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From: Charlie Healey
Date: 16 Oct 2007
Time: 20:42:03 -0500
Remote Name: 76.84.69.211
Bridget: Thank you for your nice comments about my article. The point you raised about telling parents that therapy may not be right for their child is always a tough decision, especially when most parents want their child to do all they can to be fluent. Sometimes I have found that parents want the therapy more than the child and that's where you run into resistance. I always try to make the discusson of the termination of therapy a joint decision with the child telling the parent directly that they no longer want therapy. I also have the parents express how they feel about therapy to their childI like to as a mediator in those cases pointing the pros and cons of staying or dropping out of therapy. And, I give the parent an opportunity to tell their child why they think therapy should continue. No one benefits when people are forced or feel obligated to be in therapy when he/she doesn't want to be. After some experience, you will get a feel for when therapy isn't working and that's when you need to address the question of terminating services. Thanks again for your comments about my article and best of luck to you as you prepare to enter this great profession.