North Star Conversations Transcript: Making Psychiatry Feel Safe—Rebecca Cho, M.D.
Dr. Rebecca Cho explains how she helps families feel safe and empowered during psychiatric evaluations through openness and collaboration.
Brandon Gimbel
Parents and adolescents and children come to you often feeling scared about seeing a psychiatrist, uncertain about what it means. How do you go about making it feel safe for them as you are exploring what they're experiencing, and with the uncertainty that goes with it?
Rebecca Cho
The whole sitting with the uncertainty, instead of getting a black and white answer, that's one I hear very commonly. I think in particular, it's the scariest for families who have no prior experience with psychiatrists. There can be all these different preconceived notions coming into that meeting. Again, trying my best to lay out, "okay, here's what to expect, and I'm not going to take any control away from you, and you as the parents, you as the teenager or older child, have a say in the process. Nobody's going to be usurping that control over you." And really asking proactively: "Are there questions? How are you feeling? Is there any confusion?"