A little bit of reinforcement is worth its weight in GOLD for kids mental health. Okay, to be honest, this is true for adults too. We absolutely LOVE to be told that we are doing a good job, we are appreciated, or we are on the right track!
Want to know more about the power of reinforcement, and why we should throw it around like glitter? Check out more HERE!
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If your intake sessions, parent only sessions, or child therapy sessions don’t include some of the following comments from parents, you might not be a child therapist. It is SO common for parents to want and request things for their child like:
How many times have you watched kids create a block creation in the playroom? If you said “more than I can count”, well…. same. Whether it is blocks, legos, magnatiles, or cards there is one thing in common for every sturdy and tall standing tower - a secure and stable base.
And this is true for implementing parenting skills too! 
One thing I hear parents say often is “well… I can’t [insert consequence here] because he will just get mad and have a meltdown”.
The consequence can be anywhere from not having bike riding privileges when a child has broken the rule and gone outside the agreed upon boundaries to losing screen time in the morning when they are constantly 20 minutes late getting out the door because they can’t transition off their technology. 
Do you ever feel like you have 5,403 tabs open in your brain? As a therapist it’s not only coming to each session present and with the appropriate skill set and materials but also all the things that happen outside of the session that need to get done in a day.
I’m talking about returning emails, processing paperwork, ordering supplies (fingers crossed the Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce K Cups will last through the week) AND not to mention you can’t forget to order those pipe cleaners for that one project yet again! 
Did you know that some insurance companies require a note to be completed, sealed, and signed within 24 hours? If this doesn’t make you anxious - you are rocking it and kudos to you for getting your note practice down! Seriously, this deserves a celebration.
Specializing in working with kids is one of the most challenging paths as a therapist.
For one thing you likely don’t have voluntary clients (hello precontemplation in the stages of change model!) that may lack insight into why they are even in therapy. I mean, flipping chairs in the classroom isn’t that bad right? That was the old me! 
Document, document, document.
If every move you make feels like it needs to be documented - you’re kind of right. Of course we have our progress notes that document what occurred in session, however there are all kinds of other activities, according to HIPAA, that need to be documented in the client’s chart. 
When you are in a solo practice (without admin support) or in a group practice responsible for your own referrals there is one thing that is sure to clog up your time outside of sessions - request from new clients to start therapy.
And if you have openings this is an AMAZING thing. 8 Free Resources To Help You Set Better Goals: Know What Questions to Ask and How to Document Goals1/1/2025 
Treatment planning can be one of the most stressful AND important parts of therapy. It is, at the end of the day, what helps you identify if your therapy sessions are actually working. When doing consultation with therapists on their most difficult cases, this is often where we start….. because what a therapist might DO in session depends a ton on what the client’s actual goals are.
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Hi, there!I'm Ann Meehan, an LPCC, 
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[email protected] | Copyright Meehan Mental Health Services 2025
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[email protected] | Copyright Meehan Mental Health Services 2025