At Nala Hub, we are committed to providing a safe and supportive space for children, young people who attend our practice. Amongst the children and young people who attend the clinic, some may come from separated families. Conflict and communication breakdown within families can limit collaboration with health care providers and this unfortunately can negatively impact treatment outcomes.
The following guidelines have been developed to ensure that separated parents and families have clear expectations of our policy around managing communication and attending of appointments, sharing of information and protection of a child’s right to receive psychological care.
- It is our expectation that separated parents will work together respectfully and cooperatively, regarding the emotional and psychological care of their child. Where ever possible we encourage that a child’s psychological treatment be made jointly by both parents.
- It is the parents’ obligation to provide us a copy of any relevant legal documents or court order.
- Either parent or legal guardian can schedule an appointment with their child and be present at their appointment unless there is a court order restricting their involvement in their child’s care. If this is the case, please ensure that you advise our intake officer and provide relevant documents to us prior to attending your initial assessment interview.
- If the appointment is made by one parent, it is the responsibility of this parent to inform the other parent, invite them to attend, and provide feedback to them. We do not have the capacity to provide separate feedback to each parent but welcome both parents to attend appointments.
- Payment is to be made on the day of the child’s appointment. If there is legal agreement that requires the other parent to pay all or part of the treatment costs, it is the attending parent’s responsibility to settle account and collect reimbursement from the other parent.
- Where there is significant conflict, we reserve the right to request the court orders, obtain signed consent from both parents, or limit our services until the dispute has been resolved. If necessary, we may need to discharge a family from our practice if the conflict is disruptive to our practice or is impactful to the care of the child.
- We do not take referrals where the purpose of the assessment is to generate information for legal decision making around custody issues of parental separation.
Our administration and clinical team will do their very best to accommodate your family circumstances. We ask that you provide us with information about your family situation during the intake process so that we can provide the best care for your children and family from our first meeting.