Child Counseling: Exploring Cases, Methods, and Building Relationships

This report delves into the realm of child counseling, presenting a comprehensive analysis of case studies involving children facing various challenges. The report examines the cases of Michael and Timothy, exploring the impact of parental behavior and environmental factors on their development. It proposes hypotheses and counseling methods, including building strong relationships with the children, addressing aggression, and modifying belief systems. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding the root causes of behavioral issues and employing therapeutic techniques such as narrative and play therapy to foster positive change. The report also highlights the significance of creating a supportive environment where children feel comfortable expressing their emotions and exploring their feelings. The paper concludes by summarizing the responsive approaches for each case scenario in the purview of children's counseling.

Running head: COUNSELLING CHILDREN
COUNSELLING CHILDREN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The form of therapy, which focusses on the younger children, adolescents and teens
struggling with mental health concerns, stressful and dysfunctional environment is considered
as child counseling. Child counseling offers aid for the youths for healing or mending
dysfunctional behavior such as children's aggression and behavioral issues (Geldard, Geldard
& Foo, 2017). The main aim of child counseling is to assist children in coping with their
understanding regarding problems, emotions and working towards the development of
positive choices and coping programs/skills. Child counseling empowers and encourages
them to express and explore the feelings through one or multiple media with respect to the
dependence on an individual's preferences (Midgley, Hayes & Cooper, 2017). The purpose of
the paper is to respond to each case scenarios depicting a concern with child development
with counseling methods and hypothesis. The three cases demonstrate unique scenarios of the
negative influence of children from the external environment, which may be parents'
practices and behavioral approach towards a child. The paper will be concluded by
summarizing the responsive approach of each case scenario under the purview of children's
counseling.
Body
Child counseling is considered very useful for improving the behavioral approach and
emotional projection in various challenging situations. Child counseling helps to assist
children when they experience difficulties in acquiring various significant social skills.
Counselling also allows children to heal from negative or overpowering experiences, which
has resulted from the loss of family members, breakdown or even bereavement (Loughran,
2018). Children with a memory of abuse are also helped with the counseling programs and
empowerment schemes. The counseling approach is also targeted towards the state of
depression, anxiety and low self-esteem (Mthembu & Mkhize, 2019). Children suffering

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from mental, social, psychological, social and emotional distress are supported with the help
of counselors' strategy. The professionals of mental health offer services by identifying the
concerns underlying the emotional state of a child and the factors that are indirectly or
directly influencing the overall well-being and health of a child. The process of identification
helps in responding to the identified concerns efficiently with treatments and programs
(Hayes & Brunst, 2017). There are times when children are inefficient at fully processing
complexities, which can have long-term psychological or emotional effects on them. In this
case, the counselors help in working for the complete mental well-being of the children.
Case Study 1: The case of Michael- A ten-year-old
Hypothesis in response to the identified concern:
H1: If the child spends more time with the parents on the weekdays after school and office,
then it will reflect positive influence over its mental well-being.
Children spending time with parents or people with whom they feel secure can heal
their negative memory or dysfunctional behavior. Spending more time with his parents can
help the ten-year-old to learn about the bond that can help in suggesting ways for healing peer
pressure or peer conflict in other areas of his life. Spending time should be engraved with a
consistent approach to encouraging their urge of sharing events and seeking importance.
Spending time should not be concentrated only on the weekends or holidays (Midgley, Hayes
& Cooper, 2017). Moreover, responding consistently to the activities can also help the
behavioral approach or aggression of Michael. On the other hand, spending time with
Michael should be accompanied by time outs as a constant practice of spending time and
offering attention can also disrupt the space of him being completely creative and by his own
responding to the challenges. The consistent approach should be directed towards the urge of
teaching a child the significance of alone time and responding to their challenges without any
supervision.

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H2: If the parents engage with each of the activities of the child by participating in games and
homework then the child will experience support and familiarity, thereby reducing his
aggression.
The time spent with the kids should not be aimed at counting hours at a restaurant,
game or toy shop. Engagement with the life of the children is very crucial for the sanity of the
development of Michael's well-being. Involving familiarity, friendliness and at the same time
supervision by parents while participating in the games and experiences, which serves to the
comfort of the child can help Michael in learning creative ways in channeling his aggression
or energy. The physical and behavioral characteristics of toughness and aggressiveness
should not be encouraged, especially on the basis of gender (boys) as it can portray the sense
of right and natural approach of portraying aggression amongst peer groups.
H3: Creativity distributing the time of Michael in productive and learning events can help to
influence the dysfunction behavior of Michael
The practice of distributing time diligently and productively will be the aim of the
counselor and the parents, which will not capture all the playing time into study programs but
rather incorporating learning programs in every step and phase of sustaining life, which can
reshape the approach of Michael's behavior and response for any form of events and
circumstances (Hubena & Mulcahy, 2019).
Building a relationship with Michael
In counseling, especially dealing with a child, a counselor may experience resistance
in sharing content and/or engaging with the counselor. When a child or any client starts
controlling or restricting information from a counselor, it is known as client resistance. The
resistance can be reflected in different forms of resistance such as small talks and even denial
in attending sessions(Midgley, Hayes & Cooper, 2017). Resistance is depicted in the clients'

