Rachel GladysTherapeutic Services
cultivating healing, growth, and change, through connection & the magic of play.
Learn more about the stages of
assessment, treatment, & healing at
Rachel Gladys Therapeutic Services
Consult Phone Call
15-25 minutes Free of charge
This is your first opportunity to tell me about your child and why you're seeking therapy. You'll get a glimpse at my style and approach as I ask questions to determine if your child's therapeutic needs are a good fit for my practice and specialties.
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I'll answer your questions, and typically, as we wrap up the call, you'll have a sense of whether I'm a good fit for your child. We can schedule the parent/caregiver intake while on the call, or I can follow up by e-mail with my availability.
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If your kiddo's needs aren't a good fit for my clinical approach, I can provide recommendations for a clinician who may be a better match.
Parent/Caregiver
Intake Appointment
Typically, I will meet with parents or caregivers in person at my office at least once before beginning sessions with your child - I call this appointment the "Intake Appointment," and it's a 90-minute appointment. You can expect to get a better sense of who I am and how I work in person, see the playroom, and get acquainted with my office. It's most beneficial if the adult(s) who provide direct care for your child attend.
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This appointment is an opportunity for you to freely share your concerns about your child, which might include venting about your feelings or negative descriptions of challenging behaviors. For this reason, intake appointments are often scheduled during school hours so both parents can attend without the child.
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Here are some of the topics we'll discuss when meeting:
j How play therapy works or how I will work with your
adolescent or teenager using "play-therapy informed"
techniques, in addition to talk therapy
j Your role in the treatment process
j Confidentiality
j Goals for treatment
j Practice polices (like scheduling and payment processes)
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I will also begin what therapists call "assessment," which means I'll start getting to know more about your child by asking you questions about their symptoms, what their functioning looks like at home & school, their developmental history, and more. We won't cover every detail, but I'll have enough information to provide your child with the caliber of clinical, healing, and playful care beginning at their first appointment.
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By the end of the appointment, we will have created the start of a "roadmap" or treatment plan for your child, and usually, the next stop on the treatment roadmap is your child's first appointment at my office.
Occasionally, I will make a recommendation based on all of the information I've learned for something to happen before your child's first appointment. Examples include: I recommend we meet for another session for further assessment, or you schedule an appointment with another provider, like your child's pediatrician, to help me better assess and ultimately treat your child.
Your Child's First Visit
The first session looks different for every child or adolescent at Rachel Gladys Therapeutic Services.
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Why? Because first sessions are tailored to meet each client's unique and individualized needs!
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By having a separate parent intake appointment, 99% of the logistical first appointment have-to's are already completed by the time your child sets foot in the building for the first time.
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This means you and I can be present and intentional, devoting the first appointment to cultivating a positive experience for your child.
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The first appointment is all about beginning to establish the therapeutic relationship between your child and me.
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The therapeutic relationship is the safe and positive environment that allows your child to explore their feelings and experiences through play.
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A strong therapeutic relationship establishes the foundation for change and healing by providing your kiddo safety, security, and trust through the therapy process.
How will Rachel do this at the
first appointment???
j Ensuring the playroom and office environment are safe and comfortable
j Allowing the child to "lead' the play or conversation
j Allowing the child to decide (verbally or non-verbally) to what extent the parent is involved
j Using empathetic and reflective language
j Setting boundaries in the playroom only when necessary and related to safety
More About The Process
Consistency and on-going parental (or caregiver) involvement are key for therapy to be effective.
So, throughout the course of treatment, we will meet for a parent or caregiver session, without your child present, after every 3-5 individual sessions with your child. These sessions are all about collaboration - they are an ideal time for you to share your feedback and observations - what you think is or isn't working about how we're approaching treatment. Parent sessions are also where I'll teach you about your child's developmental needs - behavioral and emotional. This foundational knowledge will allow you to practice skills (don't worry - I'll teach you some of those, too) to better or more appropriately respond to your child's needs.
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For families who have experienced trauma, are often in crisis, or are actively going through significant changes, we may meet or speak in between sessions more often so you can feel confident responding to your child when faced with challenging behavior or situations at home.
My initial recommendation for the length of
treatment is an educated guess.
It makes sense that you'd be curious from the first time we speak about how long I expect treatment will take.
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It's of like when you and your family get in the car for a road trip, and your kiddo inquires how long the drive will take - different scenarios, similar questions, both inquiries attempting to meet a valid need for information so you can know what to expect.
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To that effect, I wish I could tell you on the consult call or at the parent intake appointment that if your son is eight years old and struggling with symptoms of anxiety, causing nightmares and tummy troubles, I recommend meeting for six individual sessions with him, plus two with you and your spouse and... TA-DA no more anxiety, crawling into bed with you at night, and bellyaches.
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If I could give you that information up front with 100% certainty, I would, just as you would when your child asks when getting in the car for a road trip. But you can't because you don't have control of the factors impacting how long the journey will take, like traffic or road conditions.
Knowing what to expect and when would make this process easier for us and your child. But I know you've already figured out that road trips, life, and parenting don't work quite like that. And neither does this whole counseling & play therapy thing.
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So, just like you do on those road trips, as we get started, I'll give you an estimate based on my clinical judgment that, of course, takes into consideration what's going on with your child.
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Conversations during parent sessions, specifically our observations of your child's behaviors and symptoms both in and out of sessions, will allow me to provide you with an updated estimate or timeline for the length of treatment. Since we meet for parent sessions monthly, you can expect to be updated about how long treatment will take monthly, as well.
I hope you let me know if I can do more to meet your need for information and predictability while we're on this road trip together.
Goals for All Clients at
Rachel Gladys Therapeutic Services
Clients understand and accept their feelings and learn to express their feelings appropriately given their developmental capacity.
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Clients develop self-control and learn responsible decision making.
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Clients learn to respect themselves and others.
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Clients learn to be creative and resourceful in finding new solutions to old problems.
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Clients create and practice new coping skills.
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Clients developed increased social connection with others leading to more satisfying relationships.
Clients feel more able, capable, and confident in themselves, their talents, and abilities.
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