Counseling

A family systems approach to counseling provides a holistic view of the both the supports and challenges that a family is going through and therefore provides a customized approach to treatment.  When a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, the whole family system is impacted, including parent-child relationships, spousal, sibling, and even grandparent relationships. Financial, time, and energy constraints are also common.  Changes in social and educational systems have to be navigated.  It is a period of stress for the entire family.

When we look at just the child with dyslexia, we know that they experience a great deal of stress that is secondary to their dyslexia.  They have questions about why learning is so hard for them.  They face negative feedback from teachers, peers, siblings, etc.  These micro-stresses have an accumulative effect.  Children with dyslexia experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem that can end up being a bigger issue than their dyslexia.  This is also true for children with ADHD, except that they get in trouble much more often, resulting in even lower self-esteem.   Short-term, individual therapy can be helpful in explaining the biology of these diagnoses, changing the paradigm that children view their challenges through, and learning tools to help cope with the extra stresses they face.  Most children with learning challenges secretly fear they are "stupid".  No matter how many times parents tell them they are not, it may take someone impartial to get that point across. 

Additionally, parents face their own challenge in raising children with learning challenges and ADHD.  They are often faced with misinformation about diagnoses and minimal support from family, friends, and educational systems.  

We offer short-term therapy for individuals and/or their parents who are struggling with the impacts of learning disabilities, ADHD and anxiety.