Limiting the Overwhelm of Parents: Making Therapy More Accessible to Children and Teens at School
As parents, we want our kids to be happy and healthy. Oftentimes this means running them all over town for various events and appointments – wellness visits, sick visits, tutoring, dentist appointments, lessons, sports activities, vision tests, club events…and the list goes on and on. While their happiness and success is a priority, what happens when crises arise which add to the already over-scheduled family schedule? When our children experience mental health symptoms and concerns, this moves up quickly on the priority list of weekly commitments. Parents who are already burning up the road with mileage then try to find more time in the day to fit in one more (very important) therapy visit.
Each day only has so many minutes. Those parents who work only have so much time off. Kids can only miss so much time from school, even when absences are excused for counseling visits, before it starts impacting their educational success. The ticking clock becomes our enemy, limiting us to what all we can accomplish and trying to prioritize what is most important. Feeling frazzled yet? Overwhelmed? Worried? Even inconvenienced? You’re not alone. We know that consistently attending therapy is a predictor of the success of therapy, however getting kids to therapy on a regular basis is a feat in itself. Getting our kids to therapy consistently adds to the plate of stress over-scheduled parents are already managing. Additionally, there are only so many after-school appointments available, which requires parents to take their children during the work and school day. Is the benefit of therapy outweighing the cost of missing school and work and the additional stress it causes?
These barriers are exactly why the Creative Family Counseling Team has partnered with the Oldham County School District and other Private Schools in the Louisville area. We see you, parents, and we believe counseling services should be more accessible to our children. Our team has expanded to include an entire team of School Facilitated Service Therapists to meet the needs in area schools. The School Facilitated Therapists on the Creative Family Counseling Team will be coordinating with each school’s Mental Health Counselor to coordinate accessible therapy during the school day for children and teens in participating schools. By meeting with children at school, at a time that will not cause additional academic stress, therapists will decrease time away from class by meeting on campus, eliminating the need to travel to the outpatient office and preventing parents from missing work to get their children the support they deserve and need.
Students can be referred for School Facilitated Counseling in two ways – the service can be requested to and by the school’s Mental Health Counselor (MHC), or parents can request the service directly through the Creative Family Counseling practice website. Once an initial intake is completed (between the therapist and the guardian either via telehealth or in person at the outpatient office or school), the therapist will coordinate with the school’s MHC to schedule confidential sessions at the school for the child. The Therapist will continue to coordinate with the MHC and the guardian/parent about their child’s counseling services, goals, and success until treatment is completed. School Facilitated Services is collaborative, removes barriers to academic and emotional success, reduces the overwhelm in parents’ lives, and helps our children thrive.
If your child would benefit from School Facilitated Counseling by a member of the Creative Family Counseling team, call today or Contact Us to get started. We look forward to supporting your child AND your schedule.
