Home visits

alangalaxy wrote:Hi.,do you guys have opinions on working in clients home as opposed to using your office.
Also on use of own home to practice in
reasons are no office at present and don't wish to share.
Thanks

hello alangalaxy

I've practised as a Counsellor from within an organisation and also from a home office. I have never visited a Client at home. I dont actually think there are any statutory reasons why you shouldn't do home visits. Although personally I feel treating the client at home may hinder things slightly - as in the environment not being neutral enough to allow the best treatment to take place.

If you wish to practise independently I would advise be sure that your home office were a dedicated space another small wing if you like separate from your living arrangements. i.e hot beverage & cold drink faciltes were available for my clients personal use nor were they sharing my main bathroom when they needed one.

I enjoyed working from home because of course its convenient. And I never has any problems ..except for one day a client turned up quite unannounced because he was having a difficult time and felt he couldn't wait for an appointment. But this only happened the once in many years of practice.

do you guys have opinions on working in clients home as opposed to using your office.

It depends on the nature of your practice. I worked with Family Services for a while and home visits were the order of the day. The whole point was to see people in their home environment.

Generally speaking, a dedicated room of your own home or an office in an umbrella organisation is infinitely preferable. When you visit a client in her home, regardless of how disabling her problem is she will act as 'hostess', offering tea and coffee on arrival. While the kettle's boiling (and she'll have a cuppa even if you decline) she'll chat about the weather or anything other than the issue. If and when you do 'get down to it', your session is highly likely to be interrupted by phone calls, children, oops need to hang the washing out, you name it.

In short, it's not conducive to therapeutic work.

Also on use of own home to practice in

This can work very well provided you have a dedicated consulting room, preferably with a separate entrance. You need a second phone line as well, the number that goes in the Yellow Pages while only friends and family have your private number. You are not obliged to provide drinks or bathroom facilities.

If you're going to work from home, your first session must include very clear boundaries and a take-home list of emergency phone numbers. The vast majority of clients won't break in on your private time, but the potential is always there. If that happens you must keep the client on the doorstep as you would a Jehovah's Witness or cold-calling salesperson. Without very clear boundaries you would soon have to think again about running your business from home.

Candid wrote:

do you guys have opinions on working in clients home as opposed to using your office.

It depends on the nature of your practice. I worked with Family Services for a while and home visits were the order of the day. The whole point was to see people in their home environment.

Generally speaking, a dedicated room of your own home or an office in an umbrella organisation is infinitely preferable. When you visit a client in her home, regardless of how disabling her problem is she will act as 'hostess', offering tea and coffee on arrival. While the kettle's boiling (and she'll have a cuppa even if you decline) she'll chat about the weather or anything other than the issue. If and when you do 'get down to it', your session is highly likely to be interrupted by phone calls, children, oops need to hang the washing out, you name it.

In short, it's not conducive to therapeutic work.

Also on use of own home to practice in

This can work very well provided you have a dedicated consulting room, preferably with a separate entrance. You need a second phone line as well, the number that goes in the Yellow Pages while only friends and family have your private number. You are not obliged to provide drinks or bathroom facilities.

If you're going to work from home, your first session must include very clear boundaries and a take-home list of emergency phone numbers. The vast majority of clients won't break in on your private time, but the potential is always there. If that happens you must keep the client on the doorstep as you would a Jehovah's Witness or cold-calling salesperson. Without very clear boundaries you would soon have to think again about running your business from home.

ah Scaggy Candida
for this detailed response - I award you the Olympic Champion Platinum Medal for Idiocy.

personally I feel treating the client at home may hinder things slightly - as in the environment not being neutral enough to allow the best treatment to take place.

Words can't express how grateful I am to be 'treated' by ellla, for free and in the comfort of my own home. Ah, 'tis a treat indeed... and it's been going on for more than a year now!

Bless you, ellla, for your endless patience with my bumbling methodology. I have saved every one of your 'correctional' posts -- the ones calling me a moron, an idiot, lacking basic IQ etc.; or beginning "Rubbish", "What nonsense", "poppycock" and so on. The Word document is becoming unwieldy, and for some reason it has wavy red and green lines all over it, so (with your permission) I will soon be sending it to forum admin so they can strip me of my unmerited MVP status and award it where it truly belongs.

In breathless admiration
Candid

ellla wrote:ah Scaggy Candida
for this detailed response - I award you the Olympic Champion Platinum Medal for Idiocy.

and you're telling Candid to stay away from you?!?

Hi,

I used to see my therapist at her home. She had a separate room to use for counselling and although it wasn't within a separate wing, she (rather than others in the house) would always answer the door to me. If I needed to use the family bathroom, I'd ask and it was never an issue.

I know another counsellor who visits someone at their house due to being housebound, but I'm unsure on the ethics of this.

I wish you well.

I should also add that if you do choose to use a separate part of your home to counsel ( if you have the space ..no need to get anything built ) Its really no big deal at all.

Although some may think its a phenomena - that you may have this space


I put in place 'faculties' for my Clients with their 'own comfort' in mind. If you don't have a separate clock room for a clients use ... its no big deal again I guess I recommend the use of separate bathroom facilitates - if they are available for obvious reasons (reasons obvious to me anyway)

for instance - I really wouldn't recommend anyone bumping into my hubby when he's walking out of the shower ...and his towel slips - they'll never get over the shock!

Also when doing home visits one should always bear in mind the reasons behind the clients need for counselling, in the first instance. If they are suffering from a Depression or a struggling with a domestic situation, which as brought about a depression.

Counselling them within the four walls - in which they so often feel trapped. may very well prove counter productive.

Whichever you choose to do - consider the balance that's all

ellla wrote:for instance - I really wouldn't recommend anyone bumping into my hubby when he's walking out of the shower ...and his towel slips - they'll never get over the shock!

Yes, for everyone's sake, let's hope that you would warn him before letting a client into your house

Herbie306 wrote:Yes, for everyone's sake, let's hope that you would warn him before letting a client into your house

My husband has a memory like a sieve



It wouldn't work

It sounds difficult to me to have my psychotherapist home. I already tell him so much about me, I'm pretty sure he can understand much about me just by the way I decorate my appartment.

I've never done a house call myself, but my hypnosis centre does send hypnotherapists to clients' homes by request (in this case, we charge an extra travel fee). The advantage is that we can work with clients in an environment they're comfortable with, which is especially important for senior or disabled clients. The disadvantage is that we can't control the environment they're in, which means it might be non-ideal for hypnosis (street noise, interference from pets, lack of a suitable chair, etc.). Another issue to be aware of is that some insurance companies only cover sessions performed at your registered place of business, and might not cover house calls.

Hi.

I am a counsellor and Hypnotherapist and work in the UK.

I have done one home visit in all the time I have been practising. The reason I did it was because the lady in question was in a wheel chair and it was easier for me to go over to her than her have to contend with public transport and then trying to get through my front door would have been a huge ordeal. She would have been doubly stressed before we had even begun, so I took the initiative to go to her house for 5 sessions.

It worked out well on this occasion but it's really not something I would do unless it was really needed. There are a number of reasons I wouldn't entertain doing it in other peoples houses. Safety is one, if you are on your own territory you are safer. I was speaking to a fellow therapist recently who got invited into the woman's bedroom because she felt like she needed to lay on a bed in order to be hypnotised! Obviously this was awkward for the therapist in so many ways, not least because he was a male therapist!

You need to get someone into a neutral environment in my opinion, not one that they are familiar with or have emotional connections to.