Hi,
I'm brand new. I found this forum today and have spent some time reading through old postings. I'm a little hesitant to post a question that maybe has been answered a zillion times and I just have not found the answer yet, so I appreciate your patience -- and am fine if you just point me in the right direction.
My "difficult child" is an 8 year old boy. Having read Dr. Greene's book (as well as a few others) in the past, and today reading through this forum, my lay-person self-assessment -- which I am very clear would not be a "real" diagnosis, but just to describe our situation as concisely as possible -- would be "mild ODD." I've read the description of ODD in this forum's FAQ area and in plenty of other places, and he has all those traits. I say "mild" because compared to the stories I'm seeing on this site (and the examples in Dr. Greene's book), our situation is not that bad.
Without going into details, here is my question. I've seen a lot of folks mentioning on this forum that diagnosis should be done by a neuropsychologist, and I've found a few with websites here in my area (San Diego). But I've also found some family therapy & child psychology websites that claim to specialize in defiance issues in children, and I am assuming that starting with a therapist/psychologist might be simply easier.
Given that I don't think our situation is "that bad," could a good therapist be helpful? If the therapist thinks there might be a clinical problem, would they tell me if they think a neuropsychologist assessment is necessary? Or should I be distrustful of them, regardless of competence? Has anyone had a good outcome with "just" a therapist?
I know that not all therapists are the same. We did once visit a therapist who was a bad fit for us because it was very "touchy feely" with lots of talk about our feelings and very little in the way of actionable changes. I now know better and would work to find a therapist who focuses on coping strategies and solutions, rather than rocking my 8 year old in a blanket while singing to him (I'm serious).
Thanks for any thoughts here!!
P.S. -- I know I'm not telling you much about my child, in the interest of brevity. If my question is just too difficult to answer without more info about him, I'm happy to provide it.
I'm brand new. I found this forum today and have spent some time reading through old postings. I'm a little hesitant to post a question that maybe has been answered a zillion times and I just have not found the answer yet, so I appreciate your patience -- and am fine if you just point me in the right direction.
My "difficult child" is an 8 year old boy. Having read Dr. Greene's book (as well as a few others) in the past, and today reading through this forum, my lay-person self-assessment -- which I am very clear would not be a "real" diagnosis, but just to describe our situation as concisely as possible -- would be "mild ODD." I've read the description of ODD in this forum's FAQ area and in plenty of other places, and he has all those traits. I say "mild" because compared to the stories I'm seeing on this site (and the examples in Dr. Greene's book), our situation is not that bad.
Without going into details, here is my question. I've seen a lot of folks mentioning on this forum that diagnosis should be done by a neuropsychologist, and I've found a few with websites here in my area (San Diego). But I've also found some family therapy & child psychology websites that claim to specialize in defiance issues in children, and I am assuming that starting with a therapist/psychologist might be simply easier.
Given that I don't think our situation is "that bad," could a good therapist be helpful? If the therapist thinks there might be a clinical problem, would they tell me if they think a neuropsychologist assessment is necessary? Or should I be distrustful of them, regardless of competence? Has anyone had a good outcome with "just" a therapist?
I know that not all therapists are the same. We did once visit a therapist who was a bad fit for us because it was very "touchy feely" with lots of talk about our feelings and very little in the way of actionable changes. I now know better and would work to find a therapist who focuses on coping strategies and solutions, rather than rocking my 8 year old in a blanket while singing to him (I'm serious).
Thanks for any thoughts here!!
P.S. -- I know I'm not telling you much about my child, in the interest of brevity. If my question is just too difficult to answer without more info about him, I'm happy to provide it.