welcome letter for families

8/3/2019 Welcome Letter for Families

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/welcome-letter-for-families 1/3

June 2011

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to the Child and Family Institute(CFI) Outpatient Department (OPD) at St.Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals. We arehere to help your child or teenager andyour family with their emotional and socialwellness. Our many programs are here toprovide the support and treatment thatcan make a positive difference in yourchild’s development. We are lookingforward to working with you as partners inhelping your child and family!

This letter provides some basicinformation about our clinic. If you haveany questions, please feel free to ask theclinician assigned to your child, or any of our staff members. They will be happy tospeak with you.

We offer the following kinds of services:

Intake evaluations

Individual psychotherapyPsychopharmacology(medication treatment)

Crisis Services

Family therapy

Parent-Infant therapy

Group therapy

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Art Therapy

Trauma treatment and researchAnimal Assisted (Pet) Therapy

Neuropsychological testing

Substance Abuse preventionand treatment

Parenting groups

Home visits

School and Community BasedSatellite Clinics

Referrals to case management

Family Advocacy

Here are some frequently askedquestions about our mental healthservices for young people. Pleasenote that all of our services can beprovided in English or Spanish.

1) How will you evaluate mychild?

Your first meetings at CFI will be part of anintake evaluation, which can be up tothree sessions. An interviewer will meetwith you and with your child to talk aboutthe reasons why you are seeking care.

You and your child may fill out assessmentforms on paper or on the computer. Withyour permission, the clinician may alsogather information from other sourcesincluding your child’s school and health

care provider. All of this information isused to make a plan for helping your childto feel better and do his or her best athome, at school and in the community.

The clinician will talk with you aboutsuggestions for the kinds of treatment thatmight be most helpful.

2) Who will have access toinformation about my child andfamily?

All of the information we obtain about your

child and family is strictly confidential. Weare not permitted to share medicalinformation with anyone unless we haveyour consent or unless there is someemergency or to provide continuity of care

3) What kinds of practitioners willwe see at CFI?

1



The staff at the Child and Family InstituteOutpatient Department are psychologists,social workers, art therapists, nursepractitioners, a family advocate, socialwork assistants, clinicians-in-training andpatient service representatives. St. Luke’sRoosevelt Hospital Center is a teachinghospital affiliated with the Columbia

College of Physicians and Surgeons andwe are widely recognized as one of thepremium training sites for mental healthclinicians. Our clinicians have specializedtraining in the areas of substanceabuse/addiction, cognitive behavioralevidence-based treatments for depression,anxiety, trauma and disruptive behaviordisorders; psychodynamic/insight-orientedtherapy; play therapy; family therapy andparent-infant relational therapies.

4) Individual therapy was

recommended for my child.How often will he meet with hisclinician?

You will be given an appointment timethat will be yours each week. This time willbe set aside only for you and your family.Most appointments last from 30 minutesto one hour. Each session builds upon thelast one and your child will learn more byhaving regular, uninterrupted weeklycontact with his or her clinician. Also,weekly sessions will allow you to build a

relationship with your child’s treatmentprovider.

5) Medication was recommendedas part of my child’s treatment.How often will she be seen formedication management?

The answer to this question depends uponthe prescribing clinician’s evaluation of your child’s current needs. Initiallymeetings may be held on a weekly or bi-weekly basis for the first month in order to

make sure that any medication that hasbeen prescribed is being well tolerated.Once a medication regime is establishedmeetings can be less frequent and areusually held a minimum of one time permonth.

6) How can I participate in mychild’s treatment?

We believe that parents are the expertswhen it comes to their children andteenagers. Your input and collaboration isessential to the work we do at the CFIOPD. Each month you will have a meetingwith your child’s clinician to talk aboutprogress. More frequent meetings will be

recommended when necessary and wewelcome you to request meetingswhenever you wish. At the beginning of treatment and then every three months atreatment plan is written along with you toreview past goals and create new ones.Parents/guardians must sign everyquarterly treatment plan in session withtheir child’s primary clinician.

7) What should I do if my child isin crisis?

If the crisis takes place during clinic hours(8 AM to 7 PM Monday to Thursday and 8AM to 6 PM on Fridays) you can contactyour child’s primary clinician or can callhis or her psychiatrist. If no one isavailable by phone please contact the St.Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital CenterComprehensive Psychiatric EmergencyProgram (CPEP) at (212) 523-3347 andspeak to the psychiatrist on-call. After business hours please contact the CPEPas well. If you are unable to contactsomeone by phone, you should

accompany your child to the CPEP or thenearest Emergency Room or contact 911 if you cannot travel safely.

Here are some ways that you canhelp us to best serve your family:

Keep us updated on changes of your phone number, address orinsurance. We want to be able tostay in regular contact with you.Attend annual visits to thepediatrician to make sure your

child is in good physical health. Allof our programs require thatchildren have an updated physicalexam every year.Make your child’s appointments aregular part of your week.Consistent attendance at weeklysessions is what makes treatmenteffective.

2



If your child is 12 years old orunder (or if it is determined he orshe is older and in need of anescort), escort him or her tosessions or have another adultescort him or her. Please do notleave the building while your childis in his or her session, in case

there is an emergency or if yourchild’s clinician would like to speakto you.Please keep in mind our policy formissed appointments. It is asfollows: if two sessions aremissed within a two monthperiod, the case will bereviewed and considered forclosing. The clinician maycreate an attendanceagreement with the familyafter the second missed

session. If a third session ismissed within the next month,the case will likely be closed.

3

welcome letter for families

Documents