You can help your child’s or youth’s doctor or specialist make the right diagnosis by writing down.

• Things your child or youth has difficulty with
• The times of the day that your child or youth is most affected
• Settings that are the most difficult
• Events or circumstances that led up to your child or youth experiencing difficulty
• Things you have done when your child or youth is having difficulty

  See our Family Resource Kit for more information

A lot of therapeutic work with younger children involves building stronger connections with parents and caregivers to facilitate healing. Most therapists working with children and youth encourage and sometimes even require parent/caregiver or family involvement. If you have younger children (under age of 12), you can expect to be actively involved in the treatment planning, as well as in the actual therapeutic work with your child. A lot of therapeutic work with younger children involves building stronger connections with parents and caregivers to facilitate healing. We all know “it takes a village” to raise a child – and it takes the same to facilitate mental health care.

Note: If your child is over age 12, they can receive services without your involvement.

Treatment may also lead to an Individual Education Plan that involves the clinician contacting your child’s school to start this process.

There are several different types of counselling and therapies that may be offered to you and your family, including individual and group sessions. Your child may be involved in family, individual, or group sessions at an agency or office setting, or services may be provided in your home, your child’s school, or another community setting.

Therapies or interventions can help your child learn skills that can help them throughout life. In therapy, your child may learn about why they are having problems and how they can deal with them.
Therapy may involve learning to:
● Identify situations that can make their symptoms worse
● Change negative thinking patterns
● Use healthy problem-solving and coping skills
● Distinguish between different emotions, how to identify them / regulate them
● Use more appropriate ways of expressing feelings
● Use other new skills that can either prevent symptoms or help your child cope
● Reconnect with their strengths, values, and passions
● Understand how past experiences, history, family, community, and how current behaviours and patterns can impact mental health

Here are some questions to consider after the first couple of sessions:

• Does this therpist have experience working with children/youth with similar symptoms?
• Is my child/youth beginning to trust this therapist?
• Does the therapist seem to understand my child/youth?
• Does my child feel at ease with the therapist even though it’s a difficult situation?
• Is the location good? Do they feel comfortable in the therapist’s office?
• Can the therapist accommodate our schedule needs?
• Do I feel that we make a good team?
• Do I feel heard /supported? Does my child/youth feel heard/supported?
• Do I know my role in the treatment plan?
• Do I know the goals for this treatment plan?

Make sure that you and your child/youth feel comfortable. Remember, this is an important and courageous step that you have taken and you need to be on the journey with someone that you know you can count on. As a parent or caregiver, you are your child’s biggest advocate. You know your child best.

If you don’t feel that you and the therapist are a good fit, let them know. Some problems can be resolved but sometimes it’s just a matter of “mismatched personality”. This is no one’s fault but will require you to find a different counsellor. If you do need to find a new therapist, ask your current therapist to help you by providing some names of other therapists. 

If your child or youth’s situation becomes worse, you should share this information with your family doctor and any other places you are seeking help. Demand for help is often greater than the services available, and you may be placed on a waiting list. Changes in your situation may change how long you have to wait for services.
If you are in a crisis, please call 911 or go to your nearest Emergency Department.
Look for crisis services on our Find Help page.

The other services you may be referred to, include:

• A day-treatment program that combines therapy, school, and life-skill building
•  A live-in treatment program in a community setting is for children and youth who are in extreme crisis experiencing emotional dysregulation, extreme behavioural difficulties, and/or are at high risk for self-harm.
•  A hospital in-patient unit where extensive assessment and observation can take place
• Other community programs that offer specialized mental health support and education to children, youth and their families.
• Other community programs (art groups, drama groups, sports involvement) and such may also be recommended based on your child’s unique needs and interests as we know the importance of health, community and creativity in assisting in your child’s healing and identity formation

Home-based services for families as well as day-treatment programs, where children and young people attend services part or most of the day, are available in many communities. For children and youth that require it, community-based live-in treatment programs are available. Regional hospitals offer various youth psychiatric services, and each province in Canada has at least one facility that offers provincial in-patient psychiatric care for children under 16 years. Your local child and youth mental health service provider can tell you more about the programs available in your community.

Medications may be prescribed and monitored by your family doctor or a psychiatrist. You do not have to accept the recommended treatment – child and youth mental health services will still see your child.

Questions you may want to consider before starting medication:

• What is the generic name of this medication, and what do we know about how the active chemical ingredient works?
• What are the alternative medications, and why did you choose this one?
• If it’s effective, what will this medication do for my child?
• How do you arrive at the best dosage for this medication?
• How long does it take to work?
• What are the potential side effects?
• How will you measure the effectiveness of the medication?
• What kind of monitoring will you do while my child is on the medication?

The reality is that we don’t always know that a crisis is imminent. It’s not always easy to see the cues, and sometimes there seems to be no warning at all. Other families may have already faced crises and had to call 911 or bring their child to a hospital emergency department.
We created this page to help your family know when to call 911, what to expect if you go to a hospital, and create safety plans that will help you in times of emergency (COMING SOON)

We know that there can be a lot of jargon in the mental health sector. If you’re needing help to decipher acronyms, refer to this handy document we created

Most importantly, talk to your mental health service provider about your concerns and available options. Often, it helps to bring together key people who can help develop a care plan and ensure all the concerns are addressed. Many communities have a formal or informal process to bring these people together to meet with  you and help you find solutions. Your child and youth mental health  centre or school should be able to arrange such a meeting. Here are  some of the people who can help. 

• Social worker – can assist in coordinating other services  like in-home support  
• Mental health clinician/therapist  
• Community team leader for mental health  
• Child/youth care worker  
• Student support services  
• Community services manager  
• Teachers  
• Advocate

Parents for Children’s Mental Health (PCMH) has peer support chapters located in communities across Ontario with parents and caregivers on their own journey of supporting their child with mental health needs. Our chapters meet regularly providing parents and caregivers a safe and friendly place to connect with others, feel heard and get help navigating the child and youth mental health system. It’s also a chance to hear from others who understand.