From a family perspective, going to the psychologist is often one of those activities that raises many doubts in parents: should I tell my child that I will take them to the psychologist? Could announcing that I will take them to the psychologist affect them? These are some of the questions that parents ask during consultations.
Dear reader, if you tell a child or teenager that they will be seeing the psychologist, you are teaching them:
- Self-care: That in times of suffering or discomfort, going to a mental health professional is an essential act of self-care.
- Self-discovery: That seeing a psychologist will help them during their own self-discovery: you will be teaching them that many times, it is necessary to pause and learn to understand ourselves, manage our emotions, and enhance our own well-being.
- Right to ask for help: That as human beings, it is a right to seek emotional help when we feel vulnerable. It is always positive to teach from a young age that experiencing emotional lows, behavioral problems, or learning difficulties is part of life and that qualified mental health professionals are always available to help.
- Ally in the process: It is always positive to teach that the psychologist is an ally to help them improve their performance in various tasks: learning, emotion, behavior, and well-being. You can explain that the psychologist, unlike doctors, does not give injections or vaccines, and that our work consists of working on emotions and promoting well-being in people.
- Educational Neuropsychology: In the case of Educational Neuropsychology, you are teaching them that with effort, it is possible to enhance brain capacities to improve academic performance. A simple explanation is that neuropsychologists are here to train the brain to improve our efficiency in performing various activities.
From a mental health perspective, it is positive to anticipate and tell your child that you will be taking them to a professional who will be helping them: this significantly reduces anxiety and uncertainty, and creates a calm environment where the child will be more receptive to talking, playing, and having fun.
Remember that teaching your child from an early age that going to a mental health professional is a valuable form of self-care = gives them the opportunity to value their mental health for the rest of their life. I am a firm believer that breaking the stigma of addressing our mental health starts at home. The psychologist, with their tools, evaluation techniques, and intervention methods, can help you achieve better well-being to improve your performance in various areas of your life.
In the case of Educational Neuropsychology, remember that this specialty helps train our brain and its underlying cognitive capacities (perception, attention, memory, executive functioning, psychomotor skills, and language areas) directly linked to academic skills.
For Neuropsychology consultations in Panama, feel free to write to +507 6535 6362. Neuropsyedu is your ally.