“Therapists know that comfort level is the most crucial qualification and will not take it personally.”It can be awkward to leave a professional with whom you have established a relationship. Many parents don’t realize how worried therapists and psychiatrists get when a patient suddenly stops showing up. Mental health specialists appreciate the courtesy of being informed if they will not be seeing your teen again simply because they want the assurance that the teen will remain in treatment. A quick phone call is greatly appreciated.
If your teen has found a new therapist, call the previous one and thank her for her past work. You can provide a detail about the new person you have hired. For example, you can say that you thought your teen would do better with a male therapist or a therapist who practices your family’s religion. You can even simply say that your child hit it off better with a different therapist. Therapists know that comfort level is the most crucial qualification and will not take it personally.
If you are changing psychiatrists, I recommend the following approach, which I received on the advice of a new psychiatrist I hired for my daughter. Call the previous psychiatrist (you can leave a message) and explain that you sought a second opinion. It is a nice courtesy to name the new psychiatrist. Then say that your teen felt really comfortable with this new person and that you are going to stick with her for a while, but that you hope she will remain open to letting your teen return if they change their mind. When I left this message, the psychiatrist went out of her way to say how much she appreciated me letting her know and that certainly I could bring my teen back anytime.
Tags: Caregivers, Medicine, Therapy