What type of therapist do I need?
There are so many types of different therapists, and it can be challenging to figure out which one is the right fit for you or your child. We want to provide more insight into the different types of therapists available at Kidcrew and hopefully help you make a better-informed decision on which kind of therapy is best for your family.
On the Kidcrew team, we have psychotherapists, psychologists, a psychiatrist and an art therapist at this time. Let’s start by identifying their different roles.
A psychotherapist primarily uses talk therapy and can help children dealing with a wide range of issues, including but not limited to ADHD, anxiety, depression, executive functioning, eating and food issues, sleep and emotional regulation. The psychotherapists on our team have been trained in various modalities, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy as well as art and play therapy. Since psychotherapy is a regulated profession, it is often covered by insurance companies. Psychotherapy fees are not covered by OHIP. A psychotherapist cannot diagnose mental health or behavioural disorders and are unable to provide prescriptions or medication.
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While a psychologist can provide a mental health diagnosis, they cannot prescribe medications. Psychology fees are not covered by OHIP, though many insurance companies provide psychology coverage. At Kidcrew, our psychologists offer clinical intakes but do not currently offer psychoeducational assessments. Psychologists typically see clients for 6-20 sessions but occasionally do one-off assessments.
An art therapist is someone who is trained in psychotherapy and art therapy. An art therapist can help a child express themselves not only verbally but through art as well. Art therapy is not a regulated profession and, thus, is often not covered by most insurance companies.
A psychiatrist can assess for and diagnose mental health concerns and prescribe medication. They may make recommendations to the primary care provider about prescriptions. Kidcrew is currently offering psychiatric consultations with Dr. Rose Geist. These are covered by OHIP and require a referral by a Kidcrew primary care pediatrician.
A development pediatrician can assess for autism, ADHD and other developmental and neurodevelopment disorders. Their services are covered by OHIP, and a primary care provider can refer children to a developmental pediatrician. Dr. Elliot Lavi provides pediatric developmental services at Kidcrew.
If you have any questions or are not sure which provider your child would benefit from most, feel free to reach out directly to our therapy team lead, Nikki Goldman-Stroh, at (416) 525-1387 or amanda@kidcrew.com.
