Psychology

Holding the minds and hearts of children in our hands.

Children take many years to develop the emotional resilience and life skills to become the adults they are destined to be. Some children are faced with challenges that make this process more difficult. These childen may be struggling to cope with everyday life now, or be at risk of having future difficulties with coping skills. The role of the psychologists at ATLAS Training is to support them in learning to cope with the challenges life throws at them. We do this by supporting them in many different areas:

 

 

AAssessment: We use a variety of assessments to determine where a child’s strengths and challenges lie. An initial consultation with a member of our team costs just €50. Book one now to discuss your child’s progress with one of our experienced team members. An occupational therapy assessment may consist of any of the following, depending on your child’s age and needs:

 

Attention:	Being able to attend/concentrate on tasks is an imortant part of being able to carry out and complete tasks.
Coping Skills:	Handling the occasional (and sometimes more frequent) knocks that life throws our way is essential for our mental heath.
Executive Functioning:	Our ability to make adaptive decisions and problem solve through everyday tasks depends on our understanding of the world and our ability to flexibly use our cognitive resources.
Memory & Learning:	Our ability to take in and retain information from our world has a direct impact on academic success.
Social Skills:	Interacting with people around us and making and keeping friends keeps us connected to our social world.

 

TTreatment: Treatment is the vehicle for change! A clear assessment, well-designed treatment plan and integrated team approach are the key points of a successful treatment.  Our focus is on providing our families with a service that is goal-directed, i.e. driven by the priorities and goals of the parents, teachers and, if possible, of the children themselves.The aim of treatment is to give children the opportunity to participate in their world in a more successful way. Being part of their community (from family to friends to schools and clubs) is an important part of a child’s life, and the success of their sense of belonging often depends on their participation skills. Treatment can be an essential part of building on a child’s ability to interact with their world and be a part of their community.

L Linking: No child or skill occurs in isolation. At ATLAS Training we assure that we are supporting the whole child by linking in with families, teachers and other professionals. As an integrated team we also link very closely with each member of our team to ensure that the whole child is supported as well as their families and teachers.

 

AAcademics: Unfortunately, the key to a child's success in life is in large part due to their success at school. For many children school can pose a variety of challenges from the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic to more profound challenges, such as concentration, organisation, listening skills, study skills and many more. At ATLAS Training we help children cope at school in many ways, incuding recommending accomodations, adaptations or resource teaching in school, supporting teachers and parents and, of course, our hugely popular School Success programmes. These specific programmes are designed to target specific skills, from handwriting to attention and many more.

SSupport : Consultation services are ideal for supporting parent issues at home or teacher concerns at school. From managing a child’s behaviour to developing a child’s skills, consultation sessions with an occupational therapist can help parents and teachers develop the tools to support children.

 

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Speech and Language Therapy

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
  » Ludwig Wittgenstein «

One of the most important skills a child needs is to be able to interact and communicate with the people around them, whether to ask for something, follow directions or to play successfully with other children. For some children, these skills need a little help in developing and that’s just what we are here for...

For children with communication difficulties, the Speech and Language Therapist is an integral part of our team. The role of a paediatric Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) is to assess, diagnose and provide intervention for speech, language and communication-related difficulties in children of all ages. The paediatric SLT also deals with oral-motor, eating and swallowing difficulties in children.

Therapy for the children is carried out in a child-friendly, lively and bright environment. Speech, language and communication is aided and enhanced through fun and functional activities. Experiential learning is also encouraged and facilitated.

ATLAS Training has experience working with children who have any of the following:

 

 

AAssessment:

We use a variety of assessments to determine where a child’s strengths and weaknesses lie. A speech-language therapy assessment may consist of any of the following, depending on your child’s age and needs:

 

Oral motor examination:	This assesses the child’s oral structure, movement, function and muscle strength. It also assesses the presence of hypersensitivity / hyposensitivity of the mouth.
Feeding/swallowing assessment :	This typically includes an assessment of the child’s current feeding and swallowing patterns, from the amount of saliva production, to the swallowing reflex and time for the swallow to take place. Food consistency and texture of food are also discussed. Chewing during the oral phase of feeding will be assessed.
Speech assessment:	The child’s speech is assessed in terms of the sounds they are able to produce and how well they integrate thes sounds into their speech.
Language assessment:	The child’s receptive (understanding) and expressive (spoken) language is assessed using various formal and informal assessment tools. Such an assessment can also look at the use of language in social situations such as with peers/groups etc.
Auditory processing assessment :	The child’s ability to make sense of the sounds they hear is explored..
Literacy :	The child’s phonological awareness skills and/or reading and writing abilities are assessed.

