What is a therapist ?
In our clinics we have lots of different kinds of therapists or doctors. They have all been trained to work with children and families who have experienced problems in emotional well-being (or behaviour, or in getting along with others).
Often you will meet more than one therapist at the first meeting, and we try to find the right kind of worker for the kind of problem you and/or your family are experiencing. It may be that we are not sure at the beginning and will organise for you to meet a different kind of therapist later on.
The kinds of therapists who work in our clinic are:
Psychologists
Psychologists are trained to understand how children (and adults) think and learn. They understand the kinds of things that might stop you from getting on well in school or at home.
Social workers
Social workers are trained to be good at understanding when things go wrong in families. They have an extra responsibility for protecting children from harm.
Psychiatrists
Psychiatrists are first trained as doctors in physical health like your GP, where they help with what might be wrong with your body. Once they have trained in this way they then go on to train how to understand more about children's emotions and behaviour and what can go wrong when children are not coping.
Psychiatrists sometimes prescribe medicine for emotional problems. They only do this when they are sure that this is the best option for the child in question.
Family Therapists
Family therapists train in working with whole families or bits of families. They often work in teams. This can be especially helpful when trying to understand more than one side of a problem.
Child Psychotherapists
Child Psychotherapists train for a long time to understand children. Because they understand children so well they are good at figuring out how children's problems develop over time. They can work with families, but often they will work with a child on their own. They usually see children regularly to build up a relationship so that a child gets a better understanding of where things went wrong for them.
All of our staff work to help children feel better about themselves and their relationships. But for children to get the best care we need our staff to have these different skills. Our staff all work together so that each child and family have access to all of these special skills.
Nurses
Nurses are trained in physical and mental health, and in thinking about children and families where there might be emotional or behavioural problems. Nurses work both in the clinic and in the community, and may come and visit parents, children and families in their homes or at school to see how they might be able to offer help.
