FAQs

  • You certainly don't need to have everything figured out before reaching out. People come to therapy for many reasons— anxiety, stress, and relationship challenges to life transitions, parenting concerns, school difficulties, or feeling stuck or that something is not quite right.

    For children and teens, you may notice changes in mood, behavior, friendships, school performance, sleeping/eating, confidence, or their ability to manage emotions. Sometimes parents just have a feeling that their child could use additional support.

    If you're unsure, that's okay. We can help you think through what is happening and determine whether psychotherapy or another path may be most helpful at this time.

  • Every potential patient will have the opportunity to schedule a 15 minute consultation phone call with our Clinical Director. This call will allow us to learn a little about what brings you to therapy, what you’re looking for, your scheduling needs, and any preferences you may have for a therapist. From there, our Clinical Director will help match you with a clinician who may be a good fit.

  • We would consider your concerns, goals, age or developmental stage, scheduling needs, preferred treatment approach, location, and therapist availability.

    We aim to connect you with a clinician who is not only experienced in the areas you're seeking support with, but also feels like someone with whom you can build a comfortable and productive therapeutic relationship.

  • That's completely okay. You don't need to determine the right type of therapy before contacting us. That’s what our consultation calls are for! Part of our job is helping you understand your options and creating a treatment plan based on your individual needs.

Therapy

  • Therapy begins with an initial intake session, where we take time to understand what brings you to therapy, your history, current concerns, and what you hope to gain from treatment. For children and adolescents, the intake is typically held with parents or caregivers only, giving you an opportunity to share concerns openly and helping us understand your child before we meet with them.

    After the intake, therapy generally consists of 45-minute weekly sessions focused on the goals we develop together. Depending on your needs, sessions may include building practical skills, exploring patterns and emotions, strengthening relationships, or developing new ways of navigating challenges.

    Throughout treatment, we regularly reassess your goals and progress to make sure therapy is moving in the right direction. Treatment is collaborative and flexible, and we adjust our approach as your needs and goals evolve.

  • Most patients begin with weekly sessions because consistency can help build momentum and establish a strong therapeutic relationship.

    Frequency may vary depending on your needs, goals, and treatment plan. You and your therapist can discuss what makes the most sense for you.

  • There isn't one answer that applies to everyone.

    Some people come to therapy to address a specific concern and benefit from shorter-term treatment. Others find value in longer-term work focused on patterns, relationships, identity, or personal growth.

    We'll regularly consider your progress and goals together so that treatment remains purposeful and useful.

  • You do not need to know what your diagnosis is—or have a diagnosis at all—to reach out for support.

    Therapy can be helpful for people navigating specific mental health concerns as well as relationships, parenting, transitions, stress, identity, confidence, or personal growth.

  • A strong therapeutic relationship is an important part of effective therapy. We encourage open communication about how treatment is feeling.

    If the fit doesn't feel right, we can help you think through your concerns and explore whether another clinician or approach may be a better match.

Children & Teens

  • There isn't always an obvious sign. You might consider reaching out if your child is experiencing persistent anxiety, sadness, irritability, frequent emotional outbursts, friendship difficulties, low self-esteem, school avoidance, academic stress, family conflict, or difficulty adjusting to a change.

    Therapy can also be helpful preventatively. A child doesn't need to be in crisis to benefit from learning emotional, social, and coping skills.

  • Usually, yes—but the level of involvement depends on your child's age and treatment needs.

    We believe parents and caregivers can be an important part of helping children make meaningful changes. Parent involvement might include periodic parent sessions, coaching, collaborative problem-solving, or learning strategies to reinforce skills at home.

    At the same time, children and adolescents need an appropriate level of privacy to build trust with their therapist.

  • No. Privacy and confidentiality helps children and teenagers develop a trusting relationship with their therapist.

    We work with families to find a thoughtful balance between protecting a young person's privacy and keeping parents appropriately involved in treatment. We may discuss overall themes, progress, goals, and ways parents can provide support without sharing every detail of a child's sessions.

    There are important exceptions to confidentiality when there are concerns about safety, which your therapist will discuss with you at the beginning of treatment.

  • Resistance doesn't necessarily mean therapy won't work. Some children and teens are nervous, skeptical, embarrassed, or simply don't know what to expect.

    Rather than forcing a child to immediately "open up," our therapists focus first on building trust and creating a relationship where the child or teen feels respected and understood.

    In some situations, it may also be helpful to begin by working with parents.

  • Absolutely. Our team includes clinicians with extensive experience in schools, child development, learning, executive functioning, and special education.

    Depending on your family's needs, support may include individual therapy, executive-function coaching, educational consultation, school collaboration, IEP or 504 guidance, advocacy, or a neuropsychological evaluation.

  • Absolutely. Sometimes one of the most effective ways to help a child is to work directly with the adults around them.

    Parent sessions can help caregivers better understand their child's behavior, respond to big emotions, reduce power struggles, establish boundaries, and change family patterns that may unintentionally be maintaining a problem.

  • Yes. Parenting challenges and relationship challenges often influence one another.

    Sometimes a disagreement that appears to be about bedtime, discipline, screen time, or homework reflects deeper differences in communication, expectations, family histories, or emotional needs.

    Therapy can help couples strengthen their relationship while also developing a more collaborative approach to parenting.

Logistics

  • Yes. Protecting your privacy is an important part of therapy.

    There are certain legal and ethical exceptions to confidentiality, particularly when there are serious concerns about safety or when disclosure is otherwise required by law. Your therapist will review confidentiality and its limits with you when you begin treatment.

  • Yes, when appropriate and with your necessary consent.

    Collaboration can sometimes be very helpful, particularly when supporting children and adolescents or when several professionals are involved in someone's care. Your therapist can discuss whether coordination would be beneficial and obtain the appropriate authorization before communicating with another provider.

  • In most situations, we recommend having one primary individual therapist. Working with multiple therapists on the same concerns can sometimes lead to conflicting approaches and make treatment less cohesive.

    There are situations in which different providers serve clearly different roles—for example, individual therapy combined with couples therapy, parent coaching, a therapy group, medication management, or executive-function coaching.

    When multiple professionals are involved, we believe communication and coordination between providers is important.

  • Forest Hills Psychology Group is an outpatient practice and is not able to provide emergency or crisis services.

    If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. If you are experiencing a mental health or suicide-related crisis in the United States, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

    Please do not use email, text messages, website contact forms, or voicemail for urgent or emergency situations.

  • It's okay if you're not sure where to begin.

    Tell us a little about what you're looking for, and we'll help you determine the next step—whether that's individual therapy, support for your child, parent coaching, couples or family therapy, executive-function support, a group, or an evaluation.

    Email: info@foresthillspsychology.com
    Phone/Text: (929) 900-6956

Getting Started