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From: Erika Shira
Date: 11 Oct 2008
Time: 20:39:05 -0500
Remote Name: 66.92.76.147
Great questions. I've had some of each. Sometimes I get referrals from a SLP. Other times I get them from other providers, and at other times I have people who seek out an MT initially. A lot of folks, particularly who feel anxious and/or judged, tell me that they find MTs appealing because we have the background to work on motor skills and neuro stuff to an extent, but we're all touchy-feely counseling-type folks, and they feel that someone with a counseling license is going to make them more comfortable. Of course, we all know there are some counselor-types who are really cold, and many SLPs and neurologists and whatnot who are great listeners and really sensitive to people's individual issues. Oh, I also tend to get a lot of clients who have multiple issues going on, like people who might be on the spectrum, or just have all kinds of stuff going on. MTs tend to be more of generalists rather than specialists, and most of us have gotten experience with folks on the spectrum and folks who are nonverbal or minimally verbal because of DD, ASD, mental illness, or what have you. So we often tend to get those referrals for people who don't quite fit into any one box and tend to throw off a lot of providers who don't quite know what to do with them. In terms of outright logistics, to see people with insurance, I don't need any sort of referral, since I bill as a mental health provider. With folks with fluency issues, so far everyone who's sought me out self-identifies as having a social/emotional component to their issue; they vary as to whether it's the cause or the result, and I don't think we ever really know, but they nonetheless want to do work around the social/emotional aspect. I think that I probably wouldn't see someone, at least through insurance, who felt their issues were entirely motoric, because it wouldn't seem right to bill for MH services in that case. There are workarounds, like using the DSM codes for tic disorders or language-based learning disabilities, but this would seem sketchy to me, and also would seem like such a person would probably be more comfortable and get better treatment with a SLP or a neurologist.