Psychological counseling center

Parenting advice offers more personal advice than books and TV can provide. It can be about small questions about everyday interaction with the child or about difficult situations or crises.

Typical occasions are:

• Set boundaries
• Defiance
• Sibling rivalry
• Developmental abnormalities of the child
• Behavioral problems of the child
• Anxiety and contact problems of the child
• Physical complaints of the child, which have psychological causes
• Dealing with the Internet and media

Often an initial change can be initiated with just a few appointments. In the event of difficulties and problems for which our advice is not sufficient, we will support you in your search for more suitable offers of help.

When it comes to issues that affect the whole family or change that everyone should be involved in, counseling the whole family makes sense. Not always all family members can come to an appointment. Then it is also possible to work with only part of the family. But the more who participate, the more perspectives and ideas can be used.

Typical occasions are:

• the desire for a better atmosphere in the family
• the wish to talk more with each other
• negotiating new rules for family life
• find a common good way of dealing with stressful events
• Mediation in conflicts within the family
• Crises in the family (e.g. illness or death of a family member.

Here too, a few appointments are often enough to notice the first changes.

Our team has an open ear for you.

You are welcome to contact us directly if you are having trouble in your family or school, or if you feel insecure, overwhelmed or misunderstood.

We help children and young people who

• have problems with learning.
• are very anxious or lack self-confidence.
• do not get on well with other children.
• feel threatened or are being bullied.
• Have outbursts or hurt themselves and want to get a grip on their self-harming behavior.
• have experienced or witnessed physical, verbal or sexualized violence.
• Have mentally stressed parents.

If you wish, we can also accompany you without your parents' knowledge. As a rule, we will discuss with you in the initial meetings whether and (if so) when your parents can be involved. Even if your parents are on board, we will discuss with you in advance what we can and cannot talk to them about.

We take the legal right of children and young people to their own counseling very seriously. If you are in acute danger, we will ensure your protection, but in this case we must also talk to the people who are responsible for your protection.

Separation is always a difficult time for the family. As a parent, you not only have to be there for the children, but you also have to find your own way of dealing with the separation and reorganize your life. As a child, you are torn between the two parents and have to gradually settle into a life in two worlds.

Our services aim to support both parents and children in this phase of life. Among other things, we offer

• Counseling of the parents, jointly or individually
• Mediation on the topics of parenting and contact
• Help in developing contact and visitation arrangements.
• Relief talks for children and young people from separating families
• Placement in children's groups on the topic of separation/divorce
• Counseling for newly formed families

Support and counseling for parents with infants and toddlers (0-3 years)

Our specialists offer you help at short notice and without complications,

• if your baby is very irritable and hard to calm down.
• if your baby cries often and for long periods of time.
• if your child has difficulty falling asleep in the evening or keeps waking up at night and cannot go back to sleep.
• when feeding is difficult.
• if you are unsure how to handle your baby or have any questions about this.
• if you don't know what to do or are worried about your child and its development.

How come some babies are hard to soothe?

It is assumed that some babies have great problems getting used to life outside the protective womb, especially in the first few months of their lives.
They are only poorly able to regulate themselves sufficiently in the areas that are important to them: "self-soothing," "sleep-wake rhythm," and "food intake. A vicious circle of overstimulation, overtiredness and hunger begins.
Soon, even patient and loving parents no longer know how to help their child. They feel helpless, doubt their role as parents and increasingly lose hope that they can find a way out of this debilitating vicious circle with their baby.

In this situation, parents and babies need outside help. Specialist advice centers, so-called crying clinics in Cologne or Düsseldorf, are often difficult to reach for young families from Haan and Hilden due to the distance.
The Hilden/Haan psychological advice center therefore also offers affected families targeted help on site as part of a baby consultation.

The offer is aimed at parents with very young children from 0-3 years.

They can contact the counseling center quickly and easily and receive an appointment for an initial meeting at short notice (usually within a week). All further steps are planned together in this conversation. Experience shows that babies and their parents can be helped significantly and sustainably after just a few sessions!

In general, we advise parents and guardians, pupils, teachers and other educational professionals on all psychological issues that may arise in connection with school.

For us, the children, young people and parents are our primary clients and contacts in the counseling process.

Professionals (e.g. teaching and support staff, school social workers) receive specialist advice from us on general questions, anonymous case inquiries and, with the consent of the parents/guardians, advice on specific cases.

