Being a parent is a highly challenging journey. This challenge increases especially when we observe the child's difficulties or suffering. These issues can never be looked at in isolation from the  family context. Therefor working with a child is not limited to them only. The grounds for fruitful cooperation are build on a good understanding of needs of both the child and their family. Especially when the reported difficulties concern younger children, therapeutic work requires genuine involvement of parents and readiness to make changes in functioning of the family system.

Many parents contact me to seek help in following situations:

• The desire to verify whether the behavior presented by the child falls into the so-called "developmental norm" at a specific stage of a child's development and in the context of their family.

• Current parenting methods are not effective and increase frustration and tension at home.

• The family is going through changes or preparing for them (e.g. moving, child starting kindergarten/school, change of parent's job, pregnancy, conflicts in the family, divorce, illness of a family member, death of a loved one).

• The child displays many aggressive behaviors (physical and/or verbal aggression) and often gets into conflicts with peers and/or family members. The child behaves in a way that hurts them (self-harm, low self-esteem and belief in one's own abilities - "I'm no good for anything”).

• The child experiences somatic symptoms unexplained by other specialists (e.g. headaches, abdominal pain, fatigue, urinary continence problems, excretion difficulties, interrupted sleep patterns), which may have a psychological origin.

• The child experiences increased anxiety, which makes it difficult for them to meet developmental challenges (e.g. reduced tolerance for new things, fear of separation from a parent, meeting new people, difficulty making friends, going to school, staying in crowded places).

• The child's mood seems to be low for a long time (for a specific reason/no specific reason). The child begins to distance themselvs from the parent and does not communicate their difficulties.

• The child is constantly looking for stimulation. Perhaps the child is in constant motion (e.g. fidgets, spins, runs), seeks increased contact with others (e.g. pokes, fools around, pinches, pushes) or constantly relieves tension through stimulation of their own body (e.g. sniffs/licks objects, puts hands in mouth, whistles, shouts, presents constant need to manipulate objects, masturbates in public places), has difficulty concentrating on tasks.

• The kindergarten, school or other people working with the child raise questions about their development or do not understand the reasons for the child's behavior.

The list above presents examples of difficulties faced by families who come to my office, it is not an exhaustive list. Each case is treated with care and respect for the individual and the current situation.