Questions about Child Counseling, Teen Counseling or Family Counseling in general – or our services in particular? We can probably answer them right here…
Please feel free to Contact Us or call us at (573) 803-1402 or (636) 333-2641 if you have additional questions or need to schedule child counseling, teen counseling or family counseling services.
Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center has a professional, working relationship with many local Pediatricians and Primary Care Physicians. While we appreciate and welcome referrals from these health care providers, we DO NOT require a referral to schedule a child counseling or family counseling appointment. Parents or guardians may simply call our office to schedule an appointment with any of our counselors.
We advise that all new clients complete initial paperwork online. After booking your first appointment, these forms will be emailed to you. If you are using insurance, upload a picture of your insurance card (front and back, please!) when completing the forms online. Private Insurance and Self-Pay clients should also bring the appropriate payment (see below) for the session. During the initial appointment, the counselor will meet with the client/family to gather background information and discuss treatment needs. Parents/guardians should plan to participate in the first session and any following sessions that the counselor deems necessary.
Usually we can book first appointments within 1 week. However, this largely depends on how flexible your schedule is. After school and weekend child counseling appointments fill up fast, especially in early fall and early spring.
We do not have to have both parents at the first child counseling session but both are welcome to attend. We only need one parent (who has legal custody) to attend the first child counseling session. The first child counseling session will be different from typical sessions. We will gather family history and background information and discuss treatment goals with you and your child. We welcome both parents to attend so that we can accurately get a full picture of your child’s counseling needs. However, both parents’ attendance is not required.
No. We must have a legal custodian present at the first child counseling session to answer family background and child history questions. If you are unable to make it to the first child counseling or family counseling appointment, please reschedule this appointment.
Yes, Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center does accept Medicaid (MO HealthNet), including Home State Health, Show Me Healthy Kids, and United Healthcare Community Plan. However, we do not accept Healthy Blue.
Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center has counselors who are participating providers with the following insurance companies:
*If your insurance company is not listed above, we may still be able to provide counseling services as an Out-of-Network provider. Many insurance companies will cover Out-of-Network providers, so please check with your insurance company or call our Office Manager for assistance in verifying these benefits.
While we do bill these and other Out-of-Network insurance companies, you will be responsible for all co-pays and/or deductibles at the time of service. Please notify our Office Manager of your insurance when scheduling an appointment to be sure you are scheduled with an approved provider.
Yes, all counselors at Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center offer Self-Pay options to clients without Missouri Medicaid (MO HealthNet) or Private Insurance coverage. Our Office Manager will be happy to discuss Self-Pay options when you call to schedule an appointment. We have an affordable private pay scale for Self-Pay clients.
This largely depends on how old your kids are and if you are using insurance to pay for child counseling services.
If all your children are 4 years old or older, then the answer is YES they can each be seen for individual child counseling services.
If any of your children are 2-3 years old, then you will need to speak with the Office Manager regarding insurance regulations. Some insurance companies prohibit individual child counseling for children 2-3 years old.
Yes. Counselors at Tender Hearts frequently work with multiple children from the same family. The benefit is that you have one counselor who knows your family’s history and the family dynamics. We will also make every attempt to schedule your children’s appointments in back-to-back appointments so that you only need to make one visit to our office each week.
Yes. We understand that each child may want to feel “special” and have their own counselor. We are happy to accommodate this request. Whenever possible, we will attempt to schedule sibling appointments with different counselors at the same time. As always, the more flexible you are with scheduling, the easier this will be.
No. We believe this creates a conflict of interest if both you and your child are seeing the same counselor individually. Generally, children have a problem trusting the counselor if he/she knows that their parent sees the counselor individually as well.
While we frequently work with children and their parents in family counseling to work on family issues, we cannot see both of you separately to work on your own individual concerns.
We have several counselors who work with adults and we would be happy to schedule an individual appointment for you with one of our adult counselors. Please visit our adult counseling practice at www.HeartlandCounselingCenter.com for more information about our adult services.
Yes, with some exceptions.
Under Federal law, we cannot discuss details about your child’s counseling with anyone unless we have a HIPAA release on file. If someone else brings your child to a counseling appointment, we can work with your child individually for the session. We will not be able to update the other person on progress at the end of the session, however, unless you have previously signed a release for the counselor to do so.
If you know that someone else will be bringing your child to counseling on a regular basis, then it may be wise to sign a release in the beginning of treatment. We can specify on the release that this person can only receive verbal updates on counseling progress if you wish.
We gladly accept referrals from foster parents. Before you call, make sure you have discussed child counseling services with the child’s State caseworker and that he/she agrees to having the foster child in counseling services.
You may call in the referral yourself to set up the first appointment. We do not have to have the State caseworker call in the referral. We will be happy to take the child’s information from you and schedule an appointment. We will need contact information for the child’s State caseworker (name, phone number, email). Before the child’s first counseling appointment, we will contact the State caseworker and have them sign all necessary paperwork.
