Child & Adolescent Therapy
If you are seeing behavior changes in your child and adolescent, and you've tried talking to them but don't know how to help them, they may benefit from seeing a trained professional. Children often don't know how to talk about what they are feeling, so they act out or withdraw. You may see them behaving extra irritable with parents, aggressive toward siblings or peers, or doing poorly at school. You may see them spending extra time behind closed doors, on social media or video games, or wearing dark or baggy clothes all of a sudden. These may be signs that something is happening internally with your child/teen.
The involvement of children and adolescents in therapy can be highly beneficial to their overall development.
We believe that children need a safe space to talk about their feelings. Most adults didn't get a safe space to share our feelings growing up, so most parents don't know how to provide a safe space for children and teens to share their feelings. We are professionally trained to remain curious and interested in what a child has to say or share. We are equipped to help your child or teen by establishing a therapeutic friendship or rapport, building trust and nurturing an environment where it feels safe to talk about anything.
At Akua Family Therapy our treatment of minors includes a trauma informed approach. We are strengths based, meaning that we look for the strengths of your children and teens, and look to build self-esteem, foster healing and promote healthy social skill development. We are systemic oriented and look to strengthen healthy relationships between siblings, parent-child dyads, and the whole family.
What's wrong with my kid?
If you are seeing signs of anxiety, depression, isolation,
low self-esteem and don't know what to do, we
may be able to help.
Child & Adolescent Therapy FAQ’s
What ages do you work with?
Typically 10 years and older.
We will consider working with younger children if they are are motivated to participate therapeutically and old enough to understand the goals of therapy.
Do parents attend the sessions?
We ask that parent(s) attend the first session to go over our policy when working with minors. When a child/teen is feeling comfortable, we ask to seen them individually as well.
In therapy, sometimes it is best to see minors with their parents/legal guardians and/or other family members (Family Therapy). Other times we feel they are best seen alone. Sometimes we recommend seeing the parents individually (Parenting Eduction).
We will assess which might be best for you and your child and make recommendations to you.
What type of therapy do you provide for child and adolescent? What is the focus?
Emotion focused - We help minors better understand their emotions; learn to self-reflect, self-assess, and express themselves age appropriately with words and emotionally intelligent vocabulary.
Self-esteem - We engage minors in structured activities and reinforce self-esteem by helping them improve their behavior, implement coping skills for distress, and hold safe space for them to express themselves without judgement. We help children bounce back from experiences of bullying, self-harm, suicidal ideation and other challenging situations.
Social Skills Training - We can help children and teens learn assertive communications skills; learn how to deal with bullies or other intimidating situations; and develop confidence toward navigating social situations.
CBT - We help young people identify their negative and intrusive thoughts, and work toward replacing them with positive and adaptive thoughts that help them reach their fullest potential.
Family Therapy - Typically when a child's self-esteem is stronger and they are feeling safe with the therapeutic process, they are ready to engage in therapy with other family members. Family therapy with minors can be used to help children's needs surface and get validated, while also reinforcing parents needs in a balanced harmonious way.
Why are you asking for consent from both parents/guardians?
It's the law, in most cases, for therapists to obtain consent from both parents/legal guardians. The law states that both parents have a right to know when their child is receiving medical attention.
The support of all of the child’s caregivers is essential.
Each parent's understanding of the basic procedures involved in counseling children is preferred.
Efforts will be made to ensure that consent is obtained by all appropriate parental/legal guardian figures for the mental health treatment of child/minor.
Consent from both parents reduces the risk of parental alienation.
Is it true that my teen child can seek therapy without parent consent?
There are special circumstances under Hawaii State Law, where consent is not needed to treat minors. The minor consent law, Act 37 SLH 2020, allows minors 14 years of age or older, to consent to outpatient mental health services without the consent, knowledge or participation of their parents or legal guardians, upon consultation and agreement of their licensed therapist. Neither the minor nor their parents or legal guardian can be held liable for payment for these services. Licensed therapist may receive insurance reimbursement for these services by billing the minor's family health plan, and must inform the insurance plan that services are minor-initiated. Upon receiving notification from the therapist, the health plan cannot disclose to the minor's parents or legal guardians that minor-initiated mental health services were rendered.
I'm in a custody battle with my ex, can you see my kids? My ex is a narcissist and abusive, can you see my kids and help us?
We are not custody evaluators, we are therapists. If you are looking for someone to work with your child for the purpose of proving who the better parent is, we are not a good fit for you.
We do not offer legal advice.
We are mandated reporters.
We reserve the right to not see your child if the reason for bringing them to therapy is focused on adult agendas, parental alienation, complaints about the child's other parent, etc.
We will see your child if we gain consent from both parents, parents agree to our policy and the child is motivated toward therapeutic engagement.
Will you be giving me a summary of what my kid talked about in therapy?
No. We do not share the content of your children's disclosures. Please see our policy when working with minors for more about this.
In the past CWS has chosen not to use us because we do not write treatment summaries or divulge information shared in a child's sessions.
Our role is that of the child’s helper. As your child's therapist, we believe it is not in your child's best interest to divulge information that they are sharing in session.
We ask parents, guardians and Child Wellfare Services (CWS) workers to respect the privacy and confidentiality of children, and to give them a safe space to talk about whatever is bothering them.
, I will not become involved in legal disputes or other official proceedings unless compelled to do so by a court of law. Matters involving custody and mediation are best handled by another professional who is specially trained in those areas rather than by the child’s therapist.
The issue of confidentiality is critical in treating children. When children are seen by a therapist
in the presence of their parents, legal guardians or other adults, what is discussed in therapy is
known to those who are present and should be kept confidential except by mutual agreement.
Children seen in individual sessions (except under certain conditions) are not legally entitled to
confidentiality (also called privilege); their parents or legal guardians have this right. Please note
that unless children feel they have some privacy in speaking with a therapist, the benefits ofAaron Collins, LMFT, LLC
Phone: (808) 640-3404
therapy may be lost. Therefore, it is necessary to work out an arrangement in which
children feel that their privacy is generally being respected, while providing parents/legal
guardians with access to critical information. This agreement must have the understanding
and approval of the parents or legal guardians and of the child in therapy.
Click Here to view our Policy and Procedure when working with Minors