The phone rings. The school psychologist is calling — about your child.

Your heart beats a little faster. You grab a pen and paper, ready to take notes — about your own child. You’re confused, and for some reason, thinking the worst.

But slow down. Knowing what a school psychologist does — and knowing your role in the process — will take the worry out of dealing with this important school staff member and turn him or her into an important tool during your child’s years in school.

First, a good school psychologist loves working with kids.

“My favorite part of the job is absolutely the school environment, which includes children of all ages,” said Peter Faustino, a school psychologist in New York. “Despite the challenges in education, schools are still amazing places of learning, growth and development.”

Second, the school psychologist will not (or should not) call you and say, for example, “Your child is depressed.”

This is not the school psychologist’s role, explained Katherine Cowan, communications director for the National Association of School Psychologists.

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“The school psychologist looks at behaviors in school and their impact on your child’s educational experience and makes an assessment, but does not offer a clinical diagnosis in the way a doctor would,” Cowan said. “Their focus is the educational experience, and making that as positive as possible for the child.”

She adds, “School psychologists are qualified and highly trained mental health professionals who work with an array of problems, including severe depression and anxiety.”

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Mental health services at your child’s school range from skills development to intervention and evaluation, referral and collaboration, and consultation and counseling.

Third, the school psychologist can administer tests to help evaluate the cause of any potential learning problems. This professional also helps develop and implement an Individual Education Program, or IEP, if your child needs one.

Cowan offered a simple but common example of the work of a school psychologist: “A teacher relates to the psychologist, ‘Little Amelia has trouble concentrating in my class. She’s with me for a few minutes, but she is soon up and wandering around, not focused on me.’”

The school psychologist should act as the link between parents, school and outside professionals.

The school psychologist or counselor may come in to evaluate. Then, the psychologist says to the teacher, “Let’s try moving Amelia to the front row, and see how that works. Maybe she needs to be closer to the action.”

“That may be all that is needed to solve the problem,” Cowan said.

This would help “Amelia” and is a simple fix. What about more complicated scenarios? Say a truly disruptive child, or a child that seems depressed or hyper?

Fourth, the school psychologist should act as the link between parents, school and outside professionals in this situation. Again, the psychologist cannot medically diagnose disorders. (With an exception: In some cases school psychologists can diagnose Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but they must have the proper training and credentials to do so.)

There are strict laws of confidentiality surrounding a school psychologist’s role.

School psychologists can recommend professional medical evaluation from a doctor, make an assessment (what behaviors are happening, how they impact the child at school, and how to improve them) for your child’s teaching team, and work with that team to assure a child’s health and success inside the school walls.

There are also strict laws of confidentiality surrounding a school psychologist’s role.

Some parents worry that a behavior or mental health problem will be “spread around the teachers’ lounge” and create an unfair stigma upon their child.

In a healthy scenario this would never happen, because of these strict rules of confidentiality.

What about when there’s not a healthy scenario? What if you do get that nightmarish “professional” who asserts that your child has no learning or emotional issues, when clearly, there are?

“I have found that every parent wants to help their child and has very good intentions.”

One Boston-area mom relates this experience: “It was a nightmare getting the school to recognize my child’s learning disability, and offer us testing. They had meetings and told me that everything was fine — my son was just ‘lazy.’ It was only later that I found out that since I was the one to ask for a meeting of my son’s team, then they couldn’t meet without me — by law.”

Fifth, a good psychologist welcomes the parent into the process. Faustino said when it comes to the evaluation process, parents are integral to student success.

“I have found that every parent wants to help their child and has very good intentions,” he said. “Sometimes they are a great source of information, sometimes they are well-intentioned but need guidance, and sometimes they have the answers but don’t know it.

“The key is to include parents as often as possible,” he added. “Parents sometimes feel as if their involvement lessens as the children grow but at times it becomes more important for them to be involved. I think it just changes in the form that they are connected or how they go about engaging with the school.”

So know your rights. Make sure the testing and assessments your child deserves inside the school system are completed, and arrange an outside evaluation from a qualified mental health professional if you feel that there is a more serious problem with your child.

Work in a collaborative way with teachers and staff. They are there to help your child succeed. But remember — you are the parent and your child’s best advocate. You know what’s best for your child.