By Ellie Davis
Published: Sep. 6, 2022
Copyright 2022 WITN. All rights reserved.
As back-to-school jitters and school-based anxiety plague students across the country, Integrated Family Services is working with nine counties to provide students with support and therapy throughout the school day, which eliminates needing to pull students from school.
“The parent may have to take off work. The child is going to miss more than just an hour from the school day because there is a pickup, drive to the therapy appointment, bring them back… probably get them lunch while they’re gone,” Keith Hamm with Integrated Family Services said. “So you are looking at an easy three or four hours for a one-hour appointment.”
With limited evening hours for therapists, school-based therapy reduces the pressure put on parents and allows students to receive the care they need.
Coming out of a year laced with COVID-19 restrictions and students being forced to reintegrate into social environments, while also facing fears of being behind academically, Hamm says the need for therapy is more important now than ever before.
Parents, like Carrie Paschall, agree.
“Students are held to a really high academic standard, and a lot of pressure is put on them. So I think having therapists on-site could help them to be more aware and conscious of their mental health, and teach them good coping mechanisms and how to recognize things in themselves,” Paschall said.
Parents will be able to contact the therapists and there will be an open line of communication between the two, especially if more treatment, like medication, is expected to be needed.
For more information on school-based therapy and to find out if your school has it, reach out to your school’s counselor.
