Child & Adolescent Counselling
Understanding your child is one of the most important things as a parent. As all children and adolescents have their own unique personality traits it is not uncommon for them to experience a few bumps along the way as they navigate through life’s challenges. At Thinkahead we assist individuals that may experience a range of issues such as:
- Self Harming
- Bullying
- Behavioural Problems
- Body Image / Eating Disorders
- Anxiety / Fears / Phobias / Worries
- Depression
- Study skills & Exam stress
- Self esteem issues
- Social Anxiety
- Separation Anxiety
- Anger and Oppositional behaviour
- Sleeping and Bedtime problems
- Bed wetting
- Career Guidance Counselling
- Physical and Sexual abuse
- Coping with Separation and Divorce
- Grief and Bereavement
- Sibling and blended family relationship difficulties
At Thinkahead we use a range of evidence based therapeutic approaches to create a safe environment and build rapport with your child. We may use a variety of methodologies and activities such as Sand play, play dough, crafts, drawing pictures, toys or games to invite your child to talk as they may be hesitant and uncomfortable telling us their worries.
We respect the young person’s right to confidentiality while they receive counselling. As much as possible, we aim to keep parents or care givers informed of the work your children or adolescents are doing in therapy, and keep you up-to-date with their progress.
If we believe that it is vital in the therapeutic process for parents or care givers to be involved in the treatment process, we will invite you to also attend some joint sessions.
We encourage parents and care givers to attend the initial consultation on their own without their child or adolescent in order to provide the psychologist with a brief history of presenting issues and concerns.
Child & Adolescent Assessments
Our vision at Thinkahead is to unlock a child’s true potential and work with families to build on their child’s strength and remedy their weaknesses. We tailor our assessment process to your child and family’s circumstances. We incorporate where possible feedback from parents, teachers and the young person themselves to obtain a comprehensive overview.
At Thinkahead we specialise in the assessment of:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Conduct Disorder
- Learning Difficulties and Developmental Delays
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Behavioural and Social Functioning
- Mood Disorders (Anxiety/Depression)
- PTSD and Trauma
Our assessments range but are not limited to:
- Intelligence assessments for pre-schoolers from 30 months to 6 years as well as adolescent and adults
- Educational assessments including reading, spelling, writing and mathematics, including assessments for special provisions in the HSC or IB
- Remedial reading and spelling
- Identification of learning difficulties, memory and attention problems
- Assessment of gifted and talented children from early school entry, accelerated progression or suitability for OC classes or selective schools, entry to MENSA
- Assessment of behaviour and personality including behavioural problems including ADHD, Autism, Anxiety and Depression
- Identification of general or specific developmental problems to support access to additional services at school or NDIS funding
We use a variety of standardised assessment tools such as:
- Adaptive Behavioural Assessment (ABAS 3)
- Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS 2)
- Conners 4
- Conners 4 – Early Childhood
- Wechsler Intelligence for Children Scale for Children – Fifth Edition Australia and NZ (WISC-V)
- Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence – Fourth Edition Australia and NZ (WPPSI-IV)
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition Australia and NZ (WAIS-IV)
- Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Third Edition Australia and NZ (WIAT-III)
- Children’s Depression Inventory – Second Edition (CDI 2)
- Autism Spectrum Rating Scales
- Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment System (ASEBA 2019)
- Adolescent Coping Scale
- Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale
- Trauma Symptoms Checklist Children
At the completion of our assessment we provide a comprehensive written report and feedback to parents where we discuss assessment outcomes, identified needs, strategies for developing both strengths and weaknesses over the short and long term and as well as make recommendation for interventions. Where applicable written feedback is also provided to the individual’s school advising them of additional support.
So if you are unsure or would like to have more information then give us a call today on 02 9981 3003.
There can be many reasons why you may have your child assessed by one of our clinicians. Perhaps your child’s teacher has highlighted some concerns that need to be further assessed. You may have noticed some academic, behavioural, social or emotional difficulties which require more insight and understanding or you may need to apply for additional support through the NDIS. Perhaps there is a family history of learning difficulties or mental health concerns which require objective testing so that you can make informed choices for your child’s well being.
