As a parent, it's very difficult for you to see your child admitted to the hospital for any reason, but you need to remember that this situation is challenging for your child, too. Regardless of the reason for the child's health troubles, you may be keen on things returning to normal once the child gets back home. You should, however, think about what the child may need at this time — and the answer could be some sessions of children's therapy. While you may want to talk to your child about his or her feelings regarding the hospital stay, a children's therapist has the skills and experience to deal with this situation in these ways.

Processing Fear

A hospital stay can be scary for anyone, especially a child. There's a good chance that your son or daughter was frightened at various points during the hospital stay, and therapy can be an effective way to process this fear in a safe environment. He or she may have tried to put on a brave face, but that doesn't mean that your child wasn't scared inside. Your child may have trouble opening up to you about his or her fear, but this can often be easier with a therapist.

Dealing With Guilt

You might not immediately associate guilt with a hospital stay, but the reality is that your child could be struggling with feeling guilty about this situation. For example, if the child fell off his or her bike and had some injuries that required hospitalization, he or she might feel guilty about scaring you and putting you through this difficult time. This may especially be true if you or your spouse had to take time off work or even had to cancel a family trip because of the child's hospital stay. You don't want feelings of guilt to linger for your child, and therapy can ensure that this doesn't happen.

Discussing Anger

Anger can be a challenging emotion for children to deal with because children are often disciplined when they're angry. Your child may repress feelings of anger, but this isn't a healthy way to deal with this emotion. Anger can be present after a hospital stay depending on the type of injury. If your child was injured while playing sports, he or she may be angry at the opponent who caused the injury. As difficult as it might be to admit, your child may even harbor some anger at you if you took a long time to get to the scene to comfort your child. A therapist can help them deal with their anger in healthy ways.