The consultation readiness scale: an attempt to improve consultation practice

The Consultation Readiness Scale is designed to facilitate mental health and other forms of human services consultation. The scale is based on the assumption that consultee-consultant relationships vary in their "readiness" for consultation. A basic task for consultants is to assess the current readiness level and help move the relationship to a higher level. The Consultation Readiness Scale facilitates this process by specifying six levels of readiness and indicating the general intervention strategies appropriate for each. Initial, descriptive data based on five consultants and 366 consulteees are presented. Most consultation relationships were not as high levels of readiness; readiness varied with the amount of time consultants had worked in the consultees' setting and did not vary by more than one level over a 6-month period.