FAQs for seeing a Child Psychologist

Do I join my child in the session with the child psychologist?

Yes, absolutely. We encourage parents to come into sessions from the outset. It is important that your child is comfortable and happy coming to see us and they need your support. For many children we ask parents to come to every session. You can join in with the strategies and games. You have the opportunity to ask questions and you also get to learn all about the ways to help your child.

Can I see you first before I bring my child?

Yes, we would really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you first. This way you can tell us about your child’s developmental history, family history. You can also have the opportunity to talk about the things you would like to achieve whether that may be for your child to be more confident or for you to have more parenting strategies. Medicare does require your child to be present in the session for at least part of the time if you are accessing rebates. Sometimes we meet your child and you for the first session and then see parents in the second session. We structure sessions to suit you and your family.

How long will it take before I start noticing benefits?

Sometimes parents just need one or two sessions to talk through some strategies to help with adjusting to change or temper tantrums. Children might need a number of sessions to develop confidence, tackle things they might feel afraid of or learn about helpful ways to manage their feelings. Your Child Psychologist will discuss with you every step of the way what to expect in therapy and guide you regarding time frames.

Cognitive Assessments: Learning, Educational, Intelligence, Neuropsychological.

Our assessments are fun, interactive and engaging for children and can provide a depth of insight into your child’s strengths and challenges and how best to meet their needs academically and at home.

What is a cognitive assessment?

Cognitive means thoughts or our thinking processes. A cognitive assessment is sometimes called an educational assessment, a learning assessment or a neuropsychological assessment. All of these assessments are designed to measure a child’s strengths and difficulties across language, memory, spatial reasoning, attention and executive functioning. They are called different names because the question that the assessment is designed to answer is different. Sometimes we want to know how a child is performing academically and so this can be called an academic achievement assessment. We may be assessing to discover if there is a learning disorder like Reading Disorder or Mathematics Disorder (these used to be called Dyslexia and Dyscalculia). You could also be interested to discover how a condition such as Autism might be affecting social reasoning or if anxiety might be the reason for having difficulties with test taking.

Who provides a cognitive assessment?

Our Paediatric Clinical Neuropsychologists have expert knowledge regarding brain development. They know how to assess cognitive skills in the real world and how to adapt the environment to support your child’s learning. Neuropsychologists know all about learning disorders but they can also assess if there has been a change since a brain injury, or if a developmental condition is impacting learning. We can also discover if mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression might be getting in the way of learning. Our team are experts in putting recommendations into place in school and home by working with teachers and parents directly. We can offer school visits and meetings to help with Individualised Learning Plans.

Would my child benefit from a cognitive assessment?

Is your child struggling with learning? Have they had an injury or been diagnosed with a developmental condition? Are they anxious or having difficulties with planning, organising, memory? If you have answered yes to any of the above, then that means your child will benefit greatly from a cognitive assessment. An assessment can assist with diagnosis, supporting recommendations and designing an academic curriculum to help your child.

What happens during an assessment?

The assessment has three parts: we ask lots of questions about developmental history and we might ask you and the teacher to complete some questionnaires. We then ask your child to complete lots of tasks – these are fun, engaging and a lot of them are on IPads which makes it extra fun. You receive a comprehensive report and during a session we talk with you about in detail. We provide recommendations and help you implement these recommendations at home and at the school to help your child achieve the best.

What assessment will be best for my child?

We have two levels of assessment: Level One (intelligence and academic achievement with the WISC V and WIAT III) and Level Two: all Level One testing and testing of memory, attention, executive functioning and more. All assessments include a report, recommendations, liaison with the school and other health professionals, feedback session and ongoing sessions to help implement recommendations if needed.

What’s the next step?

Contact us for a discussion with one of our Paediatric Clinical Neuropsychologists to find out more: info@melbourneccpsychology.com.au