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Assessment with Children and Teenagers

Parents want to help their children be happy and reach their full potential. During their development, children learn how to solve problems, use language, acquire new knowledge and skills, and interact effectively with others.  However, some children have trouble learning, paying attention to tasks, and listening to the teacher at school. Their grades start to fall and they may refuse to go to school. Other children have difficulty understanding social cues, getting along with their peers and/or following rules made by authority figures. Then there are children who get easily frustrated and angry; they go from 0 to 60 in a matter of minutes and engage in challenging behaviors (e.g., temper tantrums, throwing things, swearing). Naturally, parents or caregivers become concerned and do not know what to do to help their children. Centre of Neuropsychology and Emotional Wellness provide comprehensive assessment with children to uncover cognitive, behavioral and/or emotional issues and provide appropriate diagnosis necessary (e.g., learning disability, intellectual disability, attention hyperactive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, depression) Areas that are typically assessed are:

  • Various forms of intelligence (e.g., verbal and nonverbal abilities)
  • Visual-spatial and visual-motor skills
  • Learning and memory
  • Attention/concentration
  • Expressive and receptive language
  • Information processing speed
  • Academic skills (e.g., basic reading, reading comprehension, phonological processing, written expression, spelling, math calculations, math reasoning)
  • Emotional/behavioral functioning

The results of the assessment provide parents insight into their children’s difficulties and strategies to help them. Through an appreciation of a child’s strengths and weaknesses, parents can cultivate strengths and improve/assist with weaknesses. Recommendations are provided to support children at home and school and to decide on appropriate enriching extracurricular activities for them.

Psychotherapy with Children and Teenagers

We also provide psychotherapy to help children and teenagers learn new skills and strategies to manage emotional distress or behavioural problems. In the process of therapy, children and adolescents learn to understand and express their emotions in appropriate ways to resolve conflicts.  We take a family approach and actively involve parents and caregivers in the process of therapy where appropriate. We help families manage through big life transitions and changes (e.g., new baby in the family, child starting a new school, marital conflict or divorce, death of family member) so that they are able to cope adaptively with life challenges. Some of the common issues we help with :

  • Emotional distress such as low mood, anxiety, anger outbursts
  • Social difficulties
  • Behavioural problems
  • Family conflict
  • Academic difficulties or stress
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Trauma

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