Tag Archives: Children & Adolescents

Children & Adolescents

Confidentiality comes first: Navigating parent involvement with minor clients

By Bethany Bray October 28, 2022

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What is said between a counselor and an individual client is confidential, even when the client is a minor. But parents often want to be kept in the loop about their child’s progress in therapy. This can put the counselor in a tricky situation, especially when the parents want to control or influence the counseling process.

The only scenario in which counselor-client confidentiality can be broken is in situations that necessitate protecting the client or others “from serious and foreseeable harm,” such as suicidal intent. (For more on this, see Standard B.2.a. of the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics.)

Marcy Adams Sznewajs, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) who often works with teenage and young adult clients at her group therapy practice in Beverly Hills, Michigan, says she empathizes with parents who ask about what she’s covering in counseling sessions with their child. However, she finds it helpful — and necessary — to offer a firm explanation of counselor-client confidentiality whenever she begins counseling a young client.

Sznewajs says that she emphasizes to parents that she will let them know if their child discloses anything that will put the child in danger. She also makes it clear to both parties that she will only invite parents into the counseling sessions if the young client grants permission.

This conversation is often not what the parents want to hear, Sznewajs admits, but it is important because it spells out the boundaries of what the counselor is obligated to tell the parents and reassures the client that their privacy will be respected.

Sznewajs stresses to families that they all must trust the process for her work to be effective.

“It’s important for the teenager to trust an adult with these difficult thoughts and feelings, and legally and ethically I have to keep it confidential,” says Sznewajs. “I’d be doing my client a huge disservice [if I disclosed session details to the parents]. That’s not only unethical, it’s damaging — and what does it teach the kid? That this person that you’re supposed to trust, you can’t.”

The feelings behind the questions

Parents’ concerns and questions about the work their child is doing in therapy are often rooted in fear, says Martina Moore, a licensed professional clinical counselor supervisor with a mediation and counseling practice in Euclid, Ohio. Not only do parents worry that the challenging behaviors that caused their child to seek counseling, such as rule breaking, isolation, defiance or problems at school, will have negative long-term outcomes in the child’s life, but they might also feel these issues are a reflection of their parenting abilities.

“Parents sometimes have such anxiety about their children it’s [gotten] to the point where they are increasing their child’s anxiety,” notes Moore, president of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors, a division of the American Counseling Association.

Although Moore makes a point to validate these fears with parents, she also emphasizes that it’s good for the child to grow and build autonomy through counseling on their own. She applauds parents for seeking help while explaining that she needs the freedom to work with the child alone for the counseling process to work.

“I also spend time with parents to dig into what their fear is. They’ve come to counseling [with their child], so they must believe that there is benefit in this process,” Moore says. She emphasizes to parents that they need to trust the process. “I spend a lot of time with parents getting their buy-in,” she notes.

In addition to fear, parents may also struggle with strong feelings of shame for having a child who is engaging in risky behavior and failing to thrive.

Le’Ann Solmonson, an LPC in Texas who has extensive experience working with children and adolescents, says she makes a point to acknowledge and normalize parents’ feelings of vulnerability and worry. If appropriate, Solmonson says she will sometimes disclose that she’s experienced similar feelings when her adult children sought therapy.

“No parent is perfect, and you worry over feeling like they are talking [in therapy] about what you’ve done wrong,” says Solmonson, the immediate past president of the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling, a division of ACA. “It’s a very vulnerable thing to have your child go to counseling. You can’t help but feel that it’s a reflection on you as a parent and feeds into fears that you’re ‘screwing your kids up.’”

Navigating the balance

Counselors often need to get creative and act diplomatically to keep parents in the loop while maintaining young clients’ confidentiality and trust.

When parents insist on being involved in their child’s counseling, Moore negotiates with both the parents and client to find a plan that they all agree on while staying within ethical boundaries.

This was the case for a teenage client Moore once counseled who had substance use disorder. The parents were worried about their child and wanted to be involved in the counseling process. Moore facilitated a discussion and, eventually, they all came to an agreement that Moore would work with the teen alone but would let the parents know whenever the client had a relapse or break in recovery, she says.

Keeping lines of communication open and having regular check-ins with parents is beneficial to the counseling process with young clients, Solmonson notes. She often prompts child or adolescent clients to identify one small thing they are comfortable sharing with their parents at the conclusion of each counseling session, such a breathing technique they learned or new words they discovered to describe their emotions. This keeps the parents in the loop while ensuring that the client maintains control over the process.

