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| |    Finding a Mental Health Professional for Your Child by Dr. Benjamin Spock reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. Adapted from Baby and Child Care Finding a therapist--If you live in or near a city, you can inquire about a child-guidance clinic, a private children's psychiatrist, or a psychologist for testing. Direct your inquiry to your regular doctor, the information desk at a large hospital, the school principal or superintendent, or a social service agency. You also can seek a referral from your healthcare provider, a psychiatric society, or a psychoanalytic society. Be forewarned that your insurance provider may offer you limited choices. Find out exactly what mental health benefits your plan allows before you begin treatment. Another option is to look up the National Mental Health Association at www.nmha.org or call (800) 969-6642. Someone there can tell you the nearest place where you can get help. Family social service agencies--Most cities have at least one family social service agency, and larger cities often have several. Agencies may identify themselves with a particular religion (Catholic or Jewish, for example), but all provide services regardless of a family's faith. These organizations are staffed by social workers trained to help parents with all of the usual family problems: child management, marital adjustment, budgeting, chronic illness, housing, and finding jobs and medical care. They often have consultants--psychiatrists or psychologists--who help with the more difficult cases. Many parents have grown up with the idea that social agencies mainly provide charity and are for destitute people only. The truth is just the opposite: The modern family agency is just as glad to help solve small problems as it is to treat large ones, and just as glad to assist families who can afford to pay a fee as it is to lend a hand to those who can't.
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