How does parent consultation work? 

Parents should realize that they are their child’s number one resource.  Child psychologists can often effectively intervene with child problems by providing guidance to parents, even without ongoing therapy sessions with the child.  Such a model can be cost-effective while maximizing strengths that already exist within the family.  Although some children and teens are truly best served by working directly with a provider, others may be not be developmentally ready to productively engage in therapy.  Also, some youths may feel daunted by regular therapy sessions, whether because of busy schedules, a sense of shame, or resistance to getting help.    

Start with a phone or email inquiry: The inquiry process gives you a chance to hear how we work and for us to determine our potential fit to your needs. We find that parent consultation works best when all involved parents, regardless of marital status, are in agreement with seeking our services and are able to support each other’s efforts in the parenting work.

The intake: Parents attend an initial 75-minute intake/ consultation meeting.  Prior to the initial meeting, parents complete extensive history forms via a secure client portal.  By reviewing the information ahead of time, we can maximize what we accomplish in the initial consult.  During the consult, we ask follow-up questions. By the end of the consult we are usually able to offer initial impressions and suggestions for next steps. 

The child visit: In most cases, we will request that you bring your child for one to two office visits. The office visits may involve a play session, a child interview, or more formal evaluation of your child. We find that the child visits greatly inform our work with parents. We sometimes find that a child would benefit from a more comprehensive evaluation, beyond the one or two office visits.

Case conceptualization and treatment planning: Following the intake meeting and child visits, your provider will share how they are conceptualizing the challenges, options for treatment targets, and the types of strategies that might be helpful.

Follow-up sessions: Follow-up frequency varies widely from family to family.  Most families prefer ongoing follow-up parent sessions for several weeks to several months.  Most families feel best served by having several sessions in close succession before reducing to every other week.  It’s common for families to continue to utilize us as a resource over the years of their child’s development with occasional meetings from time to time. 

Please reach out if you would like to discuss whether the parent consultation model may be suitable for your family.  

Five ways that parent consultation differs from parent coaching

Both services aim to support parents in optimizing their child’s development and resolve behavior challenges.  Both offer strategies to try out at home, with troubleshooting during follow-up sessions.  Parent consultation at Child and Teen Solutions offers these additional benefits:

1. The ability to provide an evaluation of your child, if needed.   Your child may or may not have a diagnosis that is driving problem behavior.  A child psychologist can evaluate your child to make this determination, as well as provide feedback about what may fall within or outside what might be typical for your child’s age.

2. As part of parent consultation, a child psychologist can educate you about tools backed by research that may be useful given your child’s developmental and behavioral profile. 

3. Many parents who seek therapy for their child may find it difficult to find a child therapist with availability.  By working with a child psychologist, parents can be taught how to implement techniques (such as play-based and cognitive-behavioral strategies) that may be helpful to their child who may be struggling with anxiety, anger outbursts, or meltdowns. 

4. If a child’s issues are occurring in the school setting, a child psychologist can serve as a liaison with teachers to further assess the challenges and design interventions.  

5.  A child psychologist can assist in addressing concerns within the family system that may be impacting the child.