When parents are left completely in the dark about their child’s work in counseling, it can exacerbate worry, cause them to “fear the worst” and catastrophize about what the child might be saying, Solmonson adds.

Sznewajs notes that talking with young clients about keeping their parents updated also provides the opportunity to check in with the client and ask what they feel is going well. She sometimes begins by asking the client how they feel things are going in counseling and transitions to what (or if) they would want her to share with their parents about their progress.

Disclosure of life-threatening behavior

When a young client is engaging in risk-taking behaviors that are life threatening (i.e., suicidal actions, self-harm), ethically, parents need to be brought into the conversation, says Hayle Fisher, a licensed professional clinical counselor and director of adolescent services at a behavioral mental health provider in Mentor, Ohio. While this is crucial to do, it can also impair the therapeutic relationship with the teen, she adds.

Fisher finds the vignettes in the 2016 British Journal of Psychiatry article “‘Shhh! Please don’t tell…’ Confidentiality in child and adolescent mental health” particularly helpful for examples on navigating these conversations. She keeps the following notes for herself, drawn from that article, for situations when she must disclose a young client’s harmful behavior:

  • Tell the client what you (the counselor) are planning on disclosing to the parents, with an emphasis on the full context of why you need to. Ask for their feedback on how they might like to edit what you plan to say.
  • Talk through the potential benefits and costs of disclosing to the parents. Ask the client how they feel about the disclosure and consider their views as you move forward.
  • Validate any fears the client may have about the disclosure, such as losing access to resources and freedoms, feeling blamed or ashamed, or being concerned that the police or social services will become involved.

To maintain trust and a therapeutic alliance with young clients, Fisher emphasizes that it’s important for a counselor to give the client as much control as possible over how this communication will occur. If the disclosure happens during an in-person session and the parents are nearby, she gives the client the choice to either stay in the room or step out and wait in the lobby when she invites the parent(s) in to tell them.

Fisher also gives young clients the option to tell their parents before she does. However, this is only appropriate if the client’s risk of harm is not imminent, Fisher stresses. In this scenario, she tells the client that she will call at a certain time the following day to speak with their parents, check in and provide support for the parents and client.

“This option is especially powerful,” Fisher explains, because it “reinforces the adolescent taking accountability for their actions, increases communication skills and fosters independence in the situation so they are not dependent on the counselor for navigating conflicts with their parents.”

Sznewajs also takes a collaborative approach when it’s necessary to break confidentiality to inform a client’s parent or guardian about harmful behavior or intent. She says she tries to take the client’s feelings into consideration while modeling firm boundaries.

Although not having the conversation with the parents isn’t an option, client can choose how and when it happens, Sznewajs explains. She offers to involve the parents in person, call them on the phone, do a video chat during the counseling session or wait until after the session ends.

Sznewajs says she explains to young clients: “I want to make sure you stay safe, so we have to bring your parents into this conversation.” She adds that she tries to “do it in a collaborative way, even when it [the situation] is dire.”

 

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Bethany Bray is a senior writer and social media coordinator for Counseling Today. Contact her at bbray@counseling.org.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Taking a clinical selfie

By Bethany Bray October 25, 2022

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“But first, let me take a selfie.”

This phrase, which was first popularized in The Chainsmokers’ 2014 breakout hit song “#Selfie,” has become a common saying in today’s culture — and one that is sometimes used to satirize younger generations who can’t seem to experience something without documenting it with a self-portrait.

On the surface, the act of taking a selfie can seem shallow or self-promotional. But Amanda Winburn and Amy King, both counselor educators who have a background as a school counselor, say that when used intentionally and in a structured way, selfies can become a therapeutic tool and a way to spark self-reflection, engagement and connection with younger clients.

“We know that children are engaged in” taking selfies, says Winburn, a licensed school counselor, licensed professional counselor and registered play therapist. “So why not take the positive attributes of this practice and expand upon it” in counseling?

Selfies in session

Winburn and King, who have presented on the therapeutic power of selfies at conferences of the American Counseling Association and the American School Counselor Association, have used selfie activities as a therapeutic intervention in individual and group counseling settings.

