If you believe that testing or therapy could be helpful to your child, you will want to explain the process to your family member first. You might tell him / her that you know there’s been something that’s been bothering them lately, and then give a specific example of a difficult moment the two of you have talked about recently.

​You can then explain that you’ve found someone who works with children and teens, and has some expertise in helping kids understand how to manage things that feel so difficult. Sometimes children and teens want to know that they can speak confidentially with someone other than a parent – someone who may be “objective” in their minds. (Of course, we will work out what remains confidential between the “client” and therapist, relative to what the parents need to know too!)

With a child, you may mention that we have games, toys, and music in our office – in fact, we have several playrooms! For teens, you may ask them to “give it a shot” and at least see if it’s worth a try. If your referral questions involve testing, we refer to those activities as “brain games”, to find out all the things that are easy for the person, and anything that they may need some help with. With those messages communicated from the beginning, most reports that we hear from children and adolescents indicate a comfort level in our clinic.