Child Therapist in Burlington for Ages 6 to 17
When your child is struggling, you want someone who understands how kids actually work. Our team offers warm, evidence-based child therapy for kids ages 6 to 17, in person in Burlington and virtually across Ontario.
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Therapy Designed Around How Kids Actually Work
A general adult therapist, even a very good one, is trained in a model built for adults. But a seven-year-old who's having nightmares doesn't have the words for what's happening. And a fourteen-year-old sitting across from a stranger rarely wants to talk about feelings on command.
Therapy for children has to meet them where they are developmentally. For younger kids that looks like play, art, and sandtray. In the middle years we blend talk with activity. For teens, the room shifts again, a different kind of space that respects their growing need for privacy without losing the parent as an ally.
Our team is trained in child and adolescent therapy specifically. We use methods built for kids, and we pace the work so it doesn't ask more than a child can give.
How Our Approach Shifts With Age
We work with children and teens ages 6 to 17. The room, the pace, and the methods change as kids grow.
Ages 6 to 9
Play-based and creative sessions. We use sandtray, drawing, storytelling, and figures to help younger children show us what they cannot yet say with full sentences.
Ages 10 to 13
A blend of talk and activity. Kids this age often open up while their hands are doing something. We build cognitive tools into the work as they become ready for them.
Ages 14 to 17
Primarily conversational. Teens need a therapist who takes them seriously, protects an appropriate level of privacy, and doesn't talk down to them. Parents stay involved through planned check-ins.
A note on younger ages. For children under 6, we'd direct you to a clinic that specializes in very early childhood development, as that age sits outside our scope of practice as psychotherapists.
The Methods We Use With Children
Every child is different, so the work is never one-size. These are the evidence-based approaches we draw on, usually in combination.
Play Therapy
For younger children, play is the language. We use toys, figures, and imaginative scenarios to help a child work through what's too big for words.
Sandtray Therapy
A tray of sand, a shelf of miniatures, and space to build a world. Sandtray gives children a way to externalize what's inside, gently, without having to explain it.
Child-Adapted CBT
Cognitive behavioural therapy, reshaped for how kids think. For older children and teens, we teach simple tools to notice thoughts, manage anxiety, and work with big feelings.
Family Systems Work
A child is never just an individual. We consider siblings, parent stress, recent changes, and the rhythms of home, and we loop you in on what might help the whole system settle.
Parent Coaching
Sometimes the most effective work happens in a parent session. We help you read your child's behaviour, respond without escalating, and hold steady when things are hard.
Expressive Arts
Drawing, collage, and storytelling as ways in. Helpful for kids who freeze up in direct conversation, and for teens who'd rather process sideways than straight on.
What a First Session Actually Looks Like
Most parents ask some version of this, and it's a fair question. Child therapy isn't a lecture, and it isn't an interrogation.
The first session is usually mostly with the parents. We hear the story from your side, learn what's been tried, and talk through what you hope might shift. From there we meet your child at their pace. For a younger child that might mean sitting on the floor together and exploring toys. For a teen it often looks like two people in chairs, talking, with more silence than you'd expect.
Your child isn't put on the spot. They don't have to perform or disclose anything on day one. Sessions are 50 minutes, and trust is the first month of work, not the first hour.
Parents Stay Involved
You are the most important adult in your child's life. The work happens with you, not around you.
Legal Guardian Consent
Written consent from a legal guardian is required before the first session. We walk through the consent form with you and answer every question before starting.
Parent Debriefs
Regular brief parent meetings keep you in the loop on themes, home strategies, and progress, while respecting the parts of the work your child shares in confidence.
Safety Always Shared
If there is any risk to your child's safety, you will be told. Confidentiality protects the therapy relationship, but it never protects secrecy about harm.
Mandatory Reporting
Under Ontario's Child, Youth and Family Services Act, our team members are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse or neglect. We explain this clearly at the start.
What We Help Children With
Every child's story is different. These are the areas our team walks with families through most often.
Child Anxiety
Worry, fear, school refusal, and panic in a child's body. Gentle tools for calming a nervous system that's running too hot.
Behavioural Struggles
Outbursts, defiance, withdrawal. We work with the whole child and the family, not just the behaviour on the surface.
Grief and Loss
Losing a grandparent, a pet, or someone closer. Age-appropriate support for a child facing real loss for the first time.
Family Transitions
Separation, a move, a new sibling, or a parent's illness. Helping children find steady ground when home has shifted.
Self-Esteem and Identity
For the child who feels small, unseen, or harshly self-critical. Helping them see themselves more clearly, and more kindly.
What We Are, and What We Aren't
Our team is made up of registered psychotherapists. We provide child psychotherapy. We don't diagnose, we don't prescribe, and we don't do formal psycho-educational assessments, ADHD testing, or autism evaluations.
If your child needs a diagnosis, an ADHD or autism assessment, or a medication conversation, that's the work of a paediatrician, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, or a registered psychologist. We'll say so honestly, help you understand the difference, and often refer to trusted colleagues.
What our team does well is walk alongside your child through the emotional, relational, and behavioural layers of what they're carrying, in a way that supports whatever other care they may need. If you prefer faith-integrated work, see our Christian children's therapy cluster.
Session Fees
Children's Therapy (Ages 6 to 17)
$170 to $185
50 minutes
HST included. Insurance receipts provided for reimbursement through most extended health plans.
Common Questions From Parents
Related Services
Your Child Is Not a Problem to Fix
They're a whole person walking through something hard. Let's talk about what kind of help might actually fit your family.
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