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Appointment with Children
Can I Bring My Child To My Appointment?
It is strongly recommended that you attend the session and be able to focus in the session to gain the maximum benefit. Please discuss with the therapist if childcare is a barrier to you attending appointments.
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Should I Attend My Child's Initial Appointment?
For children and teens (aged under 16) we recommend that parents attend the initial consultation – this helps us to gather the information we need to develop an effective treatment plan. Depending on your child’s age and the help they are seeking, you may also wish to attend some of their later appointments. This will be discussed further at their initial appointment.
If there are issues you need to raise that you don’t want to raise in front of your child, we may either split the session, so that we meet with your child for half the session and you for the remaining part of the session, or else we can set up a separate appointment to discuss your concerns.
What Do I Tell my Child About Going to Counselling?
Parents can be concerned that bringing their child to a psychotherapist will make their child think there’s something wrong with them, and we generally find this isn’t the case. Remember your child will follow your lead. If you present information in a positive, solution-focused way, they’re more likely to see their appointment as a positive thing.
We usually recommend that parents are as open and honest as possible about their reason for making the appointment. For example, if your child is struggling with anxiety you can let them know that you’ve seen that they’ve been worried lately and it’s making them unhappy and you think it will be helpful to see someone for ideas on what the two of you can learn different ways to be with these worries. If problem behaviour is the reason why you’re seeking treatment, you could say that you’ve noticed everyone has been fighting more lately so you’ve made an appointment to speak to someone who can help with ideas on how everyone can work together to get along better.