“This is just one more way we could give children and adolescents an opportunity to express themselves and narrate their story,” says Winburn, an associate professor of counselor education at the University of Mississippi. “We try and incorporate [clients’] worlds in our work, and selfies are an everyday part of our world and everyday part of expression for children, adolescents and adults. It really is the new self-portrait.”

However, Winburn and King stress two important caveats to this work:

  1. Practitioners should take care to ensure that any selfies captured in sessions are not taken with a device that is connected to the internet (i.e., not the client’s personal cellphone) so the images cannot be shared or used in a nontherapeutic context.
  2. Practitioners must obtain consent from a parent or guardian to capture the image of any client under the age of 18.

King, a certified school counselor and provisionally licensed professional counselor in private practice in Mississippi, uses a tablet computer that does not have internet access to allow students and clients to take selfies. She prints the selfie images and keeps them in a client’s file to refer to during sessions and deletes the images from the device. The tablet and client files are kept in a locked cabinet in her office when not in use, she explains.

Tapping into self-expression and boosting empathy

Having young clients take selfies during counseling sessions can serve as a visual and relatable way for them to track their progress in therapy, Winburn and King suggest.

Selfies can document physical aspects of improvement and growth in ways that a client may not notice without a visual record, such as smiling or holding their head up more, sitting tall and appearing more confident, Winburn explains.

When she was a school counselor, King once used selfies to help a student who was struggling with self-confidence. The student kept the printed selfies that she took in counseling sessions in a journal, to which she added notes and drawings. When King and the client talked about her therapeutic progress and looked through the selfies together, the young client was able to recognize that she looked happier and more confident in her progression of photos throughout the year.

She was able to note that she had gotten taller and that her smile was brighter. “She was glowing because she was looking at herself in a really positive way and reflecting about that,” King recalls.

King, a lecturer in counselor education and supervision at Boise State University, finds that students love to look back at their progress in counseling, and by using selfies, young clients can visualize that progression of moving away from having a tough time to having a better outlook on their situation or life.

In addition to strengthening expression and self-confidence, using selfies in this way also provides an opportunity for counselors to explore and process clients’ feelings of self-doubt or self-criticism, Winburn says. In therapy, selfies can be a visual portrait of a client’s narrative and a discussion starter for work that increases self-awareness and emotion recognition.

Winburn advises counselors to ask clients questions to understand the motivations behind their self-expressions and explore if they are trying to portray themselves differently than they really are. For example, she says clinicians can ask, “How does seeing that image make you feel?” or “What makes you feel that way?”

Winburn asks her counseling students at the University of Mississippi to take a selfie at the beginning and end of their day for an entire week. She tells her students, “It’s a way to step out of your comfort zone and process how you were feeling [that week] and how you portray yourself.” Then they reflect together in class on the story their selfies tell, which can be quite eye-opening, Winburn says.

King also used selfies in group counseling with second grade girls during her time as a school counselor. The group’s focus was on building confidence, communication, friend making and social skills. Learning to give and receive positive affirmations — to oneself and others — was an important component of this group work, King notes.

King, assisted by graduate counseling interns, had each group participant take a selfie with a school-issued tablet computer. The student would first look at the selfie themselves and then share it with the group. This activity allowed participants to open up and talk about the feelings their selfie elicited and, in turn, prompt group members to offer positive feedback.

It was a powerful experience that boosted the second graders’ empathy, reflection and listening skills and their ability to consider others’ perspectives, King says. The students would listen, connect and make comments such as “your eyes are really sparkling in that one,” she recalls.

After the group had been meeting for a little while, teachers and recess monitors at King’s school began to report that the students who were in her counseling group started to have more positive interactions during recess, she says.

Using selfies in counseling can help children actively learn and foster positive feelings about themselves as well as learn about individual and cultural differences in group settings, King notes.

“There’s no right or wrong way to make a selfie,” she adds.

Keeping an open mind

King and Winburn acknowledge that counselors can sometimes be skeptical of using technology in sessions, especially mediums such as selfies that can have negative connotations. However, they feel that when used in an ethical and appropriate way, selfies can strengthen trust and the therapeutic alliance with young clients.

It can also be a way to model that technology can be used in a positive way, to build each other up, King adds.

“Make sure you’re using safeguards to keeps clients safe, but try it [using selfies], embrace it and be open to it,” Winburn urges. “Especially with adolescents, counselors need to be playfully engaged and aware of where they are. This is an active way of embracing the world that they live in and meeting them where they are.”

