Here’s Why Your Toddler Should Go To Therapy
Written by Ali Green
After reading the title of this blog post, you may be thinking to yourself, “there is no way all toddlers should go to therapy.” You may be thinking most of them probably don’t need it, they’re just kids! However, childhood is an important part of everyone’s life, and anything that happens in this stage could directly impact the rest of their development into adulthood. Children can be exposed to many stressors that can impact mental well-being, including problems at school, social anxiety, unhealthy family dynamics, etc. It can be very beneficial for toddlers to participate in therapy in order to learn the connection between their emotions and actions, and learn how to regulate their emotions, which may help them to cope with many of these external stressors. This post will illustrate how Play Therapy is a novel and unique type of therapy that is specific to children, greatly enhancing their behavioral and emotional well being.
Why Toddlers Should go to Therapy
There are many reasons why a toddler should be in therapy. For example, it can help children who are in a period of change, their parents are getting divorced, a loss, a change of home or school environment, a new member of the family, etc. It is also important for children who experience difficulty controlling their emotions, leading to behavioral problems like aggressive behavior or temper tantrums in school. It is also important for children who have a developmental disorder. Therapy for children builds a safe space to talk about feelings, experiences, and stressors.
What Types of Therapy Are Effective for Toddlers?
There are various types of therapy available for toddlers to engage in. Some of the more popular options include Child Centered Play Therapy, therapies that involve parents and children together such as Parent Child Interaction Therapy, art and music based therapies, behavioral therapies such as Applied Behavior Analysis, along with other therapeutic approaches such as occupational, physical, and speech therapies depending on the child’s specific needs.
Evidence for the Benefit of Therapy
According to the CDC, estimates for mental health diagnoses among children aged 3-17 years include: ADHD at 9.8%, Anxiety at 9.4%, Behavior challenges at 8.9%, and Depression at 4% from 2016-19 (1). Early diagnosis and treatment for toddlers can make a big difference in preventing the continuance and progression of these disorders. In a study measuring the effect of play therapy on 372 preschool children, it was found that their socio-emotional skills, communication, and problem solving skills were largely improved (2). With counseling, a child can learn to gain skills in order to treat and/or prevent mental health disorders. They will learn helpful thinking patterns and healthy behavioral habits. Therapy can also help kids and parents connect, as they can work towards teaching the parents to better understand their child’s emotions and view of the world. An important benefit of sending your toddler to therapy is that it shows them that they are not alone. Children feel validated when they belong to a group who identify with and support each other in a community built on trust.
The Critical Period for Developing Emotion Regulation Skills
Children’s early emotional regulation skills may affect their future development. “Emotion regulation is the ability to handle, modulate, inhibit, and enhance emotional expressions and responses by deploying appropriate and effective strategies” (4). There is evidence that emotional regulation is directly related to empathy in childhood. “Peterson et. al (2018) showed that better emotion regulation in 9 month old infants predicted higher levels of empathy at 2 years of age” (4). Another longitudinal study showed that moderate to high levels of emotion regulation in preschoolers predicted higher levels of empathy in early childhood. On the contrary, poor emotion regulation abilities were related to fewer empathetic responses. Additionally, behavioral impulsivity in early childhood is a core feature in the development of childhood disorders including ADHD and Conduct Disorder (5). Impulsivity has also been shown to be correlated with poorer learning development, and are at a greater risk for participating in risky behaviors later on. Therefore, this period of time for toddlers is critical for building emotional regulation skills.
What is Play Therapy?
Play is the most direct form for a child to release their tensions, and can be critical for any child experiencing emotional challenges. Play therapy is a structured, theoretically based approach to therapy that builds on the normal communicative and learning processes of children (3). When toddlers do not have the words to express what is troubling them, children can use the toys as their words. Play becomes a language that children can understand and express themselves through.
The Importance of Play Therapy
The importance of play therapy is significantly underestimated. In contrast to adults, it is very hard for children to express their thoughts and emotions verbally. Play therapy “enables children to understand mixed emotions and unpleasant events, which were not allowed to be solved in the past ''(1). Play is super important for the child to start to understand the world, and to find their place in it. There are many benefits to Play Therapy, including creating a safe place, self esteem building, learning problem solving skills, coping skills, emotional healing, encouraging imagination and creativity, the ability to process emotions, and so many more.
Conclusion
Therapy for toddlers is critical for the development of skills that will help them throughout the entirety of their life. We don’t always realize that children experience many of the same stressors that adults have, but have not had the exposure to be able to develop their coping skills. They need a safe place in order to talk or play through their emotions. Play therapy is one very important and effective type of therapy for a child to work on problems and emotions that they cannot verbally express. Play is not only fun for the child, but allows the child to explore their place in the big world surrounding them. I hope if your child is struggling at home or school, is having difficulties expressing themselves, experiencing behavioral problems, or even if you just want to prevent these issues, that reading this blog post has opened your eyes to strongly considering therapy as an option.
References
1. “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.” Effective Child Therapy, https://effectivechildtherapy.org/therapies/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/.
2. Chinekesh A, Kamalian M, Eltemasi M, Chinekesh S, Alavi M. The effect of group play therapy on social-emotional skills in pre-school children. Glob J Health Sci. 2014 Mar;6(2):163–167. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v6n2p163.
3. Carmichael, 2006; Landreth, 2002; O'Connor & Schaefer, 1983
4. Ornaghi, Veronica, et al. “Empathy in Toddlers: The Role of Emotion Regulation, Language Ability, and Maternal Emotion Socialization Style.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 28 Sept. 2020, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586862/full.
5. Ornaghi, Veronica, et al. “Empathy in Toddlers: The Role of Emotion Regulation, Language Ability, and Maternal Emotion Socialization Style.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 28 Sept. 2020, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586862/full.