What can I expect from my first sessions?
The first several session are about understanding what the therapy process will be like, signing some additional paperwork, and a lot of questions. Some of these questions are asked with parents alone, with young people alone, or with everyone together. All of these questions are about different areas of a child’s life, not just what difficulties brings them into the office. I will be asking about school, friendships, family relationships, medical history, spirituality and several others areas. This is to help me identify each young person’s unique situation, strengths, and areas of struggle. No two clients are alike and by gaining insight into all the different areas of a young person’s life it can help us develop a path forward that is tailored to your child. We will also identify “treatment plan goals”, which are specific things you and your child would like to see when we know the therapy process is done.
During a typical session for the younger people I see, sessions start with a check in with parents with regards to specific things that happened over the week, engagement in mental health activities outside of the session, and other areas of strenght, success, or concern. I want to know both what went well over the week as well as the areas of struggle. If parents have “adults only” information to check in about, part of the check in can be between myself and parents alone. After the check in the child is in the session alone and we are using therapeutic techniques to help the child work towards their goals. This may look like play therapy, cognitive behaviroal therapy, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.
For older adolescents and teens depending on the reason for entering therapy and family dynamics regular sessions may look exactly the same as above. However, most adolescents and teens tend to benefit with having the whole session to themselves with periodic parent check ins regarding progress. Older young people are better at identifying progress, areas of struggle, and areas of success without the support of their parent.
Whether your child is younger or older the therapy process is flexible and adapts to fit the need of each family depending on what is happening during their life for any given session. Sometimes the “check in” portion can turn into relational therapy between parent and child. Other times there are not a lot of new things to report so the child has the entire session to themselves. Additionally some sessions may be parent only sessions to help support parents with identifying, navigating, and implementing the most effective parenting techniques for their child.
Is what my child talks about confidential? Will you keep information from parents?
What is discussed in therapy is confidential between the child/family and therapist and is protected by Minnesota law. There are some exceptions to confidentiality including if a young person intends to harm themselves, if a young person threatens to harm someone else, or if a member of a vulnerable population including children (your child or another child under the age of 18), an elderly person, someone who is mentally handicapped is being hurt or prenatal abuse.
As a parent you do have the right to access to information about your child’s therapy. However, if young people know that parents will know every detail about what they disclose in counseling they may not feel safe to go into areas of difficulty for fear of parent reaction. For this reason for older young people that I see I may reccomended more confidentiality between the young person and myself than what is shared to parents. However, if your child is being hurt or harmed in any way parents will know immediately.
Sometimes parents wish for me to coordinate with an important person in a child’s life such as a school social worker or medication provider. If this is the case only necessary information will be shared after specific forms are signed stating that parents consent to this with this communication. If this is something you would like for you child we will discuss information to be released in depth during your therapy session.
Lastly, some information about your child’s therapy will be shared with your insurance company if you are using insurance to pay for therapy services.
If you have any questions about the limits of confidentiality or what stays private and what does not please feel free to ask!
How long are appointments?
Typical sessions last between 45-50 minutes. Sometimes a longer session is needed and there are options for 60 minute sessions. Each individual session can be different and care is made to wrap up the session with enough time to help your child ground enough to re-enter their day. Therapy is hard work, so much care is taken to not begin to work on something sensitive or difficult that can’t be brought to closure before the session time ends.
How often do we meet?
Typically therapy starts out with weekly appointments. Once young people are making progress towards their goals sessions transition to every other week. At this point when symptoms have stabilized at low levels and relief from difficulties is achieved we will have several monthly “maintance” appointments to ensure that the benefits of therapy are persisting and to support the young person in independently using skills to manage emotions, make helpful choices, and maintain relationships.
How long does therapy last?
I am here to support you and your family for as long as you need. There is no one “right” course of therapy or time frame. For problems that have been present for longer, more sessions may be needed. For young people that have current life stressors such as bullying at school, divorcing parents, moving schools or homes, or difficulty meeting basic needs the therapeutic process may be slower.
