1. What is Mental Health Consultation?

2. “Consultation is a problem-solving, interpersonal relationship that develops through periodic face-to-face contacts between consultant and consultee.”
Newsome & Gladding, 2014, p 191
A consultant is a professional providing the consultation service, while a consultee is a professional who requests help from the consultant.

3. Consultation is certainly not unique to counseling
Consultation is certainly not unique to counseling. As a practice, consultation is found in many professions including education, psychology, medicine, and business.
For counselors, consultation takes on a special meaning…

4. Counselors benefit from consultation because:
A single point of view isn’t always sufficient.
Collaborating with others allows for sharing of ideas in order to develop a hypothesis for action.
Not having consultation can lessen our objectivity as counselors.

5. You can’t see the big picture when you’re too close to something
You can’t see the big picture when you’re too close to something. It’s helpful to have another set of eyes, ears, and experiences to help guide you in your decision making.
Courtesy of Ali Turner, fabulous WFU graduate student in the Department of Counseling.

6. Consultation is NOT therapy.
Consultation in counseling represents an indirect, triadic relationship and is non-hierarchical and non-authoritative.
Consultation is NOT therapy.
Both consultant and consultee are regarded as experts.
As a consultee, you have responsibility for your client’s care.
Consultation is confidential.
It is up to the consultee to accept or reject the consultant’s recommendations.
Triadic because of the relationship between the consultant, consultee, and client or client system.

7. Gerald Caplan’s Four Types of Mental Health Consultation:
Client-Centered Case Consultation:
Goals include developing a plan to help a specific client and providing consultee tools for future use. Consultant may evaluate client directly.
Consultee-Centered Case Consultation,
Goals include improving consultee’s ability to work with a particular case as well as similar ones. Focuses on consultee’s lack of expertise or confidence/competence. Consultant does NOT assess client.
Program-Centered Administrative Consultation:
Goals include helping an individual or group of consultees develop a new program or build on an existing one. Consultant assesses existing situation, determines needs, and offers recommendations.
Consultee-Centered Administrative Consultation:
Goals include helping to assess consultee and/or administrative staff to develop better professional functioning of an individual, group, or organization.

8. Effective consultation abilities develop from a strong foundation of skills and clinical expertise.
Becoming a consultant isn’t just hanging a shingle. It takes a good deal of experience and know-how to become a useful consultant, but all of us have the capacity to become consultants in the future.

9. Trinity Center Highlights:
Intra-agency consultation
Broadened treatment team
Second opinions
Getting feedback
When you think back to Lynnette and Beth from Trinity, four things they mentioned directly relate to consultation.

10. The Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and new market and customer forces are ushering in an era of powerful change in how healthcare is accessed, delivered and paid for. Through a range of consulting, training, and technical assistance programs, the National Council for Behavioral Health is helping healthcare organizations adapt to demand for greater accountability, increased efficiency, better quality of care, measurable outcomes, and improved customer service.
The National Council offers the following in-demand healthcare management and quality improvement consulting services to support the development of strategy, operations, technology, and human capital. Contact us if would like us to assess your needs and discuss how best we can help you.
Here is a national organization that promotes consulting services related to the ACA and other changes in healthcare.

11. So, What is Mental Health Consultation?

12. So, What is Mental Health Consultation?
It’s a problem-solving relationship established between two experts, one of whom invites the other to offer expertise and a second opinion.
It is an indirect, triadic, non-hierarchical relationship.
It is NOT therapy, and ultimately the counselor, not the consultant, is responsible for the care of the client.
The consultee gets to decide whether or not to accept the consultants’ counsel.
And remember, the best consultants bring with them a deep bench of experience, expertise, and humility.

13. Resources
Newsome, D. W., & Gladding, S. T. (2014). Clinical mental health counseling in community and agency settings (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
And special thanks to Ali Turner, fabulous WFU graduate student in the Department of Counseling.