 

TTreatment: Treatment is the vehicle for change. While the assessment helps us find out if speech or language is delayed, it doesn’t give us the tools we need to build on these skills. Perhaps the most important next step is treatment.

The aim of Treatment is to give children the opportunity to participate in their world in a more successful way. Being part of their community (from family to friends to schools and clubs) is an important part of a child’s life, and the success of their sense of belonging often depends on their communication skills. Treatment can be an essential part of building on a child’s ability to interact with their world and be a part of their community. Treatment takes place in a fun and engaging environment supported by a whole team.

L Linking: No child or skill occurs in isolation. At ATLAS Training we assure that we are supporting the whole child by linking in with families, teachers and other professionals. As an integrated team we also link very closely with each member of our team to ensure that the whole child is supported as well as their families and teachers.

ASupport & Academics : Literacy is a developmental skill that entails the individual’s ability to read and write. We start applying reading skills (orthographic reading) from a very young age. Initially, such reading takes the form of shape/pattern recognition, e.g., reading ‘STOP’ from a sign, recognising DVD names and titles, reading car names from the logo, etc... Later, letter-sound recognition and blending sounds leads to more constructive, complex reading.

SSupport & Consultation : Parents, teachers and other care-givers play a valuable role in promoting a child's communication skills. By offering education and consultation to these key people, the greatest improvements will be seen in the child. ATLAS Training offers a wide variety of workshops, training courses and support groups for parents, teachers, special needs assistants and others

Children who have a history of a speech and language delay or difficulties are often at risk of having reading and writing difficulties later on as well. The reason for this is that literacy and verbal communication are closely linked.

Therefore, early intervention and/or continuing speech-language therapy are the best options for children with a history of speech and language problems. At A.T.L.A.S. Training the SLT works on all aspects of a reading and writing problem because people use literacy for a variety of functional purposes: from writing single words to writing a school essay; from reading a sign to reading a recipe, an ordinary book or a work memo. The SLT also works with the OT and teacher if necessary to help the child become an effective communicator, problem-solver, and decision-maker.

Here are some of the skills targeted during literacy therapy:

As a parent, you too can help and support your child on the path to literacy:

Provide plenty of opportunities for reading to them and story telling

Have a variety of books with varied content available

Choose books with simple pictures which can be labeled and described in simple language

Talk about writing and its functions i.e., when writing a shopping list

Let your child see you reading and enjoying books

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Occupational Therapy

Promoting the participation of children by enhancing their ability to participate in everyday life

For children with motor, sensory or perceptual difficulties, the Occupational Therapist is a vital part of our team. The role of a paediatric Occupational Therapist (OT) is to assess, diagnose and provide intervention for difficulties that inhibit a child’s ability to participate in their daily activities, such as academics, social interactions, play/leisure and self-care. Therapy for the children is carried out in a child-friendly, lively and bright environment. Development is aided and enhanced through fun and functional activities. Experiential learning is also encouraged and facilitated. Occupational therapists focus on the child’s activities of daily living, which can be broken down into a few groups

 

The Occupational Therapist:

Occupational therapy helps children with many of the factors that affect their ability to participate in their everyday activities. Therapy has slightly different ways of working for each child and for each challenge. When reading the following texts, please remember that this will vary somewhat depending on each person, child or family’s unique situation.

Our occupational therapists have a wide range of services and techniques available to help children develop their skills in everyday activities. Working directly with children and their families, teachers and other important team members, they can maximise the child's skills and confidence in themselves. Because of the great value of participation in all these elements, the occupational therapist focuses on ways to facilitate and enhance a child’s participation in all aspects of his everyday life. By working with the family, they can explore how successful children are and how they can build on their skills.

