K.Lea Schmitt-Eschle: Specialist Child and Young People's Counsellor in Brentwood, Essex (close to Romford, Chelmsford, Basildon)
Welcome on my home page. I offer child and young people's counselling and therapeutic child and teenage support.
Sometimes life can be difficult. Not only adults but also children, teens and adolescents can go through phases where not everything is going to plan. And sometimes those challenging situations can become especially difficult, create mood swings, anger, or a generally negative outlook on life. This can happen to all of us. There might have been a bereavement, exam stress, bullying or perhaps sudden life changes have had an impact. As a result feelings of anger, anxiety and insecurity can lead to withdrawal, challenging behaviour or difficulties in school -only to mention a few of the effects this might have. This can also cause difficulties to find good friends, the tendency to engage in risky behaviour or even our physical health can become affected. If this happens it is likely that the stress factors and difficulties have created a sense of overwhelm and we have not found a way to put the events and our feelings into perspective. Considering counselling or therapy may seem daunting but in these situations it is a useful and supportive way especially to help children and adolescents make sense of what is happening for them. The affordable specialist counselling and therapeutic support I offer can help with the child and teenage problems at hand and it is also effective if the difficulties you are facing have become more serious.
About Me:
My name is Lea Schmitt-Eschle. I am a fully qualified, BACP registered (MBACP)and DBS checked child and adolescent counsellor and have undergone an intense training to specialise in working with the problems children and adolescents are facing. In my counselling sessions I provide an integrative approach combining aspects of the newest neuroscientific research, play therapy and young people's counselling. I also offer the use of creative arts media such as clay, paint, role play, puppetry, sand tray work as well as reflective dialogue and psychoeducation to provide psychotherapeutically informed support. By exploring the themes that matter in an age appropriate way we find ways to express feelings and motivations, address worries and anxieties. This is how we gently open a path to cope better with the challenges and difficulties and support self esteem. This can also help address more serious mental health problems like self-harm, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, obsessive or oppositional defiant behavior. I offer a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space in my home clinic in Brentwood within easy reach from Chelmsford, Romford, Hornchurch and Basildon in Essex. I am happy to meet you face to face on Mondays and Tuesdays, when I am taking all possible measures to keep the space Covid secure in accordance with government regulations and BACP guidelines. Should there be a need to self isolate, I am happy to continue the work online for the time being.
In addition I am offering online therapy on Thursdays for those young people who prefer working this way. I am a Certified Cyber Therapist, trained by the OTI, and am registered with ACTO (the Association for Counsellors and Therapists working Online ). In the last few months- due to the pandemic- online therapy has proven to be a life line for many children and young people who would otherwise not have had an opportunity to get support. Even though there are clear differences in the way of connecting, I can wholeheartedly recommend this line of work as equally effective and helpful as the face to face work.
I offer a first meeting and assessment for 65£. Subsequent sessions are charged with 55£ on a sliding scale depending on the session time. I am able to adapt the length of our work to the needs of your child. You can contact me by emailing me here.
My blog for the interested and informed parent (25thNov2018):
Research has shown that the use of social media and online information can have a huge impact on our child's self image and self esteem. From a very early age the way children are presenting themselves -and the way they are perceived by others -has a significant impact on the way they develop socially and emotionally. This is why we as parents tend to keep a close eye on what happens at playtime, after school clubs and extracurricular activities. Unfortunately it is not as easy to supervise our children during their online activities and on social media. A lot can happen online that can bypass our attention and the effect on our children appears often not directly connected.
On the other hand our children are easily entertained with YouTube contents and Instagram searches. They are using their devices when we are busy with the other- often never ending- parenting tasks and this can help to keep the peace during our hectic and busy lives. Still the dangers of too much and unsupervised use of mobile phones and social media are obvious: Our children and adolescents are very easily exposed to themes and images we perhaps would not like them to have access to. As a result we are not able to control the effects this might have on them. It is highly advisable to make sure we know that what happens on their devices so we are able to regulate the impact this can have on our children and teens. Please find useful online advice for parents here.
Child and Adolescent Counsellor offering therapeutic child and teenage support a well as child and young people's counselling in Brentwood, Essex (close to Romford, Chelmsford, Basildon and Billericay)
Warley
Brentwood
CM14