[Mountaindewed]

How does it make you feel?

In one group practice I was in they had separate therapists for adults and kids. I was 17 but I still got put with a child therapist. Who turned out to be awful. After that I was switched to the adult team. Then at my last place every therapist saw both kids and adults. My therapists youngest client was 4 and her oldest was 72. My last unprofessional one did not see kids. My current one does.

Does it make any difference to you if they do or don’t? I know with my transference T I’d get jealous when she would talk about her younger clients. And with my new therapist I don’t care but I’ve only met with her once.

I feel like I’m more personally understood if a therapist works with both kids and adults.

[unaluna]

Yes i liked that my last t was a child t. I feel emotionally stunted in a lot of ways, and he was able and willing to relate to me in ways that worked. I had read about different child ts before i met him and liked how they worked.

[ArtleyWilkins]

Yes, he did. Mostly middle schoolers and older. The practice he is in has a couple of child therapists with playrooms and stuff for the really little ones.

[LonesomeTonight]

My current T and former marriage counselor both see teens, but not younger kids. Ex-T saw kids and had a box in her office with some toys and dolls in it. I was OK with it--actually, in a way, I feel/felt like if current T and ex-T could handle working with teenagers, they could handle my intense emotions. (This has been both true and not true at various times.)

[Fuzzybear]

Interesting thread.... I have not seen a therapist who also worked with kids under 17.

[ElectricManatee]

Neither of mine work with kids. My main T sees teenagers, but I'm not sure what her lower age limit is. I've never seen anybody younger than about high school age come out of her office. I don't know how I would feel about it. I don't really like when they talk about other clients, so having toys and stuff around might bug me. But I could also see where it might help with working with parts of me that are kind of frozen in childhood.

[ArtleyWilkins]

Originally Posted by ArtleyWilkins

Yes, he did. Mostly middle schoolers and older. The practice he is in has a couple of child therapists with playrooms and stuff for the really little ones.

Editing to add (I got interrupted): My therapist particularly worked with adolescents dealing with learning disabilities and ADHD. He, himself, dealt with dyslexia and ADHD, so he had definite personal perspective. Additionally, he worked as a diagnostician for our school district. Lots of insight into educational issues.

I don't think he had a huge number of kids as clients. Totally guessing, but I'd say it was probably 20-25% of his practice.

[stopdog]

I never would have hired one who inflicted themselves on children

[velcro003]

No, my T sees teenagers though.