Welcome Meet A Child Therapist

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Hi guys, welcome back to Preview Lions Podcast. This is Sarah. I'm back with you, and we're gonna have a fun conversation today. I'm super excited to introduce you to Madison. She is a child therapist, plus a therapist, but most importantly, she is gonna help us deep dive into a world that I think a lot of us like me go, okay, what is a child therapist? Should my child see a child therapist? And what mixed emotions that probably brings up for you and your child. So, Madison, welcome to the Preview Lines Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Sarah, thank you so much for having me. I am honored to be a part of this amazing podcast. And I'm so excited to talk about all things kiddos. But yeah, as Sarah said, I'm a therapist, but I mostly work as a child therapist. And so I work mostly with kiddos from ages three to 18. So have quite the variety, but my heart is really with working with kids like three to 12. And so yeah, I'm so excited to talk about all things kiddos and child therapy.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

I love that. So what brought you into this? Because I feel like, you know, I was a nurse for many moons ago before I did this, and I knew pretty off, I was like, I don't want to do PETs. Like that's not my thing. So what brought you to child therapy? I find it so interesting. What brings people to certain, like, you know, their jobs in life.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Sure, yeah. It kind of just stumbled into my hands. I for a long time I knew I wanted to be a therapist, but wasn't really sure what population for a while. And to be honest with you, I started in college, I started nannying and working with two sweet little boys. And I think that really just sparked my interest in working with kiddos and just like watching them grow over the years and watching their brain develop and all the things. And so I started in some of my internships in college, I got to work alongside parents and children. And from there on, I was just like, this is where I'm meant to be. I feel like I really work well with children and that I can often find myself just getting down on their level and just like having conversation with them. And one thing we'll talk about today a lot is we use play a lot, and that's how children often communicate is through play. And I feel like I've always just been like a child at heart. And so it's super sweet for me to be able to like work with children and get to communicate with them through play. And I think it's super special. So yeah, I don't think it was always something that I necessarily thought I would do, but now that I'm in it, it's just right.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Yeah, no, I love that. All right, let's deep down because like me, I'm sure a lot of our listeners are like, we are ground zero here. So yes. What do you do as a child therapist? And like what would we bring a child to you for?

How Madison Found This Work

What Child Therapy Looks Like

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Sure, yeah, yeah. So child therapists, you know, I'm a little biased, but child therapists are so great. So pretty much they get the same training as a mental health professional. So child therapists are mental health professionals, but mainly specializing with children to help mostly kiddos understand, express, and manage like their emotions and behaviors and things along that line. We often use, and I mentioned this, play therapy is really what we use, especially with little kids, because they really can't express, like, hey, I'm feeling anxious or I'm feeling depressed, right? They don't really have that capability to describe. And so we often use play, we'll do like creative art therapies, games, and sometimes that often leads into conversation, but often a child's communication is playing and games and things along those lines. So one thing too about a child therapist is that it really is a team effort with the child, the parent, and the therapist. It's uh definitely not a let's bring my kiddo in and they work with the therapist and everything's great. And yes, that can be the case, but also it has to be the team effort of seeing it implemented like in the home as well. And so as a child therapist, I like I said, I often just help kiddos express those really big emotions they're feeling. Typically, I see mostly kiddos not being able to express the emotions like sadness, anger, fear, anxiety along those lines. And also, I have a lot of kiddos come in for life transition, like divorce is a really big one. That's that's really hard for children to kind of learn how to navigate and their whole life changes in a sense, too. And so that's a big one. Moving like schools or states is really big for kids of just children need structure, and when they don't have structure, it can really set things off and make them feel like big emotions, but then they don't know how to process them. I also work with a lot of kiddos with just like behavior issues that parents have seen kind of come up. And that's one thing too, when parents are trying to decide, like, okay, is this behavior like what do you mean by that? Like, what do you mean by the behaviors change? It's often when the struggle is like lasting, right? So it's not been like a week or two of the child having a different behavior than they've done, but it's like a month long or two months long, and the parent is actively seeing that difference in their child. And so often I'll have parents bring kids in for just like a behavior change that's not normal for the child. And then too, like as a child therapist, I think it's super special that like I'm able to provide a safe space for children and just like let them express their feelings and their words. And I think too, having siblings can often be hard for children to maybe get out what they want to say. And so it's almost like they have their special person when they come to therapy and they're able to kind of just like be exactly who they are, and not that their parents are not letting them, but maybe sometimes they feel overshadowed by other things. And so it's a space where they can have like their person. And then too, with child therapy, because it's a collaborative effort, I work with families too. And so often child therapists help with communication and strengthening that relationship as the family unit. So that's kind of where you know I work mostly with kiddos and families. And like I said, collaborative effort is like one of the biggest things I try to emphasize to parents too of like, we really have to work together in this. And this is such a pivotal part in children's lives of their brain developing and all the things. So yeah, that's kind of a few pieces of like what a child therapist kind of addresses. And of course, it can be way more complex than those things, but those are the kind of like the basic parts for sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

