If you feel you or your family could be helped by talking through a mental health issue, or you feel that psychotherapeutic input might be right for you, then please do get in touch.
Our clinicians are available to talk through your concerns over the phone and can advise as to whether therapeutic help might be beneficial. We offer appointments throughout the day and run evening clinics throughout the week, including Saturdays. We are also able to offer sessions via Zoom where we feel this is clinically appropriate.
Prefer to phone us first? Call us on 0131 5579894
Psychodynamic Child Therapy helps children and young people work through emotional distress by making sense of feelings and relationships that may be hard to put into words.
Using play, conversation, and creative expression, therapy focuses on the meaning beneath symptoms and behaviour. The work is developmentally informed, relationship-based, and paced to help the child feel safe enough to explore what is troubling them.
Sessions are usually weekly and take place in a consistent time and room, which supports a child’s sense of security. Younger children often communicate through play, drawing, or stories; older children and teenagers may talk more directly while still using symbolism and metaphor. The therapist pays close attention to patterns in feelings, behaviour, and relationships, including what emerges in the therapy relationship itself. Parents or carers are typically offered separate review meetings at agreed intervals, creating space to think together about the child’s development, stresses, and family context. The aim is not behaviour management or “quick fixes,” but helping the child process difficult experiences and build emotional capacity so change can unfold over time.
Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic child psychotherapies demonstrate strong evidence for a range of difficulties including anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, trauma and loss, and relationship/attachment-related problems. Findings from trials and systematic reviews suggest benefits for both symptoms and broader functioning, particularly where difficulties are longstanding, complex, or linked to relational and developmental history. This approach can be especially helpful when distress is expressed through behaviour, play themes, somatic symptoms, or withdrawal rather than clear verbal description.
“In Child Psychotherapy, we try to understand what a child is communicating beneath the surface — through play, behaviour, and emotional tone. Many children don’t yet have words for what they feel. Therapy offers a reliable relationship where feelings can be noticed, named, and made sense of, so the child can develop greater emotional resilience and steadiness over time.”
