What is consultation?
Consultation is a model of mental health service provision in which a clinically trained specialist acts as a consultant to assist and guide an individual, group of individuals or organization (e.g., parents, teachers, schools, intervention providers) in addressing a problem or set of problems.
What is Dr. Hale’s consultation process?
Consultation with Dr. Hale typically involves two phases: 1) information gathering through questionnaires, interviews, review of records and/or observation; and 2) providing clients with added insights, resources, psychoeducation, guidance and/or recommendations to address the problem(s) identified.
Many families seek Dr. Hale’s consultation as a follow-up to an earlier conducted evaluation in order to address new questions about interventions, supports, educational placement, progress and/or evolving areas of challenge. The timing of follow-up consultation varies, with parents and students seeking consultation anywhere from a few months to few years after an evaluation.
Dr. Hale also welcomes new children, parents, families and young adults to her consultation practice. An evaluation with her is not required for consultation services.
What are common questions addressed in a consultation with Dr. Hale?
Questions related to improved understanding of needs, challenges and strengths:
How do we understand and address these new concerns or new behaviors?
Can you explain to our child what is happening in their brain and how they learn best?
Can you explain to our child what their disability means in a way that he/she/they will understand?
What do all these evaluation results from school and other providers really mean?
Can you help us, teachers and those working with our child better understand this new diagnosis, how our child learns and/or how to make sure our child’s strengths are recognized?
What else could be going on with our child that maybe hasn’t been assessed, identified or treated?
Questions related to intervention and progress:
Do the interventions and supports we have in place match our child’s needs?
What are the best ways to educate and support our child given their unique profile?
Why isn’t our child making the gains we hoped for?
How do we help our child become invested in the supports they need?
Questions related to educational placement and school programming:
Is a new school or major change in school programming the right choice for our child?
Should we delay the start to kindergarten or have our child repeat a grade?
Is homeschooling a good option for our child and our family?
Why doesn’t our child’s school see what we see as strengths, problems or challenges?
Should we ask our child’s school for a 504 Accommodation Plan, Individualized Education Program, Positive Behavior Support Plan, Response to Intervention Plan, Individual Family Service Plan and/or Individual Learning Plan?
Questions related to transitions and concerns for young adults:
How do I know if I need accommodations in my college, graduate school or work setting?
What supports and interventions from when I was younger do I really still need?
How do I best prepare for going to college or starting a new graduate degree?
Should I take a gap year?
Why do I have so much trouble with this subject (e.g., math, foreign language) or this type of academic task (e.g., studying, test taking, reading, note taking) and what can I do about that?
Questions related to giftedness:
Our child has been identified for gifted and talented services but is still so bored in school. How can we change that?
Is acceleration the right step for our child?
How does information gained from different evaluations and school reports apply to our child’s progress as an athlete, musician or artist?
Can you help our child understand what giftedness really means?
How do we help teachers, coaches and interventionists understand our gifted child’s underlying disability and what that means for how they learn or pursue their career as an athlete, musician or artist?
Is consultation covered by our insurance?
Consultation is not typically covered by insurance.
