Adults:
An initial phone consultation is made, and the client and Dr. Myers briefly discuss the issue to be addressed. An appointment is made for the first session. Before that session, clients will find the Intake and Informed Consent forms under the "New Client" section in the navigation bar. These forms must be completed, signed, and returned to Dr. Myers as attachments in an email or in person.
Children:
Parents will be seen without the child in the initial appointment. The parent will find the Child Intake and Child Informed Consent forms, as well as a Behavioral Questionnaire under the "New Client" section in the navigation bar. Before the first session, these forms must be completed, signed, and returned to Dr. Myers as attachments in an email or in person.
Divorce Litigation Forms
In case of divorce or custody litigation, a copy of the divorce decree or the possessory order must be delivered to Dr. Myers for the child's file, by order of the Texas Family Code. All documents must be in the child's file before the initial session.
Adults:
A session usually lasts for 50-60 minutes. Longer sessions are available for adults. Most clients meet weekly and move to every two weeks after initial sessions. Between sessions, the client may have homework in the form of journaling, reading assignments, or practicing skills.
Children:
In filial play therapy, children attend weekly for approximately 10-12 weeks.
Parents attend and gain skills in communication and setting healthy boundaries.
Some children are able to work more quickly and some have more intense needs and will need to attend longer. Younger children attend for 40-45 minutes.
Older children attend for 50-60 minutes.
Teens:
Weekly sessions to begin and as progress is gained, transitioning to every two weeks. Sessions are 50-60 minutes.
The client is invited to contact their insurance company and ask about submitting invoices for reimbursement for an out of network provider. Dr. Myers is a private pay office.
Frequency and length of parent consultations are based on specific needs of the family. Parents are welcome to schedule separate appointments to work on specific challenges. It is helpful to be reading about parenting and child development. Some parents elect to connect with Dr. Myers for a 15-minute discussion regarding a child’s progress at the beginning or end of a child’s session. Phone consultation is an option and will be billed in 15 minutes increments
Length of therapy depends on the personal needs of the client. Clients are free to determine when they feel they have reached a point where they are ready to discontinue. A closure session is good therapeutic practice as well as a healthy way to bring closure to important work by the client and the therapist.
For children, it is respectful to consider a child’s thoughts and feelings about readiness to discontinue therapy. It is very important for children to have a closure session at the end of therapy. It is good practice to take the time to acknowledge the work accomplished and the special relationship that exists between child and therapist.
Some clients report a noticeable shift within a short period of time, while others might experience a longer adjustment before change becomes apparent.
Therapy can look very chaotic to the outside eye. Sometimes change can be interpreted as things getting worse instead of better. This part of the process usually lasts a relatively short amount of time.
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Photography by Erren Seale, 2020