Beth Proudfoot, MFT
THERAPY / COACHING
My goal as a psychotherapist for children is to work alongside parents, pediatricians, teachers and other helping professionals to facilitate optimal emotional health for my clients. An emotionally healthy child:
My clients usually come to me because at least one of these signs of emotional health is missing. This could be because of external circumstances like:
Or, it could be as a result of the child’s unique temperament or “hard-wiring” around emotions, reading cues from others, etc.
In either case, a return or a coming into emotional health is very possible. I do a unique form of therapy designed for children called Play Therapy, and work with parents, teachers and others to help create an optimal environment for a child’s emotional growth.
- Can express a wide range of feelings without hurting others
- Takes appropriate risks with gusto
- Handles changes of plan with complaint but not meltdown
- Demonstrates empathy for others
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Is soothed by the presence and comfort of his or her or caregiver as a toddler, and shows more and more self-soothing strategies as he or she becomes more mature
- Is able to follow different rules in different situations (home, school, church, Grandma’s house, shopping), and to learn from his or her mistakes
- Has mutually satisfying relationships with 1 to 8 friends
- Delights in learning new things and in demonstrating new skills
- Is equally comfortable being a leader or follower with his or her peers
My clients usually come to me because at least one of these signs of emotional health is missing. This could be because of external circumstances like:
- A disruption in early caregiving due to adoption or loss
- Abuse in the forms of corporal punishment or sexual molestation
- Trauma from accidents, illness, divorce, death in the family, etc.
Or, it could be as a result of the child’s unique temperament or “hard-wiring” around emotions, reading cues from others, etc.
In either case, a return or a coming into emotional health is very possible. I do a unique form of therapy designed for children called Play Therapy, and work with parents, teachers and others to help create an optimal environment for a child’s emotional growth.