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Bethany Bray is a senior writer and social media coordinator for Counseling Today. Contact her at bbray@counseling.org.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Building resilience in children after a pandemic

By Celine Cluff October 13, 2022

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A lot has changed for adults and children since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. People’s social and work lives have been turned upside down. Children had to unlearn the behavior to touch and explore the world around them, and with an overall uptick in anxiety, they have also had to learn to cope with increased stress levels in their environments. The toll that this has taken on youth remains to be explored.

Psychological resilience represents the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or to return to the original precrisis status. According to the research of Michael Ungar, founder and director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University, and Kristin Hadfield, an assistant professor of psychology at the Trinity College Dublin, factors that improve a young person’s life change depending on whether they live in a community that is stable and safe or one that presents them with a challenging environment. This means that we have to pay attention to a child’s environment to understand what factors help them build resilience. COVID has certainly had a negative effect on peoples’ environments, and it may have even caused surroundings that were stable and safe to turn into ones that are not.

With the implementation of four simple steps, the connection and trust between children and caregivers can be strengthened, which, in turn, can lead to the mitigation of some of that angst still lingering from the pandemic.

Step 1: Have a conversation during a meal. Dinners are a great proxy for connecting. At a minimum, sharing a meal serves as a way to catch up and reconnect. Admittedly, dinners with young children don’t tend to last long, but often a quick check-in will suffice if done regularly as a part of a daily routine. For example, a family could set an egg timer for ten minutes of “family time” and then take turns talking about their “rose and thorn” of the day; the rose is something positive that happened that day, and the thorn represents something less desirable that may have occurred. This exercise works to strengthen the interpersonal connections between family members and helps them stay on top of things that require attention that may otherwise slip through the cracks.

Step 2: Teach choice-based behavior. Caregivers can boost confidence levels in children by inviting them to practice autonomy. A simply way to do this is for a caregiver to offer the child options when they want them to do their chores or help around the house. For example, if the caregiver wants the child to help with dinner, they could say, “It is your turn to set the table for dinner. You can do this now, or you can choose to clear the table after dinner instead but you’ll have to load the dishwasher too.” Caregivers can also discuss and acknowledge how important their contribution is. Praising the child for accomplishing the task and letting them know that their help is valued delivers a confidence boost and strengthens the connection to their caregiver. After all, everyone appreciates being valued for their efforts!

Step 3: Teach initiative taking. Initiative taking — completing a task or chore without being prompted to do so — is a skill that can be taught. The most effective way to encourage this independent behavior is to model it, encourage it through positive reinforcement and let it happen organically. Sometimes this means biting one’s tongue instead of telling the child to stop doing what they are doing (if what they are doing is safe). Initiative taking is a skill that can be developed in early childhood and will serve children well into their adult years. It promotes a sense of self-worth by making children feel capable to make decisions and execute tasks. Letting children explore what they are capable of in a safe environment can boost confidence and encourage independent behavior down the road.

Step 4: Be present. Children have a universal talent for demanding attention. Sometimes, it is possible to give them the attention they crave and other times it’s not. Here’s a common scenario: A child demands attention when their caregiver is in the middle of something that requires their neurons to fire at full capacity. Although it may seem daunting, taking one minute out of their busy work schedule to make eye contact with the child and hear them speak will not negatively affect productivity levels or work outcomes. But what it will do is show the child that they are valued and heard, which boosts their confidence. In addition, modeling good listening skills will strengthen the caregiver-child bond and will help to ensure continuous respectful exchanges in future interactions.

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In summary, a resilient child will have at least one continuous, resilient interpersonal relationship with a parent, caregiver, close relative or even friend. Nurturing these relationships plays a pivotal role in the maturation of a child’s psychosocial development. The four steps mentioned previously are suggestions on how to nurture these connections. Research from the realm of positive psychology continues to underscore the mental health benefits of having fulfilling interpersonal relationships. According to Mark Holder, a psychological researcher and former associate professor at the University of British Columbia, nurturing interpersonal relationships also contributes to people’s happiness, and it is the quality, not the quantity, of the relationships that brings people the most joy.

