E Q U I L I B R I A
Child and Family Psychological Services
The Psychologist will ask you to describe your current concerns and will ask questions to obtain a more detailed understanding of difficulties. At the end of the session the Psychologist will summarise her understanding of the difficulties and propose a plan for intervention with details about who will need to see the Psychologist, the estimated number of sessions and the approach that will be taken to try to resolve the issues discussed. Back to top
This will be decided jointly between the Family and the Psychologist at the end of the first session. The plan may involve periodic reviews at which point it will be decided if further sessions will be needed. Back to top
This will again be agreed between the Family and Psychologist at the end of the first session. It may be decided that there are weekly sessions initially reducing to fortnightly or monthly and in some cases a follow up session after several months may be arranged. Back to top
It is often the case that Parents feel it would be helpful for their child to discuss issues with a Psychologist but the teenager does not agree. The Psychologist will help you to find ways to encourage your child to at least attend an initial session. When the Psychologist meets with the teenager she will aim to establish their perspective on the problems and find a way to work that is agreeable to them. On occasions, when a teenager is not ready to attend sessions, the Psychologist may meet with the parents to help them manage the difficulties and to try different ways of communicating with their child. Back to top
Although the route to qualification is different,there are many overlaps in the work of both Educational and Clinical Psychologists. An Educational Psychologist focuses primarily on the child’s education and school related issues. The Clinical Psychologist might be focusing on issues which affect the child in all aspects of his/her life including home and school life. As a Clinical Psychologist, I might observe a child at school to gain a better understanding of issues that might be affecting the child’s behaviour or self esteem and similarly, I might carry out a formal psychometric test to gain more information and assist in planning an appropriate intervention Back to top
If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s general behaviour, development or emotional behaviour, you can discuss this with the Psychologist. You can call or email with a general question regarding the appropriateness at this stage of seeing the Psychologist. It is often better to make the contact sooner rather than later. It may be that, after only one session, you feel reassured and confident that you have the necessary information, strategies and approaches to manage the difficulties without further input from the Psychologist. Back to top
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The Psychologist will communicate with education staff if appropriate or necessary and may observe the child at school to get an overall view of the presenting issues. This will of course be decided and agreed with the parents who will need to pay for the Psychologist’s time spent in school observing the child or meeting with education staff to discuss issues related to the child. Back to top
It is usually helpful to meet with both parents and the child and any other relevant family members or carers. Although it may, on occasions, be more appropriate for parents to initially meet with the Psychologist without the child present. This allows the freedom to talk in detail about a difficulty and then for the Psychologist to meet with the child at a later date or time. Some issues may be focused on parenting approaches and it is not necessary for the child always to be present. Also, it may be necessary for an older child or teenager to meet with the psychologist without the parents present. Whether or not the child is seen during the first session will be decided during an initial telephone or email contact with the Psychologist. The nature of future sessions will be discussed at the end of the initial session. Back to top
- Does the Psychologist always need to see the child?
- What will happen at the initial session?
- How many sessions will we need?
- How often will sessions take place?
- What if my teenager does not want to attend therapy?
- What is the difference between a Clinical and an Educational Psychologist?
- What if the school is also concerned about my child’s behaviour or development?
- We are not sure if we need to see a Psychologist.