Counseling

Counseling Services for Children, Adolescents, Adults, Parents, and Families–

Emotional, Behavioral & Parenting Support

Counseling Services for Children and Families – Emotional, Behavioral & Parenting Support

At BDI, we support children, adolescents, and their families in exploring their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to promote healthy coping strategies for life’s challenges. Much like physical health, mental well-being is essential for academic success, fostering healthy relationships, building self-confidence, and cultivating the ability to navigate life’s challenges. By prioritizing mental health early on, we can create a strong foundation for lifelong growth and development.

How can counseling help my child?

Counseling can provide your child with meaningful support, tailored to their age, personality, and the specific challenges they might encounter. Here are some ways it can be helpful:

Emotional Support and Safe Expression

Counseling provides a safe, nonjudgmental environment where your child can share their thoughts and feelings freely. This encourages healthy emotional expression and helps individuals of all ages work through emotions like sadness, anger, anxiety, or confusion in a healthy and constructive way.

• Anxiety and Worry Management
  Counseling helps children learn practical skills to manage stress, frustration, excessive worries, and life changes. These coping strategies build resilience and equip them to approach challenges with confidence and strength.
• Improved Communication and Social Skills
  Therapists help children better understand and articulate their emotions, which in turn enhances their communication with peers, parents, and teachers. This can lead to stronger relationships and fewer misunderstandings, as well as help address persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities.

Support During Life Transitions

Whether your child is coping with divorce, grief, a move, or changes at school, counseling provides stability and guidance during times of transition.

• Enhanced Self-Esteem and Confidence
  Counseling supports children in building a healthy self-image by helping them identify their strengths, set realistic goals, and foster a strong sense of self-worth and confidence.
• Behavioral and Academic Improvement
  Our therapist works to understand the underlying causes of behavioral challenges and academic struggles and offers targeted strategies to address them. This often involves collaboration with both parents and educators.
• Parental Guidance and Insight
  Parents are involved in the process, offering feedback and suggestions to support your child’s growth at home and promoting a stronger parent-child relationship.

Signs my child may need mental health support:

Every child is different, but some indicators include:

• Sudden mood swings or acting out
• Trouble sleeping or eating
• Falling behind in school
• Avoiding friends or usual activities
• Talking about hurting themselves or others
• Aggression or outbursts
• Extreme fears or worries

If you’re seeing ongoing changes in your child’s mood, behavior, or school performance, counseling can offer meaningful early support. To learn more about whether counseling might be right for your child, contact BDI to schedule an evaluation today.

What does a counseling session look like for a child?

A Warm and Welcoming Environment: The session takes place in a child-friendly space filled with games, art supplies, books, and comfortable furniture. The goal is to help your child feel safe, relaxed, and at ease.

Building a Relationship: Early sessions focus on creating trust between the counselor and your child. The therapist may start with a casual conversation, play-based activities, or creative expression to connect with your child at their level.

Tailored Activities: Our therapist uses a range of age-appropriate methods to help your child express their feelings and work through challenges. These might include:

• Therapeutic play
• Art or drawing
• Talking and storytelling
• Role-playing
• Games with a therapeutic purpose
  

Skill Building: Throughout the sessions, your child may learn:

• Emotional regulation strategies
• Problem-solving skills
• Social interaction techniques
• Coping tools for anxiety, sadness, or anger
• Executive functioning skills
  

Parental Involvement: Parents are included through check-ins, updates, and guidance. The therapist may offer parenting strategies, share progress, and help reinforce skills at home, while also respecting your child’s confidentiality.

Consistency and Progress: Counseling is typically a weekly or biweekly commitment. Progress may be gradual, but over time, many children show improvement in mood, behavior, self-esteem, and relationships.

Parental Counseling

Counseling for parents can serve as a valuable support system, helping caregivers navigate the challenges of raising children, improve family dynamics, and support their own mental health.

What Is Parental Counseling?
Parental counseling is a therapeutic service aimed at assisting parents in understanding, navigating, and responding to their child’s behavior, developmental needs, and/or family stressors in a constructive way. You will work with a therapist who offers support tailored to your unique parenting style and family dynamics in a judgment-free environment.