The concept of increasing happiness levels by nurturing interpersonal relationships also applies when children interact with other children. It is important to let children engage with each other on their own terms (interfering only if necessary), enjoy outdoor playtime, act out different scenarios with peers (e.g., playing cops and robbers, which is a variation of tag) or simply enjoy the company of like-minded youth. Children’s social and emotional repertoires are developed during these early years. Although extracurricular activities are also valuable, they cannot replace the social/interpersonal exchange in early childhood development. It is important to keep in mind the need for both when raising resilient kids.

In their research, Ungar and Hadfield emphasize people’s social ecologies (or preservation thereof) when it comes to their development and level of resilience during times of crisis. Because creating a stable and safe environment plays a pivotal role in laying the groundwork for this development, staying open minded about ways to parent during times of crisis is also important. A simple exchange about what the caregiver’s day was like or how they are feeling (happy, sad, etc.) will often go a long way. It is always a pleasant surprise to learn how much children can give in return if they are shown that adults are vulnerable too.

 

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Celine Cluff

Celine Cluff is a registered clinical counselor practicing in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. She holds a master’s degree in psychoanalytic studies from Middlesex University in London and recently completed her doctorate in psychology at Adler University in Chicago. Her private practice focuses on family therapy, couples therapy and parenting challenges. Contact her at celine.cluff@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Supporting transgender and gender-expansive youth

By Cortny Stark July 29, 2022

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Transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) children and youth continue to experience marginalization, as institutions across the United States institute new oppressive policies that challenge and, in many cases, altogether prevent access to gender-affirming health care. TGE children and youth include young people between ages 3 and 17 whose gender identity is different from the sex designated at birth; the label “transgender” implies alignment with the gender binary (e.g., “I was designated female at birth and am a transgender man”), whereas gender-expansive identities do not align with the gender binary (e.g., “I was designated female at birth and am nonbinary — meaning that I am not a girl or boy”).

The realities of living as a TGE child or youth in today’s social, legal, educational and health-related environments are harrowing. Every day, new policies and legislation are introduced regarding TGE youth’s rights to access medically necessary gender-affirming health care, present as their authentic self at school, participate in extracurricular programs and sports, and have their appropriate name and pronouns honored in educational spaces.

As the parent of an incredible 12-year-old TGE child, my tolerance for the headlines is waning. I wake up each morning and check the latest news, and suddenly, I feel anxiety rising in my chest. I feel breathless and sick to my stomach. I have to put down my device and find a comforting television show or familiar rerun to watch before continuing with my day.

But we can do something about it. As helping professionals, we have an ethical obligation to support members of this community, as well as their caregivers and loved ones, and to advocate for dissolution of oppressive policies and legislation.

The current crisis

Despite over a decade of research and clear medical guidance supporting the efficacy of affirming social and medical interventions, several state and local governments across the United States have initiated anti-TGE legislation. In April 2022 alone, more than 20 pieces of legislation targeting the rights of TGE persons were introduced across the country.

On April 20, the Florida Department of Health released guidance on the treatment of gender dysphoria for children and adolescents, which states: “social gender transition should not be a treatment option for children or adolescents” and “anyone under 18 should not be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy.” Alabama enacted a similar prohibition on affirming health care, but with more severe consequences for providers who violate the ban. The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which took effect May 8, states that health providers who provide gender-affirming puberty blockers or hormones will be charged with a Class C felony. Sanctions for violating the ban could include 10 years in prison or $15,000 in fines.

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Standards of practice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Professional Association for Transgender Health, however, continue to support social and medical transition as a necessary option for the health and well-being for many TGE youth.

Earlier this year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion stating that gender-affirming medical interventions, referred to as “elective sex changes,” are part of a “novel trend” and “constitute child abuse.” The fact that this opinion equates gender-affirming care with “child abuse” is of particular importance for helping professionals because this means credentialed providers are legally obligated to notify child protective services within 48 hours of learning that a minor is receiving gender-affirming medical care.

Many families and caregivers of TGE youth in Texas are now unable to access medically necessary gender-affirming interventions, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy. In addition, major TGE advocacy organizations are encouraging families and caregivers of TGE youth to maintain a “safe folder” — a collection of documentation that debunks the “affirming care is abuse” myth. The folder includes “carry letters,” which are documents written by licensed counselors, helping professionals and/or pediatricians who have worked with the youth. These letters contain the professional’s credentials, their relationship to the youth, a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics supporting gender-affirming medical interventions as evidence-based and best practice, and an overview of the youth’s gender identity development process.

