Need help choosing a therapist - how to start?

[Anonymous]

DS age 9 (almost 10) was recently diagnosed with ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder. The major issues we are dealing with are emotional disregulation when frustrated or challenged. He becomes explosive, illogical, irrational and can't access some of the coping tools that he's developed up to this point. He is also often irritable and moody but of course, often wonderfully sweet and funny. Like a lot of kids with this profile - he is very smart and very sensitive. The anxiety and ADHD are likely very closely linked but the anxiety seems to be the cause of a lot of the behavior issues we see (but then again the anxiety is likely exacerbated by the ADHD). FWIW - he does well in school - gets straight A's, is in compacted math, etc. I think he can compensate for the ADHD challenges with his intellect but by the time he gets home he is emotionally spent and becomes explosive.

So - looking for a great therapist that can help us disentangle all of his - help him work on the anxiety and the ADHD and also help us better help him.

We've received recs for the Cheseapake ADHD Center, Behavior Center of Greater Washington, the Wake Kendall Group, Dan Griffin and Jose Varela (SEQUENCE Counseling). Does anyone have experience they can share and/or recommendations for specific therapists at the practices I mentioned? And just globally - how do we start to find the right person? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Many large therapy practices will schedule a phone "intake" to help them narrow down to the best therapists in their practice to work with your child. But final decisions on who to go with often come down to length of wait list, location and scheduling.

[Anonymous]

OP here - any thoughts about the pros/cons of going to a group practice vs individual provider?

[Anonymous]

that sounds like ADHD and RSD more than anxiety. have you tried stimulants?

[Anonymous]

Stimulants alone won't solve the anxiety. Need Intuniv or clonidine.

[Anonymous]

OP here. We just received the diagnosis so have not tried any meds yet. Would prefer trying just therapy first but certainly open to meds down the road. I hadn't previously heard of RSD but it certainly does sound a lot like my son. He does have some other GAD type behaviors though (complicated bedtime routine to keep bad guys away, skin picking, etc) but I focused on the behaviors that are causing trouble in my post.

[Anonymous]

The advantages I have seen with a group practice is that there is a receptionist who answers the phone and the billing is usually better managed. I have worked with some solo practitioners whose billing is a disaster.