How do I know if Parental Counseling is right for me?
You might want to consider counseling if:

• Your child is experiencing behavioral or emotional challenges (aggression, defiance, anxiety, withdrawal)
• There are changes in the family dynamics (divorce, new baby, blended families, relocation)
• Your child demonstrates struggles related to development (ADHD, autism, executive functioning, unique learning needs)
• There is a communication breakdown with your child and/or co-parent
• You are experiencing parental stress, burnout, anxiety, or challenges related to postpartum adjustment
• You or your family has been impacted by grief, trauma, or other life events

Goals of Parent Counseling

• Improve parent-child communication
• Reduce parental stress and reactivity
• Enhance the effectiveness of behavior management strategies
• Understand child development and emotional needs
• Strengthen family bonds and resilience
• Support co-parenting and alignment on parenting strategies

Common Approaches Used
Therapists may use one or more of these approaches:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Guides parents in reframing thoughts and responding to children in ways that encourage positive reactions.
• Attachment-based Therapy: Builds emotional attunement and security.
• Family Systems Therapy: Looks at the family as an interconnected emotional unit.

Types of Counseling Formats

• Individual counseling
• Couples/Co-parenting counseling
• Family therapy

Supporting Well-Being Across the Lifespan: Therapeutic Play & Evidence-Based Care for Children, Teens, Adults, and Families

Letitia Kowalski, LCSW, PEL

Individual and Family Therapist

Educational Advocate

Letitia firmly believes that mental health serves as the cornerstone of overall health and happiness. By prioritizing one’s strengths and well-being, individuals can initiate the transformative change necessary for internal growth. She creates a safe, calm, and engaging environment where judgment is absent. Letitia is mindful and respectful of diverse religious and spiritual beliefs and cultural norms. Central to her practice is the use of therapeutic play to address the needs of children of all ages, along with incorporating movement, body awareness, and various self-care techniques tailored for all clients.

With a deep commitment to the well-being and education of children and adolescents, she has dedicated over twenty years to the education sector as both a teacher and a school social worker. Letitia obtained her Master of Social Work degree from Aurora University in 2006, utilizing those skills throughout her educational, personal, and therapeutic experiences. She is adept at addressing the needs of children and adolescents with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and 504 Plans, as well as assisting those in learning to manage academic pressures and social challenges in school. Letitia develops practical strategies that can seamlessly transition from clinical to educational environments. Letitia excels at presenting information from medical and school-based reports to parents in straightforward, accessible language and utilizes that data to advocate for a child’s needs within the educational environment.

When collaborating with adults, Letitia uses her extensive knowledge of development and remains aware of how childhood experiences and relationships with caregivers influence life decisions and current functioning. She will help you explore how your past has shaped your thoughts, habits, and relationships, enabling you to heal from previous wounds and discover your best self.

The main objective of Letitia’s services is to assist school-aged children and adolescents in their academic, social, emotional, and executive functioning development. Alongside supporting younger clients, Letitia offers parent coaching sessions and guidance to empower parents in effectively supporting their child(ren) within both the home and school environments.

Specialties include ADHD | Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) | Anxiety | Autism | Depression | Educational Advocacy | Emotional Regulation | Executive Functioning Skills | Foster Care | Grief | Medical Trauma | Parent/Child Relationships | Parenting | Perinatal & Postpartum Support | School Anxiety | Self-Esteem | Social Anxiety | Social-Skills Development | Trauma

Letitia’s Counseling Services

Individual counseling for children 3 and up, adolescents, and adults
Family Therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Humanistic Therapy
Therapeutic Play
Attachment-Based Therapy

Learn More About These Approaches

A-Z of our Counseling Services

A

ADHD

Adults

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

Anxiety

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

B

Behavioral Development

C

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

Children and Adolescents

D

Depression

E

Educational Advocacy

Executive Functioning Skills

Emotional Regulation

F

Family Counseling

Foster Care

G

Grief

H

Humanistic Therapy

M

Medical Trauma

P

Parent/Child Relationships

Parenting

Perinatal and Postpartum Support

S

School Anxiety

Self-Esteem

Social Anxiety

Social Skills Development

T

Teens

Therapeutic Play

Trauma

Great Feedback from Great Families

BDI Playhouse has exceptional therapists… I cannot say enough about the entire staff. Qualified, caring, exceptional people.”

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Getting Started With Counseling Services