Confidence Comes Back

Patient Story

A grateful mom recalls how Blackbird Health helped her 10-year-old son prep for sixth grade.

I became aware of Blackbird through my pediatrician when my son Jonathan was in fifth grade. He was having some trouble regulating his emotions and it had become a concern at school. He also seemed kind of down and anxious and just wasn't himself. 

Jonathan had always been motivated, but some of the environmental situations in school were triggering him. Some of the circumstances were external to him and some of it was just how his brain is set up to react to certain things. He had been trying really hard, but he was frustrated and feeling like there were certain scenarios he just couldn’t conquer. 

We had been using some of the extra counseling resources at his elementary school but they didn’t have a lot of time for his situation, so the therapist from his school recommended that we have him evaluated to learn the root cause of the problems he was having.  

The timing was a concern because if we didn’t act quickly, Jonathan wouldn't have the summer to prepare for sixth grade, which is very “go, go, go” at his school. I brought it up with our pediatrician who said that Blackbird Health could provide the right kind of help quickly. We were able to get in with Blackbird right away and started the process of understanding what Jonathan needed. 

“We established a defined route and we devised a solid strategy. It brings a great sense of satisfaction to see it through and to know that my son feels truly assured.”

Understanding the whole child

We've never been through something like this before, so I was unfamiliar with the assessment processes, but working with the nurse practitioners at Blackbird was really great. They made it manageable for Jonathan to get through all the psychological testing and throughout the process, they kept me informed about what we were doing, why we were doing it, and why each piece was important for gaining a full understanding. 

The process uncovered a few surprises. For example, we discovered Jonathan had a vitamin D deficiency. We also learned that Jonathan also had undiagnosed unspecified anxiety, which we had incorrectly assumed was depression. 

The assessment process was really smooth, but afterward it was kind of tricky to get him aligned with a therapist. After some hiccups with our insurance and a few providers who weren’t a good fit, Blackbird’s lead clinician reached out to me directly to hear my concerns. She was very responsive and worked to fix the situation and make sure Jonathan got the help he needed with his therapist, Lucia. 

The right care at the right time

Seeing Lucia for virtual appointments, we found consistency right away. She was able to accomplish a lot with Jonathan very quickly and soon we could see how he was making progress toward the therapy goals we had all agreed upon at the beginning. At home we would talk about how he could practice what he had learned during his session. 

With Lucia, Jonathan learned how to put things in perspective and bring his emotions into balance. He stayed consistently motivated throughout the whole process, so we would work on things every day and be prepared to share honestly with Lucia about everything that happened during the week. By staying focused and celebrating the progress and even the small wins, therapy was a really positive experience for both of us. 

He worked so hard, showed a lot of maturity, and hit a pretty steady pace of improvement. Once he landed in a good spot, he was really able to absorb what he was learning and progress. For example, Jonathan started with five therapy goals and before long he was down to just two. 

Together with Lucia, we were able to see that he was getting ready to end therapy, so we set a date for a last session—we called this “graduation”—and all agreed to gauge progress to the end. We finished up with Lucia after working with her for about six months, which is really great. Jonathan felt so good and proud with reaching graduation after all the work he did.

“I'm fortunate to work with children and adolescents, witnessing firsthand their growth, resilience, and transformation as they develop greater emotional wellbeing and mental health. It's profoundly rewarding to see them blossom into confident, capable, and compassionate individuals.”
—Lucia Cortes, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

Now Jonathan is in a much better place and has a really good toolkit and a set of resources he can pull from. Over time he has become more calm, he has gained control over his emotions, and he has matured. He feels a level of confidence with what he's learned over the past six months and knows that going forward he's going to have the awareness and knowledge to be able to respond to things differently. 

Throughout the process I never felt like, "Oh, I don't know where this is going." We really bonded during this time and we made a lot of progress. We had a clear path and we had a clear plan. It just feels really good to follow through on that and know that my son feels really confident. 

I also appreciate that we did all this without medication. To me, this shows the true power of pulling a team together and talking things through and helping the child be self-aware. With his whole Blackbird team to support him, Jonathan learned how to be empowered to help himself—that was really important for Jonathan. We're just thrilled with the outcomes and we’re so pleased with Lucia.