Institute for Family and Children
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
~Plato
Several of our skilled therapists are available to provide counseling to families, adolescents and children. Family therapy at PC&CC may include meetings with the whole family, individual sessions with the child, or adolescent and couple sessions with the parents. Often younger children respond well to play therapy.
Children communicate naturally through play. Sometimes children are not able to verbalize their feelings and thoughts; however, they may be able to express themselves by dramatizing with puppets, painting a picture, molding clay, or playing a game. Fantasy play is a safe place for children to explore all kinds of issues.
Some children may not be mature enough to express complex emotions; nor have they learned the vocabulary. Through play with sand trays, toys, and art materials, our therapists help children express their feelings and make sense of their world.
The use of play, as a therapeutic medium, typically results in a child's ability to: develop a greater understanding of feelings, responsibly control emotions, enhance problem-solving skills, reduce maladaptive behaviors, increase self-awareness and self-direction, and work through conflicts. PC&CC therapists Cate Shea, Keith Miller and Joanne Comstock are skilled in providing these different modalities of therapy to families and their children.
Child therapy is most successful when the family is included in the process. Ultimately, the therapists at PC&CC strive to give both the child and the child's family members the skills to work together and to overcome struggles that have brought them to our center.
For more information about the Institute, please call (202) 449-3789 ext.719 or email us
