“If we use how we were taught yesterday to teach our children today, we are not preparing them well for tomorrow.” 
― Daniel J. Siegel

What is a parent consultation?

A parent consult is typically a short term relationship with a very specific problem to solve. A time-limited number of sessions is appropriate when the scope of the work is narrow and well-defined. These are typically focused on a diagnostic question or to address the next steps in treatment. Consultation questions may include:
  • Another psychologist's evaluation report
  • Diagnostic clarification (especially when trauma or neuropsychological dysfunction is involved)
  • School accommodations, behavior plans, and recommendations

Consultation with parents is almost always the result of their child being engaged with another professional. Usually this occurs when that child is engaged with another health professional. The therapist, teacher, physician, psychiatrist, evaluating psychologist, or the parent may seek additional expert advice about a facet of the treatment or evaluation. Consultations are not therapy.  I provide recommendations for therapy if appropriate. This may be with another therapist or with me but only after our consultation relationship has ended. 

Consultation regarding psychological evaluations and reports

I have extensive expertise with neuropsychological evaluations and offer help to parents with:

  • Interpretation of psychological reports and test data
  • Understanding Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) and attached psycho-educational reports
  • Getting a second opinion about the conclusions of a report or test results
  • Clarifying the meaning of unusual or complex test results
  • Following through with report recommendations
  • Creating additional recommendations with you based on previous reports
  • Developing strategies for ensuring effective implementation of recommendations in various settings, including at home and at school
Please note​: While I have extensive experience with testing children as young as 2 years old through young adulthood, I am currently on hiatus from testing.  This may be an area that I will reincorporate into my practice in the future

Effective use of consultation

Knowing when consultation is appropriate can be tricky

For many parents, the idea of entering into therapy can be scary or nebulous. Many questions are raised:
  • What does this mean about my child?
  • What does this say about me as a parent?
  • What are we really getting into?
  • How long will this take?
  • How much will it cost?
All these questions are valid, understandable and quite common! The answers are also quite varied. So "it depends" is the usual response therapists give to most of these questions getting into these questions can be therapeutic in itself. That said, I prefer transparency and good communication from the outset so raising these concerns in an initial phone call is not just appropriate but critical to clarifying what the nature of our relationship will be.

Therefore, if you are interested in consultation because you are unsure and need some psychoeducation that is perfectly fine! I would rather parents come to me for one session, learn what therapy is about and go somewhere else to get what they need than to never talk to a professional for fear of being judged. Consultation can be a "therapeutic" process which for many families is a stepping stone to getting the right help they need. 

If you are interested in consultation here are the steps:
  1. Think about your situation and ask yourself: "What do I need to have happen or change in my family's life?"
  2. After spending some time on that, ask yourself: "Why hasn't that happened or changed? And have I done everything I know how to do?" You may not have the answers and that's okay. In fact, it's really important to communicate when you don't know!
  3. Prior to a call organize your concerns and questions. If the list is long, try to prioritize the top ones. We can make time to get through the whole list together in person.
  4. Try to identify one or two discrete problems that you would like help resolving and feel that you can execute on your own after a couple of consult sessions together.   
  5. If steps 1-4 are really challenging for you we can talk more about that, but it may be a sign that therapy (individual, family, or parenting) is more appropriate.
  6. Communicate your interest in therapy or consultation (or confusion about it)