Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch
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By: M. Katherine Lickteig, MA, LPC Associate Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S Have you adopted, or are you in the process of adopting? Adoption Counseling can help your family through this process. A knowledgeable therapist can aid any couple through the steps needed to bring your new child into your life. When a couple […]
Have you adopted, or are you in the process of adopting? Adoption Counseling can help your family through this process. A knowledgeable therapist can aid any couple through the steps needed to bring your new child into your life. When a couple is
seeking a professional to help with this life-changing event, they must consider what stage of the process. The two types of counseling would be pre-adoption counseling and post-adoption counseling. Therefore, a therapist that is well versed in the process, and can make things run more smoothly for your family.
You and your spouse are considering adoption to add to your family. So, why should you consider counseling? While it is a beautiful way to add to your family, it is not without personal challenges. Whether you are adopting locally, considering a foreign adoption, or adopting from foster care, you are entering a situation that will be far different from the traditional way of adding to your family. The better prepared a parent is, the more unlikely they are to become frustrated.
As with any way you add to your family, you as a couple are excited, and you should be. You have done everything that your
agency has asked you and more. Adoption is a great thing. Many of you have prepared to fly around the world to get your new baby. You want to give your all to this child, but there are several things that you might want to consider.
First, you must believe that this adoption occurred at a significant loss for this child. Second, many of these children have been through past trauma. You have already loved this child and are ready to welcome them into your loving arms. The third thing you may want to consider is that they might return your feelings right away. Your expectations may be far more than they are ready to give. An adoption therapist can help a couple to manage their expectations.
What is pre-adoption counseling? Counseling at this stage will help you through the process. A knowledgeable therapist can help you with the struggles of the paperwork and adoptive placement. They can also help with the roller coaster ride of the placement process. The therapist can help you consider all aspects of adding another person to your family. This therapist should be able to help adoptive parents to set realistic expectations. The counseling should allow the parents to meet these kids at their emotional level so that transitions will run more smoothly. Parents will be able to discuss issues they may encounter with future children. The goal of this counseling will allow parents to prepare better for the adoption.
This type of counseling can help a family for years after the adoption and is often part of services offered to adopted children. Post-adoption counseling can involve many different areas of the new family’s life. An adoption therapist can help a family with attachment issues, grief issues, behavioral issues, trauma issues, and problems with the changing roles in the family. It can also help you resolve any issues present to the family, and it can help when you feel frustrated and question your decision.
Adoption is a great way to add to your family, but just like biological children can present issues, so will adoptive children. The better prepared you are to welcome that little one and meet their needs, the better off your family will be. Our trained therapists
at the Cinco Ranch Counseling Center will love to work with you and your child if you are considering adoption, working as a foster parent, or are struggling with issues in the post-adoption phase.
Do you want to learn how to navigate adoption or adding to your family? One of the therapists at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch can help! We provide individual and family counseling and other mental health services. To begin counseling in Katy, TX, follow these three steps:
Here at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch, we offer counseling services for people of all ages in areas including counseling for kids, counseling for young adults, teen counseling, couples counseling, eating disorder treatment, men’s issues, women’s issues, anxiety treatment, depression therapy, trauma counseling, family therapy, and group counseling. Our therapists strive to post blogs regularly. We provide helpful information on a variety of mental health topics. To learn more about our therapists and counseling services, please reach out to the Counseling Center today!
By: Julie Sekachev, M.Ed, LPC Associate Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S Do you have a child that struggles with separation anxiety? Do you have a partner that is out of town frequently? Are you planning to be away from your child for some time? Are you not sure how to prepare them for the […]
By: Julie Sekachev, M.Ed, LPC AssociateDo you have a child that struggles with separation anxiety? Do you have a partner that is out of town frequently? Are you planning to be away from your child for some time? Are you not sure how to prepare them for the separation? Whether you are in a military family, where separation is frequent, or travel for work, this blog can help you navigate the stress of separation. Separation anxiety is normal for young children. We are hard-wired to depend on attachment figures for survival. Separation anxiety can look like excessive fear or worry that the attachment figure may not return or feel anxious or afraid that an unexpected adverse event may happen. A child may cling to their parents excessively, refuse to go to sleep without the attachment figure, and can experience physical symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, and nausea.
If you are traveling for work, change how you define the event. Instead of looking at a time away as an adverse event, for example, saying, “My work is making me go out of town,” changing it to “I get to help others, learn a new skill, solve a hard problem, etc.” Talk to your child about the meaning behind your work if you are going on a work trip. You can learn more with your child about the food, culture, or what kids like to do for fun in that location, and even find videos online to watch together.
