Psychiatrist asked me to leave the room for 10 Minutes to talk to Dd

[Nomoreicecreamnow]

Dd is 6 and over the summer developed anger and ocd after being ill. I’ve taken her to numerous Drs and they advised a child psychiatrist. I took her to a really nice lady and we had a very thorough two hour appointment. Towards the end, she asked if I minded stepping into the waiting room for her to chat to her alone, I felt a bit strange about it, but did it.
I’m just curious if this is normal procedure and what she would have asked Dd, I haven’t asked Dd as don’t want her stressed out
Dr and Dd seemed fine when I came back in and carried on as usual.

@Choochoo21 I would assume she’s never in a room alone with a man, why would she be?

This is perfectly normal procedure.
I work for CAMHS and it's standard process for parents to wait in the reception area whilst their children are in appointments. Usually lasting approx 1 hour. Then, at the end, the practitioner or Dr comes to ask the parents to come into their office to discuss it.
As pp have said, the appointment is about the child rather than the parent, so the focus needs to be on what the child says or wants to communicate to staff. With all due respect, many parents have their own agenda - which aren't always the childrens' best interests.. Fabricated illness etc. Parents insisting that their child needs a diagnosis. Sometimes arguing against the professional experience and knowledge of our Consultants and other highly specialised staff. Sadly at CAMHS, we see cases of fabricated illness and cases where parents coach their children in what to say/how to act during appointments. This is why it's important for children to be given that "space" away from the parents, to speak "freely". Not saying all parents are like this, but many are.

@Manxexile Not confused, she saw a psychiatrist

@Sausagefestmum Please can I message you?

It's normal practice. Psychiatrists and Psychologists will always want to see the patient alone. Both so they can ask safeguarding questions without the patient being uncomfortable answering in front of someone and so that the patient has space to talk about anything they don't want you to hear.

Went here to say that, a child in my family had this, same age as well, a course of vitamins and probiotics settled the behaviour issues.
On the question at hand, 6 seems young to see a psychiatrist alone but I understand the concept behind it. I would be OK for a woman seeing my DD alone at this age, and a man but under the condition there is a chaperone in the room as well. You can request a chaperone for all adult examinations, it's no different. Probably erring completely on the side of caution here.

It's necessary. And they don't have to tell you what's talked about. That's normal to. The relationship is confidential otherwise it doesn't work. You have to trust whoever you choose because you there's a lot you'll never know about what they do with your kid.

@Sorrelia @fizzandchips Shes on probiotics, she did take a course of antibiotics, but the problems were there before them also

It's not all about them thinking that you may be part of the problem either; children will frequently try to protect you, or hide things that may upset you, or they think may get them into trouble.

I'm a piano teacher, and I have lost count of the number of children who have told me things they couldn't tell their parents. Most of the time I then see my role as to help them tell their parents - obviously any obvious safeguarding I take direct to their schools.

If she’s got male teachers or TAs then it’s highly likely she’ll be in a room alone with them at some point.

I do understand your anxiety but it’s not possible to stop men being alone with her forever, especially in circumstances like this.

Perhaps you could ask for a female psychiatrist or chaperone in future but this was a safe situation compared to being in a doctors surgery for example.

The men you need to be more careful of are the family and friends who have your trust and have regular access to your DC.

Two of my children have seen child psychiatrists over several years and I’ve not once been asked to step out of the room.

Mum could be talking for her a lot and she wanted to see how her child behaved when she wasn't there. Watch her play with toys and ask what she plays with at home and what she likes doing nothing sinister. I was left alone with 2 social workers when I was little and that's all they asked me. I wasn't removed from my parents they found nothing wrong. She wants to see how she behaves on her own she won't be asking any intellectual questions to a 6 year old.

Yes no worries I’m away this weekend so replies may be slow!

My son had his play therapy sessions without me there and part of the agreement is that I didn't ask him to tell me what he had talked about. Obviously play therapist is DBS checked etc. Children are often 1:1 with TAs at school.

My DD had to see a child psychiatrist when she was 5. The psychiatric nurse took her out of the room for a while to talk to her alone for part of the appointment while I talked to the psychiatrist, and went through a questionnaire while DD played and answered questions.

Made sense to me, they would need to talk to the child without the parent(s) present to be sure the answers they give are freely given, not coached by parents or anything like that, and also some children might just be more talkative without their parent there (possibly because parents can be quick to jump in with answers, not giving them a chance to answer themselves)

@Choochoo21 She has no male teachers or TA’s, only male ever alone with and that’s pretty rare, is her dad, hoping to keep it that way until she’s older. She goes to friends houses etc, but with me or if a neighbour, it’s the mum

My bad! Can't delete my previous post so I'm editing it. I posted in the wrong topic. Sorry.

Probably asking her if there's anything she couldn't talk about in front of you, if anything's upsetting her at home, if she's scared of anyone at home etc. Because obviously in her line of work she will sometimes encounter kids who are being abused.