FYI re. In-home tdocs

[klmno]

Since many of us have had to look into in-home therapy or MST, I thought I'd share this info I just ran across as I was looking for employment listings. In my state at least, the in-home therapist AND the in-home therapist's super are required to have this as a background:

Education and Experience


Associate's Degree or college credits equivalent to an Associate's Degree from an accredited school of social work, psychology, counseling, sociology, or related human service school with one year clinical experience; or Associates Degree in unrelated field with three years clinical experience

I'm pretty sure this is less than a regular, out-patient counselor/therapist is required to have- for instance, licensure requirements. This stuck out at me because I thought since we have to go thru a series of out-patient therapy before even getting access to in-home that an in-home therapist would be able to offer more than the typical therapist, however, they are evidently less qualified. The ad does say that the successful candidate will get training in behavior management. If this is the norm, I won't expect any of them to know much about BiPolar (BP) or other disorders/MI no matter what they claim.

FWIW, I ran across a similar ad last week indiccating the same qualifications. One ad was for MST for the county and the other was for an in-home therapist and a super for a private company that contracts to the county or can be hired by a family.

 

[slsh]

klmno - just based on our experience, I think as with- any therapist, you have to judge each person on their merits. Heaven knows, we've dealt with- many tdocs with credentials out the ears who weren't worth a darn. on the other hand, one of the best resources we ever had was an Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who did in-home therapy with us. To look at him, you'd think he'd be useless (24, single, no kids), but he really *got* it and he made a huge difference in how we dealt with difficult child.

I think pretty quickly in the real world the effectiveness of a therapist has more to do with- their experience, common sense, and that gift to see beyond the surface of a difficult child, than it does with their educational background.

 

[klmno]

I agree but aren't you stuck with the person when it comes to in-home? At least in our situation, we were going to get who they sent and had no choice in the matter. Although, I was handling this privately- I can see where if a family hires the service, they can get the therapist changed if it's not helping or making things worse.

 

[timer lady]

I agree with Sue ~ some of our best tdocs/therapists didn't have the PhD behind their names.

They did have "insight" into my kids. That's huge! When kt is discharged we will have the same in home that we had before she entered Residential Treatment Center (RTC) (I believe - that could change). This woman had kt "pegged" & could see the manipulation & other antics she pulled. wm's in home has the same insight & keeps him in line.

Meet with the person being suggested & get a feel for him/her before & then in my humble opinion after a month or two in your home. You will know if it's working.

 

[timer lady]

I wasn't stuck, in fact, fired 2 therapists because they were way off mark. We finally hit with the one we worked with a few months ago, dead on.

 

[klmno]

I guess the difference then is that when it's ordered thru PO, we have no choice. We definitely had no choice with MST because there is only one person in this county who does it thru the local Department of Juvenile Justice- he works there full-time, this is all he does and they have no one else.