STUDENT REFERRAL FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AT YOUR SCHOOL

If you're a partner school looking to refer a student for mental health services, you're in the right place. Our aim is to make school-based mental health as smooth as possible for you, families, and students.

If you’re a school looking to partner with us, please fill in the Student Referral Form below.

Student Referral Form
Psych and student in session
Green leaves

UNDERSTANDING THE REFERRAL PROCESS

We use a traffic light system to triage student referrals. This helps us to efficiently assess the situation and determine the best mental health plan for each student. Here's how it works.

The Traffic Light System

  • Green referrals involve situations where mental health support can be provided. These might include:

    • Friendship challenges

    • Social Anxiety

    • Phobias

    • Grief

    • Depression & withdrawal

    • Externalising behaviours (no violence)

    • School refusal

    • Parent separation

    • Low self-esteem & confidence

    • Social skills training

    • Social skills support

    • Classroom adjustment recommendations

    • Behaviour response recommendations

    • Acute/isolated experiences of trauma

    • Finalised parent separation arrangements.

  • In some cases, we need more information on the student to clarify the scope of the referral. These referrals may involve:

    • The student is already being seen by a Psychologist or supported by NDIS

    • Parents are separated, and consent from only one parent

    • Parent separation arrangements still being disputed

    • Complex post-traumatic stress symptoms

    • Chronic & complex presentations

    • Referrals to see siblings.

  • Some referrals may not align with the scope of our services and will be declined. These might include:

    • Sexualised behaviours

    • Externalising behaviours (eg, historical or recent assaults of staff)

    • Suicidal statements & self-harm behaviours

    • Referrals without parents’ written consent

    • Presentation in the Legal Courts may be required

    • Referrals for staff as clients

    • When an interpreter is needed and the school cannot fund this.

referral triage - green, yellow & red light referrals

“This program has provided Tier 3 support to our students in a specialised
manner that we would normally be unable to do.”
- Deer Park West Primary School

A young boy with brown hair and a red shirt looking at an adult woman, who is partially visible and has dark hair, in a bright room near a window.

Parent or Guardian Consent

After we receive a student referral, our Provisional and Senior Psychologists will review it. If approved, we'll send consent forms to the parent(s) / guardian(s) to complete online.

If we don't receive the signed consent within
7 days, we'll contact the school for help in following up.

For information on how we handle student and family information, including privacy details, please visit our Privacy Policy.

SUBMIT A REFERRAL

Please complete all required fields below and click ‘Submit’ at the end of the form to send your school referral to Psychs in Schools.

If you have any questions about this form or the referral process in general.
You can contact us at info@psychsinschools.com or reach out to our
Business Operations Manager, Jen Lyons, on 1800 157 168.

Assessment Referral Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We provide 3-4 counselling sessions per day, which equates to 8-18 referrals throughout the semester.

    Referrals must be mild to moderate. However, for kids with more severe needs, our provisional psychologists can treat mild to moderate issues.
    They can do this while the child waits for a referral for more severe care. A provisional psychologist may write a support letter for the family.

    They can take it to a GP to request a mental health care plan.

  • To refer a student, please complete the referral form on this page. Once submitted, our team will triage the referral. If we accept it, we will send consent forms to the parent(s)/guardian(s).

  • Yes, you can refer multiple students from the same family, but siblings are not usually seen for counselling at the same time to protect privacy and meet professional guidelines. In some cases, our provisional psychologists may work with two siblings at once if the work is different, such as one student having counselling while another is completing an assessment.

  • If a student already gets help from another psychologist or an NDIS care team, the referral may be marked Yellow. It will then be reviewed further.

  • Once the referral is submitted, we aim to complete the triage within 5-7 business days. If accepted, consent forms will be sent to the parent(s) shortly thereafter.

  • We offer both Brief Assessments (Cognitive and/or Adaptive Functioning) and Comprehensive Assessments (e.g., Specific Learning Disorder assessment, Intellectual Disability, ADHD).

    We use the WISC-V for cognitive assessments (allowing us to assess students aged 6 - 16 years & 11 months) and the Vineland- 3 Comprehensive Form to assess adaptive functioning.

    These can be delivered in several ways: through assessment-only placements, as one-off purchases, or as part of our counselling placements.

    Please contact our sales team for more information.

  • The school will need to bear the costs for an independent interpreter.

Four children sitting on a brick wall, wearing school uniforms, with only their legs and feet visible. The children are wearing black shoes and white or black socks, with the children in the middle holding a water bottle.

Partner with Us

If you’re ready to support your school’s mental health with evidence-based practices & onsite support, contact us below.

Get in Touch