What to Expect from CBT Treatment
When you call the Child CBT Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, we will collect preliminary information about you, your child and your reasons for seeking treatment. If it seems that our program would be a good fit, we will schedule an initial appointment.
During this appointment, we will do a comprehensive evaluation to help identify your child's treatment needs. This evaluation is also an opportunity to meet the clinician and begin to establish a working relationship. Whenever possible, we conduct an evaluation with both the child and the parents to get different perspectives. During the first few sessions, we will ask about:
- Your child's current symptoms
- His or her psychiatric history
- Current treatment goals for your child
Most treatment is provided one-on-one with your child, although in many cases, we involve parents in treatment as well (particularly with younger children, who may need more support from parents to implement CBT skills between sessions). In addition, we may have group treatment options. Sessions are usually scheduled once a week at the beginning of treatment and last 45 minutes. As treatment progresses, the frequency of sessions decreases to enable your child to practice skills more independently. The first eight sessions are typically scheduled during the day, but subsequent sessions may be scheduled during after-school hours depending on the clinician’s availability.
Because of the emphasis in CBT on measurable results, we will regularly evaluate your child’s progress to determine whether additional treatment is needed. At the initial visit and then every eight weeks thereafter, we ask patients (and their parents, when appropriate) to complete questionnaires about their symptoms and their functioning. This information is important to therapy because it allows us to assess progress, ensure that treatment is on track and make adjustments as needed.
Please note: We are not an urgent-care facility. We cannot provide treatment to youth who are at acute risk to themselves or others, exhibit high levels of aggression or self-injury or are unable to actively participate in the CBT sessions because of the severity of their symptoms.
We also do not accept patients directly from inpatient facilities, but we will provide treatment once symptoms have stabilized enough to benefit from once-per-week outpatient treatment.
Program Costs
We accept most major insurances and will obtain insurance preapproval prior to your first visit. Patients and families are responsible for paying the co-pay at the time of the visit. We accept payments by check or credit card. If your insurance does not cover a service, you will be responsible for any costs incurred. Note that some of our clinicians offer only self-pay services.
Prior to your first appointment, we ask that you ensure that your information is properly updated in the Mass General patient registration system. To do this, please call 866-211-6588.
Wait Time for Services
Because of our number of referrals, we typically have a waiting period between the initial referral and the start of treatment, which may range from one to six months. Upon reviewing the initial phone intake, we will let you know how long you can expect to wait. Please note that these are estimates and that there may be variability in wait times. There is typically less of a wait if you can come regularly during daytime hours, as our after-school times tend to be more heavily booked. If your child cannot wait for treatment to begin, we recommend that you seek treatment elsewhere in the interim.
Eligibility
Because of the high demand for services, we are only able to care for children and youth who are already connected with Massachusetts General Hospital. We accept referrals from other psychiatry programs at Mass General and providers affiliated with Mass General or other Partners hospitals, as well as children of Partners employees.
If you do not have any affiliation with Mass General or Partners Healthcare, we unfortunately are unable to provide care at this time. However, care is available to all patients who are eligible for our clinical trials. Learn more about our current research.
To request an appointment in the Child CBT Program, please fill out our intake form:
Go to intake form