I work with a lot of therapists and one thing I always start with is their paperwork. Paperwork in Private Practice isn’t used by everyone and I believe it should be. You need to protect yourself and your business.  

It sets you up as a legitimate business. It shows you take your Private Practice seriously and it can answer questions your clients may have. Use this blog as a starting point for your Private Practice Paperwork and I’ll add some resources at the end for further research.  

Therapy Contract / Agreement

Whether you prefer the term contract or agreement it’s important to have important information outlined for your clients.

There is a lot to think about when you start to put this together but you want to outline everything the client will need to know.

Client Documents

Client documents are forms that you will send to clients for them to complete. Below I have listed out some that you should consider.  

Contact Details Form

This is a form that your client will complete with all their personal details such as name, date of birth, address and contact details. It should also include GP and emergency contact details. You should include a section around how the client would like to be communicated with and what you can communicate with them about. Ensure to get a signature from the client at the end of the form.

Release of Information

A release of information form is for clients who have additional professions in their care. You will need to get this form signed by the client so you can communicate with these professionals and discuss your client. This should clearly outline the professional the client is giving permission you to liaise with, how and about what. Again, you should obtain a signature from the client.

Health Insurance

If you work with clients using medical insurance a health insurance form is the easiest way to obtain the relevant information. You will need to obtain the client's insurance details such as provider, membership or policy number, authorisation number, number of sessions authorised and how to claim. For more information about Medical Insurance clients check out my previous blog on how to organise insurer clients.

Reduced Fee Agreement

A reduced fee agreement would be used if you offer a lower fee to a client. You should set out the terms of that agreement based on how you want to work with these clients. I would suggest having a set amount of sessions or time such as 3 months. This can help the clients commit to therapy knowing there is a limit and also ensure you don’t take too many clients under this scheme.

GDPR

You should outline who has access to the personal data and how long this will be kept for. You should also state what action you would take in the event of a security breach. 

This list is not exhaustive, please ensure to do your research into GDPR. A good place to start is the ICO. As well as always ensuring you get a signature from the client.

In-Person Therapy

During these times it’s still important to have an in-person therapy contract or statement. This should outline what your responsibilities are and also what the clients are. You should advise them what to do if they have an in-person session but are showing symptoms of being ill, whether you can switch to online or what your cancellation policy is around this. Whether this is a statement or a contract, ensure to get a signature from your client. 

Conclusion

This was a brief overview of the Private Practice paperwork you may need. I have outlined what you may need for the clients and to help you administrate your Practice. There are a lot more forms and documents that you may want for your Practice that are internal. If you’d like all the work done for you I would highly recommend Private Practice Paperwork. You can purchase EVERYTHING you’d need for your Practice, lawyer approved. They have left no stone unturned. It will SAVE you hours of time and you will feel confident that you are complying with all laws and guidelines.

If you’d like your current paperwork looked at you can book an Admin Audit where we can discuss your paperwork further and look at what you may be missing. We can also discuss how you can best communicate the important information with your clients by having a robust onboarding/intake process.