That's the entry points. And I think it what it's hard is we're recognizing just we don't know what's normal, you know, sometimes. So you you kind of as a parent, you're going, okay, well, they do this sometimes, right? And it's not one of those like big red flags that you would go, oh wow, but it's it's that in between. I think parents are like, well, you know, when they get mad sometimes, you know, they punch their little brother, or they do are seeing, I'm seeing anxiety some, right? But is this because of like it's a really high stress moment for school? Like, so I think it's it's hard. And what is that where you would tell parents, you know, it never hurts get in touch with a child therapist?

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Yes. That is like, I think that about children, adolescents, adults, like therapy is something that everyone can use, but especially for a kiddo, again, like having siblings or just even if you don't have siblings, like life is just hard. And like I think, especially as a kid, you're feeling all these things, but you don't know maybe why you're feeling them or how to express them. And so I think like seeing a child therapist could not hurt, right? And so I think that it is just a space too to help kids maybe learn early, like this is how you express that emotion, or like this is how when our brother does make us mad, like here's a different way that we can approach it. And of course, children are not, you know, gonna come to therapy and then walk out and never hit their brother again, right? But it is a space too where children can learn how to express that in a healthier way. And that grows into adulthood, which is great, right? And I think a lot of times, especially with adults, you often see they don't have the ability to express their emotions. And that's often because it started in childhood, right? Like they never were able to learn how to do that. And again, it it might not even be because their parents weren't open to that, but sometimes it's a little bit harder for especially kiddos, right? But sometimes people just don't have the capability to express it and they just need a little bit of like a push to do it. And so, yes, I think if when in doubt, bring your kiddo to child therapy. I think that it could only help, right? And just kind of navigating. And I think too, it could be helpful for just a parent to sometimes like let their child be in a different space where they're seen one-on-one and have that time, like I said, with like the special person. Like they have their person that they can see every week to kind of just be like, I had a good week or I had a bad week and kind of talk that out with somebody who isn't their parent, right? Because those relationships are totally different for sure.

When Parents Should Reach Out

SPEAKER_02 9:13

And then how you're going to be a child therapist is a three-year-old versus a 12-year-old, right? Range of issues there that you're gonna address. But I think it's interesting is like I think parents are like, well, what would a three-year-old really need to see you for? What would a four-year-old really need? Like, you know, you can think 12-year-olds, we're dealing with more serious issues there. Drives could be anger, depression, anxiety. You could even have suicidal ideations there going on. Now, help us explain kind of what you would be looking for in that, let's say, three to five, even six age range for the parents who are listening to you and going, okay, so what is this for looking like?

