Q & A

What will happen when I call the Center?

• First, you will speak to a coordinator who will listen to your concerns.
  
• Second, the coordinator will explain the intake process to you, review insurance coverage, and discuss payment procedures and options.
• Third, the coordinator will assess your situation and direct it to the appropriate staff specialist.
• Finally, the specialist will call you to set up an appointment or consultation
  

Will my family ever 'get over' having a loved one die?

What your family is experiencing is normal for those who have lost a loved one. Death is often experienced as a surprise occurance even when it is actually expected. The shock and feelings of grief are often overwhelming for both parents and children.

North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center's Bereavement and Trauma Center is an innovative, state-of-the-art, new facility offering a safe, nurturing environment to help families during times of grief and/or trauma. The Center is a Nassau County "First Response" agency offering emergency services as well as ongoing mental health counseling.

This program offers individual counseling, psychiatric evaluation, support groups, and crisis intervention for children, adolescents, and family members to help with the process of mourning.

My son is involved with drugs, can you help me?

North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center's Leed's Place - Serving Young People offers an intensive Outpatient Chemical Dependency program for adolescent substance abusers and their families, including significant others, ages 6 to 21. Mental health services are offered as well as community outreach and education which includes workshops and activities for youth and their families.

The Leeds Place is a multi-service clinic that specializes in helping children, youth, and families not only with substance abuse, but with mental health treatment as well. This licensed clinic provides clinical treatment services as well as prevention services. Fees are determined according to the family's ability to pay and no one is ever turned away because of an inability to pay.

Why am I feeling so sad all of the time? Ever since my daughter was born I just feel bad?

"Post baby blues" are common in new mothers, and are caused by a mixture of extreme fatigue and sharp changes in hormones. The "blues" generally pass quickly as mothers and their babies start to establish their routines over the first few days. But for some women, feeling bad doesn't go away, and gets more intense over the next two or three months. These women may experience irritability, sad moods, and hopelessness. They may feel that they are not doing a good job as a mother and hear their baby's cries as a sign of their own failure. They may experience extreme anxiety, starting many tasks but unable to finish them. Some women worry that they may not be able to take care of their babies, and in the most rare and extreme cases, fear that they may hurt themselves or their children.

There is increasing awareness of the importance of maternal depression as a factor on infant development, such as speech and language delays, behavioral difficulties, and emotional development. The new research on early childhood brain development, focusing heavily on early stimulation and future cognitive success, also establishes connections between a parent's success in creating a nurturing environment and their own depression. Access to appropriate treatment can provide dramatic and life saving interventions. Postpartum and maternal depression needs to be addressed as a major risk factor interfering with a family's ability to develop and function at an optimal level.

Families require services that recognize the dangerous and crippling impact of maternal depression and the front line professionals who work with families and their young children need enhanced training and support to improve their ability to detect and treat maternal depression and its consequences. These services are available. North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center has a very special and sensitive program, The Diane Goldberg Maternal Depression Program in Memory of Diane Goldberg, focused directly on postpartum and maternal depression. The program is located at the Marks Family Right from the Start 0-3+ Center of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center in Manhasset.

My daughter is emotionally upset because she is not successful in school. She is failing and can't seem to keep up. Can your program help her?

The Learning to Learn Center helps children to strive for greater success in their cognitive and academic abilities as well as to become more socially adept and emotionally stable. These are critical components for children who face challenges in learning. The Learning to Learn Center also serves as a specialized resource and evaluation Center for parents, students, educators, and mental health professionals.

The staff consists of clinical psychologists with training in neuropsychological evaluation, a clinical social worker who has trained in the social and emotional effects of learning issues, an educational specialist, and a consulting neuropsychologist.

The Learning to Learn Center offers the following combination of services: psychological and neuropsychological testing, mental health services specifically tailored to the child and family, tutorial and remediation services, school liaison & specialized groups for learning disabled and ADD/ADHD children and their families, referrals and consultations, and training for professionals.