Why does my Preschooler Need Therapy?
Developing Lifelong Coping Skills
It can feel overwhelming or even confusing to think that your young child might benefit from therapy. Can a preschooler really feel bad enough to need mental health support? Does “mental health” even mean anything to a child that young? I’m here to tell you that the answer is a resounding yes.
Normalizing “Therapy” for kids
Let’s start by thinking about other types of therapy for young children that might feel more familiar. Some children attend speech therapy when their words are delayed or difficult to understand. Others might go to physical therapy or occupational therapy to help them learn to walk, improve coordination, or strengthen fine motor skills. Some even benefit from feeding therapy when swallowing is difficult or certain food textures are challenging.
In each of these examples, a child is having more difficulty than usual learning a specific skill—talking, moving, or eating. These are all learned skills, and it’s completely natural that some children struggle with them more than others (just like some of us struggle with math, reading, or driving). We can view mental health and emotional development in the very same way.
The ability to cope with anger, manage emotions, adapt to changes, ask for help, and believe in ourselves are all learned skills, too. And just like with any other area of development, some children need extra support in building those skills. That’s exactly where early childhood mental health therapy and play therapy come in. By setting aside a consistent time and place to work on these skills with a trained child therapist, children who are struggling can learn new ways to manage their feelings, build confidence, and connect more effectively with others.
Some children have specific reasons why learning these emotional and social skills feels harder. Traumatic or stressful experiences can interfere with emotional development. Others may have a diagnosis, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or ADHD, that makes certain skills more challenging. And sometimes, a child simply needs a little more help—and that’s completely okay.
Children in therapy are learning, not broken
If your child is currently in therapy, or if you’re considering counseling for preschoolers or play therapy services, it can be helpful to keep this perspective in mind: your child isn’t “broken” or “in trouble.” They’re simply learning new emotional skills—just like a child practicing how to pronounce the “r” sound or learning to ride a bike.
If you’d like to learn more about early childhood mental health therapy or start your child in play therapy, reach out to us at New Hope Healing. We’d love to support your family and help your child build the emotional skills they need to thrive.