A call for advocacy

I share these current events not to stir your compassion but to make a request: Please act and advocate for TGE youth. You can pursue positive change in whatever realm you hold power, privilege or space. As a professional, I wear many hats, including assistant professor, mental health and substance use counselor, rehabilitation counselor, training facilitator and advocate. These professional roles provide a space for me to channel my anxieties and distress over these recent oppressive policies targeting TGE youth and work toward positive change.

For me, advocating for this population serves as a source of nourishment and a way to derive meaning from what feels like hopeless circumstances, and I hope that engaging in this work may do the same for my colleagues. Here are some ways helping professionals can better support the advocacy efforts for the TGE community:

  • Use a humanistic lens when working with TGE children and youth and recognize the client as the expert on their own experience.
  • Get to know the standards of care and research regarding evidence-based care with TGE youth. And make sure the research you consume and the information you share with others all come from prominent and reliable scholarly sources.
  • Elevate the voices of TGE youth. If you work with this population, know what prominent TGE community organizations provide safe and brave spaces for TGE youth, and be prepared to share this information with your clients. If you facilitate trainings or educational opportunities for responsive and competent practice with the TGE community, and you yourself are not a member of this community, use panels of TGE folx to share their experiences and expertise.
  • Inform people that gender-affirming social and medical interventions are medically necessary and are a key component of suicide prevention. According to a 2009 report by Caitlin Ryan, the director of the Family Acceptance Project, TGE children experiencing caregiver or family rejection are more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide and nearly six times as likely to report high levels of depression than TGE youth who were not or only slightly rejected by their parents and caregivers. This report also found that TGE youth who were in accepting homes, with caregivers who supported social and/or medical affirming interventions, had rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation and attempts similar to their cisgender peers.
  • Advocate with and on behalf of these youth in their living environments, schools and greater communities; this may include educating others about the role of affirming health care in preventing suicide and improving TGE youth’s overall health and well-being, testifying against oppressive anti-TGE legislation, or supporting affirming legislation.
  • Honor the history of TGE communities by acknowledging the role of colonization and historical trauma in the erasure of histories of gender diversity. Recognize the systemic influence of adverse experiences in health care, schools, the legal system and other institutions on TGE individual’s ability to trust institutions. This history along with the major influential events in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) rights movement are key to understanding the intergenerational trauma and resilience of members of TGE communities.
  • Keep learning! Developing one’s ability to provide culturally responsive care requires lifelong education and reflective practice. Sign up for workshops and continuing education regarding serving TGE individuals. And join consultation and supervision groups that focus on providing care to this population.
  • Connect and advocate. Connect with a local TGE advocacy organization and volunteer to support their efforts; if time does not allow for this level of engagement, consider donating to these causes to support their advocacy work.

As LGBTQ+ advocate, actress and film producer Laverne Cox once stated, “Each and every one of us has the capacity to be an oppressor. I want to encourage each and everyone of us to interrogate how we might be an oppressor and how we might be able to become liberators for ourselves and for each other.” At this point in history, it is critical that we as helping professionals identify how our actions contribute to the oppression of our TGE clients and do better. The health and well-being of an entire generation of TGE youth need helping professionals who are willing to use their power and privilege to elevate their voices and serve as liberators.

 

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Cortny Stark

Cortny Stark (she/her/hers) is an assistant professor and the substance use and recovery counseling program coordinator in the Department of Counseling and Human Services at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She is also a telehealth therapist with the Trauma Treatment Center and Research Facility, where she provides trauma reprocessing and integration, clinical services for substance use and process addictions, and support for transgender and gender-expansive youth. Her research focuses on LGBTQQIA+ issues in counseling, integrative approaches to trauma reprocessing and integration, and substance use and recovery.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Counseling Connoisseur: Nature therapy and brain science in children

By Cheryl Fisher April 20, 2022

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Alfred Adler purported that all behaviors have a purpose. Behaviors are often the way the body responds to life’s stressors, especially for children. Yet, many therapeutic treatments for children focus on the modification, remediation and even elimination of a behavior without addressing the underlying cause. This approach suggests that once a behavior is corrected, the child will experience general wellness.

Brain science, however, indicates that the physiological state of children must be attended to before one addresses behavioral change. In Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Comparison to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges, Mona Delahooke, a licensed clinical psychologist, argues, “When we see a behavior that is problematic or confusing, the first question we should ask isn’t ‘How do we get rid of it?’ but rather ‘What is this telling us about the child?’”

Therefore, behavior is adaptive and a response to the internal and external experience of the child.

Autonomic response refresher

The human body responds to perception of threats to safety by creating a biochemical and physiological state prepared to move the body to fight, flight or freeze. In this state, the body increases the production of adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol. The amygdala and the limbic system become activated and temporarily lead brain functioning over the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for higher order thinking and executive functions. The child is now functioning in survival mode, and the child’s behaviors may manifest in a variety of ways, including distraction, withdrawal, irritability or fidgeting, fearfulness, regression, and aggression.

Rather than blindly rewarding or punishing the child’s behaviors, neuroscience suggests that we seek out the cause of the behaviors before addressing them. It begs us to answer the questions, “Why is the child acting this way? Is the child perceiving a threat to safety?”

As I have addressed in my book Mindfulness and Nature-Based Therapeutic Techniques for Children, counselors must consider if the child is functioning from an underdeveloped kinesthetic system (our sense of our body in space) or vestibular system (associated with the inner ear and balance) resulting from lack of free-form movement. So much of children’s time is spent sitting at their desks or in front of devices, or in structured activities. They lack nondirected, unstructured play and movement. What is the underlying cause? How is the behavior serving to protect the child? Most important, how can we, as counselors, help the child resume a sense of safety and balance and experience a calm and alert state?

Brain science

Several models have emerged over the past few years that emphasize the role of the physiological state of children when treating their behaviors. All these models assume that the behaviors are an attempt to cope with internal or external stressors.

Stephen Porges, the founder of polyvagal theory, proposes that mammals have two neural pathways. The first, the social engagement state, is accessible when the child feels safe and can trust the environment, promoting a calm state accompanied by prosocial behavior. The second pathway is engaged when the child feels unsafe.

Porges introduced the term neuroception to describe the body’s way of scanning the environment for threats to safety. At times, the body miscalculates the risk of safety. According to Porges, the symptoms of faulty neuroception are translated to psychiatric labels and disorders. In other words, a child who has experienced trauma may have a vulnerable nervous system that detects threats that do not exist. Resulting behaviors may include hypervigilance, insomnia, paranoia, bedwetting or a host of other regressive or safety-seeking responses. On the other end of the spectrum, the child may ignore actual risks in the environment, resulting in greater threat to self and psyche.

Therefore, based on neuroscience, Porges recommends providing children with individualized cues of safety that allow social engagement behaviors to emerge spontaneously. According to Porges, three situations must be present to feel safe. First, the autonomic system must not be in a defensive state (fight, flight or freeze). Second, the social engagement system must be activated, which results in the downregulation of the sympathetic nervous system and promotes prosocial behavior. Finally, there must be cues for safety (vocalizations, gestures and positive facial expressions) detected via neuroception. The assumption is that cues for safety can only be exhibited and detected in human-human interaction. However, research continues to support that human and more-than-human interactions also afford meaningful connection.

Brain science and nature

Engaging in the natural world has long been known to have a calming effect on the body. A biochemical exchange occurs in the natural world that results in by-products that, when inhaled or absorbed by the human body, produce a calm and alert state. The earth’s core is like a battery that emits negative ions. Blue spaces (oceans and waterways) offer ionic by-products. Additionally, green spaces (forests and parks) produce phytoncides and terpenes.

Fifteen to twenty minutes of being in a natural setting affects the body by decreasing cortisol, norepinephrine and adrenaline (hormones released when the body perceives threat); increasing serotonin; and reducing blood pressure and respiratory rate. The body responds to the natural space by engaging the relaxation response. Additionally, the immune system is enhanced by both an increase in number and activity of natural killer cells. These effects are sustained for up to a week following single exposure to forests and as long as a month following two days of engagement in green space.

David Clode/Unsplash.com

The earth communicates through the production of these chemicals, and the human body responds to many of the messages (safety cues) by reducing the body’s defensive state, activating the social engagement system and promoting homeostasis (i.e., a calm and alert state).

