CONTENTS
Children are like crystals – Clear inside out, without any malice but equally fragile. However a parent tries to be their best friend, their inner feelings might be held with an impenetrable shell. Yes, kids too have their share of demons to take care of like adults, more so since the pandemic hit their lives confining them to the houses. This is where the relevance of child counseling comes into the picture.
Child counseling – Is it a necessity?
Child counseling, in simple words, is a therapy for kids. Kids’ mental health is a topic that is gaining awareness these days. But the taboo surrounding mental health issues has always hindered the parents from taking the plunge. The counseling sessions for students address the concerns of the kids /teenagers with mental health issues. They deal with the issues that we decidedly neglect like lack of confidence, stressful academics, dysfunctional families, etc. Sometimes children need just someone to talk to, someone who they don’t know, someone who would not judge them.
Child counselors (therapists) are professionals who identify the fundamental issue that the child is facing. Further, they address it through counseling sessions for students. Children dealing with mental health issues, stress or anything that are detrimental to their psychological and emotional well-being often refuse to share their concern with their parents. This could be simply because they don’t want to hurt you. With child counseling, they are enabled to deal with their emotions, fear, or anxiety.
5 commons reasons that hinder the help:
1. Social taboo
Mental health issues are always frowned upon. The fact that it is just like any physical ailment is still not ingrained in the mind of a common man. The fear of society in turn leads to the persistence of the issue which would worsen in the long run.
2. Financial insecurity
Families in the lower strata of the financial spectrum find it difficult to take help as they might not be able to afford it. Free counseling for students should be made available to them. ‘I can accomplish’, India’s one of the finest online guidance and counselor agencies aims at delivering their help to children with mental health issues as well as special needs. Their free online counseling sessions for students enable you to decide which plan suits your child the most.
3. Lack of awareness
This is an extension of the social taboo as awareness is the primary step into availing counseling sessions for students. The parents should invariably open their minds to accept child counseling options. This is the best help they could extend to their child who is in a tough state of mind. Parents should also prioritize their mental health to strengthen their parenting skills.
4. Delay in identifying the change in the child
While conducting counseling sessions for students is the job of a child counselor/therapist, identifying the need for help is the responsibility of the parents and teachers. A sudden behavior change, the tendency of self-harm, disruptive or dangerous behavior, becoming unusually sad or reclusive, etc are some of the easily identifiable signs. Nonetheless, in many cases, the signs would not be as conspicuous. Counseling sessions for students are also for kids with learning disabilities and also those with special needs. In short, if you feel that there is something about your child that needs to be addressed, don’t delay. Through the free counseling for students by ‘I Can Accomplish’ you can identify the issue or rest assured if they need child counseling or not.
5. Inadequate academic counseling
It is imperative that the schools have an academic counselor who is accessible to the kids. Schools should incorporate counseling sessions for students in their syllabus so that seemingly minor issues like exam-related stress could be addressed immediately and prevented from aggravating.
There could be numerous other reasons why you might refuse to take help for your child. Notwithstanding the obstacles, nothing changes the fact that child counseling at the right time could ensure a brighter future for your child. Hence, stop procrastinating and start acting towards betterment.
I totally agree with the above pointers mention by you, among all social taboo is the biggest culprit. Well said
Nice article .. Parents are unaware, that child needs help. Articles on this will spread awareness and acceptance.
Denial is one of the main reasons that stop parents to reach out for help. This i can strongly state as most parents who come to me for help as a parenting coach, share how they had to think it through a zillion times to accept that they needed help.
indeed counselling is very helpful and i do hope more and more parents will see its advantages and get the support for their kids – it will go a long way in helping them and their developement
One thing that we as parents do convincingly is Denial of any thing imperfect that may exist. On the contrary its very much crucial to deal with it to try n nub the issue in the bud or else it can be too late at times.
I feel in India the major reason is that parents live in denial. They cannot accept even if they can see clear changes in behavior of kid. Also I feel that counselling should be made more economical for a far more reach in India. Currently for mental health related issues only few people have access to counsellors and doctors for counselling.
Totally agree with Judy on this. Parents cannot accept and keep living in denial. Sadly, parents are encouraged and told they are doing an awesome job when they may not be giving proper attention to their children. Only when they give attention, can they know what’s happening with their children.
Mental health issues in children is still a matter of ignorance. Counselling for parents will improve awareness and acceptance
I so agree with you. I have a live example in our own distance family. The daughter has been suffering for a while on on various levels but just cos of the social taboo. parents are not willing to do this. As parents should really not be bothered about these reasons and just go for counselling.
Parents are not aware that there is a problem and the child needs a help. If this stage is passed then all the later stages can be easy and for this awareness of mental health and academic counseling is important as you mentioned in the post.
Lack of awareness and not accepting are the biggest problems that I see today in our society! Good pointers
Bang on.. I agree social taboo. Financial insecurity , social stigma and lack of awareness are the biggest hindrance. And parents should realize not addressing it causes more harm and recovering become difficult.
I totally agree with the above pointers mention by you, among all social taboo is the biggest culprit. Well said
I agree and feel that lack of awareness and social stigma are two major reasons parents avoid child counseling. This is really very informative post for every parent,