©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mt. Airy therapist has a special way with children
by PAULA M. RILEY

Mary Ann Baron, a licensed professional counselor and child psychotherapist with new offices in Mt. Airy, works with kids and their families to create a productive environment at home and open the communication process. (Photo by Paula M. Riley)

The idea of psychotherapy can be intimidating for some, but Mary Ann Baron, a licensed professional counselor and child psychotherapist with new offices in Mt. Airy, explains it quite simply, “Psychotherapy for children enables kids and adolescents to bring forth, understand and let go of feelings that have not been expressed but are inside troubling them.”

As a child psychotherapist, Baron views herself as the facilitator who provides a supportive, fun, non-threatening environment where kids can talk and freely express themselves. Her task is to work with these kids and their families to learn how to create this environment at home and open the communication process.

Teachers and counselors refer clients to Baron, but parents really are the best source for recognizing issues with their kids. “Parents need to know the warning signs that their child may be experiencing a difficult time,” Baron explains. Any dramatic change in the way a child eats, sleeps, communicates, plays, performs in school, or interacts with his family is considered a warning sign.

Significant life changes such as death, separation, divorce are obvious events that may be particularly difficult for a child to bear. Equally difficult, though, may be those events that don’t seem as major but have a great impact on children, including moving from elementary to middle school, changing teachers, family illnesses, and world events. “Parents need to remember that kids know what is going on in the world around them and particularly what is happening in the home. Any marital issues, arguing, job stress or a strained relationship can be felt by the child,” Baron warns.

Once the child comes to Baron, she always begins a new client relationship by having the child get a complete physical, as she believes it is important to rule out any medical issues. After this is completed, she meets individually with her new client and talks to the child or adolescent about the therapy process, working to ensure he/she is comfortable with the purpose and plans for their meetings.

By being a good listener and approaching each client with an “unconditional positive regard,” Baron creates trust with the children, who generally range in age from four to 14. Every relationship with these clients is unique and develops in its own way, “I allow the child to invite me to their play and communication. In time, there is a trust level, and we go from there.”

Baron includes toys, dolls, role-play, drawings, games and songs in the therapy sessions. She creates a very warm environment but stays committed to therapeutic goals, carefully interpretering what the children express through play. Her office is set in the Mt. Airy Healing Arts Center, a warm homey space where other therapists provide various services to clients. In the living room where she meets with children and families, the couches are comfortable and the toys plenty.

Her clients’ families are invited to this space as her work with children always involves a family component as part of the therapy. Throughout the counseling relationship, the parents will receive an overall view on the general progress of the therapy but never the details. The family sessions are an opportunity for the child to choose if she or he would like to share with their family what was addressed in therapy.

These sessions include as many members of the client’s family who are able to participate. Invited family members are anyone who lives in the household with the child. During these meetings, the parents often begin to look at and talk to their children much differently than before. They are brought to what Baron describes as a “whole new level of consciousness” of their child and his or her feelings.

Baron finds that parents sometime think they will have to rework their entire life at home to help a child who has been struggling. “Kids crave closeness to their parents and seek concrete experiences with them, although they need to be comfortable communicating,” she explains.

As the counseling nears an end, the parents begin assuming the therapist role and become much more in-tune with their child’s feelings and communication. She stresses the importance of parents being intimately involved in their children’s lives, “You can know what’s really going on in your kids’ lives, but it takes a lot of hard work. It’s not impossible.”

Baron brings to her clients over 20 years in childhood education and 12 years counseling experience. She holds a Master’s degree from Hahneman University and experience in all varieties of counseling settings for children including inpatient, outpatient, hospital, and developmental disability homes. In her new private practice she offers individual as well as group psychotherapy.

Mary Ann Baron’s offices are located in the Mt Airy Healing Arts Center at 7159 Germantown Avenue. She can be reached at 215-432-7292.