I have always enjoyed working with children and teens and I am honored to get to be a part of their healing journey through counseling. For over two decades I have worked with children and teens in various capacities; as a teacher, a tutor, an afterschool program coordinator, a Sunday school teacher, and a leader in a 12-step program for adolescents. I am able to bring this unique experience into my work as a counselor.
When parents call me, I most often hear that their child is experiencing big emotions that they seem unable to control, that their child is struggling with grades or focus in school, that their child isn’t communicating with them anymore, that their child is expressing more anger, or that their child just doesn’t seem like themselves. Parents are often calling when they have used every tool in their toolbox to try to help their child, and they are not sure what else to do. Through counseling, we can add new tools to the toolbox that allow both the parent and the child to navigate these challenges with personal growth and stronger family relationships.
In the counseling room, I utilize a variety of counseling techniques to meet your child where they are currently. With younger children, we focus on play, expressive arts, and talking to help the child process and better understand their big emotions. With older children and teens, we talk through feelings and incorporate activities that help develop the skills needed to work through problems and build stronger relationships with their family, friends, and themselves.
Younger children do not always have the vocabulary to explain what they are feeling, and through play, they can communicate those feelings that they may not have the words to express. Through participation in the child’s play, I am able to enter the child’s world, and together we can navigate the big feelings they are experiencing.
One of my main goals is to strengthen the relationship between the parent and child. This would include improving communication, and helping parents know and understand their child’s needs, temperament, and ways of interacting with people and the world around them. When the parent/child relationship is strengthened it can create a happier home environment, but it also has implications outside of the home. A stronger relationship with their parent(s) can lead to healthier peer and adult relationships, as well as allow the child to better grow and thrive at school and into adolescents and adulthood.
In addition to helping children and parents, I also work with men, women, and couples who are struggling with anxiety, depression, stress management, conflict within relationships, anger management, grief and loss, trauma, spirituality, ADHD, parenting, and life transitions.
If your child has experienced trauma of any sort please reach out to me. I have specific training and experience working with children who have experienced domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, bullying, have lost a parent either due to natural death, an accident, suicide, or incarceration. Children do not always express their symptoms of trauma in the ways we might expect, but they are there and early intervention is critical to allow your child to process their emotions related to the trauma and to allow them to develop healthy coping strategies that will help them as they deal with the trauma and throughout life.
Contact Gary Beckman at gary@opendoorscc.com or at (321) 926-1373