Therapist for depressed or anxious 9 yo?

[Anonymous]

Any recommendations for a therapist for a 9 year old who is either depressed or anxious or both? Child grabbed a kitchen knife this evening and briefly threatened to kill herself, but has been saying she wishes she was dead for a few months now. She's been through a lot of changes (schools, personal life) in the last year that she's found difficult to deal with. We're in Northern Virginia. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

We have had good luck with JSSA (Jewish Social Services Agency) located in Fairfax (Javier Rd off of Arlington Blvd). See www.jssa.org for more info.

[Anonymous]

That would scare me. I'd put in a call to the ped tomorrow as well.

[Anonymous]

My 9 year old saw a therapist at InStep for anxiety. http://www.insteppc.com/therapy.shtml

They are actually very close to the JSSA mentioned by the previous poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 9 year old saw a therapist at InStep for anxiety. http://www.insteppc.com/therapy.shtml

They are actually very close to the JSSA mentioned by the previous poster.

22:14 here. We also heard great things about InStep but JSSA was covered by our insurance and InStep was not.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Instep does not accept insurance, but we file out of network and get reimbursed 60%. I have heard good things about JSSA, but they had a several month wait list at the time.

[Anonymous]

We saw a therapist at Alvord Baker in Rockville for a similar situation.

Although it's not near you, I thought I would tell you that when I called the intake person and mentioned the suicide threats, they saw us the same day. They took it VERY seriously, as they should. So you might tell the intake person about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Instep does not accept insurance, but we file out of network and get reimbursed 60%. I have heard good things about JSSA, but they had a several month wait list at the time.

We had an emergency situation and JSSA took us in that day. Thankfully they are in-network for us so it was only a $15 co-pay.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for the recommendations. Our in-network mental health provider list is terrible, so we'll go out of network. The nearest in-network ones are in Woodbridge and Manassas, and neither Instep nor JSSA are included. We're in Falls Church/McLean, so both of the NoVa recommendations are convenient for us. I appreciate the Rockville rec, too, unfortunately also not in-network.

We're on the the path to getting help now. DD has always felt both joy and sadness very intensely and is very dramatic. She is acting normally again today, and is usually less anxious on weekends when the homework/test pressure is off and she's not dreading school the next day. We'll watch her like a hawk this weekend and, based on the insurance company's recommendation, go to Dominion Hospital if we have a weekend crisis.

Our insurance's red tape for getting insurance authorization for an out-of-network provider is unbelievable, and when we do get it, they'll only approve 10 visits at a time. I'm glad we have some insurance coverage and the resources to handle going out-of-network, but the roadblocks they're setting up to getting care are appalling.

[Anonymous]

I don't have any advice or recommendations. I just wanted to send some support your way. I know how incredibly difficult this is and to have to deal with insurance challenges on top of it just adds to the misery. Best of luck to you all.

[Anonymous]

Sam Lashley in Arlington is brilliant. Worked with my son, who also threatened suicide at an even younger age than your son. I have referred others to him, including one child with extreme anxiety. He is an exceptional skilled psychologist and a lovely human being.
http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Sam_Lashley_PhD_Arlington_Virginia_34445

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry you're going through this. Jennifer Weaver in McLean is fantastic. If she can't see you for some reason, I'm sure she can recommend someone.