Peer relationships are extremely important to the social and emotional development of children and teens. In particular, peer relationships help children develop critical skills such as empathy, cooperation and problem-solving. Peer relationships can also help children and teens feel a sense of belonging and contribute to positive self-esteem.
Peer relationships can also impact children and teens negatively through such experiences as bullying, teasing, and exclusion. Peer relationship difficulties can have a significant adverse impact on a child or teen’s mental health and can contribute to the development of a variety of mental health issues, including: depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger issues, emotion dysregulation issues, self-harm behaviour, and behavioural issues to name a few.
At The Therapy Centre, our clinicians are trained in evidence-based treatment approaches to help children and adolescents process peer relationship difficulties as well as work on the development of social and emotional skills to develop healthy peer relationships and better handle adverse experiences such as bullying, teasing and exclusion. Common treatment approaches include: : Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT).