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Booking For Another Person: Info
We require prospective clients to contact us directly to proceed with booking an appointment, and therefore cannot proceed with the appointment booking process if the individual inquiring into appointments is not the intended recipient for these appointments. Please see the FAQ below outlining our reasoning behind this requirement.
1) Contacting on Behalf of a Family Member, Partner, or Friend
Our reasoning for requiring the individual to contact us directly is to avoid lines and boundaries being blurred between parties - i.e., where the individual making the appointment on behalf of someone else, may end up (whether expected or not) as the main point of contact, risking issues arising relating informed consent, rights to confidentiality, as well as difficulties working within guidelines relating to managing conflicts of interest and navigating multiple relationships in therapy. As well, we feel it is important for individuals to be encouraged to take charge in their therapeutic journey from the get go to ensure best outcomes, and to have the experience that it is "their relationship" to manage in deciding how they would like to proceed throughout the course of therapy.
3) What if they say they're willing to attend, they're just not willing or feeling up to getting in contact themselves?
While someone might express willingness to attend whilst not willing to proceed with booking an appointment due to overwhelm or other difficulties - then it might not be the right time for them to start therapy. Where, the difficulties arising for them in seeking help are going to be present in the therapy room, albeit much more strongly. While it may feel counterintuitive to some, we believe it would be better to wait until they are ready to book in directly, to ensure their will is on board to start the therapeutic process (even if they're experiencing mixed feelings about doing so), and in doing so, for them to know that this is a decision they're making for themselves.
5) So what am I supposed to do if they won't get themselves help?
Depending on the context, your options might include:
1) In instances where you are concerned for the safety of an individual, calling emergency services (000); or a crisis support service to help point you in the right direction (e.g., Lifeline on 13 11 14); or calling your local area Crisis Assessment & Treatment Team or "CAT Team - where you can see here for further information:
www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-crisis-support
2) In scenarios outside of imminent crises, for individuals requiring more comprehensive team-based care arrangements (as the limitations of private practice settings means this typically cannot be offered), I would encourage you to refine your search to local community based organisations in your region offering multi-disciplinary support, or where feasible, inpatient services involving short-term stays to facilitate intensive treatment needs.
3) In other scenarios, I would encourage you to simply raise the idea of getting in touch to the person you would like to receive help (perhaps even sending them the website link), and letting them sit on this idea, and or offering to assist them with the process of booking in, or perhaps even inquiring into their decision making at a later point in time as a gentle reminder that it is an option. If they refuse, then again, sometimes honouring this decision may be in their best interests in the shorter-term (unless the situation changes e.g., with indications of emergent risk to themselves), as perhaps they'll be more willing to book an appointment further down the line if they feel like they have a choice in the matter and don't feel pressured. Where if that day comes along, therapy will be much more likely to be of benefit to them.
2) What if they are not willing to do it themselves?
If a prospective patient is unwilling to arrange an appointment themselves, then (outside of some circumstances) it is important to consider whether or not it is in their best interests to make them do so, even though it makes sense as to why you might feel it is in their best interests to get help, it is rarely in someones best interests to work against expressions of their self-agency by not accepting their right to refuse - easier said than done sometimes when you're feeling desperate to get a loved one help, of course. Accordingly, when we occasionally encounter individuals in the therapy room who are clear in that they do not want to be there, we do not proceed, nor do we try to convince them to change their mind, although are certainly willing to have a discussion about mixed feelings they might be experiencing about attending, that is, if they're wanting to talk about it. While there are of course some instances involving crisis bringing the need to protect an individual from harm to themselves, this kind of crisis service is outside the scope of a private practice setting.
4) What if they are truly not able to do so themselves?
While we acknowledge that there may be genuine reasons someone is unable to book in themselves (e.g., cognitive or technological difficulties) - in these instances, to empower the individual in their journey toward improved mental health, it is important to invite them to take an active stance in the process. In other words, rather than doing it for them without their input, perhaps instead it is an opportunity to assist them with the task in whatever capacity they might require; where you don't need to hide this being the case either in establishing contact. But again, if they're not wanting to do so even with assistance, then we believe it is important to consider the principles covered in the previous answers relating to self-autonomy. While there may be legitimate scenarios where even this is not feasible, in these instances, the service might not be suited for their care needs, as the work our clinicians offer is individual focussed therapy rather than multi-party work, and with team-based care arrangements (beyond periodic liaison with referrers) being something outside the scope of our service and the private practice model.