For some starting the therapy process can make difficulties worse as they are getting to the root of the issue. For others things get immediately better as the child has a “honeymoon” period, but then returns to the way things were when families first sought counseling. However, for most young people things slowly progress with some weeks making more progress towards goals and other weeks being a bit more difficult. This mimics life’s normal “ups and downs” but when a family looks back at what was happening in their child’s life when they began the counseling process and where they are down the road they are able to see the leaps their child has made towards mental wellness.
What should I do between sessions?
What you can start doing right now, today, is to make sure your child has a good sleep routine, appropriate exercise, and is having a healthy balanced diet. These three things will significantly boost your child’s mood and mental wellness.
Typically between therapy sessions you and your child may be assigned “homework”. This is not typically a work sheet, more of a thinking (how can I see the problem/issue/stressor in a different way or say a different message to myself) or a doing (what do I need to add to my routine or remove to function better) task.
I often ask parents to track how often or long a behavior happens so we can assess progress or I may ask parents to try different strategies or techniques to support their child. Often times the parenting tool box that families have when beginning therapy is great…for some children. Often times the young people I see need a slightly different set of tools. As a parent you are the most important person in a child’s life. Change is hard, and if it is hard to change as an adult with good set of skills and tools, insight, impulse control, and healthy decision making strategies can you imagine how hard it is for children to change? Based on their level of development they need supportive safe adults to create positive structure in their lives to support them in growing and changing to live a life that feels better for them.
How do I pay for therapy?
Most clients choose to use their insurance to cover the cost of therapy. I am an in-network provider for most insurance companies. Your insurance company can answer questions about if services are fully covered, if there is a co-pay or payment towards a deductible needed, restrictions on number of sessions allowed per year, or if a referral is needed for the service. I encourage clients to call their insurance company directly to be clear about their specific plan’s mental health benefits.
What if I need to cancel?
There is a $75.00 late cancellation fee for appointments cancelled within 24 hours of an appointment for non-emergency reasons. I often hold a late-cancel list so if you can notify me outside of the 24 hour window there is a likelihood that someone else will be able to use that appointment time.
The first several session are about understanding what the therapy process will be like, signing some additional paperwork, and a lot of questions. Some of these questions are asked with parents alone, with young people alone, or with everyone together. All of these questions are about different areas of a child’s life, not just what difficulties brings them into the office. I will be asking about school, friendships, family relationships, medical history, spirituality and several others areas. This is to help me identify each young person’s unique situation, strengths, and areas of struggle. No two clients are alike and by gaining insight into all the different areas of a young person’s life it can help us develop a path forward that is tailored to your child. We will also identify “treatment plan goals”, which are specific things you and your child would like to see when we know the therapy process is done.
During a typical session for the younger people I see, sessions start with a check in with parents with regards to specific things that happened over the week, engagement in mental health activities outside of the session, and other areas of strenght, success, or concern. I want to know both what went well over the week as well as the areas of struggle. If parents have “adults only” information to check in about, part of the check in can be between myself and parents alone. After the check in the child is in the session alone and we are using therapeutic techniques to help the child work towards their goals. This may look like play therapy, cognitive behaviroal therapy, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.
For older adolescents and teens depending on the reason for entering therapy and family dynamics regular sessions may look exactly the same as above. However, most adolescents and teens tend to benefit with having the whole session to themselves with periodic parent check ins regarding progress. Older young people are better at identifying progress, areas of struggle, and areas of success without the support of their parent.
Whether your child is younger or older the therapy process is flexible and adapts to fit the need of each family depending on what is happening during their life for any given session. Sometimes the “check in” portion can turn into relational therapy between parent and child. Other times there are not a lot of new things to report so the child has the entire session to themselves. Additionally some sessions may be parent only sessions to help support parents with identifying, navigating, and implementing the most effective parenting techniques for their child.
Is what my child talks about confidential? Will you keep information from parents?
What is discussed in therapy is confidential between the child/family and therapist and is protected by Minnesota law. There are some exceptions to confidentiality including if a young person intends to harm themselves, if a young person threatens to harm someone else, or if a member of a vulnerable population including children (your child or another child under the age of 18), an elderly person, someone who is mentally handicapped is being hurt or prenatal abuse.