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unwillingness to share any significant information with respect to the therapy. In this case
scenario, Michael did not demonstrate any form of resistance in answering or interacting with
the theme in the counseling session (Midgley, Hayes & Cooper, 2017).
In this case, I will follow a few steps of phases to build a strong and comfortable
relationship with the client, ten-year-old Michael. The first step in this situation will be to
helping Michael feel comfortable and welcomed in the whole space, where he can share
anything and everything that bothers him. For instance, for welcoming him into this situation
I will educate myself about his favorite video game to have an ice-breaker in conducting the
first conversation. My next step should be focussed on understanding that a relationship
between a child and a counselor will take time. In the first few sessions, I will try to organize
small talks with can relate my life to Michael's childhood. For instance, I can communicate
about my parents' busy schedule when I was his age and also educate him about the struggles
a parent goes through in providing a better life in comparison to the life, they have sustained
in the past. My intention in the whole organic process of building relationships will not
involve the practice of judging Michael for any of his actions in the past rather will be
directed towards the scope fo learning the causes that led to those behavioral approaches. For
instance, I will neither involve any medical or therapeutic terms in any conversation with
Michael in the initial stages nor will teach him the moral grounds for his past actions with the
consideration of therapy and age. The next phase of my process of building relationship will
focus on the practice of managing my emotions, which will not direct any actions towards a
set range of goals. Being a counselor, I will not only concentrate on my objectives of healing
the dysfunctional behavior of Michael, rather it will focus on Michael's need of responding to
the state of aggression. For instance, I will engage myself in controlling the urge of validation
through meditation and plan control from intruding in the sessions. Moreover, I will ask
Michael to draw his emotions and allot exercises that can be creatively different from her
regular games and study programs, which will not only utilize his rational thinking but also

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help him interact with his parents in problem-solving practices. For instance, I will ask him to
plan out a scavenger hunt for my favorite article from my clinic or his parents' from home to
build confidence and to offer a sense of control over productive activities. This will be an
instance of play therapy, which will help you to build a relationship with your client,
Michael.
Case 2: The case of Timothy- A nine-year-old
Believe system of Timothy
The belief system reflects the opinion or understanding of a person regarding various
non-existent or existent aspects of life. In children, a belief system is the product of
influences derived from parents' beliefs, the external environment they grow into and the
experiences deduced from school and home practices (Geldard, Geldard & Foo, 2017).
In the case scenario of Timothy, his belief system can be assumed to be the outcome
of the environment he was growing in, which is a strong influence of her father's violent
behavior. Timothy's belief system will be largely based upon gender discrimination, as he
believes a major lack of capabilities and mental strength in a girl to that of a boy. His belief
system must be based on the just practice of witnessing strict boundaries for female figures.
Timothy also believes that girls are supposed to follow a range of strict boundaries that all
girls should abide by for a decent life and for controlling any negative punishment. The belief
system of Timothy can also include a strong sense of disrespect for girls including her own
mother's decision, which can harm her relationship and attitude at home and school for
female friends. His belief system was highly judgemental for girls' character and attitude
towards any activity, including getting an equal educational qualification, participation in
games (both outdoor and indoor) and sacrificing every right of appreciation for boys. His
belief system was corrupted by his home environment and violent approach of his father
towards female figures (Kinmond et al., 2019). Moreover, his belief system is framing his

