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.
		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). Printable Version in Adobe Acrobat