We finally scheduled Abby’s first counseling appointment. I was able to give all concerns to the therapist and she was confident that she would be able to work things through with her. The ultimate goal was for Abby to sleep through the night and gain confidence. It is apparent that she is uneasy and whatever she experienced in the past comes up while she is trying to sleep.

The idea is to work with Abby one-on-one and eventually incorporated her mom into the sessions. We won’t be able to gauge her behaviors without mom being present… same with the evaluations of their mom.

The first couple of sessions (once a week) went well however, I don’t think this therapist has enough trauma training or experience. I observed a session and it just felt like a playdate. There wasn’t any form of questioning, probing, etc. I felt like if she created a scene with Barbies she could get some answers from Abby. Even I know if I talk about the police she will tell you that her daddy gets taken by the police because he hits her mommy. I alerted Rachel about my feelings, so hopefully, she will come into a session soon.

It has come to the point of inviting Pam. A few sessions she attended, but she is habitually 30-45 minutes late. So Pam is only present for 20 minutes at the most. She blames her appointments receiving her methadone treatments. I’m told she appropriate during the sessions but doesn’t seem to be fully engaged.

Rachel agreed that the therapist wasn’t the best fit a few sessions after Pam started to attend. Especially after some sex abuse disclosure came out. The therapist reacted as though Abby had hit someone at school and just needed to be talked to about it. Nowhere near the therapeutic approach as we felt was necessary. So, off to a new therapist, we go!

This brings us to the first court hearing.