Responses to Our Work | William James INTERFACE Referral Service

From Callers

"I am so grateful for the INTERFACE Referral Service! I cannot say enough things about wonderful you are. At the time I called, I didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel for my son. However, you shed a light on services that I never could have known existed, and I don't know where my son would be right now if I hadn't called. He has so many resources now, and I keep knocking on wood, but he's doing so well! I am so glad that you exist and I am so glad that I reached out."

"The Interface Referral Service has been such a wonderful service helping us through a difficult time trying to find a therapist perfectly suited for our daughter who is away from home and is suffering from depression. As parents, we couldn’t have asked for a more committed group of thoughtful professionals who went beyond the call of duty to look in Boston proper, a geographical location that wasn’t even within their communities. Still, their humanity and concern for our daughter kept them searching and for that, we are so very grateful. I commend this service for reaching such a helping hand at a time of need."

"I was happy to have an opportunity to thank Representative Cantwell directly for the INTERFACE tool that I successfully used two years ago when my family was in crisis. My son suffers from an addiction that got progressively worse as he got older. It had been a heart breaking 7 years, and it was affecting all his siblings as well as myself, as his parent. I learned about the INTERFACE tool at a meeting in my community…I took home a postcard with the instructions on it, and held onto it for several months before finally using it one day in a moment of despair. I was looking for a counselor for my son, but the person on the other side of the phone was keen enough to recognize that while my son may not be willing to accept treatment while “active” in his addiction, I was surely in need of counseling myself. I certainly was not looking for my own counselor, but did accept the advice, and I still see that counselor to this day. While my son is not “cured”, my family is far healthier than we were two years ago. I directly attribute the INTERFACE tool as an integral stepping stone for me. The most wonderful piece of that tool is the follow up….they made sure I had made an appointment, then they made sure I kept it, then they made sure I liked the counselor!! I think they called me 4-5 times in follow up activity. Very impressive. Please tell me how I can get more of those postcards so we can offer them to more families who are in need of support. I feel very grateful that I was aware of it when I needed it most."

“I have been very preoccupied with my son; the good news is that one of the matches is a good fit, I like him very much and am confident about the direction in which we're heading. William James INTERFACE has been so professional and courteous, and has made a difference in the life of my family. For that I am so grateful.”

“This service was so great! Searching on insurance lists is so difficult, especially trying to find someone who would be skilled in what my daughter needed, and I would never have found these providers on my own. I hope William James INTERFACE isn’t going anywhere!”

“My daughter met with Bonnie yesterday and her concluding remarks were 'Daddy, Bonnie is a good talking doctor. I really like her. We should come back again.”

"The INTERFACE Referral Service people did a wonderful job at finding me a counseling service to meet my mental health needs. After a convenient and thorough phone interview, within a few days they promptly gave me a choice of three providers from which to choose. They respected my privacy and treated me with sensitivity in a kind, conscientious manner. Before referring me they contacted the providers for availability, appropriate match, and convenience of location. I highly recommend this free needed community service and advocate they advertise widely."

“I would recommend William James INTERFACE, it took a lot of pressure off me to have the research done and then get a call from the counselor with the personality I was looking for.”

"Over 2 years ago my college aged son entered a rehab for a month. Within a couple months, he realized he needed counseling in addition to meetings. He was overwhelmed with thoughts of "where do I start", "who can I see"? I used the referral service. It allowed me to connect with a provider based on my son's age, his issue (substance abuse), even his work schedule. As a mother trying to save her son's life, it gave me the guidance I needed to support my son and help him go back into counseling. I am grateful to have my son doing so well now."

"Thanks a lot for your help! Glad I was able to get help from you! Your [INTERFACE] search is invaluable. It is hard to find the right match without having to call from a long list.”

"I truly appreciate all the research counselors have done, they touched base with me at least 4 different occasions and each time we spoke they were incredibly kind and full of information. They took the time to listen to my two kids very detailed stories and what gender I wanted in both psychologists and psychiatrists. I also asked to avoid three facilities that I have dealt with in the past and everyone was very compassionate and understanding to all of my requests. I will be very happy to recommend INTERFACE to people in search of your help because I went through this process alone two years ago and it took me months to find doctors that were a good fit for my daughters needs, once again thank you for all of your time and help. You were GREAT!"

