A Guide for Parents
Whether your child is entering adolescence, navigating the teenage years, or finding their way through young adulthood, it can be difficult to know when additional support may be helpful.
If you are reading this, you have probably been watching your child struggle and wondering whether therapy might help.
Perhaps you have noticed changes in their mood, behaviour, or willingness to engage with family or school. Perhaps they have told you directly that they are not okay. Or perhaps you simply sense that something is not quite right, even if you cannot put it into words.
Whatever has brought you here, reaching out is an important first step. This guide is designed to answer some of the questions parents most commonly ask and help you understand what therapy at The Willow Practice looks like for both your young person and your family.
Getting Started
Getting StartedThe process begins with a brief initial consultation. This is an opportunity for you and, if they are comfortable participating, your young person to speak with Sarah, ask questions, and determine whether The Willow Practice feels like the right fit.
If you decide to move forward, the first few sessions focus on building trust and developing an understanding of your young person's unique experiences, strengths, challenges, and goals. Sarah also takes time to understand your perspective as a parent or guardian and gathers relevant background information to help guide the therapeutic process.
From there, Sarah and your young person work collaboratively to identify meaningful goals for therapy and develop an approach tailored to their individual needs.
How Sarah Works with Parents
Therapy with adolescents and young adults is most effective when parents feel informed, supported, and appropriately involved while also respecting a young person's growing independence and need for privacy.
Sarah's approach to working with parents is guided by the young person's age, developmental stage, therapeutic needs, and, whenever appropriate, their preferences. In general:
- Parents are involved in the initial consultation process.
- As therapy progresses, parent consultation sessions may be recommended, when clinically appropriate and with the young person's knowledge and consent, to discuss general therapeutic goals and explore ways to support their young person's well-being at home.
- The content of individual therapy sessions remains confidential, with the limited exceptions outlined below.
- Sarah provides general guidance and practical strategies that parents can use to support their young person's well-being at home.
Sarah understands that watching your child struggle can be incredibly difficult. She also recognizes that parents often need guidance and reassurance. Her goal is to support the entire family while protecting the trusting therapeutic relationship that allows meaningful change to occur.
Confidentiality and Its Limits
Confidentiality is a fundamental part of effective therapy. Young people need to know they have a private, respectful space where they can speak openly and honestly about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Protecting that privacy helps build the trust that meaningful therapy depends upon.
Sarah takes confidentiality very seriously and is committed to protecting each client's privacy. Information shared during therapy remains confidential except in the following circumstances:
- The young person gives explicit permission to share specific information.
- There are concerns about the immediate safety of the young person or another person.
- There is suspected abuse or neglect that must be reported under Ontario law.
- Disclosure is otherwise required by law.
These expectations are discussed openly with both parents and the young person at the beginning of therapy so that everyone has a clear understanding of confidentiality, its limits, and what to expect throughout the therapeutic process.
Supporting Your Young Person Between Sessions
Parents often continue to play an important role in supporting a young person's growth outside of therapy. When clinically appropriate and with the young person's knowledge and consent, Sarah may recommend a parent consultation session to support the therapeutic process.
These sessions focus on helping parents better understand their young person's needs, discussing general therapeutic goals, and exploring practical strategies that may support progress at home. Parent consultation sessions are offered separately from individual therapy, are available by appointment, and are conducted in a manner that respects the young person's privacy while maintaining the trust that is essential to effective therapy.
A Collaborative Approach
Sarah believes that parents know their child in ways that no one else does. By working collaboratively with both young people and their families, therapy can create meaningful, lasting change while respecting each young person's growing independence, individuality, and privacy.
Her goal is to create a therapeutic experience where young people feel heard, understood, and supported, while parents feel informed, respected, and confident in the role they play throughout the therapeutic process.