AIRED: November 29, 2010– 11 am PST
www.latalkradio.com
TITLE: “Promoting Resilience in Teens”
SPECIAL GUEST: David Verhaagen, Ph.D. Author, Psychologist, Speaker
Dr. David Verhaagen joins Allen and co-host, Dr. Melody Foxx, to discuss how he help young men who struggle in high school get ready for college or helping those who have already had trouble in college develop plans so they can successfully return. He also helps them find their own sense of purpose and direction.
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David Verhaagen works primarily with high school and college-age students. His specialties include: anger problems, anxiety behavior problems, depression, drug and alcohol problems, school and learning-related problems (including ADHD), and trauma (accidents, abuse, violence, etc.). He has authored many books including Parenting the Millenial Generation.
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ABOUT – Southeast Psych
What kind of clients do you see?
Our tagline is “Psychology for All” and we mean that. We see young children, school-age kids, teenagers, young adults, adults, couples, families. We see people who have emotional or behavioral struggles. We also see people who want to be peak performers in school or in business. With 25 therapists, we cover the range of specialties.
What kind of services do you offer?
We provide therapy for individuals, groups, couples, and families. We do assessments for children, teens, and adults. We provide consultation for parents or others who need expert input. We also provide speakers for meetings and organizations.
Why aren’t you on any insurance panels?
The short answer is that the bureaucratic hassles are not worth it for our therapists. Often these panels require lots of extra phone calls and paperwork, disclosures of client information, and excessive hurdles—all for an agreement to make less money. This has never sounded like a good deal to us. We know we will lose some clients, but we also know that providing a high quality of service from top-notch therapists has drawn many others. If you want more thoughts on why Southeast Psych may be worth it, check out this link (Why Southeast Psych May Be Worth it Link)
What makes your practice different than others?
To be honest, there are other good practices in town with some excellent therapists. We don’t feel competitive with them because we believe our biggest challenge is not having to scrap with other practices or solo providers for clients, but getting the word out to prospective clients that psychology really does enhance people’s lives. Therapy, assessment, and consultation services can be awesome things.
What makes our practice different from the others is that we hope to provide a special experience from the time a person first walks in the door. There is a small coffee shop and bookstore inside with a full-time manager. There is a playroom with an Xbox for the kids. There are big screen TV’s in the waiting areas. The staff is friendly and helpful. The whole place feels fun and positive. When we have our clients showing up a half-hour early just to enjoy the coffee and the experience, we know we are doing something right.
Why are you called “Southeast Psych” now and not Southeast Psychological Services?
The change has happened for three reasons. First, our original mission statement said we provided psychological services, but our mission was revised to say that we “put psychology into the hands of as many people as possible to enhance their lives.” We are all about psychology and we dropped the idea of limiting ourselves to only getting it to people through services (like therapy and testing). This lets us pursue things like psychology products, develop video material for the web, and give talks that promote the positive benefits of psychology. Second, Southeast Psychological Services just sounded too formal and corporate. It didn’t fit our culture of fun and our positive focus as well as the short, punchy sound of Southeast Psych. Finally, the website was already southeastpsych.com and we tended to refer to ourselves internally as Southeast Psych, so we thought we should just go ahead and make it our public name, as well.
How do I find the right therapist for me or my child?
There are at least four ways to find the right therapist match for you or a loved one. First, we would encourage you to ask around. Ask friends who have seen therapists, people who know what is going on in the community, clergy, guidance counselors, teachers, managers, and others. When you hear the same name more than once, there’s a good chance that therapist may be a good option for you. Second, check out bios on the website. Most practices, including ours, have short bios of the therapists that describe their education, training, and specialty areas. See who seems to match your situation and needs the best. Third, if you are not sure, you can always call our office and describe your situation briefly, then let our staff make recommendations to you, since they know our therapists and have a good sense of who might fit you best. Finally, many of our therapists offer a 15-minute “meet and greet” where you can get a sense of his or her personality and style with no cost and no commitment.
