A parent recently called and said she was looking for a “Feelings Teacher” for her two children. I explained that this was not necessarily a title I’d been given before, but that perhaps I could help. While discussing what exactly her goals would be for bringing her children in to see a “Feelings Teacher,” she identified what I would call typical treatment goals for counseling with children:
Creative Family Counseling is known for offering creative interventions to help clients and their families experience change and healing. Animal-Assisted Therapy is one of the unique modalities of therapy available for clients of our practice. Rebecca Street, LMFT and a sweet Doberman Pinscher named Archer are one of the two animal-assisted therapy teams at Creative Family Counseling. I sat down with them for a quick interview about the amazing work they offer to their clients.
When children demonstrate behavioral problems, it’s a signal to the grownups in charge that they need support in some way. Children communicate to adults how they are doing primarily through their behavior. This is due to normal brain development. Because the areas of the brain that are responsible for expression through language (verbally communicating, “I’m not ok.”) are still developing, children show us how they are feeling through their behavior.