We believe we provide the most intensive individual service available in our field, with fees that are not any higher than many others providing a less intensive service. Many consultants work with parents with the kinds of concerns we address. How are we different? We intentionally limit the number of private clients we work with and then provide a more intensive service than we think is available anywhere else. Most of our clients are not just looking for referrals but depend upon us heavily for parent/family coaching. Many of our clients are referred by other consultants who find that the complexity of the needs of the client they refer are outside their expertise. Sometimes our most important task is to suggest to a client that immediate residential placement is not necessary; to point out a more cost effective way to get done what needs to be done with less family disruption.
When potential clients first contact us, we try to give them an hour of our time without fee. In addition to explaining our services we try to give some meaningful help to the person calling at that moment. Most first time callers are dealing with a system they simply do not understand. At the very least we hope callers will at least acquire a better understanding of that system whether they ultimately work with us or not. So please call us at 724-216-6843.
Please note: This area of the new format of this website is in the early stages of development. Currently much of our individual services information is still in the old format. As we move this to the new format -- a very gradual process over a long period of time -- Click here for the page in the Old Format. At this writing it still contains information about our services that would be useful to prospective clients before contracting.
Our individual service in brief:
When you engage our individual service you have purchased virtually unlimited time with a person with nearly fifty years experience in helping families plan and execute plans to care for a person in their family needing a significant level of educational or therapeutic support. This includes a one in-person meeting that usually occurs in your home (but can be at another location if needed), a thorough review of all records, and careful highly individualized guidance regarding potential points of service. We also coach families through such matters as resistance to treatment, strategies to manage impact of the problem on your whole family, and keeping service providers accountable and much more. Most families approaching us do so in anticipation of placement in a residential treatment venue, a boarding school that can accommodate relevant special needs, a therapeutic school, or a specialized summer program. Referral to these are our "tactical" services; we also look at your situation "strategically." We want our recommendations to fit into a long term plan for success. Many other consultants only look at responding to the immediate crisis. We want that crisis response to fit within a long range long range thinking.
Many of our referrals come from other consultants who do not feel confident of their ability with very complex behavioral and psychiatric issues.
Further information is available through the following links:
Individual Services of FamilyLight
Quick Approach to Understanding our Comprehensive Service
Information on Personal Consultation in the Old Format.
Payment of Fees
Go to PayPal/ Credit Card/ Debit Card payments for any purpose other than Membership for website.
Several pages on this website tell part of the story "About" FamilyLight and Virtual Consultant. Our original expectation when we started the "New Format" of this website was that would continue the organization of the website from the old format. But as we grew, we came to realize that this organization was confusing to our readers. Our problem: if we try to re-do this completely, we break links that are important. Our solution: Create new pages where they will help to make this website more user friendly. This solution creates redundancy. The following links go to pages that might also be thought of as "about" pages:
This page (Consultant Services) gives a brief overview of our in-person consulting service along with links that give further detail. If you are considering in-person consulting, we urge you to read that page and pages linked at that bottom of that page.
About Us puts emphasis on the history of Family Light.
About holds very general information. Most of what is on that page is duplicated here. The page linked here was created so that readers would have have "about" information linked from horizontal menu across the top of every page. The page you are on was here first, reflecting the original organization of the New Format website, following the pattern of the Old Format.
Home Very general introduction to the websites(s) and our practice.
Meeting Special Needs This was originally intended to transition from the Old Format to the New Format. If you relied on the Old Format and understood how it worked you will find this helpful. If you are seeking individual in-person guidance, we suggest you also look at Consultant Services (See Above) and the pages linked from there. If you are looking into "do it yourself" planning, we suggest you go to Virtual Consultant, next line down.
Virtual Consultant If you want either to do a "do it yourself" approach to getting help for a loved one but also tap into our knowledge, or supplement professional advice as you attempt to resolve the issues of a family member, this page gives you a detailed outline of what we have to offer those who use only our online services and what we plan for the future.
Organization of these Websites This is about the websites themselves -- not about the contents or our consulting work.
Anyone can write anything about anyone on the web. Usual legal remedies for defamation, slander, and libel do not work so well regarding postings on the web.
If you see troubling information about a school or program or a professional, call the organization or person being attacked to learn what they have so say. The person you call will appreciate the call. After you have heard all sides make your decision. If you just avoid services under attack without checking it out, you may miss a great opportunity. Decisions are best made by considering multiple opinions. That is true even where our opinions are at issue. You will note that when we know of credible people disagreeing with our opinion we often point that out on this website.
Last Update April 24, 2016