Signs In Younger Children

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yeah. So um, like you said, it's very different depending on age, right? So I I haven't really seen a ton of, especially with young children, right? They don't know that they're maybe experiencing the anxiety or those big emotions, right? But it often is shown through really big behaviors that maybe are not necessarily considered normal for the child's development. So like I actually had a client a long time ago who the child was very young, but had a very low self-esteem. And that was a big indicator for me that there was something more going on. And the child would often say things to their parents about hurting themselves, but they were so young, and so there, we weren't even sure if like the child even understood what that meant. And so that's like an extreme case, right? Of like there's some deeper things going on. But I think too oftentimes that children with low self-esteem and that are just like having a hard time like going to school and things like that, of course, children are gonna experience that. But there is a lot of deep-rooted anxiety, I think, as well. And you know, to be honest with you, in the generation that we live in, I think that's gonna be a lot more common. And so, you know, I often with little kids, so maybe like you said, three to five, we often do a lot of play-based things. So I have different like emotion games, and I normally start out with kiddos, like teaching them emotions, right? Because they often don't know like what it means to feel anxious. And so, you know, we do them in a developmentally appropriate way and we kind of go through those things and then we get more into how can we express our emotions, right? Because oftentimes children are experiencing so much anxiety because they don't know how to get it out, right? They don't know how to say it. And so I often work with kids to like teach them like, here's how we get those things out, right? And and honestly, oftentimes there's such a big difference in how the child is just like their emotions are throughout the day. They're happier, they're feeling like they can communicate with their parents because they learned how to do it, right? And whereas like with older kids, like I have a couple of kiddos like from the ages of six to twelve, I have often a different approach. And to be honest with you, a lot a lot of times those kiddos often we turn into more of a talk therapy in our sessions of like doing artwork or making bracelets. But we kind of just dive into more about like how you're feeling at home, at school, and things of that nature. So, in a lot of ways, like working with a three to five year old and working with a six to 12-year-old, like they overlap in a lot of ways, but the approach is different in that we're looking at it through a different developmental lens of like a three to five-year-old, like their brain, their left and right brain, are still like learning to connect, right? Whereas like a six through twelve year old, their brain is becoming more of like a whole brain where they're using both logic and emotion together. And again, whereas like a three to five year old, emotion is driving the bus most of the time for sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Yeah, no, I think that I've seen that in my own boys, emotion is definitely driving the bus. And I think of that movie Inside Out, and you know, I my boys love it, I loved it, and I thought it was it was interesting, right? And I think when I was growing up and generation before me, we didn't ever talk about our emotions. Yes. So now it's almost like we've gone super hyper emotion filled, right? So now we're just, I mean, there's a balance. There has to be a balance of everything. But, you know, we are hearing like, okay, how to take deep breaths now. You know, we're trying to invert. I feel like it's almost like this responsibility of this generation of parents. It feels crushing of like, I was never talked about this, I experienced mental health issues, I don't want that to happen in my own child's life. So you go back and say, so what can, you know, but I want to teach them, I don't know how, and you just feel overwhelmed. And then like you can Google and go down Instagram, but it's just too much. Like you just feel like I don't want to mess them up. There's social media now. So what do you say to parents who are like, I don't know what to do, Madison? Like, I want to teach them how to calm down. I don't even know how to calm down sometimes, you know. If I if me as a 30-something-year-old woman can't do it, how can my four-year-old do it?

The Whole Brain Meltdown Map

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Absolutely. Yeah. I think that's a that's a big one. I always, especially when I meet parents, I'm like, it gave yourself grace, right? Parenting is hard. And, you know, navigating, especially having like more than one child too, right? You're trying to like care for yourself, but also for tiny humans and for partners and all the things. So it's it's hard. And I think too that I always like to be realistic. Like you're not gonna get it right the first time and like it's a process, right? And I think kind of to what you were saying about how this gen, you know, we kind of went into the let's be very hyper-focused on emotions so that we children know how to express them. But I think too, it it always comes back to like brain development too, and like how children can even understand, right? And so I think like one thing that I've learned a lot, and I have a book that I recommend to like every parent, honestly, any human being should read it. It's called The Whole Brain Child, and it talks about like how a child's brain develops. And I think that has been super helpful for me too, because sometimes like even me as the therapist, it's an honor to work with children, but I'm also like, oh, like I'm like here with this tiny human and I'm trying to help them. And so I sometimes can take a lot of pressure as well of just like, I want that child to thrive and I want them to feel their best selves. But I think to a simple way I've kind of tried to explain to parents and even to myself is like understanding the brain so that when we are working with our kids and like wanting to understand our kids more, we have like how their brain is actually functioning. And so one thing I like to tell parents is like for children, their brain is like still under construction, right? When for most of their life, when they're kids, their brain is under construction. And so that's why they often like act irrationally or meltdown or like struggle with those big emotions because their brain is still developing. And in case you've forgotten from school, we have our left and our right brain. So just a small little lesson. But with our left brain, right, it's very like logical, literal, like that's where logic comes from. But then the right brain is very emotional and like nonverbal, right? And so for young children, right, they're very right brained. Their emotions are overwhelming and they don't really have logic at all, like speaking to them, right? Because that left brain hasn't developed. And so one thing I think that can be really helpful for parents to understand is that when your child is having a meltdown of some sort, it is important to stimulate the right brain first, right? So through empathy, comfort validating. So, like, yes, maybe they're melting down because someone at a park stole something they were playing with. So validating that, like, yes, that is very frustrating that someone took that from you. But then also gently engaging that left brain of like explanation and problem solving, right? And so, of course, because especially for young children like three to five, you know, maybe even the explanation and problem solving, they're gonna be like, what? Like, you know, but I think it's important to kind of constantly try to stimulate both, right? Always starting with the side that they are currently have like the most control over with their right brain, but then also stimulating that left brain. And the book that I was talking about, it's called The Whole Brain Child, because it talks about as we do that with kiddos, as we help them their right brain and their left brain work, their right and left brain connect and you create a whole brain, right? And that's what we use for the rest of our life. And so I think a lot of times, and understandably so, when children are having a meltdown, the first thing a parent wants to do is just like, why are you doing that? Like, you know, very like, okay, like what's going on? Like, you know, and also because the parent has a lot on their plate. But I think understanding it more from a developmental lens of like they're very emotionally driven. And so they don't really know how to be logical, even if you explain it. But it's still important to always try to stimulate that both right and left brain together so that the child, when they are older and when they are into adulthood, they have that whole brain that's functioning and that can use their left and right brain together, right? And so I think that is a super helpful thing that like I've learned and that I've tried to teach parents of like we have to understand how children's brains work, right? And that, yes, that doesn't necessarily take away like the weight of being a parent, right? But also just understanding that like their brains are still developing and like also that it's like for a lot of parents, it's their first time doing it, right? And you're still learning, right? And so just giving yourself grace in that that you can work by trying to understand their brain more than just like jumping on the child for doing something that maybe to you makes no sense, right? But trying to understand maybe more where that came from because of how their brain has developed, right?

Releasing Parent Guilt And Shame

SPEAKER_02 19:09

No, it makes total sense. What do you say to parents who go, I feel like I screwed off? I think I felt my child, like the shame, the guilt, the how do we end up here? You know, when it is, it does, you know, and it's and it's not, it's it's even understanding some things like, you know, that it's not your fault, it's not your child's fault, right? It's a bad situation you're adult. This was hereditary something that came into play. There's like, you know, how do you just kind of because I think in general there's you know, there's a lot of stigma and biases towards mental health if you're a child or adult. But it kind of feels more personal, like an attack of when it's something's wrong with your child.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Absolutely. Yeah. I've I've seen that a lot. Parents take it very personally that it's something that they did, right? And one thing I try to often encourage parents is that there can be so many, like you said, so many external things that have happened, right? And yes, you are in control of helping raise your child and you know, create them in this way that maybe you've always wanted. But children and adolescents and adults, like everyone's, you know, kind of in in charge of like who they are, right? Too. And so you can you can set those conditions for that child to become this like perfect picture of what you wanted, right? But that's not often always the case. And so I often just really try to encourage parents to give themselves so much grace, right? Because it's often it's their first time living too, right? Like adults, like it's even if you've had four kids, like every child is going to be different and how you raise them and how they respond to the way that you communicate with them. And so I try to often tell parents that like you have to give yourself grace in this because you're still learning too. But like you can set the conditions all you want for your child, but there are often external things that can affect the way that they grow. And so telling parents to not take it personally, it often just goes over their head, right? Because it's it is, it feels personal because it's it's your child, right? But I just try to often work with parents that like, you know what? Like, you're doing the right thing by bringing them, right? Like they're having this problem and like you sign them up to come to therapy. And, you know, you're doing the steps too to help their life thrive and to help them be in this space where they can be happy. And so I often try to stick very much in the here and now with parents because it can definitely be really heavy for them of like, you know, I did this two years ago, and what if, what if, like that's why this is happening now? And so very much so trying to stick with like what's happening currently and like you're doing the steps to fix it, right? And so yeah, that's a hard one to navigate for sure because yeah, like parents are gonna take that personally because it is their child and it's who they're raising. But I think too, in a lot of ways. Like I said, it is a collaborative effort. And so not only am I working with the kid, but I'm working with the parent too, of just like navigating like their feelings and how they're feeling about it, because it is a shift for them too. So yeah, I just often try to be an encouragement, but also validate a parent's experience because that's super heavy of when your child has something happen to them that wasn't necessarily in the cards of what you thought would for sure.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Yeah. And then what you know, it's it's interesting because sometimes I catch myself or catch my husband, I'll be like, okay, take your dragon breaths, you know, and it's it's right. Do you see where what you're teaching the child, you're really teaching their parent? And I mean, it probably is a fun full circle, you know, when you see it working.

