THERAPY FOR CHILDREN
Helping Children Heal, Grow, and Thrive
Is your child struggling with stress, anxiety, depression or having difficulty regulating their emotions? Sometimes children struggle with scary memories, thoughts or nightmares. They may have difficulty expressing their feelings, have negative self talk or self-destructive thoughts.
At Healing Hearts Counseling, we look at the whole child - not just the symptoms. Our licensed child therapists provide age appropriate therapy for children ages 5 and older, helping them process confusing emotions, develop healthy coping skills, and reconnect with their natural joy and resilience.
When to Seek Therapy for Your Child
Children and teens often express emotional pain through behavior or physical symptoms rather than words. You may want to consider therapy if your child is experiencing:
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Ongoing sadness, worry, or anger
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Trouble sleeping or frequent nightmares
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Changes in appetite, energy, or grades
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Acting out, tantrums, or withdrawing from family or friends
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Complaints of stomach aches or headaches without clear cause
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Negative self-talk or self-destructive thoughts
Their behavior is their strongest form of communication - and early support can make a lasting difference.
Our Approach to Child & Family Therapy
At Healing Hearts Counseling, we believe healing happens through safety, play, and connection. We help children and parents understand the deeper needs driving behavior so everyone can grow together with more compassion and confidence.
Our approach includes:
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Trauma-Informed Care: Focused on emotional safety, trust, and nervous system regulation.
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Body–Mind–Soul Healing: Integrating play, art, movement, and mindfulness to help children process emotions and stress.
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Parent Collaboration: Working closely with caregivers to strengthen relationships, improve communication, and create stability at home.
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Evidence-Based Modalities: Including EMDR, Sand Tray Therapy, Play Therapy, and Somatic Techniques to support deep, lasting healing.
Each session is tailored to your child’s developmental needs, personality, and learning style—so therapy feels engaging, safe, and effective.
Healing Includes Parent Support!
Parent involvement is an essential part of helping children thrive. Our therapists provide psychoeducation, emotional support, and practical tools for parents to create connection and consistency at home.
We help you:
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Understand your child’s emotional and behavioral patterns
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Build new ways of responding and connecting
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Maintain structure and predictability that support emotional growth
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Strengthen your bond while promoting healthy independence
You hold the delicate and sacred work of shaping another human being. We’re here to support you with the tools, compassion, and guidance you and your child deserve.
Why Choose Healing Hearts Counseling
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Licensed child therapists trained in trauma and attachment-informed care
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Safe, welcoming environment for children and families
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If desired, we offer faith-inclusive and holistic approaches to healing
We help children rediscover calm, confidence, and connection - so your family can thrive again.
You Don’t Have to Do This Alone - We’re Here to Help Your Child Heal and Grow
PLAY THERAPY
A Safe Space to Heal Through Imagination
Play therapists use the therapeutic power of play to help children prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth. Play therapy is a form of counseling that builds on developmentally appropriate forms of communication through play, enabling children to explore difficult experiences in a safe environment. It can be an effective treatment for children experiencing difficulty in identifying, communicating, and regulating their emotions.
SAND TRAY THERAPY
Expressing Feelings Without Words
Children often do not have the “words” to describe how they are feeling or the impact of what they have experienced. The sand tray allows the images from the right side of the brain (emotional) to move to the left side (language) and help a child integrate and process their experiences. Symbols and miniatures can be helpful to represent feelings and thoughts without words. By using miniatures, children build a “world” in the sand. It helps to miniaturize and externalize experiences, empowering them to “play” and explore what they need and to process their emotions. At the end of the session, the therapist can reflect on and discuss the underlying meaning behind the creation.
EXPRESSIVE ART THERAPY
Creativity as a Path to Healing
Expressive Art is a medium that allows for healing that uses the arts as its basis for discovery and healing. All five disciplines of the arts: visual, dance/movement, music, drama/theater, and writing/poetry can give children a richer vocabulary to work, play and grow in healing, expression and wellness. Putting their feelings into a poem, song or painting gives children a safe outlet for negative emotions through an enjoyable activity, which accelerates the healing and growth process. But expressive arts aren't just for coping, they also have great effects on a child's normal development!
EMDR FOR KIDS
Helping Little Brains Heal from Big Feelings
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy approach developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro to help people heal from trauma or adversities such as issues of abuse, bullying, domestic violence, grief/loss, attachment wounds, abandonment, and many other complicated life issues. EMDR therapy is now validated as an evidence-based approach and included in SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. It has been adapted to be used for all ages.
When children have yucky things that happen to them, they have many mixed-up feelings and many mixed-up thoughts. They do not feel good in their minds, bodies, and hearts. These mixed up thoughts and feelings get in the way of the good feelings and thoughts. EMDR can help kids by unpacking them and getting rid of them so kids will have space for the good feelings and the good thoughts. Ana Gomez came up with a cool name for EMDR for kids: Eyes Moving to Digest and Recover!!
When kids receive EMDR, one of the things they do is move their eyes from one side to another while they think about the yucky things that happened to them. EMDR therapists can also help kids do other things instead of eye movement. They can tap hands or knees back and forth or they can use sounds or music that move from one ear to the other.
When yucky things happen, the brain has a hard time putting all the pieces together and as a result, things that people say or do or things that kids see, hear, smell or touch can bring up the yucky memories, the mixed-up thoughts, feelings and body feelings connected to those yucky things. EMDR helps the brain put all the pieces together so the yucky stuff can leave us and the good stuff or the things we learned from it can stay so we get stronger. Then, the brain can chew up and digest all the mixed-up feelings and thoughts as well as the yucky feelings we may have in the body.