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Bryanwood Therapy and Assessment Centre consists of educational, counselling and clinical psychologists who offer quality psychological services for children, adolescents (and adults).
Psychological services for children
play therapy
Play therapy is a form of psychotherapy utilised when working with children. Play therapy is to children what "talk" therapy is to adolescents/adults. During play therapy, toys, games and activities are used in the same way as words. It works with the child's developmental level in mind, to increase the freedom of expression of the child and the quality of communication between therapist and child. Younger children are often unable to understand and talk about their feelings the way adults do. However, they are comfortable and familiar with play, making it an ideal form of communication when working with children. Children are then able to communicate on their developmental level. Children are provided therapeutic toys to enable them to "say" with the toys what they have difficulty saying with words. They can use dolls, puppets, paints and other toys to say what they think or how they feel. With older children various creative methods are incorporated such as art therapy, sand-tray therapy, bibliotherapy, guided imagery, visualisation and hypnotherapy.
Play therapy helps increase children's emotional intelligence so that they learn about themselves and their surroundings, their capabilities and limitations. They also learn new coping skills, learn how to handle anger and frustration, heal, and work through difficult times. In addition children increase their self-esteem and ability to communicate. Some of the difficulties play therapy assists with include, ADHD, anger, depression, anxiety/fears, abuse issues, aggression, trauma, poor social skills, impulsivity, learning difficulties, divorce issues and bereavement, amongst others.
psychological assessments
When entering school, certain difficulties may become apparent. Bryanwood Therapy and Assessment Centre specialises in the assessment and treatment of a wide range of difficulties:
•Developmental Assessments:
Developmental assessments are offered for children between the ages of 3 and 5. This evaluation is useful in detecting whether there are any difficulties and if there are, recommendations are made.
•School-Readiness Testing:
In the ever more demanding school environment it is difficult to know whether a child will cope when he/she starts formal schooling. Bryanwood Therapy and Assessment Centre offers school readiness testing to determine the following: will your child cope at an academic level? Is your child's emotional development at the required level? Does your child have any visual-motor integration difficulties? Will your child cope socially?
•Emotional Assessments:
At times it is difficult to understand what a child is experiencing emotionally. Parents and teachers become aware of behaviour that is "different" or difficult. An emotional assessment is valuable in discovering whether the child is experiencing emotional difficulties and therefore being able to rectify it. Recommendations can be made to address these difficulties and help the child and his/her family.
•Psycho-Educational Assessments:
When in primary school, evaluations are especially important to determine what can realistically be expected of the student, but also to better understand the various learning strengths and weaknesses with which the student engages in the learning process. An intellectual test and a battery of scholastic tests are usually included. Thus, a student's actual success in learning basic academic skills can be measured against his/her learning potential. Psycho-educational assessments are vital, particularly when a student is not achieving to his/her potential, is failing, is not keeping up with his/her peers.
Parent counselling
Parent Counselling is offered for parents who are looking for some guidance relating to their child. Parents learn how to deal more effectively with their child and his/her behaviours. For example, if a child is anxious parents play a vital role in helping their children and the therapist will look at various ways of addressing the difficulties. Parent Counselling is also useful in assisting children with lowered self-esteem with the adjustment to various circumstances and with the recommendation of the most effective discipline measures.
Bryanwood Therapy and Assessment Centre also provides assessments and treatment for Adolescents with the following difficulties:
• Academic and/or behaviour problems
• Depressed, withdrawn behaviour
• Disruptive, aggressive, defiant behaviour
• Fears, anxiety and phobia
• Hyperactivity and attention problems
• Learning disabilities
• Eating Disorders
• Assessments for Extra-time concessions. Also Vocational and Career guidance
Please go to our website: www.bryanwood.co.za and register for our newsletter which provides information about mental health for children, adolescents, and adults.
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