Calming Tools That Actually Work

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Absolutely. Yes. That has been also just for me, like becoming trained. So I'm in the process of becoming a registered play therapist, but you don't have to be registered to do play, right? But I think that has been such a like a whirlwind for me, too. Of like, I learn these things that I teach to children and then I apply them to my life, and then the parents do. And it's just like, yeah, it's a full circle moment of like you use these really like silly techniques that maybe like you would never do with an adult, right? And then the adults doing it, right? Because I think a lot of times it's often in play therapy and then parents coming as well. It's it's very like healing to our inner child, especially like you talked about earlier with like the earlier generations of like we did not talk about how we felt and like mental health and mental illness wasn't really like a thing. And so I think in a lot of ways it's been so healing for even like the parents of this generation to like heal their inner child of like, this is what my child is doing. So yeah, it's it's definitely been cool to see that full circle moment for sure.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

What is your some favorite thing? So we do drag and breaths, we work sometimes with our boys and be like, okay, can you find the blue things in the room? You know, like what is some of your I always love the like to dive into the toolbox of like what your guys, what the therapy tips are. I'm like, what do you got? What do you do? What are you gonna do with your kids? That's I guess one day when you have kids. What is some things you're gonna teach?

Limits Access And Finding Resources

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Yeah. That is a complex question because there's so many amazing things that you can do. I think a lot of times I often work with like the breath. I think that's often where children struggle. I think human beings struggle in general, of like focusing on their breath, right? And so dragon breath, but I also love well, this is a breathing technique I teach to a lot of like adults too, but it's like box breathing, so where you kind of draw a box while you're breathing, and then so you inhale and then you hold, and then you exhale and then you hold. So I even teach that to kids, and they think it's fun to trace with their finger. I also like to do a lot of textile things, so I think it's really important, especially for like brain development. And I kind of talked earlier about like play becomes like a natural like language for children, and that even comes with like textile things. So I think fidgets are so like that's not necessarily something you would teach a child, but that is like one of my go-to's. Like, I always have fidgets available for kids, like even when we're playing a game, because I think it's so important to do things with your hands, right? Especially when children maybe not, they might not understand. Like, what do you mean by like I need to breathe in a box, you know? But having those things for children to kind of incorporate and help them stimulate their brain. And then I also often do like I talked about textile, but one of my favorite activities that I do with kiddos is it's a game that we play often with children that are experiencing a lot of anger, right? And I think anger is a complex motion for children and they don't really understand maybe why they get so angry or or why they're holding anger and they don't even know that they are. And so I do this game where we often I'll have the child draw three things. So it could be people, it could be things that make them upset. It's broad, whatever they want to draw of things that make them angry or upset. And we'll hang those on the wall and we will take like a Kleenex and we'll dip it in water. And so that textile aspect, which is super important for children. And I allow the child to take the Kleenex that's wet and throw it at the picture. And it's a really great way for children to get out those balled up feelings of anger because oftentimes with parents, like a child expresses anger by screaming or hitting their brother, right? And then the parents like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like that's not like we're not gonna do that. And so then the child almost feels it as if they don't really have a way to express their anger. And so that has been one of my favorite things to incorporate with children because it really does help them have a space. I think that's one of the most important things about child therapy. It gives children the space to have all the emotions, right? It's not always appropriate to throw a Kleenex at a wall at school, right? But giving that space for the child to be able to actually express their emotion because that's important that they can get that emotion out because that's when we bundle them up, that's when anxiety comes in, and then we eventually explode. So I have a lot of different tools I like to use with kids, but I really, really love using like a textile experience where they can get like they actually touch something and then they can throw it, and then also like providing them that space to do art. And so yeah, there's just a variety of techniques, but those are a couple of my favorites for sure.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Oh, I love that. And then what would you say is probably the most challenging for you as a child therapist? Is it people came a little too late? Is it the parent doesn't want to be involved? Is it that there's only so many child therapists and there's a huge need, you know, like what's the hard things there?

