

Along with medications, psychological treatments or psychotherapy are used in treating the patient.

Types of Psychotherapy are:

Art Therapy

Pic credit: Google

It’s a non threatening form of healing where children draw a story of their life events and conditions that they are struggling to tell feelings. Art therapy is used to treat ADHD, anxiety, depression. After that therapists study the drawing and according to color scheme what child has used help him to make an inference about the mental condition. He/ she then try to discuss with child.

Play Therapy

Pic Credit: Google

The technique is used to treat the child of age 3 to 14. Play therapy is used to treat mental disorders such ODD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression. It also involves a non-threatening form of communication in which toys represent words. As the name indicates, play therapy, it involves playing. Children engage in storytelling followed by identifying the feelings of characters in the story; role-playing with puppets as a form of feeling projection; and blowing bubbles to improve deep and controlled breathing. The therapist observes feelings and disturbing behavior.

Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

It helps parents and children who struggle with behavior problems or connection through real-time coaching sessions. Parents interact with their children while therapists guide families toward positive interactions.

Pic credit: Google

Applied Behavior Analysis

Children with more severe mental challenges are treated with operant conditioning. This involves reinforcing a desired behavior in increments through cognitive-behavioral techniques.

It is very important to diagnose the problem in children and provide healing facility to them because if a child does not receive necessary care, the illness may continue into adulthood, creating high risk and issues.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. Jugaadin News does not claim responsibility for this information.

Seema Jain

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *