5 Benefits to Working With Child Therapy Clients

When I was a new therapist starting out in my practice, I had zero interest in working with child therapy clients. 

I didn’t understand how to connect with children in therapy or how to recognize kids’ progress in therapy. 

The idea of facilitating therapy sessions with children initially baffled and intimidated me. 

There were only so many open-ended questions I could ask them, not to mention their limited feedback. 

I feared I’d be met with blank stares, complete silence, or the dreaded, “Huh?”

I also knew that children wouldn’t appreciate my nifty go-to clinician comments: “Tell me about it,” “I see,” and “Mmhmm.”

Since my practicum site required that I work with children, I sought to improve my skills.

This included continuing education in child development, and training in different therapies—play therapy, art therapy, and sand tray therapy. 

I learned that all clinicians experience a disconnect as they attempt to tailor their services for children. 

The realization that children aren’t simply “little adults,” but, rather, individuals with needs uniquely their own helped me to make adaptations.

Reasons Why Children Can Be the Best Therapy Clients

Now, after working in child therapy for six years as a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), I’ve learned that there are several reasons why children may be the best clients for therapists in private practice.

1. Child Therapy Clients Are More Open to Change Than Adults

Children’s brains are more malleable, which allows for positive shaping and molding at an early age. 

Kids are less likely to critique, resist, or question treatment interventions. 

This openness to the therapeutic process—coupled with an increased ability to change—makes work with child therapy clients easier for clinicians. It means we don’t have to weed through years of destructive mindsets and troubled relationships. 

Consequently, the therapy process is much simpler with child clients.

I’ve worked with many children to address serious anxiety problems. 

It’s amazed me how many kids in therapy quickly grasped “thought replacement.” They understood that they could choose to think something positive, rather than something negative. 

And they did! One girl even made a song out of her positive thoughts, an idea of her own; she proudly sang it to me in our next session!

Children’s short lives limit the deep-rootedness of negative cognitions. They haven’t lived long enough for these neural connections to become as fortified as those of adults (Asby, 2018). 

As a result, irrational thoughts, like “I’m unlovable” or “I can’t trust,” are easier for therapists to challenge and replace. 

This mindset drastically differs from the cemented attitudes of guarded teenagers and wary adults, which can limit therapeutic progress.

Children also don’t have ulterior motives for seeking therapy treatment. They won’t attend therapy to avoid jail time, to satisfy their employer, or to appear to be the “good parent” in a custody case. 

Children’s authenticity creates a more supportive working relationship, as what we see is what we get.

2. Children Are Unhindered by Mental Health Stigma

Children are curious about life, honest in their comments, and just plain fun!

They are content to draw pictures, play in sandboxes, put on puppet shows, and toss balls back-and-forth. 

Their open attitude about therapy encourages clinicians to use diverse and novel approaches. 

This is a breath of fresh air after working with adults who tend to be reserved towards treatment.

One afternoon, when I was in a movie theater lobby, I heard someone yell my name.

All of a sudden, I was being bear-hugged by a small boy. I recognized him as my client, and hugged him back. He beamed as he told me what movie he’d seen and how much fun he’d had during school break. His parents hung back awkwardly as we talked. After saying our good-byes, I walked into my movie grinning, as well. 

It was a special feeling to know that my client publicly and proudly recognized me.

Children don’t worry that their friends or coworkers will find out they go to therapy. They just want to play with us! If we make therapy fun for a child, they’ll keep wanting to come back. 

Besides increasing our client retention rate, children’s consistent interest in therapy can add fun to our workdays.

3. Child Therapy Clients Aren’t Bogged Down With Emotional Baggage

Children are limited regarding the types of trauma they can undergo. 

Their age protects them from certain life experiences, such as divorce from a spouse, miscarriage, bankruptcy, military combat, and job loss. 

And, while some children may have significant post-traumatic stress from other sources, its chronicity is less than that of adults due to their age.

Children can recover from adversity more quickly and fully than adults. The neuroplasticity of kids’ brains provides a stronger framework for resiliency. 

This means that even though a child has faced traumatic events, there’s a high chance for recovery if they receive early intervention. 

This urgency for children to receive appropriate help, specifically therapy, is discussed in the book, “What Happened to You?” by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey. 

It’s encouraging, then, to work with children in therapy because we get to intervene at the most pivotal point. 

Working with children can reduce their need to return for therapy when they’re adults, because their main problems may have been suitably addressed during childhood years.

I learned this significance of early intervention while working at a psychiatric hospital and leading group activities for kids and teens. 

While walking my children’s group to the gym one day, we passed a group of adult patients. 

They grew quiet as we approached, and one man announced, “It’s messed up that kids need to come here, too.”

I agreed with him to a point. 

It was distressing to be aware that those children required psychiatric hospitalization. 

However, as we walked away, I wondered if that man had needed the same kind of help when he was a child. Perhaps, if he’d had access to that type of help as a little boy, he might not have needed such drastic intervention as an adult.

4. Children Bring Their Support Systems With Them to Therapy

In most cases, child therapy clients don’t just show up at our offices. Typically, someone has to bring them and drop them off.
This means we may get a close-up view of their support system. 

I’ve heard parents yell at or blankly ignore their children (aka my clients) in the lobby. This is a red flag that the child isn’t the only one who needs help. 

In contrast, I’ve also seen parents help their child with homework or play games with them before our appointment which can suggest a healthy homelife. 

With child clients, we can better evaluate whether the support system is helping with, or contributing to, their presenting problem.

Children may even help to expand our referral network. 

The adult who brings the child to therapy gets to check out our office while they wait during an appointment. 

If they like what they see, they may ask for our help to start personal therapy. I’ve worked with several parents who eventually scheduled their own intakes with me. 

Over time, they witnessed therapy’s positive impact on their child and family, and chose to invest in it themselves. 

This means children in therapy can help their therapist to help even more people, with the secondary gain of higher caseloads.

Besides play therapy, I’m also trained in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). This treatment uses structured sessions to build a strong relationship between parent and child. It culminates in the parent’s ability to deliver specific commands, which their child will respectfully obey. 

I’ve been amazed, watching from behind a one-way mirror, at the radical behavior changes that occur. I’ve witnessed passive parents become assertive, giving their children clear directions in a confident voice. I’ve seen aggressive children self-soothe after tantrums, cooperating with their parent’s limit-setting and re-entering family playtime.

These events are powerful, impressive, and limited to my work with child clients.

5. Child Clients Can Help Clinicians to Avoid Burnout

Children are energetic and curious. They’re excited about their world—which includes therapy! They want to experience as much as they can in their quest for learning, and this enthusiasm is contagious. 

With children as my clients, there are days when my “work” included building wobbly Lego towers, playing dress-up with feathered boas and sparkly tiaras, and scooping trails in the sandbox for mini race cars. 

I didn’t have time in those sessions to think about how tired I was, or

how much paperwork I needed to do. I simply had fun!

Children’s minds are more concrete than those of adults. They don’t have the cognitive skills needed to assess contributors to their presenting problem, or evaluate the healthiness of coping skills. 

Children in therapy are quite direct in their answers, and prefer “doing” rather than “talking.” 

By default, then, we must use therapy approaches that are exciting, creative, and age-appropriate.

The most effective intervention for children is play therapy (Association for Play Therapy, 2022). 

Through play, children process their feelings and problems, just as adults would talk them out. 

Since children process through play, therapy must be “playful.” Think play dough, finger paints, and puppets; building blocks, miniature animals, and doll houses; sand boxes, arts and crafts, and games. 

The use of play therapy during my work day is refreshing, as I experience far less emotional and mental strain than during my cognitive work with adults.

Though young in years, children are not a group of clients to overlook. 

Children in therapy bring plenty of strengths to their sessions making it a stimulating and unique experience. 

Their vulnerability, authenticity, and openness to change can make children our best clients in private practice.

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