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Yeah, that's very complex for sure. I think there are, especially in the area that I work in, there's not a ton of child therapists. And so that's definitely been hard. I know that of the child therapists that are in the area, they're on a wait list, you know. And so that's been hard to navigate. But I think one of the hardest parts for me has been navigating, not trying to be a parent to the child, but being a support to the child. I think that can be really, really hard, especially with like a three-year-old who's very energetic and wants to run around and like shove slime into the carpet and you know, like is doing all these very energetic things. And I think it it can sometimes be hard of finding that balance of like, how can I be a support for this person? But also I don't want to be a parent, right? And like in the correction. And so I think with a child therapist, often we use the word of like we like to set limits. So we try to set limits in therapy of like, listen, like we're not going, and I've the reason I mentioned the slime into the carpet is because I often have that happen. But we often set limits of like, okay, like we're not going to like shove slime into the carpet, but like let's go, we're gonna go get a sheet of paper and we can slow, and you know, we can shove it into the paper. And so I think like whereas a parent would often correct and be like, no, like you don't need to do that, like you're messing up mommy's carpet. And so I think trying to navigate of like, how can I be a support for the child, but also not have that discipline or parental authority over them, because I think in a lot of ways, of course, I'm going to be an authority figure to the child, but we also kind of want to like level that, right? Like I'm more of a support and a person in their life that they can come to about anything. And so, yeah, that's definitely been that's hard to navigate with kids, especially I work with a lot of kids with ADHD. And so, of course, kids with ADHD and hyperactivity, and so when they come into the room and I have all these toys out, they like don't know what to do with themselves. And then that often leads into like throwing things at the wall. And so just trying to navigate like how can I best support that child and also not become a parental figure to them, right? And then yeah, I definitely think I've had some issues with parents maybe not wanting to be involved. And that's totally understandable. People and parents have a lot on their plate, but I think that child therapy is going to be most effective when it is collaborative for sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think you also touch on good points of just it is, it doesn't need to be in person because a lot of people are going, okay, well, what's if I live two hours from a you? Right. What do I do in those situations where maybe the resources aren't available like they are in a large city? Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Yeah. I think that's been hard. I've talked to a lot of like families and just like play therapy is not really available and accessible. And I'll say too, I've met so many amazing therapists as well that have created this virtual platform for children. And I think obviously COVID was not a great time, but it did bring so many opportunities and learning how to incorporate things online. And especially, you know, when you hear like doing online therapy with a child, you're like, that that doesn't sound like that would be effective, right? But there have been so many amazing tools that have also been like put out, like online resources. Because one thing a lot of child therapists use is like sand tray. We use sand as like a way for children to express how they're feeling and how they feel about certain people and things. And they have like virtual sand tray like websites now. And so I think too, I I can understand parents getting overwhelmed too, of like, you know, I don't necessarily have four hours a day to give up to drive to therapy and drive home. And so I think there has been a lot more that has evolved over time with how we can address that need that we need, especially in our city. And so yeah, it's been, it's a long time coming. I think that child therapy is something that in certain states is really, really big and it's everywhere. But and I think in the southern states it's not as big. And so trying to navigate like how can we, how can we do outreach and like get to, you know, children who don't live near us. And so yeah, I think that's definitely something I currently don't do online with children, but that's something that I'm trying to figure out how to implement because I do think it's so important and that every child deserves the opportunity and the chance to be able to have that space with a therapist for sure.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

Now we know your go-to book. Now, what if parents are looking for resources that they're like, okay, this is great. I want to look. Is there like a place to find a child therapist near them? Because we're listened to all over. Is there a great, is there a place to kind of they're like, I is there any Instagram accounts? Is there anything ways like, how do I teach them? Like, I would love to know more about dragon breasts. I would love to know more about these things. Like, where do you advise parents to kind of like self-educate a little bit in the meantime?

