Before placing Dr. Washam’s name in a proposed order or referring a family, contact the practice to clarify the requested clinical role, current availability, and whether the matter can be accepted.
Begin with a limited professional inquiry
Provide your professional name, organization, jurisdiction, contact details, and a concise description of the requested clinical function. State whether an order is in place or under consideration; request secure instructions before sending confidential records.
Do not send a complete case file through a public contact channel. Ask how the practice wants to handle an initial conflicts inquiry and any later documents.
Clarify the engagement
Specify whether the matter calls for court-involved treatment, voluntary family work, professional consultation, or another defined service. The label “reunification” should not be used to combine a therapeutic role with custody evaluation or unrestricted litigation assistance.
Before acceptance, clarify who will participate, which authorizations are required, what the order provides, what communications are contemplated, and how costs are assigned. The purpose is to define a clinically coherent engagement.
Document transfer and communication
Request instructions for supplying current orders and any requested records. Clarify how all appropriate participants or counsel will be included in communications, and how clinically sensitive material should be transmitted.
Authorized communication with attorneys, parenting coordinators, guardians ad litem, and treating professionals may support treatment. The basis, purpose, limits, and recipients of such communication should be established at the outset, rather than assumed.
Acceptance and scheduling
Confirm acceptance, the scope of the engagement, and scheduling directly with the practice. A referral, draft order, or website inquiry is not a confirmation of availability.
For parents needing an understandable description of the treatment, the parent guide may be shared without expecting familiarity with professional terminology.