School-Based Therapy: What you need to know
School-based mental health therapy is a valuable resource offered by many schools in our area. It provides children with access to mental health support right where they are while helping eliminate common barriers such as transportation, missed school time, and parents having to miss work for appointments. By meeting children in their school environment, we can become an additional part of their support system and help make accessing care a little easier for the whole family.
While this all sounds great, what does school-based mental health therapy actually look like? How do you get your child connected to services? How do you know if it’s even an option at your child’s school?
In this post, we’ll walk you through how to get started, explain what the process typically entails, and clear up some of the confusion around school-based mental health services. Our goal is to help you feel more informed and confident about whether this type of support could be a good fit for your child and family.
Getting started
While every school has their own procedure, it can typically go a few different ways. One way to get started is to connect with your child’s school counselor. They can get you set up to begin the referral process to get started with a school based provider. Another way to get started is to reach out to us directly! We can help you coordinate your referral process with the school and assist with getting your child set up with school based services. This would look like us verifying your child’s school information, assessing if we are already providing services there or if we are able to add that school, and checking insurance information. Once we confirm all this information, we will move forward with scheduling!
First steps
Once we verify all the information, whether that is received through the referral process directly from the school or from you reaching out to us, we then schedule a time to meet for the intake session. This intake can be done virtually or in person at our office, but will be used to gather background information and create treatment goals for school based services. Follow this link for more information on what our intake process entails: https://www.intentionalmindsmhc.com/journal/what-does-the-intake-process-look-like
Starting at school
After we meet with you for the intake session and all necessary paperwork is completed, we will then reach out to the school to coordinate a time that works best with your child’s school schedule and our availability. We try to avoid scheduling during core classes and lunch/recess as much as possible. Some times may overlap with important classes, but we verify with you and your child’s teacher to ensure it will not impact their education.
Parent Involvement
While we are meeting directly with your child at school, we would love to continue to have you involved in their services! This can look like email updates, phone/video calls, or coordinated parent/child sessions as needed. It is important to ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to your child’s care. We want any updates that you can provide regarding what you see at home and we will provide you with updates on skills that we are practicing in our sessions together.
Throughout the process of school based services, we are always here to answer any questions you may have. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or concerns regarding your child’s services at any time.
