Frequently Asked Questions

The first step is to contact our intake coordinator. She’ll ask a few questions to get a general sense of your concerns and help determine whether our services are a good fit. From there, we’ll schedule a parent-only initial consultation to talk in more detail and outline recommendations. If it feels like a good fit after that conversation, you’ll be placed on our waitlist for the appropriate services. Call (734) 433-5100 or complete this form.

The first appointment is typically an initial consultation. We’ll spend time understanding your concerns, gathering relevant background information, and discussing goals for treatment. We’ll also talk through recommendations and next steps so you have a clear plan moving forward.

Timing can vary depending on clinician availability and the type of service you’re seeking. Our intake team will give you the most up-to-date information and help you understand your options.

Many families reach out when they notice their child is struggling with emotions, behavior, school, or relationships in a way that isn’t improving over time. If something feels “stuck,” is causing distress, or is interfering with daily functioning, therapy can be helpful. You don’t need to be certain—part of our role is helping you figure that out.

This is common. We work with parents to approach this in a way that reduces pressure and increases engagement over time. In many cases, we begin with parent-focused work to build strategies that help children feel more comfortable participating.

Our work is grounded in evidence-based approaches, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and often includes active parent involvement. We focus on building practical skills, creating measurable change, and helping families make progress both in and outside of sessions.

We also take pride in doing what we specialize in well. We don’t try to treat everything, and we’re thoughtful about staying within our areas of expertise. Part of our initial consultation process is making sure we’re a good fit and that we have the right experience to support your child and family.

Most therapy begins with weekly sessions. Depending on progress and goals, sessions may become less frequent over time.

Each client we see at Thriving Minds is unique, presenting with his or her own history and concerns. That being said, there is no exact, “magic” amount of therapy sessions. Treatment is tailored to the individual and his or her specific needs. Together, you and your therapist will discuss progress throughout treatment and set goals you, the therapist, and your child (if appropriate) agree upon.

CBT is a brief, effective type of psychological treatment supported in the research literature. This approach focuses on the inter-relationships between one’s thoughts, emotions, and actions. Through the use of collaborative goal-setting, therapy aims to teach specific skills that allow the child, adolescent, or adult to accomplish small steps that eventually lead to large changes

In many cases, yes. Parent involvement is an important part of effective treatment for children and teens. Depending on the approach, this may include joint sessions, parent-only sessions, or regular check-ins.

We set clear goals at the beginning of treatment and monitor progress over time. This may include tracking changes in behavior, emotions, and daily functioning. We also regularly check in with families to make sure the approach feels helpful and aligned with your goals.

We see this as important information, not a failure. Our first step is to talk together—especially with parents—about what you’re noticing, including what is and isn’t improving. From there, we’ll adjust the approach as needed. If a different clinician or service would be a better fit, we’ll help guide you in that direction.

We work with young children, school-aged children, teens, and parents. Some services are child-focused, while others are designed specifically for parents.

Yes, many of our services are available via telehealth, depending on the clinician, age of the child and type of treatment.

When helpful and with appropriate consent, we often collaborate with schools, pediatricians, and other providers to support consistent care across settings.

Our licenses require that we follow the Code of Ethics from the American Psychological Association (APA). This code considers “virtual relationships” to be equivalent to face-to-face relationship and the code generally discourages multiple relationships with clients. Further, the code states that therapists are prohibited from engaging in a personal virtual relations with individuals with whom they have a current counseling relationship (e.g., through social and other media). Therefore, our practice policy shall be to not knowingly accept a “friend” request (or similar virtual relationship that uses another term) on any social networking platform from current clients or in any case in which I believe that blurring of counselor-client relationship may be adversely affected. This policy includes (but is not limited to) the following social media platforms on which we may have a personal presence: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked-In, GroupMe. 

We maintain a professional presence for our practice (Thriving Minds) on Facebook. This presence exists solely to provide information to the public pertaining to the practice and related topics. It also assists in directing interested individuals to the official practice website.

It shall be the policy of our clinic not to knowingly communicate with clients via instant messaging, “chatting” or similar technologies. This includes, for example, instant messaging through Facebook and other social networking sites.

Email:

It is our policy to only communicate through email with clients through the secure email system that is accessible through the a secure portal. 

Texting: 

It is our policy to not communicate with clients via texting. The best way to contact us is by phone call.

Since your appointment time is reserved specifically for you, 24 hours notice of a cancellation is required to avoid being charged a fee of $100 per missed session. Occasional exceptions occur if it is agreed that a late cancellation was unavoidable (e.g., illness, family emergency, etc)