ATLAS Training uses primarily individual therapy to ensure that each session is uniquely tailored to each child. Each session is planned in advance specifically for each child and using family-directed goals as the guidelines for treatment. However, where appropriate, group sessions are also used to address specific aims.

At ATLAS Training, our Occupational Therapists are supported by a team of professionals who help enhance their service. Since many factors can affect a child’s ability to participate successfully in daily tasks, the team approach is important to promoting a child’s skills. Here are just 2 examples:

While Occupational Therapists receive a basic education at college level, our Occupational therapists engage in ongoing learning and training to ensure that we have a wide range of expert skills and knowledge to draw on including:

Find out what we are doing to promote the child's skills at home, school and at play; here is a summary of the services we offer:

AAssessment: We use a variety of assessments to determine where a child’s strengths and challenges lie. An initial consultation with a member of our team costs just €50. Book one now to discuss your child’s progress with one of our experienced team members. An occupational therapy assessment may consist of any of the following, depending on your child’s age and needs:

 

Sensory Pocessing :	The way we understand the information we get from our sensory systems is an important step in choosing how to respond or function in the world.
Motor Skills :	Many times, the motor ability to do tasks may be making activities such as handwriting, playing with peers, dressing and many more challenging.
Attention:	Being able to attend/concentrate on tasks is an important part of being able to carry out and complete tasks.
Understanding of self:	Being aware of who we are and how our bodies work in space forms the foundation for many of our reactions.
Functional Skills:	Looking at the specific levels of skill in functional tasks such as dressing, playing, writing, reading and maths is an important element in supporting their success.
Behaviour & Emotions:	How we make sense of our world can influence how we react to the world and can therefore affect our behaviour and emotions.

 

TTreatment: Treatment is the vehicle for change! A clear assessment, well-designed treatment plan and integrated team approach are the key points of a successful treatment.  Our focus is on providing our families with a service that is goal-directed, i.e. driven by the priorities and goals of the parents, teachers and, if possible, of the children themselves.The aim of treatment is to give children the opportunity to participate in their world in a more successful way. Being part of their community (from family to friends to schools and clubs) is an important part of a child’s life, and the success of their sense of belonging often depends on their participation skills. Treatment can be an essential part of building on a child’s ability to interact with their world and be a part of their community.

L Linking: No child or skill occurs in isolation. At ATLAS Training we assure that we are supporting the whole child by linking in with families, teachers and other professionals. As an integrated team we also link very closely with each member of our team to ensure that the whole child is supported as well as their families and teachers.

 

AAcademics: As academics and school participation forms such a large part of a child's life we have specific programmes, from handwriting to attention, designed to help children be more successful at school. These specific specialised programs are perfect for building academic skills.

SSupport : Consultation services are ideal for supporting parent issues at home or teacher concerns at school. From managing a child’s behaviour to developing a child’s skills, consultation sessions with an occupational therapist can help parents and teachers develop the tools to support children.

ATLAS Training offers a wide variety of workshops, training courses and support groups for parents, teachers, special needs assistants and others.

Supervision

In addition to the above services, Catherine Milford who is an experienced occupational therapist and psychologist, offers supervision for occupational therapists working in paediatric posts.

Participation

The process of doing tasks within and together with people in our community is an essential part of who we are.

Doing, Being, Becoming and Belonging
Anne Wilcock, 1999

Participating consists of 4 essential components:

 

Doing :	Doing is an essential part of being human. It is usually to meet some need or to produce some form of end-product, whether it’s writing a sentence for your teacher or riding a bicycle with friends.
Being :	This is about who we are and doing tasks is a reflection of this. This involves the important roles in our lives, such as being a student, being a friend, being a son/daughter. Participating in tasks gives us a chance to be who we are and express that through the tasks we do.
Becoming:	Participating in tasks is also important for developing the person we are going to be. For children, this is even more important as their choices, successes and experiences in everyday tasks shape the person they are going to become.
Belonging:	To join in with others in tasks, or to share the same values fosters a sense of belonging to a group. Whether this is eating dinner with the family or playing football on the green, it is through participation that we establish our place in our communities.

