Information for children

It’s really normal to feel nervous about coming to your first meeting. We want to tell you a little bit about what your meetings will be like. Please sit with your mum and dad to read this page as some of the words might be difficult.

Questions

Here are some answers to questions children often want to know about before they come to see a psychologist.

The information is designed for children between the ages of 8 and 12 years to read.

child-therapist-sydney
What is a psychologist?

Our job is to talk to children and help them to cope with feelings that are bothering them – like sadness, anger, and fear.

Is there something wrong with me?

Having a problem is really normal and there is nothing wrong with you.

Am I in trouble?

You are not in any trouble and you haven’t done anything wrong.

What happens at the first meeting?

At your first meeting, you will meet with one of our psychologists. The psychologist will ask you lots of questions and spend time getting to know you. You can decide to take the meeting as slowly as you like. We often start out by playing some games and doing some activities. At this first meeting, we just want to find out about your life, the things you love and the things that you may find hard.

How long will the meetings last?

Each meeting will last for 50 minutes.

Will Mum and Dad sit in on the first meeting?

Mum and Dad often know a lot about the problems that are bothering you the most. At the first meeting, the psychologist talks to your parents for a while on their own and then has a chat with you on your own. If this bothers you, then we can always arrange it so that your parents stay with you for the whole first meeting.

Will Mum and Dad sit in on the rest of our meetings?

It is often helpful for Mum and Dad to know about what happens in your meetings. Sometimes they will stay in the room and be included in the meetings. At other times, they might come in at the end of the meeting so the psychologist can tell them what has happened in the session so that they can practice things at home with you.

Will you tell other people what I say?

Your sessions with your psychologist are private. After talking with you on your own, your psychologist will always check with you about how much to discuss with your Mum and Dad. The only time the psychologist is unable to keep details of the session private is if they become really worried that you or another person is unsafe or in some sort of danger.

What will our meetings be like?

At our meetings, you will talk a lot about things that have been happening during the week. You will do some activities to help you learn how you can make yourself feel better. Your psychologist will try and make it as fun and interesting as possible by including things such as role plays, drawing or craft, videos and writing stories.

child-psychologist-bondi-junction
child-psychologist-paddington
child-psychologist-rose-bay
psychologist bronte
child-psychologist-woollahra

Do you have more questions?