The actress and reality TV star says her 3 and 4-year-old daughters are in therapy. Is this OK?

Denise Richards told In Touch Weekly, "My kids are in therapy. It's very sad that they need to be there, but they do for now. On the other hand, it's good they have an outlet to deal with their feelings and someone who is just their advocate ... If I can help anyone feel better about their kids being in therapy -- then something else good has come of this, too."

This got us wondering, at what age should parents even consider therapy? Are Denise's kids too young? How exactly does therapy work for a child that age, and how do you know if your child should go?

We asked Dr. Amy J. L. Baker, a developmental psychologist with a Ph.D. from Columbia University and an expert on children of divorce, for her take on the situation.

"Play therapy is the most common form of therapy for children this age. This means that instead of talking directly about the conflict and/or issues, the child communicates with the therapist through playing with dollhouses, puppets, dolls, art and more. For example, a therapist may have a dollhouse with dolls that represent the entire family. If a 4-year-old picks up the doll representing the mommy and starts bashing the doll representing the daddy, a hypothesis can be drawn from that. A 3 or 4-year-old isn't too young for play therapy with a licensed, trained therapist.

It's not cookie cutter, but you can use a variety of information drawn from exercises like this to begin to figure out conflict in the home and with the child. In Denise Richards' case, it may be a tactic she wants to use in her court case to argue that the kids are troubled. However, even if her motivation is impure, the children can still benefit. As long as the therapist doesn't get drawn into the inter-parental conflict, it can work for the participants.

All kids of divorce need support, but not necessarily therapy. They could attend a discussion group, for instance, to normalize their situation, take away the stigma, and to eliminate the idea that this is their fault. The signs that children need therapy are:

1. A departure in their normal behavior -- a normally exuberant child is now calm or a calm child is now easily excitable.

2. When they aren't progressing developmentally, a.k.a. a child who regresses. If you have a 3-year-old who is walking and potty-trained who suddenly starts to crawl again and wet his/her bed, it's a sign of stress and that they are unable to function. Once or twice it's no problem, but a pattern there is cause for concern."