Thrive Counseling Center

Therapy for Individuals, Couples & Family

Thrive Counseling Center > Services > Supporting Neurodiversity: Kids and Teens

Our team can provide parenting support and one-on-one counseling for your neurodiverse child or teen.

Neurodiverse Counseling for Kids and Teens in Federal Way

Neurodiverse child smiles back at camera while sitting with kids in federal way Does your child or teen:

Have a diagnosis, or suspected diagnosis, of Autism, Asperger’s, Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADD/ADHD), and/or other Learning Disability?

Struggle to succeed in school?

Have challenges making and keeping healthy friendships?

Get totally overwhelmed when things don’t go exactly according to plan?

Do you worry that your child/teen doesn’t have what it takes to be successful in transitioning to college or living independently?

Frequently Asked Questions

Which areas are focused on during neurodiverse counseling of children?

At Thrive Counseling Center, we aim to create a supportive environment for neurodiverse clients so they feel welcome, safe, respected, and heard––a place they feel like they belong. As therapists, we strive to help our clients facilitate growth instead of direct or demand it.

We are here to help them realize their potential and help them use their abilities and talents to support themselves. These tools can help them identify their strengths to build insight, live a meaningful life, and thrive.

Experienced, Licensed Therapists

Our licensed therapists can help neurodiverse children reach their full potential through destigmatization, inclusion, and targeted therapies. We give neurodiverse children the opportunity to express themselves and their needs.

We may also engage in play therapy and other inclusive, affirming approaches. We focus on their behavior, communication, ways of expressing and being, and what makes them unique as growing people with budding personalities and perspectives. Our primary goal is cultivating trust and positive relationships so your child can live a happier life as their most authentic self.

Supportive Neurodiversity Counseling in Federal Way

Thrive Counseling Center offers neurodiverse counseling for children. Please contact us today to schedule your child’s consultation with one of our licensed therapists in Federal Way.

What conditions are neurodiverse?

In the counseling world, we often use the term “neurodiverse.” Neurodiversity refers to situations where brains respond differently to information and stimuli than the average “typical” brain. Neurodiverse people respond to and interact with the world around them in a nontraditional way that other people might see as strange or even inappropriate.

Neurodiversity can be especially difficult for children who are trying to figure out their place in the world and how to best interact with their peers. Common neurodiverse conditions include Autism, Asperger’s, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, ADD and ADHD, learning disabilities, and speech disorders.

Benefits of Neurodiversity Counseling

Are you searching for counseling for a neurodiverse child in Federal Way? At Thrive Counseling Center, our trained therapists work with neurodiverse children to help them develop social skills that strengthen their interactions and relationships with others. Neurodiverse children often fail to pick up on social cues or to know how to act in group settings, which can make other children feel uncomfortable.

Our caring counselors understand the significant challenges that neurodiverse children face. Adjusting to social norms and developing “acceptable” social behaviors is hard even for neurotypical children. For this reason, we take our time with our neurodiverse clients and slowly tackle issues one at a time.

Neurodiverse children often feel overwhelmed in standard social settings. Individual and family counseling sessions offer a safe space where these children can openly share their feelings and work through their struggles. Our therapists understand how to work with neurodiverse brains and will target specific problem areas with your child.

Schedule Your Child's Neurodiversity Counseling in Federal Way Today

If you are ready to schedule counseling for your neurodiverse child in Federal Way, our therapists can see you almost immediately. Please contact our counseling office today at (206) 567-7267 to learn more.

Supporting Your Child

Growing up isn’t always easy.

Growing up with a neurodiverse brain (a brain that takes in information, processes, and responds to the world a little differently) can be even harder.

We live in a world filled with norms and expectations that are based on the neurotypical brain and neurotypical brain development. The child/teen with a neurodiverse brain can sometimes feel completely overwhelmed in wondering:

“Where do I fit in?”
“Why do things like making friends seem to be easier for others than for me?”
“Will I be able to do things like go to college, have a job, a relationship, or a family?”

The challenges that kids and teens with neurodiverse brains face are very real. These kids/teens are more likely to:

Struggle in school, both socially and academically
Suffer from depression and anxiety
Lose their confidence and motivation
Experience bullying and/or relationships where they are being taken advantage of
Fail to launch successfully into college and/or living independently

We consistently find that these kids/teens really benefit from having an ongoing working relationship with a therapist who is trained and experienced in working with individuals with neurodiverse brains.

In our counseling with neurodiverse kids and teens, we can target challenge areas and support the development of what other children seem to pick up a little more naturally.

In addition to our one-on-one counseling and coaching work with neurodiverse kids/teens, we provide parenting support, as well as school support to help shape and target effective Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 Accommodation plans.

BLOGS

Counseling for Neurodiverse Children

September 4, 2020

If you are the parent or loved one of a neurodiverse child, you’ve no doubt experienced some difficulties when it comes to raising, understanding, and empathizing or interacting with that child. After all, our society’s acceptance of “neurodiversity” is still relatively new, and it can feel challenging to navigate the waters when you’re used to individuals who exhibit neurotypical behaviors.

Supporting neurodiversity in younger people can feel challenging, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. Here at Thrive Counseling Center, we choose to celebrate neurodiverse kids and teens in Federal ...

Find Out More

Areas We Commonly Focus on with Our Kids, Teens, and Their Support Systems

Learning How To Regulate Emotions

While this is something that neurotypical kids may “pick up” along the way, those living with neurodiverse brains benefit from being clearly taught how to regulate their emotions so as to not get so overwhelmed.

An amazing strength that often comes with neurodiversity is the ability to feel the world around you intensely. Although this can be harnessed as a strength, it also comes with the challenge of often feeling overwhelmed by worries, anxieties, sensory information, and/or flooding of emotions (anger and rage). Learning how to slow down the process of going from 1-10 on the anxiety or anger scale is critical to success no matter what age you are!

Growing Healthy Friendships and Relationships

The world, unfortunately, bases social expectations on what neurotypicals expect. Those living with neurodiversity tend to struggle to pick up on social cues, often misread contexts, and sometimes interpret the world as more black and white than it really is.

In our work with neurodiverse kids and teens, we support the development and use of social thinking muscles. This is more than just learning “social rules,” which only get you so far. Developing strong social thinking muscles means knowing how to “apply” the rules. This is all about learning what to do in social situations and interactions, and how to think about and understand the impact of other’s thoughts and feelings about us. This is tough stuff, even for neurotypical kids and teens. Neurodiverse individuals, unfortunately, struggle even more.

We help kids/teens learn how to make AND keep friends. Although we frequently lump these two together, they are EXTREMELY different. Neurodiverse kids and teens benefit from having these two broken down step by step in order to successfully join in the complex world of friendships at any age. This is something that neurotypicals, as well as those with neurodiverse brains, can benefit from.

Developing Healthy Executive Functions

Executive functions are the umbrella term for the ability to do things like plan, organize, complete tasks, be flexible, and solve problems. Executive functions are critical for success in school, and also at home (think about the challenges you may face in getting your child/teen to do their homework or clean their room!).

We believe that executive functioning is so incredibly important. It is one of the biggest predictors of ongoing success.

The development of effective executive functioning is the difference between a child/teen who can launch successfully into the world on their own and the child/teen who struggles to ever leave the nest.

Living with neurodiversity means living with an ongoing daily struggle with executive functions. In our work with neurodiverse kids and teens, we target our executive functioning interventions to build sustainable systems and strategies that will help lessen the struggle both in the present, as well as for the future.