Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

How do I know if my child needs therapy?
Your child may need support if she is struggling with relating and engaging with you. Your child may need help if he is unable to play well with other children. Your child may need assistance if he is exhibiting behaviors such as aggressiveness; inability to sooth himself; is frequently sad, angry, or anxious; or is going through a transition that is difficult for him (such as going to daycare or school for the first time). You may feel concerned that after a long period of growth, your child has regressed in his behaviors. If you have questions, I can provide professional feedback to help you with your child.

Do you take insurance?
Yes, we currently accept Aetna insurance and are working to add other plans. For others, my practice is fee-for-service, but I am happy to provide you with a printed statement, which you can then submit to your insurance company for reimbursement if you participate in a PPO plan.

Additionally, infant mental health services are not always covered by traditional insurance plans.

What are the benefits of paying out of pocket?
Your child’s treatment information, including diagnosis, remains confidential. When you use insurance, managed care providers are required to submit a diagnosis and often, reports on treatment progress – information that may follow your child and possibly affect your family’s ability to obtain insurance in the future.

What is the difference between individual therapy for my child and dyadic therapy?
Individual child therapy means that your child is seen alone each week, with the therapist checking in with the parents/caregivers in order to strengthen support at home and to learn how the child is doing in the home setting.

Dyadic therapy involves the primary adult figure or figures in the child’s life. I work with the child and caregiver as a unit, helping to facilitate positive interactions and skill building for both child and adult in order to strengthen their relationship, which helps the child to make progress.

What’s is Parenting Coaching?
Coaching focuses on helping parents to improve their caregiving skills and ability to interact positively with the child. Let’s face it, your child was not born with a manual and no matter how many parenting or child development books you have read, new and unexpected things always come up. This is one of the joys – and the challenges – of being a parent.

With this in mind, Parenting Coaching is different from family therapy or dyadic sessions. It focuses primarily on mom and dad and helping them to develop the skills to be great parents to great kids.

Coaching may include helping parents with issues such as implementing discipline, teaching ways to help co-regulate and calm the child, learning about the developmental milestones for their child's age, recognizing their child's strengths, and improving the parents’ overall relationship with their child.

Do you only treat young children and families?
No. While I focus on helping young children and their families, I also see adolescents and adults. Issues with adults tend to center on preparing for becoming a new parent, parenting issues, and early childhood experiences that are impacting on current functioning.

I’ve heard people talk about parent-child “fit.”
What does this mean?
In our society, we expect that when babies are born, mothers should automatically bond with them. But, this just isn't always so. Just as in any relationship, there has to be a compatibility or "fit."

A mother may feel that due to her baby not responding to her, crying, or actually recoiling from her, she is not a good mother. She may even feel that she is a terrible mother.

She isn't. It may be that they are not the most ideal of a "fit" because they have contrary temperaments or respond differently to sounds, touch, or other stimuli.

The good news is that this is an issue we can work on. Infant-mother therapy sessions can help mom to be better able to read her baby's cues. Sessions can teach mom to understand what her child is sensitive to as well as what gives the baby pleasure.

 

 

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