Examples of questions or difficulties on which you as parents can get advice for your child, or children and young people can contact us directly:

• if there are difficulties with reading and writing / arithmetic or a reading and spelling disorder (LRS) / dyscalculia is suspected.
• if your child goes to school with anxiety.
• if your child is aggressive at school.
• when it puts itself under pressure.
• if it develops high absenteeism at school.
• if there are particular problems with homework.
• if your child is underchallenged at school or is suspected of being particularly gifted.

We will work with you and your child to find suitable solutions. With your consent, we will also consult with the school. All measures will be discussed and explained to you in detail beforehand. If it seems sensible from a professional point of view, we also offer psychological testing.

What is prevention work about?

The prevention work starts with the children's zest for life and stands for:

• Encouragement.
• Support and strengthening of own forces and energies.

Prevention aims to help girls and boys develop into self-confident women and men. It is aimed at parents, teachers, educators, children and young people.

What are the offers?

• Targeted project work in schools, kindergartens and youth facilities.
• Supporting professionals in their facilities.
• Face-to-face meetings with parents, children and adolescents.

What can I find out about?
Information events on the topics:

• Prevention of sexual abuse of children
• Safety when chatting - dangers on the Internet
• Sex Education

What do I learn and experience?

Topics that are discussed with the children, young people and multipliers as part of the project work:

• Perception of one's own body and differentiation of feelings
• Perceiving and distinguishing touches that are pleasant or comical and threatening
• Recognize and respect your own boundaries and the boundaries of others
• Self-confidence in one's own abilities to solve problems without violence
• Learning to act in a self-reflective manner
• Know how to get help.

Experiencing sexualized violence in childhood and adolescence often leaves behind psychological stress and even massive and chronic mental disorders. These sometimes become apparent immediately after the assault, but sometimes with a delay. Many children and adolescents need prompt therapeutic help to stabilize themselves until a longer-term psychotherapeutic follow-up measure has been found for detailed processing.

When parents or close caregivers experience sexualized violence against their own children, they also often experience strong feelings of anger, powerlessness and bewilderment. They also need support in dealing with what has happened.

The Psychological Counselling Centre provides a specialized service that includes counselling, psychosocial diagnostics and crisis intervention. It is aimed at those affected, their relatives or caregivers as well as professionals.

Counseling is free of charge, takes place promptly and can be conducted anonymously if required. The counselling centre against sexualized violence can be contacted by telephone via the secretary's office of the psychological counselling centre or directly on 02103-721290 (preferably on Mondays and Thursdays).

We are there for you as parents,

• if you are concerned that your child may have experienced sexualized violence or boundary violations.
• if your child is acutely affected by sexualized violence.
• if your child plays body exploration games and you are unsure whether these are normal or based on the experience of sexual abuse).

For you as children and young people,

• if you would like to have a trustworthy counselor with whom you can discuss the topic of sexual boundaries and boundary violations.
• if you hear about other children and young people violating boundaries that cause you concern.
• if you have experienced or witnessed sexual assault by other children, young people or adults.
• if you have any questions about sexuality.

For professionals,

• if you have questions about how you can help children or young people who have experienced sexualized violence.
• if you have questions about children and young people who are sexually abusive.

if you suspect that a child or young person has experienced sexualized violence.

The Psychological Counseling Center supports daycare centers,

Family centers and schools in their work with families through offers such as:

• Information session on the Psychological Counseling Center.
• Presentation of the psychological counseling center in teams.
• Events on educational and psychological topics for parents and professionals.
• Open office hours for parents.
• Anonymous case discussion or case supervision.
• Cooperation on preventive services such as groups for children from separating families.

Please direct inquiries to the management of the counseling center.
In a personal conversation, offers for your facility will be coordinated and agreements made.

We have a special MindMatters offer for schools . Please direct any inquiries to our office.

If you are looking for preventive offers or projects on the topics of "violence, media, sexuality or bullying", the Prevention Office of the Psychological Counseling Center is your right contact.

What if the professionals we work with need advice for their own family?

If you want to be advised as a parent and at the same time are a teacher or educator in Hilden or Haan schools, daycare centers, etc., we have to keep your private concerns and our professional cooperation separate. You can find out how we can solve this over the phone or we can discuss it together during your first consultation. If necessary, we can also put you in touch with someone else.