"You made a miracle happen. He is going and he likes it. I can't thank you enough."

From School Personnel

“William James INTERFACE is very helpful because it pulls information together from many different areas. The web site has both local and national resources and information about mental health topics and services."

“It is very exciting to have the William James INTERFACE Resources at our fingertips. This will be invaluable to the students and families that we serve, especially since we see more students with depression and anxiety every year who need access to mental health providers outside of the school."

“The William James INTERFACE Web site will be enormously helpful to the entire mental health staff in our school system. Students and parents are often in need of referrals so having the Helpline is very valuable to us.”

“As a school social worker, having William James INTERFACE available to use as a resource has been invaluable. It has saved me a tremendous amount of time and parents who are often under duress receive mindful referrals.”

“William James INTERFACE was amazing. Within 45 minutes of making the initial phone call to you, my student was matched with an excellent clinician and had an appointment set up for that week.”

"I know a family whose elementary-age daughter has had major depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. The daughter has bounced around to 5 different therapists over the past few years and finally heard about INTERFACE. The family was blown away at how great it was. The mother explained how she worked with INTERFACE and how great they were and how helpful it was. It was a game changer for the family."

From Mental Health Professionals

"I have another success story to share: a woman in my support group, who was in crisis used INTERFACE, was matched to a counselor, and her progress each week is simply amazing to see!! She has not missed a single support group meeting and the INTERFACE resource was the tool she used to find a counselor!”

“I first became aware of William James INTERFACE while working as a Jail Diversion Clinician with the Waltham Police. I was meeting with school counselors and nurses at Waltham High School to give them information about my program and to talk about how we would work together. One of the counselors mentioned that Waltham High used William James INTERFACE. I followed up with William James INTERFACE, exploring their services and informing them about mine. Having spent a fair amount of time engaged in the task of service connection for individuals suffering from mental illness, I was very impressed with their mission. It wasn’t long before I had my first occasion to call on them for their services, and many more times followed. They were excellent. They assisted me in providing quality referrals that resulted in youth getting into treatment in some of the most challenging cases that I worked. Whether the child had Blue Cross or Mass Health, they always came through with a referral for a clinician or psychiatrist that took the right insurance, that was accepting new patients and, when needed, that had some expertise in the specific issue that the youth was dealing with. I highly recommend their services.”

“I want to express my pleasure in being a member of William James INTERFACE. Not only are you providing families in our area with a helpful set of resources, but you are also making appropriate and helpful referrals to clinicians such as myself. So often, people can be helped if they only know how to connect with the right resources. William James INTERFACE really provides that missing link in our community and makes a big difference to service providers and the families who use their services. I am proud to work with such a competent, professional and needed program. Thank you, WJC INTERFACE.”

“As you know, there seems to be an increased paucity of psychopharmocologists with expertise in serving children with developmental disabilities. Additionally, this family from Waltham could not find a local psychiatrist who accepts MassHealth. Given my high caseload, I am so appreciative of your assistance in getting the appropriate services for this family. I was truly amazed that not only did you give me the names of doctors, but that you helped with the initial screening by making the calls for me. The service of accessing appropriate community mental health care for families in Waltham that William James INTERFACE provides is greatly needed and valued. On behalf of this Waltham family, I thank you for your wonderful service.”

“You are providing a great service for children and adolescents and their families. Everything I read about William James INTERFACE is excellent. Your work is very professional and helpful.”

“I commend you on this valuable project. It is a large undertaking, but it is really needed for members of the community to help families find services that match their needs. I will be glad to participate and help out in any way I can.”

"Currently we have five Nurse Practitioners and five Physicians fully utilizing the support, therapy and care coordination of the INTERFACE Referral Service. The patients have reported feeling fully supported and more successful coordination of therapy since the implementation of having an embedded clinician at our practice. This has resulted in overall improved patient satisfaction and improvement of medical and mental health care. The staff we have in place is phenomenal and crucial to the success of the program."

“It will be great to be able to contact your HELPLINE for referrals when I think a child or family needs further help or an area of expertise which I do not offer.”

“I have had several referrals from school adjustment counselors. I appreciate the opportunity to help with mental health issues for these adolescents and their families. In addition, there has been a mutual sharing of resources and collegiality with the school personnel that seems to benefit both of us.”