I seek only a child therapist, psych, or psychiatrist who will call me back.

[Anonymous]

OP, try Wake Kendall in Friendship Heights, they specialize in kids in crisis - 202-686-7699

[Anonymous]

OP--If you are in MCPS, you cannot count on them for support. In most cases, the school personnel is I'll equipped to handle situations like yours. You will have to jump through many hoops to get any type of testing. Maybe try Stixrud. They may be a great resource for referrals. They do educational testing. Also, it is important to find a cognitive behavioral therapist for your daughter. Talk therapy, play therapy are not scientifically proven to help. There are many psychology practices that you can google and then call in the area. I won't recommend a specific person on this forum because then I wouldn't be able to get an appointment for my child if he needed it.

[Anonymous]

You sound very disappointed and obviously very upset about where to even start. Here on Google, I did find that
Capitol Hill Psychiatry is listed as noting that late afternoon and evening appointments are full, but that there are openings 9:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. so that might be worth a call.

Otherwise, here is a listing of Child and Family Psychiatrists in the DC area that you might just start going the list to contact. It is at: https://psychiatrists.psychologytoday.com/rms/prof_results.php?city=Washington&spec=5

It is true that many will not be taking private insurance or at least have you pay upfront and then deal with any insurance coverage, but right now getting a definite diagnosis of your daughter sounds paramount. Also, you might still contact National Children's Hospital and/or Kennedy Kriger in Baltimore to see about getting an evaluation done there if appropriate at least to set up a date as a second pathway.

And while she does not know the words, your child may still have the feelings that put her at a danger to herself so do take getting her in to be seen by someone as an immediate priority.

[Anonymous]

Another option that you have is the Montgomery County Crisis Center, in Rockville. You can find out more about it at the link below, but it is open 24/7, 365 days a year. There's also a hotline that you can call and speak with someone. I work with an at risk population, and we often refer people there. I've never been in person, and from what I understand, there can be a bit of a wait, depending on what time you go at. But, they don't turn people away, they can see/speak with you the day you contact them, and they are always there. I hope this helps!
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/Program.aspx?id=BHCS/BHCS24hrcrisiscenter-p204.html

[Anonymous]

No answers here...but just want to say that I sympathize with your situation and have experienced how horribly uncaring some of these therapists seem over the phone. Years ago, I was in crisis myself and tried in vain to get help. I got the most uncaring responses from nearly everyone I called when just trying to set up an appointment. Good luck to you in finding someone.

[Anonymous]

I hope OP found someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No answers here...but just want to say that I sympathize with your situation and have experienced how horribly uncaring some of these therapists seem over the phone. Years ago, I was in crisis myself and tried in vain to get help. I got the most uncaring responses from nearly everyone I called when just trying to set up an appointment. Good luck to you in finding someone.

Seriously. One receptionist laughed (laughed!!!) when I asked if they were in-network for BCBS.

[Anonymous]

OP That sucks! If they aren't responding, it's probably because they have no openings and little time for calls other than dealing with calls from their current clients/patient.

I would not call in emergency mode. They have to respond if you are already an established patient, but if not they don't have to call you back right away. Call and be reasonable. Let them know you want an appointment as soon as possible, but don't leave panicked messages or angry messages about the lack of call returns. (Not saying you do this.)

If it's an expensive private practice, they should call back regardless because there is staff to take care of this. If it's an agency that takes insurance usually things need to be pretty bare bones to stay in business-many patients and little time to call anyone who isn't on the roster unless they have openings. It's not personal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, try Wake Kendall in Friendship Heights, they specialize in kids in crisis - 202-686-7699

Yes, and be prepared OP. They are expensive. If you want instant responses and an immediate appointment, go to a place that doesn't take insurance or go to an ER. Therapists who take insurance are in high demand and usually have waitlists.

[Anonymous]

Another thought: does your or the child's father's employer have an employee assistance program? (EAP) They can usually see you right away and you can probably get several free visits to see if you like the therapist.

[Anonymous]

I had a serious issue with my teen about two years ago. I decided to go the ER route because like you, I called every psych in a 3 hour radius and got either no return call or they were not accepting new patients. It was so frustrating. Like you school was no help and her ped just gave me a list of psychs I had already called.
I tried the ER route thinking it would fast track us to an appointment and I would highly suggest that you do not go that route unless you are seriously afraid that at any minute your kid will harm themselves.

We went to DC children's and the experience still haunts me. They immediately treated her as an imminent suicide threat. She was admitted and had a 24 hour guard in her room, even to pee. The wait to see the psych at children's was 2 days. Granted, we were admitted on a weekend.

The scary part was that once you go down this path you lose total control. We knew our kid was dealing with some serious anxiety due to a sexual assault but we absolutely knew that she wouldn't kill herself at that very moment. Yet because the hospital needs to cover their own liability, things have to go a certain way. They were about to take her to the teen psych ward where we would not be allowed to see or speak to her for a week. We refused, she was hysterically crying and scared, and they told us if we refused they would make us sign ourselves out AMA and may be forced to call DSS on us. It was the scariest experience of my life.
The only way we were able to escape was to agree to have her go to a week long daytime program where we would take her there each day and drive her home each day. We were not allowed to be with her, it was like group teen therapy. The place was like a prison (seriously bars on the windows) and was not the right place for our daughter. She went for two days-- the final straw was that on day 2 the group was told to write an essay on "what I can do to control my anger better". Remember, this kid is there because she was a victim! We refused to bring her back. I explained to the outpatient place why we refused and I never heard another thing. I figured if I ever heard back from children's I would immediately call a lawyer in prepapation for them calling DSS on us. But never did.
Thankfully she is older now, we finally got off the wait list, she went to a psych for about a year to deal with her trauma, and she is doing really well. But man did I learn a lesson. Don't use the ER route for this stuff unless you are ready to have your kid pushed into the same process meant for kids who are literally about to kill themselves or have already tried. It's very scary.
And this post is not meant to scare people away from the ER when your kid is seriously going to kill themselves. If that's the case the ER handles it totally appropriately for that situation. I'm only posting this as a warning to those who have heard (like i did) that the ER can help you find a child psych. It will, but not the way you want it to happen. If your kid is not about to Kill themselves, pick up the phone, keep calling until your fingers fall off, and sit on the wait lists. This area of the country has a serious shortage of child psychs and that's the only path.

[Anonymous]

Just went through last yr with my DC. I called 6 pp asking for immediate help and got nada. Our pediatrician asked us if we were comfortable leaving a DC alone or if we thought a DC might do something if alone. We answered that we were trying not to leave DC alone. She then sent us immediately to Shepherd Pratt's walk in clinic. DC saw a child psychiatrist and then did a 5 day "day hospital" program there, working on self esteem, how to deal with bullies, etc. The kids don't feel like they are prisoners or have done anything wrong. It's very positive and nurturing. But, it's in the north part of B'more so probably doesn't work for you. I think they have some satellite offices, so you might look into that. Fwiw, my DC was not put on medication - not all places are quick to do that.
Best of luck.