Clinical Musings: A Therapist’s Thoughts about Various Topics
By Elizabeth Garrett MSSA, LISW-S
Feb 11, 2026
Extra Curriculars or Therapy Appointment?
Your child has been doing so well in therapy. They go weekly, enjoy going, and you get positive feedback about their sessions. You’re even seeing some shifts at home! They hate missing appointments, but tech week is coming up. Or hockey championships. Or the big volleyball tournament is happening. And it conflicts with their therapy. What’s the right call?!?!
Professionally speaking, the right call is to pick “the thing”. Whatever thing that your child is involved in and loving- that’s the priority. Children, particularly as they get older, need “a thing”. I honestly have never cared what that “thing” is. The tuba. D&D. Dance. Pottery. What it is is not important. What is important is that it is important. To them. They take pride in it. They have fun. Their soul gets to shine. They learn things they are not learning anywhere else- including therapy. This brief interruption in therapy, for an important milestone in their “thing” is (in my humble opinion) always worth missing therapy for.
When is this not the case? When dance is 6 days a week. When baseball is 7 days a week and four times on Sundays. When your child’s symptoms are bleeding through more than one area of their life. That’s when therapy is the priority. Kids don’t do therapy like adults. They come in, do work, and are done. Then they might come back. The goal is to move with them- not to keep them in therapy indefinitely.
Also, if your child has 57 “things” that’s too many. And if they don’t have one by the time they are in late elementary school- it’s time to find one. Tweens and teens who are successfully engaged in (and I don’t mean doing well in- I mean participating happily in) a “thing” have a much better shot at making it through the teen years relatively unscathed. It helps them form an identity and have a community. These are crucial during the years when their life and body and relationships are changing so fast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Beth Garrett is a mother of three children and a clinical social worker in private practice. She has been working with Cleveland area children and families for 25 years. She loves helping parents understand their children better, and helping all people understand themselves better.
Contact info:
Elizabeth Garrett MSSA, LISW-S
egarrett@bhwpartners.com
24800 Highpoint Rd.
Beachwood, OH. 44122
