Not long ago, I received a call from a woman requesting an intake appointment. I don’t use a scheduler and prefer to pre-screen clients myself. She was unclear about her referral source. Something seemed vaguely familiar and following a gut feeling, I pressed her for more information. It became apparent that she was the mother of an adult client whom I was currently treating. Moreover, the toxicity of the parent-child relationship had been the focus of many sessions. Yikes! I barely dodged this bullet and was more than a bit irritated. This was yet more proof that there is no such thing as a good surprise!
While the above example is at the extreme end, outside of the context of family therapy, accepting referrals from existing clients can b...
