while a therapist is not a product in your supermarket trolley, never lose sight of the fact that you are the consumer and you must be discerning. The first stage is to research what is the treatment of choice for your child’s difficulty. In the case of a child with SM and other anxiety disorders, current research points to cognitive behavior therapy as usually being the most effective treatment. Then consider proximity of therapists, what their areas of expertise are, and ensure that they have ample experience in treating SM. Ask friends and acquaintances for recommendations, and you can also join relevant chat groups to consider others’ experiences with a therapist for SM.
Once you have set up an appointment with a therapist, make sure that initially you are interviewing her, and not the converse. Evaluate what her outlook is and which methods she employs. Is contact with the school staff and parents an integral part of her treatment? You might check where she studied and trained. Find out how much experience she has, and how successful her treatments were. You could find out what her estimation of the duration of the therapy will be. Ask her for references so that you could talk to parents whose children she has treated, and consider their recommendations.
