In the last 50 years the field of psychotherapy has exploded. Whereas in the past only seriously disturbed people were considered candidates for counseling today professionally trained therapists abound. Offering tools such as stress management strategies relaxation techniques and communication skills therapists are trained to help their clients — adults and juniors alike — overcome especially challenging emotional hurdles.

“If a kid needs a math tutor the parents get him a math tutor. It’s the same with therapy. You’re seeking out someone who is trained to help” says child psychologist Dr. Dassi Jacobson who has a private practice in Yerushalayim and Gush Etzion. Sometimes explains Dr. Jacobson it’s a family event like bereavement a major move divorce or remarriage that prompts parents to bring their child to a therapist. Other times it’s what she terms a “developmental bump ” such as anxiety depression social problems or anything related to a learning disability.

“When daily functioning is disrupted it’s time to seek help” observes Dr. Nosson Solomon a Brooklyn-based psychologist who’s been seeing adults and children for decades. Although it’s normal for a child or teenager to occasionally feel anxious sad or oppositional the frequency and intensity of these symptoms are the deciding factors. If the child’s emotional difficulties are affecting his schoolwork preventing her from getting up in the morning leading to aggressive behavior affecting her appetite or sleep patterns or impairing social life a parent would be wise to seek out a professional.

Esther took her fifth-grader for an educational evaluation because he hated school and did everything to avoid going to the point where he was staying home two or three days a week. In the course of the evaluation Benny was found to have both a language processing difficulty and emotional issues. Esther found Benny a speech therapist and a psychologist who could bolster his skills.

“I’d been to several years of parenting classes and I was confident with my skills as a mother” says Batya another mother. “But at a certain point I felt I needed something more for one of my children. How do I parent an overly anxious child or a child who is fearful of everything?

“I don’t have the training for this stuff and that’s fine. That’s why I take my child to a psychologist who helps her learn how to deal with her anxiety and helps me fine-tune my parenting for her specific situation.”

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