GROUND RULES

• Please maintain silence during presentation.

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• As you all know, questions can be shared towards the end.

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• Please share your knowledge on the subject, if any towards the end.

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OUTLINE..

• CONCEPT OF PAEDIATRIC COUNSELLING

• COUNSELLING – WHY? WHEN? & HOW?

• WHY CHILDREN ARE DIFFERENT?

• WHAT CHILDREN GO THROUGH?

• PSYCHOTHERAPY IN PAEDIATRICS

• PLAY THERAPY

PAEDIATRICS

Introduction

• Paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The age limit of such patients ranges from birth to 18.

• The word paediatrics is derived from two Greek words:

(pais = child) and (iatros = doctor or healer).

• Abraham Jacob (1830–1919) is known as the Father of Paediatrics because of his many contributions to the field.

• A major consideration is Paediatricians often have to treat the parents and the family, rather than just the child. The same concept extends when it comes to Counseling.

CONCEPT OF PAEDIATRIC COUNSELING

•Children deal with the same stressors adults face: illness, crime, divorce, addiction, death. There is no shielding children from these things.

•They experience - conflicts at home with issues like bedtime and homework. - conflicts with teachers when academic and behavioural demands increase.

•They encounter problems with parents and peers - attempt to establish a personal identity and relate to others. Cont..

• As a child is faced with new situations, demands and expectations, it experiences emotional ups and downs.

• Their response is similar to most adults. They feel sad, frightened, anxious or angry in varying degrees.

• When the degree interferes with their success or pleasure in life, action should be considered.

• Aggressive or violent behavior

• Abusive language

• Difficulty in following rules

• Lack of social interaction / friendships

• Over-timidity, whining, withdrawal

• Over-dependent behavior

• Sleep disturbances

• Irritability, anxiety, trembling with fear

• Uncontrollable crying, hysteria

When the child displays -

Counseling for children

Why Children are different?

• Age

• Exposure

• Intelligence

• Brain capacity

• Emotions

• Reactions

What Children go through ?

• Insecurity

• Panic

• Fear

• Anxiety

• Separation

• Totally different environment/set up

• Different language

• Different people

• Exposure to different patients and their sufferings.

• Exposure to other children patients.

• High technology, machines, ambience, fear of injections,

dressing etc.

• Crying scares them.

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOTHERAPY

TYPES OF PSYCHOTHERAPY

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach, a talking therapy, that aims to solve problems concerning dysfunctional emotions, behaviours and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure.

• Play therapy, Kids are given toys to play with, to understand better their emotional or mental health issues. The child figure out feelings and express them. Play therapy can help kids who have depression or anxiety because they are having trouble dealing with life issues like divorce or the death of a loved one.

• Psychodynamic psychotherapy in which psychotherapist helps to figure out the issues that are influencing a child’s thinking or actions. This therapy operates on the theory that a child's behavior will improve, once his inner struggles are brought out in the open. This can help a child who has anxiety or depression, eating disorder, or conduct disorder.

• Behavioral therapy (behaviour modification) is an approach to psychotherapy based on learning theory which aims to treat psychopathology through techniques designed to reinforce desired and eliminate undesired behaviours.

Play therapy ?

• Refers to a method of psychotherapy with children in which a therapist uses a child's fantasies and the symbolic meanings of his or her play as a medium for understanding and communication with the child.

• Generally employed with children aged 3 to 11years, provides a way for them to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process.

Play therapy:

• In play therapy toys, blocks, dolls, games and other things that attract children are used to identify and verbalise children’s feelings.

• The main aim is to decrease behavioural and emotional difficulties that interfere significantly with a child's normal functioning.

• Goals include improved verbal expression, ability for self-observation, improved impulse control, more adaptive ways of coping with anxiety and frustration, and improved capacity to trust and to relate to others.

ELEMENTS OF PLAY THERAPY

Children require…!

Safety

Love and Affection

Security

Continuous presence

Assurance, Reassurance

Careful handling

Diversion

conclusion“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet

we forget that he is someone today.”  ~Stacia TauscherCounseling for children is vastly different from

counseling for adults, but it is important to remember that as human beings, we all require the same things, i.e. basic love, affection and support. So it is crucial to provide all this to the child and to create a safe, nurturing environment for him/her to grow into a healthy adult.