MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
At Little Sprouts, our psychological and beheavioral health team offers a few types of mental health support services, including play therapy, counseling, and psychotherapy.
Play therapy: Play therapy is a specific therapeutic approach using play (e.g. toys, art, dancing, storytelling, sandtray, etc.) to support children to process and express their feelings and cope with difficulties, such as, anxiety, aggression, sadness, loss, family and social difficulties, low self-esteem, and trauma. Play therapy is particularly helpful for children who are not yet able to fully verbalize their emotions or share about their experiences. A trained play therapist provides a safe, supportive environment for them to do so. In order to become a certified practitioner, a play therapist will have to undergo specific coursework and supervised practicum training.
Counseling: Counseling is a type of mental health support that typically focuses on specific and current problem(s) with short/mid-term, goal-oriented sessions. Counselling can include both talk therapy and other creative methods including those used in play therapy. Cognitive beahvioral therapy approach (CBT) is often employed during counseling sessions. Counseling can address the same range of short-term issues as play therapy, from emotional struggles to behavioral problems and can be adapted to a child's or adolescent's developmental stage.
Psychotherapy: Unlike counseling, which focuses on conscious thoughts and immediate issues, psychotherapy examines both conscious and unconscious processes, including past experiences, to address more complex or chronic difficulties. , such as, self-esteem, personality, family dynamic, childhood trauma, gender identity, neurodiversity, self-acceptance, conplicated grief, anxiety, depression, and other challenges with deper roots. Psychotherapy is often a longer-term service that allows time for a child to delves into his/her underlying issues and emotional patterns. A psychotherapist often has an advancted degree in psychology or related field. Due to the complex nature of the intervention goal, psychotherapy is generally not available in school.