As a parent you do have the right to access to information about your child’s therapy. However, if young people know that parents will know every detail about what they disclose in counseling they may not feel safe to go into areas of difficulty for fear of parent reaction. For this reason for older young people that I see I may reccomended more confidentiality between the young person and myself than what is shared to parents. However, if your child is being hurt or harmed in any way parents will know immediately.
Sometimes parents wish for me to coordinate with an important person in a child’s life such as a school social worker or medication provider. If this is the case only necessary information will be shared after specific forms are signed stating that parents consent to this with this communication. If this is something you would like for you child we will discuss information to be released in depth during your therapy session.
Lastly, some information about your child’s therapy will be shared with your insurance company if you are using insurance to pay for therapy services.
If you have any questions about the limits of confidentiality or what stays private and what does not please feel free to ask!
How long are appointments?
Typical sessions last between 45-50 minutes. Sometimes a longer session is needed and there are options for 60 minute sessions. Each individual session can be different and care is made to wrap up the session with enough time to help your child ground enough to re-enter their day. Therapy is hard work, so much care is taken to not begin to work on something sensitive or difficult that can’t be brought to closure before the session time ends.
How often do we meet?
Typically therapy starts out with weekly appointments. Once young people are making progress towards their goals sessions transition to every other week. At this point when symptoms have stabilized at low levels and relief from difficulties is achieved we will have several monthly “maintance” appointments to ensure that the benefits of therapy are persisting and to support the young person in independently using skills to manage emotions, make helpful choices, and maintain relationships.
How long does therapy last?
I am here to support you and your family for as long as you need. There is no one “right” course of therapy or time frame. For problems that have been present for longer, more sessions may be needed. For young people that have current life stressors such as bullying at school, divorcing parents, moving schools or homes, or difficulty meeting basic needs the therapeutic process may be slower.
For some starting the therapy process can make difficulties worse as they are getting to the root of the issue. For others things get immediately better as the child has a “honeymoon” period, but then returns to the way things were when families first sought counseling. However, for most young people things slowly progress with some weeks making more progress towards goals and other weeks being a bit more difficult. This mimics life’s normal “ups and downs” but when a family looks back at what was happening in their child’s life when they began the counseling process and where they are down the road they are able to see the leaps their child has made towards mental wellness.
What should I do between sessions?
What you can start doing right now, today, is to make sure your child has a good sleep routine, appropriate exercise, and is having a healthy balanced diet. These three things will significantly boost your child’s mood and mental wellness.
Typically between therapy sessions you and your child may be assigned “homework”. This is not typically a work sheet, more of a thinking (how can I see the problem/issue/stressor in a different way or say a different message to myself) or a doing (what do I need to add to my routine or remove to function better) task.
I often ask parents to track how often or long a behavior happens so we can assess progress or I may ask parents to try different strategies or techniques to support their child. Often times the parenting tool box that families have when beginning therapy is great…for some children. Often times the young people I see need a slightly different set of tools. As a parent you are the most important person in a child’s life. Change is hard, and if it is hard to change as an adult with good set of skills and tools, insight, impulse control, and healthy decision making strategies can you imagine how hard it is for children to change? Based on their level of development they need supportive safe adults to create positive structure in their lives to support them in growing and changing to live a life that feels better for them.
How do I pay for therapy?
Most clients choose to use their insurance to cover the cost of therapy. I am an in-network provider for most insurance companies. Your insurance company can answer questions about if services are fully covered, if there is a co-pay or payment towards a deductible needed, restrictions on number of sessions allowed per year, or if a referral is needed for the service. I encourage clients to call their insurance company directly to be clear about their specific plan’s mental health benefits.
What if I need to cancel?
There is a $75.00 late cancellation fee for appointments cancelled within 24 hours of an appointment for non-emergency reasons. I often hold a late-cancel list so if you can notify me outside of the 24 hour window there is a likelihood that someone else will be able to use that appointment time.
