Child Therapy and Mental Health Services by Expert Therapists

Understanding and managing emotions is essential for a child’s psychological health and social development. At Upstream Counselling, we offer therapeutic experiences that help children recognize, name, and respond to their emotions in ways that foster confidence and emotional maturity.

Facilitating Emotional Literacy through Play and Art: Using modalities such as play therapy and art therapy, children are guided to explore and articulate their feelings creatively. This method enhances their capacity to recognize emotional states, which is fundamental to developing emotional intelligence.

Teaching Safe Emotional Expression: Children are taught that expressing emotions is both acceptable and healthy, thereby reducing internalization or reactive behaviours. Our therapists offer tools and language that help children communicate distress constructively.

Modelling Healthy Emotional Boundaries: Therapy sessions reinforce appropriate boundaries, helping children differentiate between private and shared emotional experiences. This understanding empowers them to seek support while preserving their sense of autonomy.

Integrating Mindfulness Practices: Through mindfulness-based techniques, children learn to observe their thoughts and emotions without judgment. This self-awareness improves their ability to manage stress and impulsive responses.

Encouraging Self-Reflection and Growth: As children grow in emotional literacy, they begin to reflect on past experiences and recognize patterns in their behaviour. This supports internal growth and a clearer understanding of self and others.

At Upstream Counselling, we recognize that behavioural issues often signal deeper emotional struggles or unmet needs. Our therapists approach these concerns with empathy, structure, and individualized strategies tailored to each child.

Managing Disruptive and Oppositional Behaviour: Through evidence-based strategies such as CBT and behavioural reinforcement, we guide children to identify triggers and develop more adaptive responses. This promotes self-control and a reduction in outbursts or defiant conduct.

Supporting Children with Attention and Focus Difficulties: Therapy helps children with attention-related challenges, including symptoms often associated with ADHD, by offering tools to sustain focus and reduce impulsivity. These skills enhance academic and social functioning.

Addressing Social Withdrawal or Aggression: Whether a child withdraws from peers or displays aggressive tendencies, we explore underlying emotional or environmental causes and introduce healthier communication strategies. These interventions promote balanced social engagement and enhance emotional safety across different settings.

Improving Routine and Task Compliance: We help children establish consistent routines to support daily responsibilities such as schoolwork, hygiene, and transitions. Structured habits foster independence and reduce household stress over time.

Engaging Parents in Behavioural Interventions: Our approach often includes caregiver coaching to reinforce strategies at home. This ensures continuity in behavioural expectations and increases the likelihood of lasting improvements through consistent support, clear boundaries, and strengthened parent-child relationships.

Childhood stress and trauma can have profound and lasting effects on a child's emotional, cognitive, and behavioural development if left unaddressed. At Upstream Counselling, we provide trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate interventions to help children process their experiences, heal, and regain a sense of safety and self-worth.

Utilizing Trauma-Informed Modalities: We incorporate evidence-based approaches such as EMDR, somatic techniques, and attachment-based therapy to support children who have experienced trauma. These tools help release stored emotional distress and gradually restore a sense of safety, control, and emotional balance.

Creating Predictable and Safe Environments: Therapy provides a structured, consistent setting where children feel emotionally secure. Predictability allows for the development of trust, which is essential in trauma recovery and for fostering therapeutic alliance.

Reinforcing Resilience and Coping Capacity: Through therapy, children learn that they can survive and even grow from difficult experiences. We teach adaptive coping strategies that promote emotional regulation and enhance their long-term resilience.

Exploring Trauma Narratives with Sensitivity: We support children in making sense of past events in a way that empowers them. This narrative reconstruction fosters self-understanding, integration, and emotional resolution.

Building Supportive Family Dynamics: Therapy often includes parents or guardians in a collaborative and supportive role to re-establish trust and co-regulation within the family system. Strengthened family bonds are essential in sustaining the child’s long-term recovery process.

Though our core focus remains on child therapy, we also recognize the unique needs of kids and teens who may be navigating more complex emotional and behavioural difficulties. At Upstream Counselling, we respond with developmentally appropriate, evidence-based care that prioritizes safety, connection, and healing.

Recognizing the Early Signs of Distress: We help caregivers and children identify warning signs of behaviours linked to eating disorders, addiction, or self-harm. Early intervention is key in preventing the escalation of these issues.

Offering Safe and Non-Judgmental Space: Our therapists create a compassionate space for clients to speak freely about shame, fear, or secrecy surrounding these struggles. This openness encourages trust and meaningful therapeutic progress.

Applying Targeted Clinical Interventions: We integrate CBT, DBT, and somatic awareness strategies to help clients manage emotional pain and reduce reliance on harmful behaviours. Each intervention is chosen based on the client’s developmental stage and emotional readiness.

Promoting Self-Worth and Personal Agency: By focusing on each child's inherent strengths, we guide them toward healthier identities and the belief that change is possible. A stronger sense of self reduces susceptibility to self-harming patterns.

Collaborating with Families and Systems of Care: We work closely with parents and, when appropriate, other professionals to ensure a consistent and supportive care network. This collaborative model enhances treatment success and emotional continuity.

Strong interpersonal skills are foundational to a child’s emotional and social development. At Upstream Counselling, we help children navigate the complexities of friendship, cooperation, and conflict with empathy, self-awareness, and confidence.

Developing Communication Skills through Role-Play: We use role-play and guided interaction exercises to help children practice active listening, turn-taking, and emotional expression. These engaging sessions prepare them for real-life peer interactions.

Teaching Conflict Resolution Techniques: Our therapists equip children with practical tools to resolve disagreements constructively and assert their needs respectfully. This process builds a sense of resilience and confidence in navigating social tensions.

Enhancing Empathy and Perspective-Taking: Through story-telling, discussion, and group activities, we help children understand the feelings, perspectives, and experiences of others. Developing empathy strengthens friendships and reduces instances of social exclusion.

Supporting Children with Social Anxiety: For children who feel overwhelmed in group settings, we offer gradual exposure, individual support, and confidence-building strategies. Therapy helps reduce fear while increasing their comfort and adaptability in social environments.

Providing Group-Based Social Learning Opportunities: When appropriate, we offer group therapy that simulates peer dynamics in a structured, safe, and supportive setting. These sessions foster connection and give children a chance to apply newly learned skills in real-time.