My eight year old son is going to see a child phsycologist (sp), what should I expect ?
Answer:
I recently took my son to see a psychiatrist (sp) because we are having trouble with anger coupled with ADHD. You have every right to go in with him, if they won't let you, take your child and leave. Find someone is specializes in children and can also write prescriptions, in case it's decided meds would be of benefit. They will ask simple questions like what makes him happy, what makes him mad. Sometimes the D will use bigger words then your child will understand, explain them so that he won't give a false answer. Also, he will ask you questions about what seems to trigger him and about the home situation, they may feel accusatory in nature, but I promise you they are not. I felt like a horrible mom at some of the questions I was asked, like I was causing the problems. But once I thought about it, I realized he was trying to find out how things were at home without saying something that would put my son on the defensive, I was OK with it. Good Luck and if meds should be in order... don't fret, we tried everything else and HAD to turn to meds as a last resort, but they have made such a huge difference in our family life, I'm glad I didn't let the stigma of "putting my kid on drugs" hold any weight.
They first have to get him comfortable to talk there not going to ask direct questions they are going to get him to draw pictures and play and he may need you in the room at first just until your son gets comfortable with Dr.
Hey I kinda know what your talking about. I'm a kid and i have been to a psychologist before. I wasn't evaluated for depression, but what happened to me was my parents came in for a period of time and the doc asked us all questions as a family, like what we feel about other family members. Then the doc asked them to leave for a bit, and i had like 20-30 minutes with the doctor alone (very nice guy, too). Some of the questions we the same, to see of the answers were the same without the pressure of the family members. None of the questions seemed to really bug me, there wasn't much that made me feel uncomfortable. As a kid I'm not really sure how you see depression in a kid. Staying in room a lot, not having many friends over or going to many social events, no enthusiasm for anything.
p.s. - Depression for young kids really isn't that rare, me 7 year old sis had it (i think still has it).
Hope it helped, good luck then
First, you are NOT opening yourself up to trouble by getting help, you are opening up both yourself and your son to professional evaluation of how to help him in life.
What I would look for is; were you referred or did you select someone? If you were referred by the school you may have to go through the "steps" of evaluators to find one that is what your son needs. Are you seeing someone who can prescribe medication? If your son suffers from clinical depression, there are medications that can re-balance his system, but, again, you may have to be referred on from your initial psychologist to get to that person. Is the person operating alone in an office? One thing that is nice is, if the person and your son aren't right for each other, you can try someone else in the same office without starting from scratch again if there are multiple practitioners in the office. You need to ask what the counselors degree is. This is important, if the degree is an MSW, that's fine, but they won't have prescriptive authority. Look up their degree on-line and see how many years one needs to study to obtain it. Does your counselor review their casenotes with a psychiatrist? This would be a good thing. Whether you will be in the room or not is something you need to discuss with the therapist. Most prefer to see the patient alone, as having a parent in the room really is going to constrain communication. But your question to the therapist should be, "How will I be informed of your findings regarding my son and your recommended treatment?" It is reasonable to expect that you have a briefing of their findings and recommendations at least monthly.
Don't be afraid of this. This is called good parenting and trying to give your son all the options he needs. Your fear will be communicated to your son. The therapist really is your friend.
The psychiatrist will likely talk to you and your son separately. He'll want to know how your son feels and what he is thinking in his own words without any help from you. You should get as much information as can about childhood depression by doing a simple web search so you can learn about "symptoms" and what to expect from the psychiatrist and what tests he will perform. Also write down a list of questions you would like to ask. Remember that you are paying for the doctor and he should listen to all you concerns. If you at anytime question the result get a second opinion before putting you child on any medication or treatment.
Good luck mom. My son was depressed in the 4th grade. He smiled like twice all year. Turns out he's gifted and nothing in school stimulated him,,, like he was brain dead except for the computer.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FeelBaby.com does not guarantee the right.