As the holidays come closer, we have been receiving feedback from new patients who are concerned about being on our waitlist for a period of time (or any waitlist for that matter).
We found ourselves repeating the same recommendations and realized this information would be helpful for anyone looking to get an appointment for therapeutic treatment.
Here are some tips and tricks from our Director, Dr. Johanna Kaplan.
- Do not wait to call a practice until the concern you are looking to get treated becomes immediate or too serious. The moment you notice something may be off, call and get on a waitlist. Outpatient treatment cannot serve as an emergency room and as much as we would like to help, psychologist’s schedules cannot usually accommodate last minute requests.
- It is not uncommon for specialty practices (like the Washington Anxiety Center) to have a Waitlist. By the time people seek out our services, they have likely been receiving more generalist treatment that has not been effective.
- Do your research! We really like abct.org or adaa.org. The sites are less complicated to understand than PubMed, but are more reliable and accurate in their information and recommendations than your typical online googled resource.
- Be flexible! If you need an appointment for you (adult) or a child and can only make a certain time and day during the week, expect the wait to be longer. Psychologists see patients on an ongoing basis, some from 3 months to a few years. You will be waiting for someone to give up a coveted spot before you are offered one. However, if you are flexible, you likely can get in with our practice (or likely any) within 2-3 weeks.
- If you receive a preferred weekly appointment (time and day of your choice), consider that it is worth its weight in diamonds! Some of our patients opt to continue paying for a weekly slot when they are gone on extended vacations. In my opinion, this is worth it if it is a preferred slot (e.g., after school). Unfortunately, psychologists cannot keep your appointment waiting for you for longer than 2-3 weeks. There are a lot of individuals in our community really needing services and we do our best to address them as well.
- The problem of missing school! As parent looking for services for their child you need to think what is more important…their anxiety and depression or piano lessons. It may sound like a simple decision, but it is not and we completely understand that it is difficult. Remember that temporarily stopping even loved activities, also including mandatory classes during the school day, is worth being able to feel better and get the skills to maintain feeling better. We recommend anyone under the age of 14 (usually 8th grade and lower) is ok academically to miss a class every week to attend treatment. Treatment can also be flexible so your child isn’t missing the same class every week. We highly recommend this approach!!!!
**Also….. when children attend a session during the day and return to school, it not only alleviates stress related to having to attend another activity after school, but it also gives them opportunities to practice the skills they just learned and not have to wait till the following school day.
7. Consider teletherapy as well as in person. The research and our own experience has shown that both methods of delivery are equally effective. We can personally attest…..THEY ARE!
Have a wonderful holiday season and remember to reach out to us as soon as you can once you notice an issue!
Dr. Kaplan and Staff at Washington Anxiety Center of Capitol Hill
"My Kid's Mental Health"- A blog by a clinical psychologist 