Alvord Baker Therapist recommendqtion- Rockville office

[Anonymous]

What about Cummings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for a therapist recommendation for our 8 year old son who exhibits signs of anxiety (nail biting) and who is lacking in social skills (monologues regarding his own interests).

He has been seeing an OT with 2 years to address proprioception and low core muscle tone, and to build coordination and balance. He also goes to gymnastics to build strength. He has made dramatic improvement, but because of these issues, it is a challenge for him to participate in some of the more physical games (involving monkey bars, first instance, or shooting a basketball) during recess, which isolates him more. He doesn't readily share these experiences and tends to shrug them off, but seems to exhibit anxiety as a result. He has been going to the social thinking group at CCL, which seems to be mildly helpful. He has liked all of his therapists so far. But we feel we needed to have another pair of eyes on him to see what we are missing in terms of the social skills and anxiety. So we turned to Alvord Baker.

He met Dr. Shiffrin for an intake and she seemed impersonal and his stress level went up in the session, so it seemed counter productive. We need a warm therapist who had expertise with quirky, sweet boys with poor social skills and anxiety. Also, regarding group, any thoughts regarding Dr. Berghorst? Thanks!

I found Nina to be very warm and helpful with my daughter.

[Anonymous]

My experience with Nina and the Alvord Baker practice was not good at all. My ADHD daughter was placed in a group with dynamics not appropriate for her issue. The other kids seemed to have major issues. One in particular seems to have an issue with addiction to devices. This girl is 9 and has a iPhone and Apple Watch. She brings the devices to the waiting room and brags about her games to the other kids. She would have a fit when she was not allowed to bring them in to the session. My daughter is only 8 and will not be getting a phone until she is 12. This kind of exposure is not what I was looking for. The kids in her group obviously had issues with anxiety, anger, and other things that my daughter does not have.

The process they use for vetting kids is not good. They just want to admit your kid to whatever group they have and take your money. My daughter is a sweet, happy, outgoing child with no issues like anxiety, shyness, anger, etc. She is actually too friendly and tends to not always recognize boundaries. And even though I told therapist that I wanted to work on this issue, the group never addressed it. They focused on things like anxiety, anger, bullying and other things, but nothing about boundaries. I went in needing help with one issue and it was not addressed. I believe the reason for this is that their program is cookie cutter and not flexible.

I do not recommend this practice at all.

[Anonymous]

Obviously, the same groups are not going to be right for everyone, but I just wanted to say that the group has been a great help for my DS. The psychologist has been a wonderful resource and has gone out of her way to always respond by email and help with any school issues that have arisen (without extra charge!). Even when I explained about some issues, she was able to help us get into a research study at NIH. I fully respect her and the program they are running. BUT it is a curriculum. It is called the resilience builder program and if you are thinking of the group you should read about the goals for the program. To the immediate PP- unfortunately, being over friendly is not one of the goals. They probably should have led you to another type of help, and I'm sorry about that.

If you are looking for a therapist 1-1, I would call them and actually explain that you are looking for someone warm and caring. There are different personalities and each has different strengths so I am sure you can find a good match.

I truly have nothing but respect for the office and all they have done to help my son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for a therapist recommendation for our 8 year old son who exhibits signs of anxiety (nail biting) and who is lacking in social skills (monologues regarding his own interests).

He has been seeing an OT with 2 years to address proprioception and low core muscle tone, and to build coordination and balance. He also goes to gymnastics to build strength. He has made dramatic improvement, but because of these issues, it is a challenge for him to participate in some of the more physical games (involving monkey bars, first instance, or shooting a basketball) during recess, which isolates him more. He doesn't readily share these experiences and tends to shrug them off, but seems to exhibit anxiety as a result. He has been going to the social thinking group at CCL, which seems to be mildly helpful. He has liked all of his therapists so far. But we feel we needed to have another pair of eyes on him to see what we are missing in terms of the social skills and anxiety. So we turned to Alvord Baker.

He met Dr. Shiffrin for an intake and she seemed impersonal and his stress level went up in the session, so it seemed counter productive. We need a warm therapist who had expertise with quirky, sweet boys with poor social skills and anxiety. Also, regarding group, any thoughts regarding Dr. Berghorst? Thanks!

My DS saw Dr. Malesa for CBT dealing with anxiety and rigidity issues. She turned out to be a really good fit for him. I highly recommend her for 1 on 1 therapy. I have no experience with any of the groups there though.

[Anonymous]

Lots of empathy for the PP who had a bad experience. It sounds like a fit issue for that particular mix of kids and the provider should have seen red flags during the intake and given you more information about the other kids signing up and the curriculum.

IME Alvord Baker is very honest about group fit and very transparent about what they teach and don't teach. We have been extremely happy with the practice. Probably the best thing we've spent money on. If you're thinking about a group I would advise you to go to the office and flip through the book they have with the curriculum. The individual providers seem to change it up a bit by emphasizing some things or skipping some lessons based on the needs of kids they get for a particular session but I don't think they go outside the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If you are looking for a therapist 1-1, I would call them and actually explain that you are looking for someone warm and caring. There are different personalities and each has different strengths so I am sure you can find a good match.

I truly have nothing but respect for the office and all they have done to help my son.

I think Alvord Baker is terrific and we've met a number of the providers there I wouldn't describe a single one as warm and caring. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

09:34 again and wanted to respond to one of the PP's experience with the kids who have major issues. I think that may be unusual. I have actually been very surprised by how outgoing, articulate, non-quirky and well-behaved all the kids we've met have been. Every week you see kids come in with sports jerseys and chatting really nice. I didn't see this kind of dynamic at the other group DS did the previous year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of empathy for the PP who had a bad experience. It sounds like a fit issue for that particular mix of kids and the provider should have seen red flags during the intake and given you more information about the other kids signing up and the curriculum.

IME Alvord Baker is very honest about group fit and very transparent about what they teach and don't teach. We have been extremely happy with the practice. Probably the best thing we've spent money on. If you're thinking about a group I would advise you to go to the office and flip through the book they have with the curriculum. The individual providers seem to change it up a bit by emphasizing some things or skipping some lessons based on the needs of kids they get for a particular session but I don't think they go outside the curriculum.

+1

[Anonymous]

Watch out for the group sessions. They make you sign a contract. If the fit is not good, too bad. You will pay for the remaining sessions. I am going through this right now and it is not pleasant. Horrible ethics on the part of the practice. They will not let us get out of the contract and will charge us for missed sessions, which are not eligible for insurance reimbursement. So we go and suffer so that we will not be out hundreds of dollars.

[Anonymous]

09:24, did you find Dr. Malesa warm?

[Anonymous]

I had the same issue with the groups. Didn't do 1:1 sessions so maybe that is better but would never do the groups. If it's not a right fit you're stuck. I even asked about the type of group my child would be going into but I was not told the complete truth.