Play Therapy and Child Counselling

It can helpful to get a sense of what therapy involves. We’ll move through the following stages:

• Initial Contact

Interested caregivers can reach out via phone or email. We’ll have an
introductory phone call where you can ask questions and I can learn a bit more
about the support you’re looking for. If Bright Space Therapy feels like the right
fit for your family, we’ll organise an initial parent/carer intake session.

• Intake & Consent Forms

After booking a first appointment, you’ll receive an email with a digital intake form to complete ahead of time. This helps me be prepared and make the most of our time together.

• Intake Appointment

I’ll learn more about your child’s needs, strengths and
background. We’ll create a treatment plan outlining goals and how we’ll work
towards them. For children 10 and under, intake appointments are conducted with parents only (child not present).

• Therapy Starts

Regular therapy sessions commence. Children will generally attend weekly
sessions at the same time each week. For children 10 and under, parent-only sessions will be held every 4-6 weeks to discuss progress and share ideas for home. For older children, parents may join in at the start or end of some sessions.

• Review Progress Regularly

I’ll regularly check in about progress and challenges, so we can adjust support as needed. As progress is made, we’ll discuss reducing frequency of sessions (e.g. from weekly to fortnightly) and eventually plan for treatment closure.

• Therapy Closure

Goodbyes are an important part of the journey! We’ll reflect on growth and work
through the different feelings that endings can bring. I’ll offer predictability and choice where possible, letting young people know how many sessions we have left and providing opportunities to plan last sessions together.

Knowing what to expect can help us all feel more prepared and reduce anxiety. You may like to show your child photos of their therapist & the practice space prior to their first appointment.

Use simple, age-appropriate language to talk to your child about what counselling is and why they are going. This may sound something like “On Friday we’re going to see Britt, she helps kids with how they’re feeling. You’ll get to play together, this is what the room looks like where we’ll be going…”.

Caregivers are an important part of a child’s world. With this in mind, Bright Space Therapy strongly believes that collaboration with families is a key part of working towards the goals you have for your child.

For children aged 4 -10, it will generally be recommended that parents attend the first appointment individually (without their child). This allows you and your therapist to talk in detail and gather information about current concerns, hopes and background information.

Parent’s ongoing participation in appointments will depend on the unique needs of the child and family. We’ll work with you to determine the right mix of just-child sessions and child-parent sessions.
For older children and teenagers, caregivers will normally be invited to join in at the start of the first session. This provides an opportunity to talk about goals and worries together, and to help your child feel comfortable to continue attending sessions individually.

For adults and children, confidentiality is an important part of building trust and maintaining safety within the therapeutic relationship. This means that the therapist will not disclose exactly what is said or done during a child’s session.

Instead, the focus will be on what your child is working on in therapy (for example, coping skills for anxiety or emotion regulation) and progress towards treatment goals. Your therapist will also share information and ideas that can be used to support your child at home and school. Your feedback about how your child is doing outside of session will be a valuable part of the process.

It can be helpful to have caregivers join in at the beginning or end of session, to talk about progress and what’s being worked on together. For younger children, caregivers may wish to periodically access individual parent sessions, to discuss specific parenting strategies and supports.

Your child’s therapist will share information about safety concerns/risk of harm.

Separation anxiety is a common reason parents seek support for their child, so this question makes sense! To help your child feel safe and begin to increase their confidence, we will:

• Take things at your child’s pace
• Spend time interacting with you and your child together, to help them feel comfortable
• Engage in low pressure activities to start with, to provide opportunity for shared enjoyment and relationship building– no endless questioning!
• Allow for natural exploration, and honour that all children and adults have different ways of warming up to new people and experiences

If your child has a particular game, toy or object that helps them feel comfortable, they are welcome to bring this along with them.

Consent for treatment is generally required from both parents (for separated and non-separated parents). I’ll usually confirm consent with the non-referring parent by phone call. It’s the responsibility of the parent arranging an appointment to ensure that both parents have discussed treatment and are wanting to go ahead, prior to me calling to confirm.

The goal of this is to help therapy be as smooth and positive as possible for young people, and to have a collaborative approach with the important people in their life.

There may be situations where consent from both parents is not required. This might include if a parent is deceased; if a child’s legal guardian is something other than a biological parent; if a second parent has never been present in a child’s life; or if there are court orders specifically restricting a parent’s involvement in their child’s care. If this applies for your family, please reach out to discuss this prior to your first appointment.

Bright Space Therapy doesn’t provide the following services. If you’re looking for one of these services and getting stuck finding it, please feel free to reach out for help finding a local option that may be a better fit.

• Cognitive and neurodevelopmental assessments (including ADHD and autism assessments)
• Assessment, documentation or recommendations for family court proceedings
• Home visit appointments
• Bright Space Therapy does not accept referrals where there is current or upcoming legal or mediation processes related to child living arrangements and parenting. This is done in the spirit of making sure families get the right type of support for their needs.