Her days are hectic, but clinical psychologist Sandy DeSilva says her work is worth it.

Ms DeSilva is the only psychologist on staff in Child and Adolescent Services and the only Bermudian psychologist on the island whose training is specific to children. She joined the team in 2003 after finishing her doctoral internship at The Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute.

Children who need psychological help are referred to Child and Adolescent Services and Ms DeSilva said on average she sees between three and six children a day. Only children between the ages of four and 18 are seen by the office and Ms DeSilva said their concerns range from anxiety “especially in the school setting where they cannot adjust”, to children who have been chronically abused physically or sexually.

“It is very satisfying, although it can be tense and often you want to solve the individual’s problems,” she said.

“But our job here is to empower clients and provide them with an avenue to better cope and solve their problems.”

Late last month, when this interview was conducted, the service had 273 active files. Ms DeSilva sees most of those patients.

Many of the cases are referrals from Child and Family Services and the nature of the job tends to be that the children have to be seen quickly but Ms DeSilva said sometimes there is a waiting list.

She said the most challenging aspect of her work is seeing “the social stressors” that are at the root of the problem and being powerless to help.

She cited housing as the number one social stressor bringing children to Child and Family Services, who in turn, refer those clients to her office at Child and Adolescent Services.

She said the children and often the whole family is very sad.

She explained that when there is no housing or inadequate housing, apart from the stress of not feeling secure, there may be no privacy and this lack of privacy creates boundary problems and makes adjustment very difficult.

As an example she explained that when children have nowhere to do their homework they might have difficulty in school.

And she admitted that the problem touches her deeply.

“It is hard you sit here with the family and all you can do is give them a look of empathy. You suggest that they go to the Housing Corporation and they say ‘yes, we’ve tried that’.”

Profile: Sandy DeSilva