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Child Related Services

I. Background and Orientation
Dr. Kneier has always
maintained a special interest in children and families. His early training
and practice focused strongly on treating children's emotional and behavioral
problems. The last two years of his training, especially his internship with
the Harvard Medical School-Children's Hospital, Boston, provided specialized training in
treating children. He began his post-doctoral career treating children at
Calgary Children's Services (2 years) and then at the Holy Cross
Hospital where he
worked with the Pediatric Department. While he has continued to treat some
children in private practice, he has found that the concerned and motivated
parents who come to him usually make the best therapists for their children.
Dr. Kneier begins helping a child by consulting with the
parents. He focuses on decoding what the child's symptoms or problems are
trying to say. This usually provides a useful new perspective on the child,
and points the way to new and creative approaches to the child's trouble. The
new perspective and approach, which are often paradoxical ("reverse
psychology"), offer relief to the parents as well as the child. Often,
issues that were very stressful and driving the parents crazy become the
occasions for creative, interesting and even playful interactions with the
child.
Dr. Kneier does not believe in the one-sided proposition
that parental stress or problems cause children's problems. He knows that the
contrary is equally true: children's problems, temperaments, and behaviors
cause a lot of parental and marital stress and difficulties. Dr. Kneier makes
the assumption, which always seems to be true, that it is good and caring and
insightful parents who come to see him. He knows that they have already tried
the reasonable and normal parental approaches to the problem. He knows the
parents usually have other children for whom their parenting has worked well.
He uses his experience as a children's psychologist to help parents decode
the particular difficulty being experienced by the troubled child. He and the
parents then become a team to help the child. And the parents themselves
become a better team.
Often, some individual sessions with Dr. Kneier are a
significant help for a child or teenager. Dr. Kneier has a way of talking to
children that seems to help them understand themselves better, feel more
normal, and reveal or name thoughts and feelings that have been bothering
them.
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Marital breakdown, divorce, and the blending of families
have increasingly become significant challenges to children's adjustment. It
was his work with children that led Dr. Kneier to become so involved in these
areas. In order to help children with their emotional issues in these areas,
Dr. Kneier has found it necessary to relate both to the psychology of
children and to the management of families in serious conflict.
II. Child-Related Services
· Consultation with parents
about children's emotional, behavioral, and temperamental problems.
· Help for family and marital adjustment to
difficult or handicapped children.
· Help coping with teens.
· Individual therapy for children and teenagers:
loss, trauma, abuse, divorce, illness, handicaps, teenage problems, etc.
· Consultations re: Family Transition: pre- and
post-separation counseling; children's reactions to divorce; blended family
problems; parental alienation problems (see next section).
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