If you are dealing with behavior that never seems to improve, you're in the right place.

As parents of strong-willed kids, there can be a possibility that your child is dealing with an abnormality in their functioning.  They could have inherited or developed anxiety, ADHD, depression, or autism, just to name a few.  A professional's help is needed to get a clear diagnosis.

We often get asked: "How do I know if I need to seek professional help for my child? Where do I go if I do think they need professional help?"

We seek to answer both those questions and more in today's episode.

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Mike Fitch, CMHC

 

What Kind of Counselor Should I Be Looking For

It can be overwhelming because there’s a lot of different kinds of mental health professionals. There’s clinical mental health counselors, licensed marriage family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and even family physicians. So Mike is going to talk us through where we would go next if we think that there's something additional going on with our child.

**We strongly recommend seeing a physician first.  A child who feels poorly may behave poorly.  Talk to your physician about doing blood work to check for food allergies, nutrient deficiencies, thyroid function, etc.**

It is common to get confused and not sure where to go. So I first want to clear those little acronyms behind all of our names.

Master’s Degree Level of Licensure

LMFT (Licensed Marriage Family Therapist)- therapists who special in doing family therapy or doing couples therapy.

CMHC (Clinical Mental Health Counselor)- These therapists usually specialize in one area.  However, CMHC does not indicate to you what type of therapy.  CMHCs can specialize anywhere from early childhood to geriatrics. So you may have to seek out a little bit more information.

LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)- These are individuals that originally got their degree to do social work within a hospital or to do case work. Back in the early seventies because there was a lack of availability for psychiatrists and psychologists. Therefore, LCSW were allowed to start doing individual therapy as well.

All the people with the master's level degree typically do what’s called talk therapy. They don't do a whole lot of psychological assessments and cannot prescribe medications.

PhD Degree Level of Licensure

If you want your child to have a full psychological assessment, you have to go up to the PhD level. They can do what's called a psychological assessment or neuro psycho neuro assessment. Normally it takes a full day to a couple of days to do that. I typically send people to psychologist when they're having extreme problems. Most of the time you do not want to start off with a psychologist. If you're going to start off from the counseling setting, you probably want to start off with one of the masters levels. They're more accessible and less expensive typically. Usually parents just need some tools and some coaching.

Who Would Benefit From a Master’s Degree Level Counselor

If you feel your child might have OCD, ADHD, ODD or autism this would be a good place to start. If the counselor feels like it's a little bit out of their comfort zone, they could refer you on to the PHD level.

Your First Visit With a Counselor

On the first visit, I usually see just the parents. Typically, the parents don’t even have a diagnosis in mind.  I like to talk to them about what the parent is worried about.  Honestly, they usually say, “My child is not listening, my child's not doing well in school. My child is afraid or my child won't go to sleep. Something's off.”

After that first appointment, I'm do some assessments myself. If I do decide that it does look like autism,