One of the most frustrating things about the mental health landscape as it currently stands is that insurance companies will only reimburse for the standard 50-minute therapy session. Many families drag their sons to therapy for them to sit there for an hour shrugging their shoulders while they play Monopoly with their therapists. The truth is that many boys are just not accustomed to sitting in a room across from an adult in a 1:1 setting and talking about emotions. Unfortunately, many boys drop out of therapy and families end up “going it on their own.”
Now let me be clear, for many boys (such as those suffering from anxiety or depressive disorder) individual therapy has been proven to be effective and helpful. However, many families seek mental health assistance for problems such a disruptive behavior in school, problems with following rules at home, risky behavior, or problems with friends – problems that may not be best addressed via individual therapy. Indeed, It can be unrealistic to assume that what takes place in one session a week will be generalized to the problems going on in the “real world.” What often has a greater impact is the psychologist acting as a consultant to the boy and family and coming up with a targeted plan to address the behavior that involves frequent follow-up by phone and e-mail as well as substantive advocacy with the school. While the HMO’s may not agree, it has been my experience that many boys and young men can be helped by thinking outside the box of the 50-minute session. Please check back in to the blog as I plan to write more about what these services can look like and how we can make them both effective and affordable for families.