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Play Therapy

Resolving Internal Stress through Creativity

Play Therapy is based on the principles that what matters most was the way in which each person perceives their reality and is focused on hepling children on reaching their full potential by supporting their self-awareness, self-consciousness and self-responsibility. Each and every one of us experiences stress from the moment we are born. Most of this is stored in our subconscious. For some of us, it is easier to cope with this stress, while others find it overwhelming. Play is the natural language of the child and toys are the words. Children lack the cognitive and liguistic skills to express abstract emotional concepts, however, children are fluent in the language of play. Thus play therapy is to children what counselling is to adults. Play therapy is not the same as playing, the therapist makes use of the child's natural tendency to"play-out" their feelings, they are specifically trained to support the child to explore his situation, gain understanding and develop a sense of control. This will improve the young person's resilience to difficulties and facilitate the exploration of different ways to acting or reacting.

Mental health problems in young children and adolescents are common, ranging from 7% for children to 22% with teenagers (European commission). Emotions play a central role in many mental functions. They are involved in organising and integrating cognition, motivation, information processing, memory, behaviour and many more. If a young peson has not learned to recognize and utilize his emotions as signals to take constructive actions, they will use more energy to deal with difficult situations, this has a direct effect on his general functioning, and can affect his performance and lead to mental health problems. This in turn will impact on his inter-personal relationships and social interactions. In extreme cases, research has shown that the inability to resolve emotional conflict has been linked to self-harm, suicide and deliquancy which may lead to increased involvement with the legal system and mental health and social problems in adulthood. The impact not only on the individual but also on society is considerable since personal pain and suffering often shows up in ill-health and poor quality of life with subsequent social, financial and political consequences (World Health Organisation 2002b).

 

When should we be concerned for a child’s emotional welbeing?

If children have stressful experiences, e.g. death of a parent, abuse, traumatic divorce and these do not show up in their pretend play but rather show an ideal, beautiful world without any trouble or difficulties, one should be alert as this may indicate they are not able to face and deal with their problems. Other signs of concerns can be obsessive, repetitive play paterns, consistant negative content in their play and difficulty in separating make believe from reality or show signs of regression into more immature behavious and this persists over a period of time. Any signs of distress that persists over a period of time, should be taken seriously.In times of emotional stress children tend to get stuck in their anxieties, self-put-downs and critical inner voices. This is when they desperately needs understanding and help to prevent him from developing innapropriate coping mechanisms such as withdrawal, anger etc... When a child is not able to talk about his trauma it may be unconsciously displayed in antisocial behaviour. Many children suffer from low self-esteem and lack confidence. Telling them they are special will have little impact. Genuine self-esteem is not a product of words but of the world as they experience it.

Children, who are struggling to cope with their internal emotions and conflict, often display some of the following:

 

Adolescents

In adolescence young people begin to regulate their emotions, they become very aware of the other people's responses and refine their expectations of others. They should have a developed emotional literacy and the ability to interpret social situations. In an attempt to establish his autonomy, the adolescent swings from grandiose independence to helpless dependency. The approval of others is particularly important to the adolescent and they become aware of the judgment of others. This results in increased self-consciousness, which can lead to distress and anxiety. Their cognitive abilities develop and they begin to evaluate themselves, others and their environment, therefore self esteem and social life is critical during this period of their lives.

Self-esteem

The most common cause for low self-esteem in adolescents is motor and academic performance. Adolescents who have low self-esteem experience emotional and behavioral difficulties which frequently lead to anxiety or depression in adults. Below are some common areas of concerns for adolescents:

 

What happens in the brain to develop these difficulties?

Our emotions are our first guides to our actions; they trigger our ‘fight or flight’ reflexes. If early emotional input is experienced as unpleasant or frightening, a baby will develop defense mechanisms to guard against these emotions. Continued response patterns will establish neural pathways in the brain which will determine our instinctive responses to stimuli for the end of our lives. Although it is true that our brain has the ability to form new neural pathways right throughout our life, this ability considerably decreases after childhood, therefore it is important to provide support to young people during their growing years to ensure that they grow into well balanced happy adults.

