Professional Services/Resources to Assist Your Child/Adolescent

There are so many different types of professionals/services in the DC area to assist children/adolescents that are struggling with a variety of issues. Some of the services/types of professionals (i.e., tutors, psychologists) available are well known to most people, though people don't always know exactly what they do or can do. Other services/professionals may be less well known.

Therefore, this blog post is dedicated to providing basic information about a variety of well known and not-so-well known services/types of professionals available to assist your child/adolescent.

1) If your child/adolescent is struggling academically in school:
Psychologist/Neuropsychologist- Can formally assess the cause of the academic difficulties and provide recommendations to improve performance. 

Tutors - Can work one-on-one with children/adolescents to help them keep up with schoolwork, reinforce material being learned in class, re-teach material not mastered, and provide a variety of other services to improve academic success.

2) If your child/adolescent struggles with organization/time management skills:

Mental health professional: Many psychologists and other mental health professionals can work with children/adolescents on organization/time management skills. Ones that specialize in treatment for ADHD/executive functioning issues are most likely to be able to assist with this.  For children/adolescents who also experience low self-esteem, significant anxiety, or other mental health issues, working with a mental health professional to address time management/organization and associated mental health issues can be extremely useful. 

ADHD/Organizational Skills Coach: Coaches work with children and adolescents on time management and organizational skills. Some coaches incorporate tutoring into their work as well. Some individuals with mental health issues find it helpful to work with a coach on time management/organization strategies and a therapist to address the mental health concerns. In these cases, collaboration between professionals is very helpful.

3) When your child struggles with social skills:
Mental health professional: A mental health professional can assist your child/adolescent with these issues in individual treatment or group treatment. Groups for social skills can be very helpful because they allow children/adolescents to practice skills that they are learning in the moment in the group.
Speech/language therapist: Depending on the cause of the social difficulties, some speech/language therapists run social skills groups that focus on the interplay between language and social skills and can be very useful. 

4) If your child/adolescent struggles with motor skills:
Occupational therapist: Can assist in addressing these issues.
Fitness Gyms: There are fitness gyms for children and adolescents, such as Fitness for Health in Rockville, which provide children and adolescents with games and activities in a large gym environment to help them improve motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and other skills.

5) When your child struggles with visual abilities:
Optometrist: A careful evaluation is important to properly diagnose the cause of the visual difficulty. Vision training or other visual skill intervention may be beneficial depending on the cause of the visual impairment. 

6) When you are trying to find a college/secondary education program for your adolescent:
College Planner: Many professionals in the area specialize in working with adolescents and their families to select programs that would be a good fit, assist with writing college essays, and other aspects of the college application process. For individuals with learning disabilities/special needs, it is even more important to seek assistance in ensuring that your adolescent selects post-secondary options that would be a good fit.

Learn about programs for individuals who need extra support: Certainly a college planner, especially one that specializes in adolescents with learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism, or other special needs, likely will know about many programs available, but I thought it was important to share a few in the DC area that people don't always know about:

College Living Experience: Provides extra support for young adults attending college/working who want to live away from home.  

Cornerstone Montgomery, Inc.: Provides supportive employment assistance to young adults with mental health and special needs. 

7) If your child/adolescent struggles with processing auditory information:
Audiologist: Can assess the cause of the difficulty and provide treatment.

8) If your child/adolescent is depressed, experiencing low self-esteem, trouble managing ADHD symptoms, frequently fighting with you, etc. 
Mental health professional: They can assist you and your child/adolescent through individual or family therapy. 

Conclusion:

These are just some of the types of professionals/services available to assist your child/adolescent. Chances are, if your child/adolescent is having a specific difficulty, there is a resource/type of professional available who can assist you and your child/adolescent. If you are not sure what type of professional could assist you with a specific issue, I encourage you to contact a professional who you think may be able to assist, and if not, hopefully they should be able to provide you with specific resources/names of professionals who could properly assist you and your child/adolescent. 

Additionally, most of the professionals noted above perform additional services other than those stated. My explanations are based off my experiences interacting with professionals in those fields as well as general knowledge about what services different professionals provide. 

I hope this explanation of available resources is helpful!

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Dr. Carey Heller is a licensed psychologist with The Heller Psychology Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. He specializes in work with children, adolescents, and families, and is happy to answer questions and provide consultations for individuals who are considering pursuing treatment, an evaluation, or other services for their child, adolescent, or themselves. Dr. Heller can be reached at (301)-385-2610 or careyheller@thehellerpsychologygroup.com.

*Disclaimer: The previous information is intended as general guidance based on my professional opinion, does not constitute an established professional relationship,  and should not replace the recommendations of a psychologist or other licensed professional with whom you initiate or maintain a professional relationship*