Referrals are a way for health providers to connect individuals to specialized mental healthcare.

Why would a healthcare provider refer a patient for counseling?

Healthcare/treatment providers sometimes refer patients to other healthcare providers to widen the scope of specialized healthcare resources available to them. The providers usually refer outside their practice if they think a patient might benefit from a type of healthcare not offered in-house.

The Mindful Counseling Center routinely receives patient referrals from primary care providers and psychiatrists (among others). Generally, the referring provider has discussed the possibility of counseling with the patient to address a mental health concern. And the referred patient has consented to receive the referral as a potential treatment resource (whether in conjunction with other treatment activities or not—we only know about other treatment if a client shares that with us or has allowed their healthcare provider(s) to release that information to us). Once our practice receives a referral, we reach out to the referred person to see if they are interested in our services. Ultimately, it is up to referred individuals whether they respond to our outreach and/or elect to pursue counseling.  

If it becomes clear in the course of our initial outreach that our services are not a good fit for a particular person’s mental healthcare needs, we sometimes are able to connect them with other resources that might be beneficial to them.

Related: If you are a healthcare provider and want to partner with us to address your patients’ mental healthcare needs, see Professional Referrals – Mindful Counseling Center LLC (mindful-counseling-center.com). If you are considering counseling to address a mental health issue, read over Home page – Mindful Counseling Center LLC (mindful-counseling-center.com), Why Go to Therapy? – Mindful Counseling Center LLC (mindful-counseling-center.com), and Our Approach – Mindful Counseling Center LLC (mindful-counseling-center.com).

Why would a counselor refer a client to other healthcare providers?

Our psychotherapists offer talk therapy and psychoeducation; they are not trained or licensed to provide other kinds of healthcare or to prescribe medication. As such, they refer clients to other healthcare providers if concerns arise that are beyond their scope of care. They might also make a referral to other healthcare providers if there is a possibility that a client could benefit from looking into other/additional treatment or more specialized care (and the client is open to a referral). Of course, it is up to clients whether they actually follow-through with such referrals.   

Related: For more on the scope of psychotherapy offered via the Mindful Counseling Center, see Therapy – Mindful Counseling Center LLC (mindful-counseling-center.com).