What is it like being a Children’s Counselor?

---

Our Children, Our Future

Society as a whole tends to view the children as the next generation of hope. Many parents have their children’s future planned out before they are even born. In a perfect world, there are no crimes against children, no abuse and no neglect. There would be no mental disorders or physical defects.

Realistically, we know this is not true. Although the children may be the hope for the future, the road may not always be as smooth as it should be and more often than we would like, children fall through the cracks. They become abused, neglected, ignored, forgotten or simply misunderstood. They may have been involved in a tragic accident, suffered the pain of loss or separation from a family member, or struggle with a physical or mental disability. Often, they need a helping hand to get past trauma or feelings of rejection and become able to function in society. Approximately twenty percent of children living in the United States require counseling each year.

Aiding the Children

Children counselors are specially trained to assist children with their individual special needs. Although there are various types of child counseling services, some children’s counselors choose to specialize in more than one field, such as childhood disorders or child abuse. All fields require an abundance of patience and excellent people skills.

Children’s counselors are skilled in various therapies that include play therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Depending on the needs of the child, group therapy, family therapy and anger control management are also a part of children counselors’ duties. The children’s counselor must have excellent communication skills, not only as someone who is able to talk to children and their families, but someone who can understand what the child is trying to communicate.

Often times, children get frustrated and may even grow angry due to their inability to express their thoughts and feelings. A Children’s Counselor must be able to establish communication with the client by understanding the number of words and ideas that a child can respond to, tolerate or absorb.

A Serious Responsibility

Choosing a career in children counseling takes a lot of thought. There is the emotional and the physical toil this career can have on you and your family. However, with so many counseling positions to choose from, such as school counseling, health counseling, family services and counseling for children with disabilities, it’s not difficult to choose a field that is compatible with your life style.

All of the branches of children counseling focus on gaining not only the client’s trust, but also the trust of the parents. This can require an extreme amount of patience and communication. The different types of therapy a counselor has studied for will help the counselor evaluate the communication level of the client.

One of the most valuable communication devices for children counselors is play therapy. Play therapy plays a major role in aiding the counselor to gain insight on their clients by observing them at play with a favorite toy or a game. Their activities at play will help them appraise the child’s emotional state and key behavioral traits.

The children counselor will often be required to train the parents or guardians of the client in any follow up care that may be needed. They are required to establish an open line of communication as early into the treatment as possible, which may allow for group or family therapy at an earlier stage.

All too often children are seen and not heard. Their cries for help are silenced by abuse, or overlooked, as the child is just a complainer. The children’s counselors are there to hear what they have to say, to feel their pain, and to speak for them. It is because of the dedicated professionals such as children’s counselors, we are still able to have faith that children are truly our future.