Does My Child Need Therapy?

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Does My Child Need Therapy?

Parents seek out our services for several reasons. Sometimes parents know that a big family change or stressor is in the child’s future and they want to proactively provide their child with a resource (a trusted therapist) which will help them through that transition. For these parents, helping and encouraging their children to manage the emotions related to that transition/change in healthy ways is their priority.  Other times, parents are concerned or worried about an event that has already happened. A traumatic event or social stressor has impacted their child and they want to provide their child with a healthy outlet to cope. Most often, parents have observed a change in their child’s behavior or the way their child is interacting with others and are seeking to understand how to help them and resolve that problem. Learn More...

Non-Suicidal Self Injury (or self-harm) vs. Suicidality

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The difference between Suicidality and Self Injury is INTENT. 

Individuals engage in self-harm to feel “something” other than numb or empty. Sometimes self-harm can be a way to signal to others that they need help or the harming behavior has become a maladaptive coping skill. Individuals who express suicidality are experiencing hopelessness, despair, and thinking that the end of their life could be the solution to their problems. Although both conditions can stem from similar situations or contexts, self-harm does not always indicate that the individual wants to end their life.  Learn More...

Limiting the Overwhelm of Parents: Making Therapy More Accessible to Children and Teens at School

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As parents, we want our kids to be happy and healthy. Oftentimes this means running them all over town for various events and appointments – wellness visits, sick visits, tutoring, dentist appointments, lessons, sports activities, vision tests, club events…and the list goes on and on.  While their happiness and success is a priority, what happens when crises arise which add to the already over-scheduled family schedule? When our children experience mental health symptoms and concerns, this moves up quickly on the priority list of weekly commitments. Parents who are already burning up the road with mileage then try to find more time in the day to fit in one more (very important) therapy visit. Learn More...

Is This Normal? When Should I Seek Help for My Child?

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By Erica R. Myers, LPCC-S, RPT-S Clinical Director Creative Family Counseling

Mental illness can begin at any age and affects everyone – regardless of socioeconomic status, background, or upbringing. It is essential to recognize that the onset of mental illness is typically during childhood and the teenage years, meaning parents must be educated on the potential signs and risks. While mental illness can be scary, it is highly treatable. Those who seek early treatment for their child can find fantastic outcomes in therapy. Learn More...

Back to School: What to expect from your child and how you can provide them support

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For many parents, the return of children back to school is a mixture of relief and stress.  We feel stressed because there’s a lot of prep work for the return to school and there is also a sense of relief when we can all get back to a set routine and schedule. 

Leading up to the first day of school for your kids, you may notice feelings of concern, fear, and nervousness or even anger and irritability.   Learn More...

What’s the Difference Between Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Health?

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Depending on the professional with whom you speak, mental health can sometimes be referred to as emotional health or behavioral health. To me, they’re all the same. It’s hard to differentiate our cognitions (mental) from our emotions and our reactions (behaviors) because they are all interconnected and influence one another. What is happening in our environment impacts the way we think about ourselves and our surroundings, influences how we feel both physically and emotionally, and therefore causes us to react in our behavior.  While emotions can oftentimes be recognized through non-verbal communication, we cannot read one another’s minds, and yet, the behaviors of children are oftentimes what gets the grownup’s attention.  Challenging behaviors are usually why parents call us for support. Learn More...

Creating a Summer Schedule for Your Family

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As the school-year ends, many families embrace a slower schedule, or lack thereof. Taking a break from the busy school schedule is well-deserved, but if you’re like my family, some structure and routine to the day can keep things interesting when day in and day out at home can seem boring after a while.

A summer schedule can also help set some boundaries around use of technology, which research shows is correlated to poor academic performance and higher mental and emotional health symptoms. And at least at my house, the more screen time there is, the more outbursts we have, which tells me their brains need less of it!  If you want to include technology time in your summer schedule, you could designate a limited amount somewhere throughout the day. Learn More...

Should You Talk to Your Kids About Self-Harm?

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Should you talk to your kids about self-harm?

Short answer: YES!

When it comes to talking to kids about self-harm, parents sometimes worry that bringing up the subject will put the idea in their child’s head. The truth is, though, your child is going to hear about self-harm at school, through their peers, and on social media. But, if you are the one talking about the topic, you can debunk any myths, make sure your kids have the facts, and establish that they can talk to you about anything. Learn More...

Creative Family Counseling Prospect

Creative Family Counseling, A Children’s Therapy Practice in Louisville, Kentucky, Expands with Growth in Both Clientele and Business Following COVID-19 Pandemic

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When Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist Lacey Ryan opened the doors of Creative Family Counseling in Louisville, Kentucky in 2019, keeping those same doors open through a pandemic was not in her five-year plan. However, that’s exactly where Ryan, the Founding Director of Creative Family Counseling, found herself in the early months of 2020 as COVID-19 started to make its way into the lives of Louisvillians across the city including her staff members’ and patients’. While plenty of businesses were forced to close their doors over the last year and a half, Creative Family Counseling has done the opposite. After a period where Ryan and her team worked together to realign their business approach to meet the new normal that included telehealth and social distancing, the practice continued to offer therapeutic services throughout the pandemic. And now, 18 months later, Creative Family Counseling is preparing to open a second office location in Prospect, Kentucky as the team of therapists and the list of specialties and services offered continues to grow. Learn More...