SPEAKER_00 33:07

Yeah, absolutely. So there are definitely websites, I think, for your state as well, depending on where you are. There are child therapy for that state websites, which is great. So you can type in child therapy of Alabama or child therapy of any other state. And there's often websites that have really great resources, which has been super helpful for as a child therapist, but also for parents. But also, there's so many different books that parents can buy, not just the whole brain child, but there's also books about specific techniques that you can like implement in your home, which I think is super helpful. And like ones like books that I use in my therapy room. But one of my favorite that I like to share, and I think this is a really great resource for parents. It's called Assessment and Treatment Activities for Children. And it has been such a great book for it, has like literal specific things that how you can implement them in your home. And so I think like there is not a ton of online resources necessarily for child therapy, but I will say there are a ton of books and a ton of different treatment and assessment books, which are super helpful. And yeah, like maybe some of the things in the book won't make total sense to every parent, right? Because a lot of it is things like I learned in my education. But I will say that there's a lot of really, really great things that you can start implementing in your home, which is super important. And then also if you do get to a point where you get to come see a child therapist, I often try to send home almost like homework in a sense for the child and the parent to kind of start implementing. So yeah, there's Amazon has a ton of great like resources for child therapy, but that specific book has been super helpful. And then the whole brain child is a, it also has like strategies all throughout it for parents to kind of implement that right and left brain connection.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

I love that. Madison, this has been so interesting. And we'll bring you back and we'll dive into more, you know, we can go specific, like we can talk about child anger, we can talk about child anxiety, we'll go deeper. But I think it was just a really good intro conversation for our listeners to know what is a child therapist, because we're so heavy on what is a therapist for ourselves as moms and parents. But now we're starting to be with needing to be more aware for when our kids are going to need help. So what would you tell a mom or dad who's listening? Just kind of giving them some parting words if they're like still a little bit on the fence of seeking out a therapist for their child.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I think, again, I use the term of giving parents grace so much, but it's true. I think that so many parents have so much on their plate and they're working full time and they have three kids and you know they're trying to make dinner, but also trying to give to themselves because that's super important. But I just think my encouragement to parents is to give yourself grace in these years. They're they're hard and they're long, but they're also short. But I also encourage parents that maybe are still on the fence of like, is child therapy for my child? There's so many other resources that you can research about maybe specific things that your child may be experiencing and you're you want to learn more about. But also again, like I said earlier, I think that it could only be a help and not a hurt. And I think even if you decide to try a child therapist and you get in and you're like, this isn't for me, then you don't have to stay, right? It's not something that you have to commit to for a year. But I think that I've only seen children grow and learn from their experience with a child therapist. And so I encourage parents to do their research, right? If they're still feeling on edge. But also I encourage parents that just give it a shot. If you have the means to do that and you have a child therapist near you, because it, you know, I'm a little biased, but I think that child therapy is super, super special, but it's super life-changing as well for kiddos.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

I love that. And Madison, thank you for doing what you do. I know it's not easy, it's not hard, and obviously you're called for it, and we appreciate you. But we'd love to have you back and listener. So I'm gonna leak on the show notes some of the resources Madison has shared with us to make sure you guys can see those. But as always, I appreciate you guys listening, and I'll be back next week.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Maternal mental health is as important as physical health. The Preview Alliance podcast was created for and by moms dealing with postpartum depression and all its variables like anxiety, anger, and even apathy. Hosted by CEO, founder Sarah Parkers, and licensed clinical social worker Whitney Gay, each episode focuses on specific issues relevant to pregnancy and postpartum. Join us and hear how other moms have overcome mental health challenges as well as access tips and suggestions on dealing with your own challenges as moms. You can also browse our podcast library and listen to previous episodes at any time. Please know you're not alone on this journey. We're here to help.