MEET OUR TEAM
We pride ourselves in employing the best Indianapolis therapists for children and teens
STATUS AS OF 11/19/24:
Bailey, Jacob, Natalie, and Sydney have openings.
Currently all Therapists have daytime availability only except Sydney who has a few early afternoons available as well as daytime appointments.
All of our other therapists are on a waitlist at this time.
Our Waitlist for therapists who take insurance is: OPEN
Our Waitlist for our resident therapists is: OPEN
The waitlist for our intern is: CLOSED
The waitlist for OCD clients is: CLOSED
Courtney Bain
Child Therapist
Courtney loves to work with “difficult” clients struggling with behavior issues. Anger, self-esteem, and mood related issues are some of her favs to work with! She enjoys utilizing creative interventions and prides herself on making meaningful connections with her clients. She is trained in ERP for OCD.
Courtney takes Anthem and Aetna. She is IN PROCESS with United/UMR, IU Health, Caresource and Lyra.
Bailey Batman
Child Therapist
Bailey is warm, empathetic, and creative. She loves being playful and finding ways to connect with her clients. She enjoys working with ages 5-14 with issues such as grief/loss, anxiety, depression, self esteem, and trauma.
Bailey will be participating in the Multi-Modal Attachment Therapy research program starting in January and we are waitlisting clients for this now.
Bailey is a resident therapist and has reduced self-pay rates. She is pending with Anthem and Aetna.
Sydney Eggers
Child & Adolescent Therapist
Sydney loves working with all ages. She enjoys working with anxiety, ADHD, self esteem, school issues, and those who are Autistic. Sydney is warm, caring, and empathetic. She strives to be a support to both her clients and their family by coming alongside them on their mental health journey.
Sydney has reduced self-pay rates and is able to take Anthem and Aetna.
Natalie Deputy
Adolescent & Child Therapist
Natalie has experience working with ages 5-18, however, finds that her passion is working with teens. She has a bright and bubbly personality that draws clients in and makes them feel relaxed and welcome. While Natalie has experience working with many issues, she has discovered that she really enjoys working with depression, self-esteem, and suicidal ideation/self harm behaviors.
Natalie will be participating in the Multi-Modal Attachment Therapy research program starting in January and we are waitlisting clients for this now.
Natalie has reduced self-pay rates and is able to take Anthem and Aetna.
Dana Jones
Adolescent Therapist
Dana is equally bubbly and patient! Which is a good thing because Dana likes to work with the “hard stuff” like depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, ADHD, and behavior issues. Dana feels that by creating a safe environment in the therapy room, she can help teens improve their communication, relationships, and self esteem. She is trained in ERP for OCD.
Dana is able to accept Anthem BCBS and Aetna. She is IN PROCESS with United/UMR, IU Health, Lyra, and Caresource.
Jacob Rhoad
Child & Adolescent Therapist
Jacob will sees ages 5-17 all ages and has a focus on ADHD and behavioral issues (anger/ODD). He is outgoing and talkative and works to help children and families resolve the big issues disrupting their daily lives- whether at school or at home. Jacob strives to first build rapport and get the child/teen on board with the therapy process as this is vital to eliciting change!
Jacob has reduced self-pay rates and is able to take Anthem and Aetna.
Our Leadership & Administrative Team
Jessica Hood, MSW, LCSW
Practice Owner and Child & Adolescent Therapist
Jessica is passionate about our mission, to provide excellent and effective client care. She specializes in working with teens and children with ADHD, behavior issues such as ODD, and OCD. Jessica typically sees those who have difficult to treat behavior and mood issues. She also supervises staff on treating these cases when she is not able to see them herself. Jessica is in network with Anthem BCBS, Aetna, Caresource, Lyra, IU Health, Sagamore, and United.
*Jessica Hood takes clients by referral only and typically has a waitlist*
Midwest Core Billing
Billing Specialist
While our billing team is offsite, they work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure our staff get paid and handle any/all insurance and billing related questions.
Cherry Allen
Intake Coordinator
Cherry is your first point of contact to get started with Indy Child Therapist. She has many years of customer service experience and is skilled in helping clients get matched with the best therapist for them.
How do I find the best Indianapolis therapist for my child?
Here’s a few things to consider when looking for a therapist for your child.
We know that finding the a therapist can be difficult. We get the frustrated phone calls every day from parents who are just EXHAUSTED. You are trying to get your kid help; it shouldn’t be that hard!
Oftentimes, parents don’t even know what they are looking for. You asked a friend, your pediatrician, or a mommy group online and now you are calling therapists just hoping they call you back—and let’s face it, some never do. We will, we promise!
We want your experience here to be different. When you call us, we will ask what is going on, get some basic demographic information, and make a recommendation on which one of our therapists would be the best fit.
AND because we might not always be the best fit or might not be taking clients, we are always happy to provide you with an up-to-date list of other therapists in the community who might be a good match for you.
Referrals
Getting referrals from others is a good place to start. When getting referrals from others, ask them WHY they like their therapist. Not everyone’s goals in therapy are the same!
We are proud to say that word of mouth referrals are our #1 source of referrals- from clients and peditricians alike!
Know what You are Looking for
The basics…If you want a psychological evaluation or your child to be tested, you need a psychologist. If you want medication, you need a psychiatrist. If you want therapy, you need a counselor or therapist.
We only have therapists at this time, but would love to partner with a PsyD or NP/MD in the future!
Find a Specialist
Not everything requires a specialist, but some things do. At a minimum, you want someone who has had experience working with children who have the same general issues your child is struggling with.
Read our therapists’ bios to see if they have experience in working with your child’s issues.
Parent Involvement
As the parent, you should know what is going on in therapy. We get your child 1 hr out of 168 a week; we want you to be able to support them and reinforce the work when they are not in our office. Any therapist working with your child should be including you as the parent in sessions!
We require our therapists to include parents in therapy regularly as part of the treatment process!
Approach
Children respond to different adults differently. Does your child respond better to a direct approach or maybe they like someone who is really funny, or creative, or laid back. You know your child best and what they will respond to the best. Read our therapists’ bios to see who you think your child would connect with the best.
Rapport and connection is SUCH a big deal, that we spend most of the first session focused on this. We want your child to feel comfortable!
Knowledge & Experience
Unfortunately, not every therapist is well-trained or uses evidenced based (aka effective) treatments. It is important to know that your therapist has training in the therapeutic interventions specific to your child’s needs! We only allow our therapists to see a client if they are trained in a treatment modality that has evidence to support that it can help. Additionally, we provide weekly supervision and case consultations to our staff.
We believe that lasting change requires uses the right tools for the problem.