Why In-Home Counseling Matters
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In-home counseling is a
community-based intervention that continues to grow as a form of practice for families with complex and multilayered needs. Even though the efficacy of in-home counseling with distressed families has been documented, there is much to explore about the experiences of the in-home counselor. This site's purpose is to guide graduate students and new clinicians through the uncertainties of home-based clinical practice by reviewing current literature and examining some of my own lived experiences. |
Several populations receive in-home counseling services including the elderly, people with disabilities and others who suffer from a multitude of conditions that make them homebound. My work is focused on children, adolescents, and their families.
In-home clinical practice can be described with multiple names, such as in-home counseling, in-community counseling, in-home therapy, home-based counseling, and home-based therapy. I will use all of these terms interchangeably. |
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ABOUT ME I'm Sakima Gonzalez, DSW, LCSW- the daughter of De Los Santos and Gonzalez families. I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from City College and a Master of Social Work at Adelphi University. I'm the owner of Savia Community Counseling Services, an agency dedicated to providing quality in-community therapeutic services within a culturally informed approach. Savia Counseling is committed to help children, adolescents and their families connect to their potential and utilize their experiences to forge the lives that they want for themselves.
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In-Home Counseling - It works!
In-home clinical practice continues to be an alternative mode of providing mental health services and offers many advantages in treating children and their families (Stinchfield, 2004). Home-based counseling gives access to mental health services to poor children with complex mental health needs and their families (Mellin & Pertuit, 2009). It has been established that in-home counseling reduces barriers to treatment such as transportation, long wait lists at outpatient clinics, health conditions, commitments with work, and lack of child care (Adams & Maynard, 2000).
In-home counseling has been linked to an increase in positive mental health outcomes for children and their caretakers (Fox, Mattek, & Gresl, 2013). There is a consensus in the literature that families receiving in-home services have more complex and numerous needs than those served in an outpatient setting (Karesman, Zarski, & Garrison, 1997). Mosier et al. (2001) showed that when compared to people receiving outpatient services, in-home clients have more severe emotional and behavioral needs and found that the severity of the needs was similar to the sample group receiving inpatient services. In addition, In-home counseling services decrease out-of-home placement for youth with serious emotional and behavioral disturbances who are involved in the justice system. (Greeson, Guo, Barth, Hurley & Sisson, 2009).
In-home counseling has been linked to an increase in positive mental health outcomes for children and their caretakers (Fox, Mattek, & Gresl, 2013). There is a consensus in the literature that families receiving in-home services have more complex and numerous needs than those served in an outpatient setting (Karesman, Zarski, & Garrison, 1997). Mosier et al. (2001) showed that when compared to people receiving outpatient services, in-home clients have more severe emotional and behavioral needs and found that the severity of the needs was similar to the sample group receiving inpatient services. In addition, In-home counseling services decrease out-of-home placement for youth with serious emotional and behavioral disturbances who are involved in the justice system. (Greeson, Guo, Barth, Hurley & Sisson, 2009).