Therapy Recs for a 3 year old?

Hjackson719 · 03-26-2008, 02:18 PM

Hi Ladies-

One of my best friends is fostering-to-adopt a 3 year old girl, A. A has been in their care for roughly 8 months now and her adoption should be finalized in the next few months. A is a delightful little girl- funny, smart, very sweet and well behaved, but she clearly has issues steming from her past.

She was abandoned by her BM at a very young age and she and her siblings were taken in by a less-then-stellar foster care family. A was just exposed to an awful lot at a very young age- violence, bullumia, etc. Thankfully to best of anyone's knowledge A was never abused in anyway. However, her issues are coming out in various ways- anxiety, food hoarding, potty training issues. After a lot of soul-searching and discussions my friend and her DH have decided to pursue therapy for A.

However, they aren't sure where to start. Who do they look for? A therapist, counselor, physiatrist, psychologist? How do they judge if the person they end up seeing is good? I'm assuming for a child this young, they should be engaging in play therapy, but that is about the extent of my knowledge.

Social Services has been no help in recommending anyone, so my friends are on their own in this quest. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

TIA!
-Heather

Miss-Meme · 03-28-2008, 08:28 AM

Social Services should be providing this things for her. I would push that. Maybe talk to her doctor. He might be able to help with where you go.

aimes16 · 04-01-2008, 07:11 PM

Family Services may be a good place to start, if you have one in your community. We have an agency that does the play therapy starting at age 3. Hopefully, they can find something appropriate. I would use a children's therapist, and it may take a lot of asking around for other opinions.

Taulbania · 04-28-2008, 01:33 PM

Definitely social services should be doing this for you. We had to seek assistance for our youngest son and ended up going around ss because they were not helping either. Where is your friend located? I know here in California they have a program that covers all children up to age 3. After age 3, a lot of the issues end up being handled thru the school districts as they are required by state law to help for ages 3 and up. Hope that helps!