Counselling Children: Case Studies and Strategies for Therapy

This document provides case studies of children in need of counselling and explores effective strategies for therapy. It discusses hypotheses, engagement techniques, belief systems, and age-appropriate activities. The document also examines the causes, effects, and symptoms of various issues. Suitable for students and professionals in psychology and counselling.

Running head: COUNSELLING CHILDREN
COUNSELLING CHILDREN
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Case study 1:
1a. State three (3) possible hypotheses and your justification for each.
After going through the case of Michael, few hypotheses were proposed on his
condition:
• Michael was a stubborn child, he was out of control and he created a series of trouble for
his parents during weekends even though they provided him with every facility and also had
a routine of taking him on weekend to his favourite place to have fun.
• Aggressive nature was also one of the factors that were noticed in his behaviour, as his
parents reported that he had a history of bullying his fellow classmates at a very early age and
used to extort money from them. He also had beaten a fellow classmate who had to receive
stitches. This indicated that he was growing aggressive as he was growing in his age.
• Distracted and lack of concentration was observed by the counsellor when he was brought
by his parent. He was found continuously playing with his play station without having any
interest in other things. When he was asked questions or they tried to interact with him, he
ignores them totally and did not react anything to them and kept on playing.
All these hypotheses provided an overall idea regarding his behavioural condition and need
for a better-planned counselling session (Hetrick et al., 2016).
1b. Assuming that Michael is not a resistant client, how would you engage Michael to
build a relationship with him? State with SPECIFIC examples. At least 2-3 SPECIFIC
examples.
In order to engage with Michael, it will be important to first develop a better
therapeutic relationship with him so that he becomes comfortable enough to interact with
others. it can be developed by involving things that he has interest in and things he likes such

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as his play station. Interacting with him regarding games with drag interest of his in the
interactive session. After developing an understanding and therapeutic relationship, it will be
necessary to evaluate the reason behind his condition and behavioural difficulties, the reason
why he creates trouble to his parent (Olthuis et al., 2016). After understanding the reason
behind his condition the next step should be proposing sessions and therapies to help him
overcome his aggressive and difficult behaviour. He needs to be provided with behavioural
therapy to develop manners and decency in his behaviour. One of the reasons behind his
behaviour is lack of attention and family time, as his parent are busy working, he is taken
care by his maternal uncle, and it is well known that a child needs proper time and care from
his/her parents to develop and become a better human being. It will necessary to involve his
parents in order to have some family interaction and therapy to develop better bonding
between them (Stallard, 2019).
Case study 2:
2a. What could be some of Timothy’s belief systems?
According to the case study, Timothy’s witnessed violence at his home on a daily
routine where her mother was treated badly by his father. He was also taught by his father
that women are inferior to them and they must not be treated and provided rights equally.
Timothy, as growing in such an atmosphere will have a developing mind-set that women
should be treated badly and must not be given things equally as they are getting. He may have
a belief that hurting and abusing female is a correct way to treat females and he might also
have a view that they must not have right to speak in front of them or take any decisions
regarding any aspect (Corsaro, 2017).
2b. How would you help to change his belief system?

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In order to change the belief that Timothy has, it will be necessary to provide him
with child counselling session and proper education will also be of greater help in his
condition. it makes it necessary to provide proper education and counselling to Timothy as
his beliefs and mind-set will later affect him in his life and social involvements and there are
chances that he turns up to become an individual like his father. Providing timothy with
proper and effective education regarding the fact about the importance of the female gender
and the rights regarding the equality of the female (Nahata, Quinn & Tishelman, 2018). Apart
from education, counselling sessions regarding the issue will be helpful, as it will be
necessary to remove all the beliefs and ideas he was given by his father to resolve his belief
regarding the gender inequality. Timothy needs to be provided with interactive sessions with
the counsellors so that that they get an idea about his belief status. He needs to be explained
and understand enough to make him understand that female is equal to male and they must be
treated equally and respected (Baruth & Manning, 2016).
Case study 3:
3a. What types of AGE-APPROPRIATE media and activities might be suitable for working
with Susan?
Age appropriate media are used in order to provide therapy to children witnessed any
kind of traumatic events and is found to be an effective process. According to the case of 7
years old Susan who has experienced physical molestation by her father, and after
complaining the molestation condition to her mother, the fight between her parents leads
towards her father leaving their family. she states she still loves her father and she is going
through a tough time here. In order to help her it will be useful to address her with play
therapy such as games she likes to play and using creative activities such as drawing, art and

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craft, music and dancing to get involved with her and help her develop a better comfort zone
and understanding among Susan and caregiver (Ospina et al., 2018).
3b. What are some of the causes, effects, and symptoms for Susan?
Susan after going through the traumatic situation had a difficult time in adjusting with
the surrounding. She witnessed various changes in her behaviour and state of mind. she has
been going through a condition where she was confused as she loved her father but she did
not like him touching her in that manner which developed a fear and anxiety in her as she was
not able to express her situation to anyone (Marusak et al., 2015). Her father left them as she
complained to her mother regarding her father molesting her, and she started blaming herself
for the condition of her father leaving them and for which she went to depression. Also, she
loved her father and used to miss him badly but it was not possible for her to be with her, it
dragged Susan to more severe condition and she started getting away from her normal
behaviour. She became depressed, sad, started losing her confidence and developed the
feeling of guilt inside her. She was observed to be silent, sad, nervous and had fear talking to
people. She was also underdeveloped when compared to other children of her age group
(Baumeister et al., 2016).

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Reference:
Baruth, L. G., & Manning, M. L. (2016). Multicultural counseling and psychotherapy. Taylor
& Francis.
Baumeister, D., Akhtar, R., Ciufolini, S., Pariante, C. M., & Mondelli, V. (2016). Childhood
trauma and adulthood inflammation: a meta-analysis of peripheral C-reactive protein,
interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-α. Molecular psychiatry, 21(5), 642.
Corsaro, W. A. (2017). The sociology of childhood. Sage Publications.
Hetrick, S. E., Cox, G. R., Witt, K. G., Bir, J. J., & Merry, S. N. (2016). Cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT), third‐wave CBT and interpersonal therapy (IPT) based
interventions for preventing depression in children and adolescents. Cochrane
database of systematic reviews, (8).
Marusak, H. A., Martin, K. R., Etkin, A., & Thomason, M. E. (2015). Childhood trauma
exposure disrupts the automatic regulation of emotional processing.
Neuropsychopharmacology, 40(5), 1250.
Nahata, L., Quinn, G. P., & Tishelman, A. C. (2018). Counseling in pediatric populations at
risk for infertility and/or sexual function concerns. Pediatrics, 142(2), e20181435.
Olthuis, J. V., Watt, M. C., Bailey, K., Hayden, J. A., & Stewart, S. H. (2016). Therapist‐
supported Internet cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders in adults.
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Ospina, P. A., McComb, A., Wiart, L. E., Eisenstat, D. D., & McNeely, M. L. (2018).
Physical therapy interventions, other than general physical exercise interventions, in
children and adolescents before, during and following treatment for cancer. Cochrane
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Stallard, P. (2019). Think Good, Feel Good: A Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Workbook for
Children and Young People. Wiley.