Your child is struggling to find their place in the world, and you would do anything to help.
But you know that you can’t be the one to steer them forever.
You worry that your child is being bullied, acting out at school, losing friends, and losing their sense of self-worth. You long for them to feel confident, have good friends, and succeed in life, but you dread knowing that these things aren’t yet a reality. In your heart, you know that something has to change since your child’s well-being is too important to overlook.
It’s so hard to remember what a normal, everyday life without constant stress and struggle feels like. Parenthood is a constant battle defending against all of your child’s self-doubt, insecurity, anger, rage, impulsive outbursts, sadness, or anxiety, and you often don’t know which fire to put out first. Your child’s moods and behaviors seem to not only be overtaking their joy, but the joy of the whole family, and life is really becoming more of a burden for everyone rather than a delight.
You wonder if you’ll ever have your child back again, the one who was happy, content, and well-behaved.
You know they need help to better express themselves, control oppositional behaviors, and cope with the symptoms of anxiety and depression. And you also know they need tools for impulse control, emotional regulation, and social interactions. But you worry that your own parenting is just not enough to help them through.
Lately, you doubt that your family is ever going to go in the right direction.
You don’t know where to turn, and you wonder if hope is even out there. You would love to be able to rest easy in the idea that your child will succeed, but you worry that they’re not going to if things keep going the way they are.
A lot of the time you feel hopeless and wonder if your child will ever grow beyond what is holding them back. You’re tired of feeling like you have to hold your breath waiting for the next “shoe to fall” or the next phone call from the school telling you about yet another problem.
You truly want to help your child feel equipped
Not only for every day here and now situations, but in their relationships and life-long goals as well. But you are unsure how to support them through their challenges as you’ve tried so many things so far.
You never imagined you’d feel so uncertain about how to be the parent your child needs. And you certainly didn’t expect your child would struggle so significantly with feeling different.
When You Seek Support for Your Child at Simi Psychological Group
Your child will develop stronger, more healthy bonds with family and friends
Your child will grow in their confidence in social and school situations
Your child will learn to better control their emotions
Your child will feel more understood and as if they can be their true selves with others
Your child will be able to rely on you as a grounded source of support
The Child Therapy Process
We Utilize Play Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Family Therapy
Therapy for children is intended for both the child and their parents to develop the tools and skills necessary to set up their environments for success. Through the use of Cognitive Behavioral techniques, coping skills, and emotional self-regulation, your child’s therapist will help the entire family to address the needs of their own unique situation, to move forward with support, and to work together as a team to reach therapeutic goals.
Sessions happen weekly for 50-minutes each. Typically, counseling continues for a minimum of 12 sessions, but this is dependent upon individual goals and concerns. Although clients often experience much progress by week 12, many choose to continue in sessions as more concerns may come up and children and families enjoy the support.
Here’s what to expect:
WEEK ONE: Intake
During this initial session, you and your child’s therapist will meet alone. You will have the opportunity to work together to begin to understand what is really going on in your child’s world. Your child’s therapist will get to know your family by asking about your unique concerns. And, together, you will start to develop a plan for your time at Simi Psychological that will help you and your child to get the relief you all so deeply desire.
WEEK TWO and Beyond: Child & Family Counseling
Over subsequent sessions, we will work as a team of parents, therapist, and child, structuring the sessions as uniquely suited to best meet the needs of your family situation. This may include individual child, parent and child, individual parent, or family sessions.
We believe in the importance of working with the entire family to create real change.
We want you to know that the support we offer doesn’t just start and stop in therapy, but that we empower parents to help their children at home. And this often means building your confidence and helping you see that you are a capable parent.
WEEK TWO and Beyond: Child & Family Counseling
Over subsequent sessions, we will work as a team of parents, therapist, and child, structuring the sessions as uniquely suited to best meet the needs of your family situation. This may include individual child, parent and child, individual parent, or family sessions.
We believe in the importance of working with the entire family to create real change.
We want you to know that the support we offer doesn’t just start and stop in therapy, but that we empower parents to help their children at home. And this often means building your confidence and helping you see that you are a capable parent.
Each session is designed to help you dive deep into the underlying causes of your child’s behaviors and stressors. Together, you and your therapist will identify thinking patterns that may make their emotional and behavioral symptoms worse. You will also spend time building your child’s resource bank with coping skills for more self-control, and confidence, and social success.
You and your therapist will work together to teach your child and your family to make changes that help everyone get along and thrive.
