Important: This page provides general information, not medical or legal advice, a diagnosis, or a guarantee of services, coverage, cost, availability, or a particular privacy outcome. Policies and benefits can change. Consult a qualified professional for personal guidance and verify coverage and costs with the provider and health plan. Do not delay emergency help to check coverage.
Getting Started
How to Start Counseling for Your Child in Southern WV
How to get children's counseling started in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties, what the first appointment involves, and how Medicaid, insurance, and sliding scale fees work.
Deciding whether to call about counseling for your child can feel like a bigger decision than it is. Parents tell us they sat with it for months, not wanting to overreact and not wanting to wait too long.
This guide is about the part we can actually help with: how to get children’s counseling started in Southern West Virginia, what the first appointment involves, what it costs, and how school and transportation fit in. For a full description of programs, ages, and locations, use the Children’s Outpatient Services page.
Whether your child needs therapy is not something to settle from a website
We are not going to give you a checklist here. Whether what your child is going through calls for counseling is a clinical question, and it depends on your child, their history, and their circumstances in ways no article can account for.
The good news is that you do not have to answer that question before you call. An assessment is how the question gets answered. You can call, describe what you have been seeing, and let a professional who has met your child tell you what they think.
Southern Highlands provides children’s outpatient services in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties. Call (304) 425-9541, or the Children’s Clinic in Princeton at 304-818-2225.
For general information about children’s mental health from a neutral source, the National Institute of Mental Health publishes family-facing material at https://www.nimh.nih.gov/.
How to get started
Call (304) 425-9541. Our main number. Staff can route you to children’s services and get an intake scheduled.
Call the Children’s Clinic directly at 304-818-2225. This is the line for children’s outpatient services in Princeton.
Walk in. You can come in during business hours and start the process at the front desk without an appointment.
Ask the school. If your child’s school counselor has raised concerns, the school can refer with your written permission.
You do not need a referral from a doctor. You can call yourself.
If the school is part of the conversation
School observations can help a clinician understand what is happening outside the home. Bring any notes from teachers, report cards, or an existing 504 plan or IEP that you already have. If the school counselor has suggested services, write down that person’s name and contact information.
Southern Highlands also provides school-based services in the region. Availability and the referral process can vary, so ask the school counselor or Southern Highlands staff what is available at your child’s school. Information is coordinated with a parent or guardian’s written permission.
What to bring to the first appointment
- Insurance card or Medicaid card
- Photo ID for the parent or guardian
- Custody or guardianship paperwork if it applies
- Report cards, progress reports, or notes from teachers
- Any 504 plan or IEP your child has
- A list of medications your child takes
- Records from any previous counseling or evaluations
- Contact information for your child’s pediatrician and school
If you do not have all of it, come anyway. Missing paperwork is not a reason to delay.
What happens at the first appointment
The first visit is an intake, which is mostly information gathering. Expect to spend time with your child together and expect to do a fair amount of the talking yourself, especially if your child is young.
You will be asked about what has been going on, when you first noticed it, what you have already tried, how it is affecting school and home, and your child’s medical and family history. Younger children may play while you talk. Older children may answer questions themselves.
At the end, the clinician will explain what they recommend, how often appointments would be, and what the next step is. Ask questions. If something is not clear, say so before you leave.
Will you be involved?
Yes. Parents are part of children’s counseling, not bystanders to it.
How that works varies by the child’s age and what the clinician recommends. With younger children, parents are usually in the room for at least part of the session. With older children and teens, the clinician may want individual time to build trust, with regular check-ins with you.
Ask the clinician how progress, treatment plans, and parent access will be handled. The answer depends on the child’s age, legal status, service, custody documents, and applicable privacy law.
Confidentiality, in plain terms
Parents ask about this constantly, so here is how it generally works.
Your child’s health information is protected by privacy law, but confidentiality has limits. Parents and guardians generally have access and decision-making rights for a minor, subject to legal exceptions. Information may also be used or disclosed for treatment, payment, health care operations, safety, mandatory reporting, court orders, and other circumstances permitted or required by law. The exact rules depend on the child’s age, legal status, service, and who holds the record.
For routine clinic-school coordination, staff may ask a parent or guardian to sign an authorization. Other disclosures may be permitted or required by law, and school-held records may be governed by FERPA rather than HIPAA. Ask both the clinic and school what information would be shared and why.