Research is conclusive that children who engage in natural settings experience greater well-being, are calmer and demonstrate more prosocial behavior. For example:

  • In their article “The role of urban neighbourhood green space in children’s emotional and behavioural resilience,” Eirini Flour and colleagues found that children impacted by poverty and living in urban settings experience improved emotional well-being when exposed to neighborhood green space.
  • Diana Younan and colleagues noted in their article “Environmental determinants of aggression in adolescents: Role of urban neighborhood greenspace” that exposure to greenspace within 1,000 meters surrounding residences is associated with reduced aggressive behaviors in youth.
  • Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances Kuo discovered that, in general, children who play regularly in green play settings are calmer and more alert than children who play in concrete outdoor and indoor settings. Their study, “Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park,” also found that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder who play in green open areas versus areas with trees and green grass show milder symptoms.

Although it is becoming increasingly important to integrate outdoor activities into clinical practice, routine access to green and blue spaces may be hindered by many factors. In this case, we turn to indoor alternatives.

Nature therapy indoors

Ecotherapists are capitalizing on the research by integrating nature-informed practices and activities into their work. My own research examines the use of nature-informed sensory “time-out/time-away” stations in the emotional and behavioral regulation of school-age children. Historically, time-out has been used to remediate unwanted behaviors in children. This often involves using a corner of a room without windows or distractions. Once the child has calmed down, they may return to the group setting.

However, if (as Adler suggests) all behaviors have a purpose, then the child has learned only that the presenting behavior is unacceptable and to suppress their natural response to whatever triggered it. They have not learned to self-regulate and address the underlying emotional or physical state.

A nature-based sensory time-away station, however, is imbued with items such as plants and herbs that emit terpenes. The station may have a tabletop sand garden that provides tactile exposure and promotes mindfulness. Additionally, nature soundtracks may play in a headset to allow the brain to register these soothing frequencies.

The preliminary data continue to demonstrate that children are able to use this time-away station as a self-regulating tool to allow for the relaxation response, calming of the amygdala and engagement of the prefrontal cortex. Children engage with the natural material, feel more grounded and (depending on developmental stage) are better able to articulate their underlying state verbally or through expressive arts. They return to their previous activity feeling calm and alert.

Here’s some advice on how to create and introduce a nature-based sensory time-away station:

  • Create the station. A nature-based sensory station may be created indoors or outdoors. It includes physical elements that engage the senses. Items may include edible plants and herbs to promote exposure to terpenes. Cotton balls soaked in essential oils also can provide exposure to terpenes through smell. Small containers of rocks, sea glass, pinecones, feathers and shells can provide the child with different tactile experiences. A small tabletop sand garden with miniature rakes can be purchased or created for a tactile and mindful activity. A betta fish or small fish tank may also add biodiversity to the space. Nature sounds can be streamed through headphones. Additionally, paper and tools to write, color or paint may aid in the communication of triggers once the child begins to enter a calmer state. And items can be rotated to capture seasonal changes to your nature-based sensory station.
  • Introduce the station. Because this is a novelty, everyone in a group setting such as a classroom will want to play at the station. It is important to allow each child a chance to explore the space. Using a timer, have children take turns engaging in the station. When the time is up, they may return to the classroom activity. If introduced as a tool, children will soon learn that this space can be accessed to help regulate emotions and behavior in a productive manner. In essence, the children will learn that they feel better after spending time interacting with the space.

In the home setting, the child can help create the space and be taught that it is a place to go to reboot. Show the child how to engage with the multisensory space and then leave them to their own processes.

In addition to the many ecotherapeutic homework assignments and interventions available, counselors utilizing this space as a co-therapist in the field can introduce the benefits of nature-based multisensory engagement and help their clients learn to self-regulate outside of the therapy session.

In conclusion, behavior is a response to interpretation of internal and external stimuli. A child who feels unsafe may experience physiological arousal and respond in a defensive manner. As counselors, we can help educators and parents learn to address a child’s physiological state by creating safety cues for the child. By introducing a nature-based multisensory space, children can learn ways to reduce defensive states, increase homeostasis and activate their social engagement system.

 

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Cheryl Fisher is a licensed clinical professional counselor in private practice in Annapolis, Maryland. She is director and assistant professor for Alliant International University California School of Professional Psychology’s online master’s in clinical counseling. Her research interests include examining sexuality and spirituality in young women with advanced breast cancer, nature-informed therapy and geek therapy. Contact her at cyfisherphd@gmail.com.

 

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.