Evaluating Therapy: When Is It Time to Change Therapists?

Not happy with your kid’s therapist?

At some point all parents with children in therapy will ask themselves “is it working?” How does a parent judge whether they should keep their child in therapy, or with the same therapist? There are some basic questions to consider to help you when evaluating therapy and if it’s helping or not. Here are a few:

• Does your child like their therapist? If your kid feels safe and connected with the therapist that’s a really good sign. Once your son/daughter feels secure, their therapist is more likely to be able to challenge them in a meaningful and helpful way.
• Do you have a relationship with the therapist? It’s important that you as a parent feel heard, but also, the therapist needs your perspective to give them a broader view. Sometimes kids aren’t focused on the bigger issues. Parents can often provide information that helps the therapy along.
• How long has your child been in therapy? Therapy is a little like cultivating a garden. It takes time to work, and you’re likely to get impatient if you watch it too closely. We think evaluating therapy in three month blocks is the most productive way to judge whether it’s helping

Another Parental Judgment Call

Therapy takes patience, and it may or may not require changing therapists. Ultimately it’s going to be a judgment call and we talk about it in this Tips on Teens:

“My 14 year old son has been in therapy now for seven weeks and we haven’t seen any changes. When we started therapy, we thought that by this point he would be seeing our point of view a little better, but he’s still doing the same disrespectful behaviors and not doing his homework. It’s hard for me to have any faith in this process when I don’t even know what they’re talking about too. How long should I wait before I try another therapist?”