When a young adult who receives support from a family trust is struggling with anxiety, depression, substance use or a lack of direction, the family and the trustee are often the first to notice and the least sure what they are allowed to do. Blackburn Clinical Services provides outpatient therapy and psychiatric care in West Los Angeles. This page explains how a parent, relative or trustee can help a beneficiary start care while respecting the beneficiary’s own decisions. Call (888) 870 7405 or email info@blackburnclinical.com.
At a glance
- Who this is for: parents, grandparents, siblings and trustees of a young adult beneficiary, and the beneficiary.
- Who decides: an adult beneficiary chooses whether to start care and what is shared.
- What we offer: individual therapy in our office or by secure video for clients located in California, psychiatric evaluation and medication management, dual diagnosis care, the Concierge Outpatient Program and family services for the family.
- Information sharing: Anything we share with anyone outside your care team happens only with your written permission.
- Fees: We are an out-of-network practice and provide superbills. See Fees and Insurance.
Why wealth can complicate getting help
Financial security removes many obstacles to care, but it can create others. A young adult who does not need a paycheck may have no external structure, so drifting, sleeping late, heavy drinking or isolation can go on for a long time before anyone calls it a problem. Distributions can become the main point of contact with the family, which can turn every conversation into a negotiation. And families often worry about privacy and reputation, which can delay a call for help.
Young adults also have the highest rates of mental illness of any adult age group: the National Institute of Mental Health reports that 36.2 percent of adults aged 18 to 25 had a mental illness in the past year in 2022. Struggling is common, and it is treatable.
How to suggest care
- Lead with concern, not conditions. Describe what you have noticed (sleep, mood, missed commitments, substance use) and that you want them to feel better.
- Offer to make it easy. Offer to make the first call together, or to give them our number so they can call themselves.
- Keep care and distributions separate where you can. Treatment framed as a punishment or a condition of money is harder to engage in. Whether a trust can or should tie anything to treatment is a question for the trustee and the trust’s attorney, not for us.
- Get support for yourself. Family services offers family coaching and a free virtual family support group, whether or not your loved one is in treatment with us.
For a step by step guide with words to use, what to avoid and what to do if the answer is no, see how to talk with a young adult about starting therapy.
Consent and what the family or trustee will hear
An adult beneficiary is the patient. Anything we share with anyone outside your care team happens only with your written permission. With your written permission, we can share attendance and general progress with a trustee, and nothing more detailed; if you want a parent involved, we can talk about that together at the start.
Paying for care
Blackburn Clinical Services is an out-of-network practice. We do not take or bill insurance, and we provide superbills for reimbursable services that can be submitted for out-of-network reimbursement. Whether a trust can pay for treatment, and how, depends on the trust document and the trustee’s judgment; the trustee or the trust’s attorney decides that. See Fees and Insurance.
If the money itself is part of what is hard, for a beneficiary or anyone else in the family, see therapy for sudden wealth and inheritance. Families who also share a business can see therapy for family business families.
When more support is needed
For a beneficiary who needs more than a weekly session, the Concierge Outpatient Program offers 3 to 5 hours a week of one-on-one care, with no groups, built around the person. For substance use, addiction psychiatry and, for people who qualify medically, outpatient detox are available. Trustees and professional fiduciaries can see our page for trustees and fiduciaries. For a beneficiary who mainly needs structure and follow-through, Blackburn Mentoring, a sister organization, offers mentoring for young adults who are trust beneficiaries.
Questions
Can a parent or trustee make a young adult go to therapy?
An adult chooses whether to start care. Family members and trustees can encourage it, make it easy and get support for themselves, and many young adults agree once the conversation is about concern rather than control.
Will the trustee get updates on treatment?
Only with the beneficiary’s written permission, and then only attendance and general progress, nothing more detailed.
Can the trust pay for therapy or psychiatry?
That depends on the trust document and the trustee’s judgment. We are an out-of-network practice and provide superbills. The trustee or the trust’s attorney decides how care is paid for.
What if the beneficiary refuses help?
Families can still get support. Our family services include one-on-one family coaching and a free virtual family support group, whether or not your loved one is in treatment with us. If there is immediate danger, call 911 or call or text 988.
Get started
Call (888) 870 7405 (Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM), email info@blackburnclinical.com or contact us. Blackburn Clinical Services is at 12326 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066.
If you or someone you love is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 in an emergency.