Ask the clinician to walk you through their specific confidentiality practices at the first appointment. That is a normal question and you should get a clear answer.
If your child does not want to go
This comes up a lot, particularly with older kids and teens.
Some things other parents have found help:
- Explain it in plain terms rather than clinical ones. “We’re going to talk to someone whose job is helping kids.”
- Do not frame it as a punishment or a consequence for behavior.
- Let them bring something with them if it makes the building less intimidating.
- Give them some control over the logistics, like the appointment time.
- Tell them ahead of time what the building looks like and who they will meet, so nothing is a surprise.
If your child refuses outright, call anyway and say so. Staff have dealt with this before and can talk through options with you.
The guilt part
A lot of parents feel like calling means they failed at something. “Did I cause this.”
Seeking help for your child is parenting. It is not evidence of anything else. Kids struggle for a long list of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with what happened at your kitchen table.
You do not need to justify the call to anyone, including us.
Getting there from a rural county
Weekly appointments are harder in Wyoming and McDowell counties than they are in Princeton, and that is a real barrier rather than an excuse.
What helps:
- Telehealth. Ask when you call whether the service your child needs can be done by video or phone. It removes the drive.
- School-based services. Southern Highlands provides services in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming county schools. When a child is seen at school, there is no travel, no missed work for you, and no evening appointment.
- Scheduling around trips you already make. Ask for appointments on days you are already coming into town.
- Medicaid transportation. Non-emergency medical transportation may be available to eligible members for covered appointments. Ask the plan or its current transportation broker about eligibility, advance notice, authorization, and ride availability.
Cost
WV Medicaid and WV CHIP. Medically necessary children’s behavioral health services may be covered when eligibility, provider, service, authorization, and current program requirements are met. Ask billing and the plan to verify the specific service.
Private insurance. Coverage, network status, authorization, exclusions, and cost-sharing vary by plan and service. Call the number on the card and ask about the specific service.
No insurance. As a CCBHC, Southern Highlands serves people regardless of ability to pay, but that does not make every service free. Ask the business office at (304) 425-9541 whether a household-income-based sliding fee applies, what documentation is required, and what charge may remain.
If you are unsure what coverage you have, or whether you have any, call and ask before you talk yourself out of it.
What other services exist alongside counseling
Counseling is one service among several, and families sometimes need more than one. Southern Highlands offers children’s outpatient services, school-based services, family services, psychiatric evaluation and medication management through our medical providers, and crisis services.
Which of these fits a particular child is something the clinician works out with you after an assessment. If your child already receives services elsewhere, tell staff at intake so care can be coordinated rather than duplicated.
If your child is in crisis
Counseling appointments are not the right tool for an emergency. If your child is in immediate danger, or is talking about suicide or self-harm:
- 911 for immediate physical danger
- 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, by call or text (https://988lifeline.org/)
- 1-800-615-0122 for the Southern Highlands crisis line, available 24 hours a day
- Walk into our Crisis Stabilization Unit
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a referral?
No. Call (304) 425-9541 and schedule directly.
Where are children’s services located?
Children’s outpatient services are based at our Children’s Clinic in Princeton, with children’s services also available at our Mullens clinic. School-based services are available in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming county schools.
Can I sit in on sessions?
For younger children, often yes. For older children and teens, the clinician may ask for individual time. Ask about it directly at the first appointment so expectations are set from the start.
What if my child tells the therapist something I do not know about?
Confidentiality has limits. If your child is in danger or someone is harming them, the clinician acts and involves you. Ask the clinician to explain their specific practices at intake.
Will the school find out?
For routine coordination, the clinic may ask you to sign an authorization. School-based services necessarily involve some operational information at the school, and additional disclosure rules depend on whether HIPAA, FERPA, or another law applies. Ask the clinician to explain what the school can know, what remains in the clinical record, and the exceptions that apply.
What if we cannot afford it?
Ask about the sliding fee scale when you call. Fees are set from household income.
Can appointments be done by video?
Some can. Ask when you call, since it depends on the service and your child’s age.
If you would like to request children’s counseling in Southern West Virginia, call Southern Highlands at (304) 425-9541, or the Children’s Clinic in Princeton at 304-818-2225. We serve Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties. You can contact the clinic directly, but a health plan or particular service may apply referral, authorization, eligibility, or medical-necessity rules.