TERMINATION: 1-2 Final Sessions
In your final sessions, you, your child, and your therapist will review your goals to ensure you are satisfied with your counseling experience and that the work we have done together has met your expectations. You will also outline a plan going forward so that your child and your family are able to retain what you have worked on together and implement all you have learned outside of session.
TERMINATION: 1-2 Final Sessions
In your final sessions, you, your child, and your therapist will review your goals to ensure you are satisfied with your counseling experience and that the work we have done together has met your expectations. You will also outline a plan going forward so that your child and your family are able to retain what you have worked on together and implement all you have learned outside of session.
More About Simi Psychological Group
Our licensed therapists have years of experience working with children and families and we understand the importance of parental involvement in helping children grow into who they want to be. As therapists, our job is to walk alongside your child, encouraging them in the utilization of appropriate skills and to help them break free from the struggles they are currently facing.
We want your child to feel like life makes more sense, and we want to help them to connect to the best parts of themselves with more clarity, ownership of self, and control over the direction of their life, not to be a victim of circumstances, but an active participant in a full and joyful life.
Simi Psychological Group works from a systems perspective which means our job is to help your child understand not only how every aspect of their life is connected, but how they are interconnected with those around them as well. Life is not lived in a vacuum, and therapy with us is about working through the deep-rooted concerns that are keeping your child stuck. We wholeheartedly believe your child can take control over the direction of their life, they just need to be willing to trust themselves in the process.
We make it our mission to empower your child to recognize which areas of their life need to change and to feel capable of making those changes. We are dedicated to helping your child identify the obstacles that are keeping them from living the life they want and working with them to get through them so that they can reach the goals you have for them and your family. It is our passion to aid your child in understanding the big picture of their life and ensuring they become the person they want to be.
Who Benefits Most from Child Counseling and Parent Child Therapy
Overcoming Anxiety, Improving Social Skills, And More
Therapy for children is best for those who want to feel better about the day-to-day life of being a kid.
All children experience times when life feels really hard, but when they start to have more bad days than good, something needs to change.
Your child will benefit from Child Therapy if:
They are having difficulty with impulsivity, hyperactivity, or focusing
They are having difficulty with peer relationships
They are experiencing difficulty communicating
Their schoolwork is suffering
They are stressed, anxious, or depressed
They are acting out and having issues with overwhelming emotions
There are certain situations where your child and family might not be ready for counseling sessions with Simi Psychological Group.
These situations include, but are not limited to:
When parents do not want to be actively involved in the process
When a child/family cannot commit to weekly attendance for maximum impact
When parents simply view the child as the problem to “be fixed”
When parents and the child are not willing to invest their time in real change
Parents who want the therapist to do all the work
When the child or parents are not willing to actively do what they practiced in session
When parents need to use insurance for direct reimbursement
How Much Do Sessions With Our Child Pyschologists and Therapists Cost?
Child Counseling is a fee for service program, and we accept all major forms of payment. The session fees depend upon the clinician you and your family choose to see for treatment. Please contact us directly for our individual fees.
Due to our desire to make sure you maintain maximum privacy and wanting to provide you with the highest level of care possible without constraints from managed care, we are out-of-network providers. This means we do not accept reimbursement directly from insurance.
However, the good news is that your health insurance may reimburse you for a portion of the fee. PPO insurances typically reimburse around 50%. Unfortunately, HMO, Medi-Cal, and Medicare insurances do not reimburse as they require that you see someone on their panel. We encourage you to find out more regarding your eligibility for out-of-network benefits. We will provide you with the necessary paperwork to submit to your plan for reimbursement.
When and Where Can I Schedule a Child Therapy Session in Simi Valley?
Our office is conveniently located at:
3695 Alamo St. Suite 103
Simi Valley, CA 93063.
We also serve Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, and the surrounding communities.
Business hours and availability are dependent on the provider.
Your Next Steps
Your child absolutely can become the navigators of their lives and overcome the moods and behaviors that are derailing their progress. They will be able to achieve clarity and confidence in their thoughts and actions. They will also learn the tools necessary to understand positive change and continually make it happen.
A happy, healthy child may seem a long way off right now, but that doesn’t you’re your child can’t learn the basics of emotional regulation now and grow into a stable, happy adult. They just need the support of a caring professional while they work through the process and gain the tools they need.
Your child will find their place in the world.
And you’ll also find a sense of stability in your family once again. Ultimately, you’ll both be successful when you commit to making changes that will help your family. We can help.
