Children’s Therapy in Ottawa
Supporting Your Child’s Emotional Growth and Well-Being
As a parent, seeing your child struggle with their emotions, behavior, or social skills can be overwhelming. So much of parenting is knowing when to step in and when to step back, but if it feels like navigating their emotional world is more than you can handle alone, support from a child therapist could be helpful. At The Wren Centre, we specialize in therapy for children aged 4 to 12 by creating a compassionate and engaging environment where children can explore their feelings, develop resilience, and learn the emotional tools they need to thrive.
Our child-centered approach means therapy meets them in developmentally appropriate exploration and language. At our west Ottawa centre, we help children express their emotions, manage stress, and develop healthy relationships, while providing parents with the tools to support their child’s growth.
Why choose therapy for your child?
Most adults struggle to articulate the emotions of their inner world; so kids definitely have a hard time putting it into words! We go by the belief: behaviour is the megaphone through which children speak.
Behaviours that may be confusing or overwhelming for you - difficulty at school, struggling with friendships, or marked changes in mood - are superficial signs of underlying difficulty. Therapy offers substantial short and long term benefits for children by helping kids and parents separate the behavior from the child (decreasing guilt and shame and increasing self-compassion) and learning how to express emotions and desires in a more helpful manner (improving psychological well-being).
Research shows that children’s therapy can reduce symptom severity, improve school performance, and support relationships by addressing underlying concerns that manifest more superficially (CPS). In the longer term, therapy for children fosters resilience, builds healthy coping strategies, and helps them develop stronger, more supportive relationships - these are skills that evidence roundly agrees are vital to well-being across the lifespan.
Our child therapists work with kiddos navigating a wide range of challenges, including
Improved Emotional Regulation:
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What to expect from children’s therapy at The Wren Centre
Our therapists create a warm, engaging space where your child can feel safe expressing their thoughts and emotions through activities and a playful approach to session. Just like adults, therapy for children isn’t one-size-fits-all - we use evidence-based and relational approaches that align with your child’s developmental stage and emotional readiness.
Anxiety:
Children can experience social anxiety, general worry, or separation anxiety - these are concerns well understood and highly manageable with supportive therapy.
Behavioural Issues:
If your child is behaving in confusing, distressing ways, we support children and families to demystify what’s happening and move forward.
Grief and Loss:
For kids who have experienced a significant loss, grief counselling for children provides a space to process their feelings in a developmentally appropriate way.
Adjusting to Change:
Life transitions, such as a divorce, a move, or school changes, can be difficult for children. Therapy helps them navigate these changes with compassion and emotional stability.
Take the next step to support your child’s thriving. We’re here to guide you and your family toward healing.
Our approach to children’s therapy includes:
Play-Based and Art Therapy: For younger children, play is a natural way to express emotions, process experiences, develop trust, and improve learning. Through play and art, therapy helps children explore their feelings in a non-threatening way that feels comfortable and familiar.
Cognitive, Creative and Somatic Techniques: As children age, play, art, and body-based (somatic) approaches are still part of the process, but we also integrate proven therapy techniques to support children’s understanding of the connection between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and environments to provide tools for greater well-being.
Parental Involvement: We recognize that parents are an essential part of their child’s emotional development. The first session for any child is with parents-only, so therapists work closely with you to understand your child’s needs, strengths and challenges, and provide guidance for supporting your kid at home, ensuring that the work done in therapy extends into daily life.
When is therapy right for my child?
If your child is struggling with any of the following, child counselling may be beneficial:
-Consistent worry or anxiety interfering with daily activities
-Difficulty making or keeping friends
-Changes in behavior or academic performance
-“High volume” emotional expressions or sensory overwhelm
-Difficulty adjusting to changes in family dynamics, such as divorce or a new sibling
Seeking therapy for your child isn’t a sign of failure - every parent we meet loves the heck out of their kid and has been trying to meet their needs for a long time. Therapy is an opportunity to provide them with the support you both need to meet these emotional challenges, so you and your child can move forward.
How do we make therapy child-centred?
Age Appropriate Techniques
Whether we include thoughtfully chosen stories, board games, sand tray play, acting or art, therapy engages your child to meet their developmental needs.
Adjusting Emotional Intensity
Just like adults, children need to feel emotionally safe to comfortably explore difficult emotions without being overwhelmed. Our therapists adjust the intensity of each session and activities within session based on your child’s emotional readiness.
Empowerment and Emotional Connection
No child wants to go to therapy that feels like going to the principal’s office - we believe it’s vital your child feels included in their own emotional process. We ensure they feel heard and respected, kids are allowed to have an active role in their healing journey.
Supporting parents in the therapy process
As their parent, you play a crucial role in your child’s emotional development. We also provide support for you alongside the therapy for your child. We offer parent-child psychotherapy services to help you better understand developmental needs, how to support them, and how to navigate the “tough stuff” so you and your child find more joy in attachment. We can help you:
- Improve Communication: Learn how to talk to your child in ways they can understand for improved emotional processing, fewer misunderstandings, and a lifelong skill we all need!
- Strengthen the Parent-Child Bond: Therapy can support a stronger emotional connection or attachment with your child.
- Navigate Difficult Behavior: Parents feeling overwhelmed by their child’s behaviour will benefit from therapy that helps you move past “why is this happening?” to proactive interventions.
Take the next step to support your child’s thriving. We’re here to guide you and your family toward healing.
FAQs About Child Therapy
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A child therapist (psychotherapist or social worker) provides support through therapy techniques focused on addressing psychological and emotional challenges to improve well-being. A child psychologist can also provide therapy, but also offer psychological assessments for diagnosis.
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Child anxiety treatment helps children understand their worries by exploring body and mind symptoms to develop coping strategies. Whether it’s general or a specific phobia - we see a lot of needle phobia - children can learn to right-size their anxiety and approach stressful situations with more confidence.
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Yes. Therapy is designed to meet your child where they are. Our therapists build relationships of trust with all children, but especially for those hesitant to engage, creative approaches from play therapy help them feel comfortable and safe.
As a parent and therapist, you might share the competing pressures I feel, including unpredictable March weather. Here are some practical, low-stress strategies for balancing screen time and creating memorable moments with your child.