Psychology for children: what it is and what are its areas of intervention

Psychological assistance services are always adapted to the population for which they are intended, such as the smallest.

With this article we will try to answer the question of what is psychology for children; what are the main applications that this science has to help minors in different situations, making a distinction of each one of them and explaining them in depth in order to understand the difference.

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What is child psychology?

When we talk about psychology for children, we mean all those applications of general psychology, intended to be applied in minors, which due to their characteristics and conditions require a methodology and specific processes adapted to their evolutionary level.

To understand this question, we must first know the very definition of psychology, what is the science dedicated to studying and analyzing the behavior and the thought processes carried out by people, both individually and in groups and in very different contexts. various.

Therefore, There will be different ways of studying these behaviors depending on different variables, the age of the subjects being one of the most important. Even within minors, it cannot be generalized, since there are very different evolutionary moments from from early childhood to adolescence and, therefore, psychology for children must be adapted to each case.

In this case, the work of psychology is to study the child population to be able to conclude what are the similarities and differences that can meet and also develop methodologies that are intended to fully or at least partially solve the problems that have identified.

It will be a critical task, in that sense, in psychology for children, to analyze and distinguish all the variables at the genetic and environmental level that may be having some kind of influence on these anomalies, whether at an emotional, learning, social or developmental level of their abilities.

Both aspects, that of biology, with its possible genetic predispositions towards one or other characteristics, and that of the environment, which includes the environment and The parenting type of parents and other reference adults interact to shape the way the child will behave and the way he will think. Hence the importance of children's psychology having a deep understanding of both aspects.

Different functions of psychology for boys and girls

After giving a general introduction to psychology for children, we can now focus on the different ways in which this branch of Science can be applied, in a practical way, to achieve an improvement in people's lives, in this case of minors.

Then we will review some of the main ways in which psychology can help children, in different contexts.

1. Psychological disorders

The first form of intervention of psychology for children is that which is dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of different psychopathologies. This is probably the most popular branch or at least one of the most recurrent when we think about the ways in which this science can be applied to minors.

A health psychologist specialized in the children's area will have the psychometric capacity and tools to evaluate the child on a psychological level and thus discern if it is possible that the patient is suffering from a disorder psychological. Once said ailment has been detected, the professional will draw up a treatment plan.

Of course, This therapeutic intervention will also be regulated to adapt to the evolutionary stage of the minor and their personal characteristics. Generally, this work requires the continuous collaboration of the child's parents, since they must attend to the guidelines set by the specialist to continue working at home and thus achieve progress in the shortest time possible.

The child psychology expert must also coordinate with the school to obtain information about their situation at the school. itself and any other data of interest that may be useful for diagnosis and treatment, in search of maximum benefit for the less. This collaboration between the professional and the institution can be very useful.

2. Organic diseases

There are diseases of an organic nature that can generate alterations at a physical and / or psychological level. When they are of the second type, we are facing another field of action of psychology for children. Equally, the psychologist should evaluate the extent of this ailment in the minor.

The evaluation work, as when we were talking about psychopathologies, should be carried out in a way adapted to the child's capacities, both by the stage of development in which it is found and by the alterations that the organic disease may have caused at a level psychological.

After the evaluation, it should be established a therapeutic program to try to minimize such sequelae as much as possible, to correct them in their entirety if possible, and even to anticipate their development, if the damage has not yet occurred but is expected to happen if steps are not taken to prevent it.

Likewise, the psychologist will have a didactic work with the parents or guardians of the affected minor, providing them with the guidelines for be able to give the best care to the child and that in this way the affectation of her at a psychological level is reduced, at least partially.

3. School support

The figure of the school counselor represents another of the lines of action of psychology for children. It is a specialization of psychology, destined to fulfill a series of purposes in the field of schools and institutes. One of them is to identify what educational needs exist among students, and whether they are being met or not.

They must also give guidelines at a psychopedagogical level to the team of teachers of the institution, and to the families of the students. Of course, his work with the students themselves will be of vital importance. He must identify the possible problems that may threaten the achievement of educational objectives so that they can be resolved as soon as possible.

If some of the children have special needs, the counselor will also have the mission of coordinating the resources required so that these students can receive education in an adapted and appropriate way for them, achieving the best use and development of their capabilities.

In short, the figure of the school counselor, as one of the representatives of one of the areas of psychology for children, has advisory and coordination functions between the students themselves, their families and the educational team.

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4. Sports psychology for children and adolescents

Another field of psychology for children, which is also on the rise, is that of sports psychology for children and adolescents. Sports performance in a certain discipline, both for minors and adults, will depend on their physical capacities for said activity but also on psychological factors.

The sports psychologist will be the professional in charge of working with these factors, trying to eliminate all limitations that the person, in this case the child or adolescent, may have, and that they are restricting their development in the sport that practice. It is not only about reducing the limitations, it will also be essential to enhance the positive capacities that the child already has.

As in other scenarios of psychology for children, it will be essential that the expert evaluate the child to know the specific characteristics of your case, because each one will be different and will need a concrete and personalized action plan to achieve the fulfillment of the objectives marked.

Therefore, the individual differences of each minor will mark the way of approaching the work of the sports psychologist. This work will be especially delicate when dealing with young children, whose emotional management skills are in very early stages of development.

In such cases, the work of child psychology should be focused on that minors learn to develop their abilities to achieve a good performance in sport, but enjoying it and without being overwhelmed by pressure, which can sometimes be more than they can bear.

The sports psychologist must teach them to relativize the results and that their passion does not become a source of anxiety, but of moments of fun and joy.

Although there are other ways of applying psychology to children, which we have been able to review in these paragraphs are some of the most important, in which the professionals of this science work to improve the lives of minors.