1. What Hours and Days is Scott in the Office?
I’m available for appointments Monday through Thursday from 9:00am to 7:00 pm. And, on Fridays I am available for appointments from 9:00am to 1:00pm. I do take off on the weekends to practice what I preach so I am not available for appointments then. But I do have lots of after work hours available for you!
2. How Do I Make an Appointment?
Simply telephone my office at (949) 833-1599 and ask to make an appointment. If I am not with an appointment I will speak with you directly. Or, if you get my voice mail please leave a message with your name and phone number and either I or my assistant Lori will call you back to schedule an appointment as quickly as possible. I can usually see new clients within a week, sometimes within a day or two, depending on the flexibility of your schedule.
3. What Ages of Children Do You Help?
I work with parents who have kids as young as one year old all the way up through high school and college age folks. With children ages one to four I will be working more with you as parents to provide you with the skills and tools you need to be effective with your children.
4. Do You See My Child Alone or With Me?
This is a great question. Most counselors and therapist work with children alone. I do not! As a parenting behavioral specialist, I see parents with their children together. Having worked with thousands of parents and their children for over 25 years, I know that the best way to improve your parenting skills and to improve your child’s behavior is to work together with you and your child on concrete skills that work. Your appointments with me will provide you with a whole new set of tools for dealing with your child’s behavior problems. Plus, they will enjoy getting better too!
5. Our Teen Refuses to Come to Counseling Can You Still Help Us?
Yes! Some teens get so caught up in the power struggles with their parents that they refuse anything and everything, even those things that will help them ~ like seeing me! They don’t realize that counseling can be a great way to help them get the things they want. If you can get your teen in my door, there is a really, really, really good chance they will agree to come back next time.
However, if they look you straight in the eye and say, “I don’t need no stinkin’ counselor. Leave me alone!” I can help you, as his/her parents, without your little loved one with us. As parents I will teach you what to say, what to do, and how to handle all those difficult, tricky, and grueling situations that arise with your beautiful angel. You see, it doesn’t matter what a child or teen does. As they say, “Kids will be kids!” What matters is your response to them (this is where you are currently having trouble!). And by learning a new and much more effective response (what to do and what to say) to your child, you will learn there is more power than you ever imagined to help them and you have a better family as you help them to become responsible and independent. I can give you these tools, coach you how to use them, and help you create a peaceful, tender, and loving family all without the object of your affections with us.
6. Do You Accept My Insurance?
Many PPO plans will cover a portion of your treatment through your “out of network” benefit coverage. I will furnish you with a completed statement that you may submit by mail directly to your insurance company for reimbursement. They will mail a check for your covered benefit directly to your address. Plans vary and it is important that you check your coverage carefully. To check your coverage just give your insurance carrier a call. Typically you can find their number on the back of your insurance card.
Questions to ask your insurance company to help determine if my services are covered under your insurance plan are:
- What are my outpatient counseling or mental health benefits?
- What is my deductible and have I met it?
- What is my out of network benefit?
- How many therapy sessions or what dollar amount does my plan cover?
If you need any help with this, I would be happy to assist you in this process.
7. Why Should I See Scott to Help Me with My Child or Children?
Here’s the Short Answer:
Because you want expert tools, solutions, and results to solve the behavioral problems and predicaments you and your child are in - quickly.
The Long Answer:
Because most counselors and therapists (same thing, just some folks like one word over the other) have no training or experience in solving the behavioral problems, cahllenges, and crisis’ that you are facing with your kids. They have no idea what to do for you if your child is …
- Having a melt down, world class, louder than a sonic boom temper tantrum and is refusing to go to school, get dressed, or wanting something at the store.
- They have no earthly idea what to suggest to you when you tell them your second grader is pooping in his pants at school, at home, pretty much everywhere and you want them to solve it for you ~ and today would be nice!
- When you ask for tools and a plan on how to help your middle schooler or high schooler actually do his homework, turn it in each day, get organized, and improve his grades from D’s and F’s up to A’s B’s and C’s – they’ll look at you as if you just fell off the turnip truck with a glazed look in their eye that screams - I have no idea how to do that. And they really don’t!
Are you looking for an expert that can answer any question you have about your children and teens, and can provide you with the all the solutions and tools you need to solve your child’s behavioral problems while bringing the peace and joy back into your family? Or are you looking for someone who will listen to your problems and lend an empathic ear who “understands” how difficult it is with your children, but really doesn’t have any real answers or solutions for you?
I can hear you now, “Well of course I want solutions and tools and strategies Scott!” I know you do, and so do all the other parents. That’s why I do what I do today and why I’ve spent the last 25 year specializing in giving parents easy solutions to solve their child’s difficulties.
The dirty little secret is that most counselors / therapists / psychologist have little experience with children and teens. They have no behavioral training to offer you solutions and tools. Helping parents, kids and teens is a very specialized area of counseling and there are very few of us with the advanced training needed to effectively help you, and who do it well. Plus, the odds of finding one on a managed care panel is like finding that needle in the haystack, except there is no needle in there to begin with.
Many of my past clients have moaned and groaned to me of the time they spent with counselors on their managed care list and got no where. They spent lots of their time and a good chunk of money (co-pays add up!) and their kids still had the same problem they had when they first entered that office. I believe your time is valuable and you deserve the best quality care for your family.
8. Okay Scott, We’ve seen Five Other Counselors and None of Them Have Helped Us. Can You?
I’m asked this question all the time. I am the person you see when nothing else has worked, when no one else has helped you. Most counselors are not trained to solve child and teen behavioral problems. They are not trained in what is referred to as solution focused child behavior therapy. They are trained to help family members understand each other, be good listeners, and help you feel understood by your counselor. None of this is going to help you …
- Get you ADD or ADHD child to follow your directions the first time you ask, and help them get their homework done without a battle each and every night.
- Calm and stop the endless tantrums and whining of a child you have not been consistent with.
- Learn how to be the consistent parent you know you need to be, and teach you the skills and tools to get there.
- Stop your child from crying and begging you to let them stay home from school as you see their anxiety escalating with each thought of going to school.
- Understand and take the steps you need to do to get them to school without a fuss each day.
- Learn specifically what to do in each and every exasperating situation your child throws at you.
- Feel confident and secure as a parent with a child who has been driving you batty (over and over again I would imagine!).
- Look forward to when your child is giving you trouble so you can practice your new and exciting skills. Yes, you will look forward to trouble ~ ‘cause it’s so fun to watch your child improve right before your eyes!
So the answer is yes I can help you. I have the answers and solutions for all the above situations and hundreds more that you are struggling with. I’m the person you’ve been looking for from the start and you just didn’t know it. Not only am I trained to solve your problems, I am the professional speaker and trainer schools, universities, and conferences call on to train their teachers, counselors, parents, and child care workers on how to work with children. Plus I’m pretty fun and entertaining too! And if you need something different than what I do to help you and your child, I will let you know immediately and direct you to the right path to get that help.