Tag Archives: Client Referrals

Making Referrals to Additional Services

hispanic young woman in therapyI have been seeing a client for a couple months and I think she needs more help than I can provide with individual psychotherapy. I have recommended that she get a psychiatric evaluation, join a DBT group, and sign up for a subsidized housing program. All of these services are available at the agency where I am doing my practicum training, but so far she hasn’t followed up on any of my referrals. How can I encourage her to get the additional help she needs?

Many clients in individual psychotherapy also need and benefit from additional services. Therefore, our work as therapists often involves some case management such as making referrals and collaborating with other professionals. We sometimes think of these case management tasks as outside of our therapeutic role and handle them pragmatically. This blog posting will help you think about making referrals as an integral part of the psychotherapy, which may lead to a better outcome.

I’ll start with some discussion of the reasons for recommending additional services. The combination of services you mention suggests you have multiple purposes for your referrals: clarifying the client’s diagnosis, managing crises or instability, improving living circumstances that contribute to symptoms, and following the recommended practice for specific clinical presentations. It also seems like your client presents with a complex set of emotional and psychosocial issues and you may be feeling overwhelmed. I would suggest first that you take some time to reflect on your countertransference responses to this client, preferably with some consultation from your supervisor and colleagues. This may clarify the support you need in managing this case and help you identify the reasons for your referrals. With a clearer perspective you can develop the most effective method for helping your client.

Once you have become clearer about the purpose of your referrals, approach them in order of priority. You can prioritize the referrals based on the client’s preferences and goals as well as safety concerns. It may be useful to use a harm reduction approach, which is often used with substance use disorders and has application for other situations involving safety. Identify the areas of greatest potential harm to your client and work first to reduce that harm, through your work in therapy as well as through referral to additional services. For example, if your client’s suicidal ideation puts her at serious risk, you would begin by looking for ways to reduce that risk. She might benefit from any of the referrals listed above or from accessing a 24-hour suicide prevention hotline, and the best recommendation would be the one that she is most willing to pursue. The remaining referrals would be deferred until her suicidal risk is reduced.

You express a view that your client needs more help that you can provide. There are some instances in which individual therapy can only be effective in conjunction with other resources. Talk with your supervisor about the client’s risk so s/he can help you decide whether to require the client to use one or more other services as a condition of individual therapy. That is sometimes the best decision to make in a complex, volatile clinical situation.

A final issue to consider is the therapeutic tone and manner of your referral recommendations. Pay particular attention to your countertransference and the possibility that you want to hand off this client to someone else because she feels like too much for you to handle. It is easy for a client to experience a referral as a sign of rejection rather than support. The client is bringing her concerns and difficulties to you and may feel your ambivalence about helping her. She is more likely to experience your support if you discuss your countertransference with your supervisor, then make it clear to the client that you plan to continue working with her. It will also help to describe how you believe the other services will contribute to the therapy rather than being a substitute.

I hope you found this blog helpful in making referrals in a therapeutic manner. Please email me with comments, questions or suggestions for future blog topics.