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rationale, as he demonstrates aggressive behavior when a girl is appreciated or participates in
a sports event, which according to him is a supposedly male-driven field.
Changing Timothy’s believe system
Changing an individual's belief system can consume efforts of understanding the root
cause and can be both challenging and easy especially with respect to a child. It can be
challenging because a child spends a lot of their time at home and seek behavioral approaches
from their parents and can be easy as they can be molded in various believe system if they
feel engaged and connected to a person. Thus, the first initiative of mine, as a counselor will
be to build trust and ease in our sessions, so that he can picture the world from different
points of view. My approach will not include any action of demining his father or his belief
system, as he may start feeling resistant to the idea of talking against a parent figure rather I
will engage his interests towards the idea of equality. Teaching equality to a nine-year-old
can be difficult but it will be molded into the form of narrative therapy and play therapy.
After the phase of understanding the causes and current belief system of Timothy, I will start
introducing the concept of gender equality in various forms, which can be a mixture of audio,
video and physical activities. Proactive videos of animated characters, which demonstrates
the capabilities and strength of a female character (Geldard, Geldard & Foo, 2017). The short
stories in visual media will engage his senses and interests in learning an equality-driven
situation of a school. He can be exposed to various activities at school, in accordance with my
recommendations, which is based on group collaboration in accomplishing the final goal such
as conducting a play. This activity can project practical know-how of equal participation of
both the genders. The last phase of the process of changing his belief system should be
focussed on constructing an ethical orientation through a consistent narration of incidences
and projecting examples from his memory of female figures, who have contributed to his
learnings and education till now such as mother, female teachers, and female friends.

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Transformed ethical orientation will result in self-development at an early age like for a nine-
year-old.
Case Study 3: The case of Susan- A seven-year-old
Media and Activities best suited for Susan
Media plays a major role in a child's learning and development, especially in the 21st
century. The process of counseling a child should fundamentally include the inclusion of
various activities, which can influence their behavior and state of mental health without their
attention. The activities included in healing the mental state of Susan can include a
combination of play and narrative therapy. For the selection of media, Susan can be exposed
to various audio-visual channels, which can detach her guilt on losing her father's presence in
the house and will teach her the morality behind molestation. However, teaching moral laws
and obligations should be the last step of engaging her interest. The first step should be
knowing more about her and her fears and emotional state, which can be enabled through the
activity of letting her paint, draw or narrate her stories of everyday life and slowly building
her recognition of the truth (Haruna, 2016). The activity of demonstrating her fear, anger, and
grief can be projected with the help of clay or sand tray techniques, which will allow her to
be creative in expressing herself without having to participate in a conversation about her
father. Counseling can also allow Susan to conduct an imaginary story, in which the
counselor will add characters with a subtle intrusion. Imaginary storytelling will lead back to
her current mental state of grief and anger. Imagination can also be influenced positively by
taking her to a park or green space (McCormick, 2017). The counseling session may also
include the inclusion of puppets and role-play activities, which will teach her about moral
obligations and boundaries, which does not portray her as a victim or responsible for her
father's absence (Kirkbride, 2018).
Causes, effects, and symptoms for Susan

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The causes identified for her current mental state are the mixed feelings derived from
her father's unjust practice of molestation and from the grief of losing a parent figure. The
grief was overpowering her rationale of ill practices that she has witnessed. The loneliness
created due to the lack of both the parent together has resulted in the guilt of voicing her
dislikes openly. The dominance of her father over her choices is another major cause of
witnessing the current state of grief, anger, and detachment. Her mother's rare interaction and
engagement with her day-to-day life has also caused her negative state of mind.
The effects of the current state of mind of Susan has resulted in the blurring of moral lines
which she understands even being an eight-year-old. She has started feeling guilty and
responsible for the loss of her father's presence in her life. The loss of her father's presence is
majorly dominating her judgment of right or wrong based on the negative and unjust
experiences she has been through in such an early age of life. She has started doubting her
decisions, rights, communication approach and judgment. She is experiencing lower-self
esteem from the experience of molestation and father's detachment from her day to day life.
Moreover, due to the lack of attention from her mother in activities like playing, she is feeling
diverted and confused about the decision of refraining from the negative experience. The
symptoms of Susan's mental health condition can be witnessed from her lack of participation
in conversations with anyone, poor performance in studies and extra-curricular activities,
constant boredom, low self-confidence, frequent complaints regarding headaches, stomach
pains (without any physical health condition) and refrain from attending any social gathering,
such as play dates, birthday parties, sometimes school and even counseling sessions. In this
situation, her mother needs to engage her participation and assistance along with the media
and activities allowed for Susan so that she can win back her understanding of right and
wrong, participate in self-development and reframe her knowledge about self-esteem and
morality.
Conclusion

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Therefore, it can be concluded from all the three cases that child counseling should be
planned distinctively with the incorporation of trust-building exercise, mold the forms in
child-friendly techniques and building a strong or comfortable relationship with the child in
healing a deep or negative mental health state. Mental health and well-being is equally
important in children as in adults as it can shape their moral understanding, behavioral
approach and decision-making skills growing up.

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