There are many fun ways to countdown the days for the parent’s return. You could make a DIY count-down calendar until the day the parents return or make a collage of the places they have traveled, even have a candy jar for the days they are gone, and eat one a day until the reunion.
You can get more ideas here.
Make a routine for when you will talk to your child while away and keep it consistent. Creating structure adds a degree of predictability for your child and allows them to know what to expect. Many apps for traveling parents can ease separation anxiety and help share pictures and updates.
There are many different books available with a recording option. That way, they can read it while you’re away with your voice, or you can make a video of you cooking or making their favorite dish together. The idea is something that they can replay that can help them feel connected to you.
Practice breathing exercises with your child together. Depending on your child’s age, you can practice blowing bubbles, having the child pretend to blow out candles on their fingertips, or practice deep breathing by breathing in through the nose, holding 3 seconds, and breathing out through the mouth for 3 seconds.
If you are ready to help your child find ways to cope with separation anxiety, the therapists at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch can help! We provide individual and family counseling and other mental health services. To begin counseling in Katy, TX, follow these three steps:
Here at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch, we offer counseling services for people of all ages in areas including counseling for kids, Counseling for young adults, teen counseling, couples counseling, eating disorder treatment, men’s issues, women’s issues, anxiety treatment, depression therapy, trauma counseling, family therapy, and group counseling. We provide helpful information on a variety of mental health topics. Our therapists strive to post blogs regularly. To learn more about our therapists and counseling services, please reach out to the Counseling Center today!
By: Margie Frisco, MA Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S Autism can be hard to see in children, even though there can be many early signs. The mental health community does not always agree on what causes autism. But many can agree on some early signs of autism. Below are some signs indicating autism. Keep […]
By: Margie Frisco, MA
Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S
Autism can be hard to see in children, even though there can be many early signs. The mental health community does not always agree on what causes autism. But many can agree on some early signs of autism. Below are some signs indicating autism. Keep in mind that every child might present with different symptoms. It is significant to note that autism can look vastly different from boys to girls, which is why a professional evaluation might be most beneficial.
Delayed milestones depend on the age of the child. For example, young children under the age of one to roughly two years old might be able to say a sentence or at least have some key phrases to communicate. Some children with autism do not speak or have a minimal vocabulary during this time. Other contributors to consider, specifically for language development, would be if multiple languages are being used within the household if the child has older siblings that might communicate for them or any hearing difficulties. These could explain the speech delay as well.
Many children with autism might struggle with interactions with kids their age. Some signs could be when the child lacks eye contact, difficulty understanding their friend’s feelings, understanding nonverbal behaviors, difficulty responding/starting a conversation, lack of interest in making friends or keeping them, and difficulty reacting to those emotions. For example, if a friend is crying, a child with autism might laugh or become irritated by the other child. Again, some children might not want to interact with others not because of autism, but maybe they have not developed their communication skills or have not found people they can relate to consistently.
Many children with autism demonstrate a calm nature when they can complete repetitive actions. For example, you may see them rocking or keeping a strict schedule/routine. Another way some children show this is by being interested in or fixating on a specific character, topic, or toy. Some examples would be linking logs, knowing a comic character inside and out, or extensive knowledge about insects. This section can be tricky to separate “typical” child behavior from that of an individual with autism. Many children respond better to structure. The main difference here is that an individual with autism might not adapt to changes. For example, if a child always brings their lunch to school but forgets the lunch at home, the child with autism might refuse to eat a school lunch to adapt because that is not their packed lunch from home.
Keep in mind that many of the signs above might sound like many children would qualify for a diagnosis of autism. There are some factors to think about when autism is a concern. The symptoms would be recognizable in childhood. Also, the signs must impact daily living. This means that the signs make the child’s life significantly more challenging. The diagnosis would be further explained by the severity level and how the signs impact their life.
The key takeaway from this section is that many children can have tendencies resembling autism. Furthermore, an intellectual disability or developmental delay cannot explain the signs better. There can be co-existing autism diagnosis with some other disorders. The most important thing to do is if you feel that autism could be a concern for your child, get them evaluated. Most school districts or mental health providers can perform an evaluation. I would recommend finding someone that specializes in screening for autism.
If you are ready to improve your parenting skills, one of the therapists at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch can help! To begin parenting counseling in Katy, TX you can follow these three steps:
Here at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch, we offer counseling services for people of all ages in areas including counseling for kids, counseling for young adults, teen counseling, couples counseling, eating disorder treatment, men’s issues, women’s issues, anxiety treatment, depression therapy, trauma counseling, family therapy, and group counseling. Our therapists strive to post blogs regularly. We provide helpful information on a variety of mental health topics. To learn more about our therapists and counseling services, please reach out to the Counseling Center today!