Yes. In the first session, we will need to gather information about the child. We understand that you will not know most of the child’s family history and background. We will contact the child’s State caseworker for that information. However, we want to hear from you about how the child is adjusting to living in foster care, how the child behaves at your home, if the child is having problems at school, and any other information you can provide us about the child. Also, coming to the first child counseling session may be intimidating for the child. It often helps relieve some anxiety if someone familiar is in the room during the first session or two.
No, since Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center is a Private Practice, we are happy to see clients from any area! We have office locations in Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Arnold, and Fenton MO to better serve children, teens, and families.
Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center currently accepts cash, check, VISA, MasterCard, and Discover as forms of payment.
We ask that you give 24 hour notice for all cancellations. We do not guarantee that your original time slot will be available for rescheduling. We understand that emergencies happen and sometimes you will be unable to give 24 hour notice. However, we reserve the right to terminate child counseling and family counseling treatment for repeated cancellations.
Child Counseling provides children and teens with opportunities to:
The benefits of child counseling often impact others in the family, including parents and siblings. For example, child counseling can reduce family stress by enhancing family communication, providing new perspectives on a child’s behavior or ideas about how to handle difficult child behaviors. Taking your child to a Child Counselor can help you feel more supported as a parent as well.
At Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center, parents are a vital part of child counseling. At minimum, we will ask for an update at the beginning of each session and then brief you at the end of the session on what skills we are working on with your child. We will also frequently conduct family therapy sessions with you and your child, specifically aimed at helping you to reinforce the new skills in the home. We can also help you learn more effective parenting and discipline skills when needed to help you feel more confident as a parent.
Typically, the younger the child, the more often we will have family therapy sessions. For children 2-3 years old, we will only have family therapy sessions. Due to the developmental level of 2 and 3 year olds, we feel that parents must be involved in these child counseling sessions and will play a vital role in implementing the new skills in the home.
For middle school-aged children and teens, issues of privacy change. “Tweens” and teens typically have greater concerns regarding their privacy than younger children. Respect for their privacy is important to our counselors. If your child is in middle school or older, we will discuss the issue of confidentiality with you in the initial session. If you have additional questions, feel free to ask the Child Counselor.
With young children, we do often use play-based techniques. Play is an important, healthy and natural part of life for children. Each child is unique, but until age 12 or so child counseling often takes place while involved in some kind of therapeutic activity. We will often use play-based activities, puppets, therapeutic board games, art, writing, or something else in our child counseling sessions to address various treatment needs. We feel that your child needs to enjoy coming to sessions for real progress to happen!
We are happy support your child in any way we can. With your permission (and a signed HIPAA release), we can consult with your child’s teacher, principal, school counselor, or other school staff. However, we will not go to your child’s school to observe during class. In general, our presence in your child’s classroom will change their behaviors and we would not get a clear picture of his/her behaviors anyway.
Yes. We frequently work with teachers, school counselors, principals, and other school staff to assist the children and families we work with. With your permission,(and a signed HIPAA release), we would be happy to consult with your child’s teacher to make sure that everyone involved with your child’s care is on the same page.
No, we do not prescribe medication. We often work with children and teens who are taking psychiatric or other medications. In these cases, we work closely with your child’s pediatrician, family practitioner, and/or psychiatrist to assist in any way we can. If your child is not currently under the care of a psychiatrist, and you wish to explore medication options, we can provide a referral to a psychiatrist or pediatrician.
No, we do not offer psychological testing. If a current client needs a psychological evaluation, we have a list of referrals to provide.
No, we do not. It is the Policy of Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center to not make custody recommendations. We will not recommend visitation schedules or custody arrangements, even if we are subpoenaed to court. This is beyond the scope of practice for Licensed Professional Counselors in the State of Missouri.
The child counseling we offer takes place in person. Currently we do not provide child counseling via Skype, video conferencing, email or chat.
Family counseling can help:
The length of family counseling varies greatly, depending on the problem and you and your child’s participation and involvement. It can range from as short as several weeks to several months or longer in some cases. At Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center, most people begin to see significant improvement in as few as 8-12 sessions. Keep in mind, however, that your family’s problems have developed over many years and it is unrealistic to expect them to be solved in only 1-3 sessions. In most cases, family counseling will begin with once a week sessions and will then be spaced further apart as you begin to reach your family goals.
No. Our services are billed per session, regardless of how many people are involved in the family counseling session.
Yes. Family counseling is a vital part of child counseling and teen counseling. Regardless of the issues that bring your child to individual counseling, at Tender Hearts there will always be a family counseling component as well.
No, we do not. It is the policy of Tender Hearts Child Therapy Center to not make custody recommendations. We are happy to help divorced or separated parents with effective co-parenting strategies. We can also provide family counseling services to help blended families create more balance in their homes. However, we will not recommend visitation schedules or custody arrangements, even if we are subpoenaed to court. This is beyond the scope of practice for Licensed Professional Counselors in the State of Missouri.
The family counseling we offer takes place in person. Currently we do not provide family counseling via Skype, video conferencing, email or chat.