Parent’s Frequently Asked Questions:
How can United Services, Inc. help my child, my family and me?
The staff at United Services, Inc. consists of trained, licensed Social Workers, Psychologists, Counselors, Nurses and Psychiatrists. They are all experienced in assisting children, adolescents and their families in their struggle with a wide range of psychiatric and behavioral problems. You can find a list of clinical specialties located on the main page of the Child Guidance website.
What can I expect will happen at the Intake appointment?
The Therapist will be asking you for information so that they can begin to fully understand the problem and all the factors that might be influencing the problem. The Therapist will be asking a large set of standard assessment questions. This is important information to obtain, even if it does not always seem directly related to your reason for seeking services.
What are the limits to the confidentiality of all this information?
Under ordinary circumstances no one has access to your private information without your consent. It is likely that the Therapist will ask you to sign a Release of Information form so that some information can be obtained from the child’s school and other involved persons or agencies. Also, it is important to point out that the Therapist and other United Services staff are “mandated reporters.” This means that they are required by law to report any instances in which they have a reasonable belief that a child’s safety or welfare has been compromised. This will result in contacting the Department of Children and Families to complete the appropriate reporting procedure. Sometimes, in the cases where the therapy has been ordered by the Court or DCF, there is some clear expectation that periodic updates will be made or that a summary of treatment will be provided to that organization. Also, there are occasionally instances where United Services, Inc and the Therapist receive a subpoena from the Court to testify or provide copies of the records. These are special cases and the parents would be contacted before any steps were taken in that direction.
What will the therapy sessions be like?
This depends on several factors including the age of the child and the type of problem that is being presented for treatment. Typically, the younger the child, the more the parents can expect to be involved. There will be much attention paid to parenting strategies and home-based behavior plans. In working with younger children the Therapist will frequently use play therapy techniques because young children are not yet able to talk about their thoughts and feelings. Often times Family Therapy will be used to try to better understand the whole problem and develop solutions in which everyone is involved. There is more time spent talking alone with adolescents and some younger children and parents sometimes have difficulty with the fact that these conversations are generally kept confidential. While the conversations that occur between the child and the Therapist are kept private, parents can be assured that they will be made aware of any important developments such as concerns for the child’s safety.
How do the appointments get scheduled?
Once you are through the Intake process you will schedule the appointments directly with the Therapist. The frequency of the sessions is negotiated according to the current need and the Therapist’s availability. It will not be possible to give every child an after-school appointment and so parents must expect to take the child out of school on occasion. It is extremely important to call at least 24 hours in advance if you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment. Failure to appear for appointments will result in our closing the case.
What will be the role of the Psychiatrist and medication in my child’s treatment?
If the Therapist believes that medication may help the child then they will refer the child to the Psychiatrist for a formal medication evaluation. This does not mean that a prescription will definitely be written. The Psychiatrist may decide that medication would be inappropriate at that time. If the Psychiatrist decides that a medication could help your child, then you have the option of accepting or rejecting the prescription. If you accept the prescription then it is extremely important that you give the medication exactly as it is prescribed. It is also important that you keep all the scheduled appointments with the Psychiatrist as this is the main way of evaluating the effectiveness of the medication.
What is the parent’s role in this process?
Child Therapy is often a long process. As the Therapist and the parents work together to solve the identified problems the parents will need to recognize that their role is very important in this process. The parents will need to bring the child to all the appointments, be prepared to offer detailed information on the child since the last session, demonstrate a willingness to try new things or re-try previously attempted solutions, be involved in the child’s school program and generally recognize that the therapy is unlikely to be important to the child if it seems to be unimportant to the parent. Finally, parents need to have a clear sense of what they’re expecting from the therapy and have an equally clear sense of what to look for in order to tell if things are improving.