What Qualifications Should a Children’s Therapist Near Me Have?

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If you’re looking for someone to assist you in helping out your child with a particular issue, this guide will show you what kind of credentials and other qualifications you should keep an eye out for so that you can pick the best therapist for their needs.

Education

One of the first places you should look to see if your therapist is qualified to help your child is by examining their educational history, going as far back as their bachelor’s degree.

This is because their undergraduate and graduate education is where they learn and gain the most experience being a counselor or therapist for children before they actually start working on their own.

Some degrees that children’s therapists have are in the various psychology fields, like child psychology, developmental psychology, and behavioral psychology, but it’s possible to work with kids with a regular psychology degree provided that they receive the necessary hours getting experience from elective courses.

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A Valid License

While a person’s educational background is essential for getting their foot in the door to helping kids, it’s impossible to legally practice without a license.

However, if you’re looking for a children’s therapist, it’s essential to understand that you’re not going to be looking for a license for helping kids specifically. Instead, you’re going to be looking for permits such as LMFT (Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist), LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor), LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor), and PsyD or Ph.D. (Psychologists), to name a handful of them.

These licenses indicate that not only did they receive the necessary education and the supervised clinical hours, but they also passed their background check and exams.

Strong Interpersonal Skills

Lastly, certain individuals are better suited for working with kids than others, and therapists should possess a specific set of personality traits that allow them to be successful at what they do.

For example, therapists who work to help children cope and overcome their challenges must be good communicators who can understand body language, have patience and empathy, a sense of humor, a strong moral compass, and a genuine interest in helping kids and improving their wellbeing. Of course, these qualities will also apply to communicating with the parents, guardians, or other caregivers who seek services for their children too.

These types of qualities are essential in helping to build trust, which is important in any therapist-client relationship, but especially with kids, whose experiences listening to adults may be limited to their parents and teachers.

More Info To Help You Find A Children’s Therapist

Looking for a children’s therapist can take a fair bit of research, and although these qualities and traits are crucial, there is additional info for you to consider when making the decision to introduce your kids to therapy.

BetterHelp has excellent resources for you to read if you’ve ever had thoughts such as “how can I find the best children’s therapist near me?”, “what method is right for my child?” or “does my child need medication?”. By visiting the link above, a lot of your questions and concerns regarding children’s therapy can be answered, which can help you decide if you want to take the leap to enroll your child in treatment.

Your decision can change your child’s life for the better, as well as yours too, you just have to take the first step and reach out to someone who matches the needs of you and your children.

Conclusion

Putting your child’s health and wellbeing in the hands of another individual can be a stressful experience, but by knowing what you should be looking for can take some of that anxiety away. Hopefully, this article has given you a clearer picture of what you need to be focusing on to help your child have the best experience possible learning from their therapist and reaching their goals.