Got Shrink?

It is absolutely frustrating to try to find good help for a child who needs it. Either the damn doctor is too far away, doesn't take insurance (thus expensive as hell), doesn't focus on really helping my son.. I have two provider lists. One from the County and one from the pediatrician. They both officially suck. I've said this before, as I've gone through it a number of times.

The last time Jack saw that psychiatrist was I believe in March. We have not received a single bill from these people. Not even half of the visits were reported to the insurance company, that I can tell. What the hell kind of place is that, anyway? (This from the doctor who is an MD, but tells me to go find an actual MD. HUH??). I thought that Jack would be getting some form of counseling from this "yahoo", but he didn't. The guy just sat there, wrote on a notepad, and asked some questions in between note taking.. we didn't even get the full 50 minutes with him, because half that time was spent either with the previous patient, or with reading any notes I provided for that visit. This doctor went against my wishes of *not* putting Jack on stimulant meds, wanted to increase the dosage of his current med while I wanted to lower it, and he never checked Jack's vitals- he should have been checking his blood pressure, at the very least.

The last time Jack was in real counseling was in March of 2012. He went to this woman for 6-7 months. She actually did talk with him for about 50 minutes. Assuming he was talking back. She tried to help him figure out strategies for working through anger- using a stop light, as an example. I think he was pretty receptive to her, but on the other hand, he didn't care to talk about emotions or feelings. I wasn't seeing any real change in him, and was feeling at the time that it was a waste of money. Then she went on maternity leave, and it was either give him another counselor, or wait til she came back.. or just simply stop going. I opted to stop going.

Before Jack started seeing this particular counselor, I tried to get him in with a Psychologist recommended by the County. Right away I should have known this wasn't going to work out. I scheduled the first appointment, and had been waiting for them to send me a packet of papers to fill out for that visit. I don't believe they ever came. Then the day of the appointment, it was really uncomfortable because I'm trying to explain all of Jack's issues right in front of Jack- which I hate doing, and he hates hearing about. (We do this at ever single "med check" with the pediatrician, and it is never comfortable). So then the guy tells me he's going to give me a bunch of surveys to fill out, to get more information on Jack- "does your child do this? how often?" etc.. During that same first visit, the receptionist comes in with another patient. Yeah, so somebody double booked this guy. Real nice. So before leaving, he said he would have someone get that packet of forms out to me ASAP. As soon as I got to my car, I called and left a message with my address, again requesting the paperwork.. making sure they had the right information. Never got it. Never even received a phone call. So you know what? Screw them. I always wonder if they didn't try harder because I was trying to use County funding for this guy.

I find myself again with the frustration of finding help for my son. I probably could take him back to the counselor he saw over a year ago- she's the only person in that entire practice who works with kids anymore. (I discovered this when I called another counselor there who did, but she said she doesn't anymore, and she has even stopped leading a social skills group for kids- which is a shame). Thing is, do I really want to send Jack back to someone that he liked but didn't really want to talk to? Do I think he's changed enough in the last year and a half to make it worth all of our while to try again? (Will he be as receptive? Is he mature enough now? This person can only talk to him. She can't offer any incentives for him, or give him rewards- he gets absolutely nothing from her except advice. When it comes down to it, why should he take it? He doesn't see that it has any benefit for him). The mental health specialist he's about to meet actually knows this counselor. While on the one hand, this seems like it could be a positive thing- we could all be on the same page- I don't believe they could exchange information. Even with my permission, with HIPAA and all that, I'm still not sure the regular counselor could swap information. Plus then we go back to him seeing somebody he's already been to before..

With all of my phone calls, either people are too far away, don't work with our insurance, don't work with kids anymore, etc.