Parents’ Fears Keep Children from Getting Needed Therapy and Counseling
December 13th, 2010
One factor preventing kids with mental health concerns from seeing a therapist or counselor is not that their parents don’t notice something’s wrong, but that they are hesitant to ask for help. This is according to a recently-published study from the University of Nottingham. Many parents who noticed that their children were struggling emotionally were hesitant to ask for help: some feared it would reflect poorly on their parenting skills, some dreaded the stigma that may come with a diagnostic label, and others felt uncomfortable taking up their family doctor’s time during a short appointment. Those parents who were more likely to speak of their concerns were parents who had closer ties with the family doctor, and felt comfortable asking about counseling to address their children’s’ struggles.
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Comments
as a mother I can tell you in certain terms that any parent would feel bad to know or to acknowledge that there is some problem with their kid…they would always want to believe that their child is the best… and may even deny well-established facts that prove otherwise…
Come on parents! This is your kid’s life we are talking about here. Don’t be afraid or embarassed to ask for help. Getting your kids the help that they need should be a part of the parental job description- you did know this going into this whole parenting thing right?
well sometimes we need to do a thing that we may not particularly like or enjoy doing. but if that is benefitting your kids then why not?!
I knew this study would have came from British shores. In the UK attending therapy isn’t a common approach nor as well accepted as a normal treatment option by the average citizen as it is in the US. Societal attitudes towards therapy are about twenty years behind America. That general unease is what’s behind their reluctance to get their children treated.
Since when has it become so much more important what other people think about us and our own children/ If we know that we are making the right decision by the kids and getting therapy for them then who really cares what someone else thinks about that decision? There are children who need that type of help that even parents cannot extend to them. Why not do the right thing and seek meaningful treatment for them? It will make them a better person in the end and you will end up knowing that you have done something beneficial and important in the total life and health of your child.
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