 

How Play Therapy works

Play Therapy is the most appropriate treatment for young people to work through their emotional difficulties. It can make a real difference for young people and their families in helping them develop strong positive feelings about themselves. Self-acceptance enhances confidence and self-esteem which supports resilience and and the management of emotional responses. Since emotions directly influence behaviour this will have a direct impact on their social competence and quality of life.

Emotional distress can cause children to 'freeze' emotionally at an immature stage, delaying development. This is shown in immature or inappropriate behaviour. A variety of therapeutic modalities are used in Play Therapy to assist a children to deal with "blocks" affecting their well-being. Expression of emotions and exploration of solutions is supported with the following mediums:

Art Art is a non-threatening way to visually communicate anything that is too painful to put into words. Visual imagery provides an alternative to the verbal methods used previously,  which may have reinforced destructive patterns in the past. The use of creativity, metaphor and play has a capacity to break down communication barriers, which is particularly useful in language, communication and sensory impairments. It provides a means for young people to explore difficult issues, helping to change set patterns of response.

Clay When addressing things too directly, the flow of communication is often difficult, become disrupted or even stops .Working with clay is one of human's most primitive forms of communication and acts as a form of displacement. It allows us to create something separate from ourselves which is easier to visualise and helps us gain insights. Clay facilitates responsiveness to emotions and represents the hidden parts of the child, the clay model can be molded, shaped, pinched, pounded, destroyed and remolded while the child experiments with different aspects of his inner world. Understanding is facilitated as the model gives:

visibility to the invisible tangibility to the intangible expressiveness to the inexpressible knowing to the unknown

Sand Sandplay is the most profound tool for self-discovery and allows the subconscious to reveal itself. The use of symbolism in sand provides a gentle, effective way to help children communicate, clear deep blocks and bring structure and clarity to their problems. Sand therapy has been shown to help self-discovery and heal relationships.

MusicFrom the beginning of mankind music has been uses as a tool of communication and expression. Music is known to regulate moods and brighten our outlook. It connects us to others and stimulates our thinking. The use of musical instruments encourages exploration, self-expression and improves self esteem.

Move Movement is a powerful tool to encourage self-awareness and self-expression, we all use our bodies to express emotions regardless of our ability. Our relationship to space reveals and affects our emotion. Movement helps us understand how we use space in general and how we determine the boundaries of our personal space. This improves our self-awareness, leading to a more realistic self-esteem.

Story Storytelling allows children to view life's problems from a distance. It is less invasive than addressing their challenges directly, as they can use the characters in the story to visualise, rehearse and imagine different scenarios and solutions. Fairy tales contain a multitude of situations where someone was in a seemingly impossible situation and who through his own cunning or with the help of others overcame their challenges. Today there are many modern story characters who children can relate to and learn from.

Puppet Puppetry is a wonderful way to connect with young people. It opens the doors to the mind and heart and is a non-threatening way of projecting and expressing our emotions. It can be empowering, provides perspective, gives shapes to our feelings and allows us to gain clarity and explore solutions in a playful manner.

Drama Role play and drama, facilitate problems solving and conflict resolutions. It allows a child to act out, experiment and rehearse real or imagined situations, improves flexibility and the ability to engage in our social world. Dramatic play gives a child permission to do things that are not allowed in everyday life, experiment with them and then put them aside appropriately and be ready to face the 'real world' again.

Using the above tools and specific techniques provides children with a safe distance from troubling problems. It facilitates the expression of thoughts and feelings that is appropriate to their development. Children can thus discover, rehearse and master lasting resolutions which are adapted into lifelong strategies. This helps children to:

 

Experience and understand emotions		Develop empathy for others
Express emotions appropriately		Cultivate respect and acceptance
Develop self-concept		Learn social skills
Improve self-esteem		Become responsible for behaviours
		Discover Lasting Solutions

 

Most children who have difficulties coping with some aspects of their lives find that working through their challenges in a creative, supportive environment reduces emotional stress and allows the them to concentrate on the important things in life:     

 

Loving, Learning and HAVING FUN!

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