Observing other professionals is an excellent way to learn how to implement therapy skills.

Below is a recording of a mock session provided by one of our allied supervisors, Kaitlin Baldwin! This is a great learning opportunity to see what a skilled practitioner (with a very human approach) looks like in session

youtube.com/watch?v=aIH0imxNH6E

 Attached herein is a folder of video/audio recordings conducted by previous students at Rebound. These videos reflect the skill level anticipated for entry level beginner therapists and are by no means reflective of ‘expert’ level skill implementation.

For observation opportunity, please review recordings found below:

Therapy Session Recordings

As you can imagine, the more therapy related training you can get at this point, the better! Both to build your knowledge and skills, to better support your clients and to build your own reputation and credibility.

2023 Somatic Training for Trauma - Valid for CE Credit

You can view the videos for this training here

*Note if it doesn't give you access you can request access!

Once the videos are complete, let Brittany know and she will provide you access to complete the quiz and receive your CE credits. After that point, we can list this training on your profile.

Brittany's Purchased Trainings, for student observation


So FULL DISCLOSURE. These are trainings that I've purchased and completed myself for my own CE hours. I'm just sharing the information presented in the trainings for ya'll to review just for learning purposes only. You wont get any CE credit for this, unless you create your own account, go purchase it and then complete it. So, because there's no certificate of completion that you'll get, you can't really list this on your resume or website profiles since there's no 'proof" BUT I still wanted to share it nonetheless for learning purposes!!  I have two separate accounts with different trainings on each account.  I also want to name not to do any of the quizes at the end, as to not mess up my own CE Hours aha.  Note, none of this is required but this working knowledge will be super helpful for you to have BEFORE starting practicum!


 SO go to this link: catalog.pesi.com/account/login
username: barratt50c@gmail.com password: Orangescissors6 
on this account there will be a CBT course.

log into my other account to access ACT, DBT and a grief training

SO go to this link: catalog.pesi.com/account/login
username: brittany@reboundtotalhealth.ca 
password: Orangescissors6

ERP training for Observation:

docs.google.com/document/d/19v_wq1tIFI1BUHISI...

Free Webinar once per month

If you’re looking for worksheets, support with a specific mental health related topic or are just feeling stuck, check out the resources below! It is highly recommended that students spend time getting to know the Rebound Team Resource Share and learn different interventions, techniques & approaches to counselling their clients. This is a great thing to do when you slower DCC weeks.

Centre for Clinical Interventions

Therapist Aid

Rebound Student Learning Document Original

New - Rebound Student Learning Document 2  ​ here​​​

Rebound Team Resource Share

If you have time before practicum and want to dive in, you can also look ahead in this student training guide for any recommended books or resources!

• Please review the Rebound intake process Intake Process
• Please review the consultation script Student Consultation Script
  
  

Consultation Training

• Ethical Limitations – Questions that have to be said
• Giving the client “something therapeutic” build the therapeutic alliance
• In Jane – Starting session, charting
• Important things to chart - $ , consents & ethics
• Couples’ consultations – charting & duplicating chart
• Client Questions
• What happens after a consult?
  
  

Tips for Consultations:

Here are some "tips" for completing the initial free consultation with clients.

• For the consultations your job is to start forming that therapeutic alliance so the client can see if they are comfortable working with you. Whether that's using humour, warmth, kindness -let your personality shine and really look for a point of connection to be relatable.
  
  
• For clients that have already completed a general consultation, you'll be sent a bunch of details about them already. What you can do is just bring up those details and ask the client to tell you more or go into more detail on those topics.
  
  
• In the consultation try to give them a "little therapy" so they can get a sense of what it would be like in a session with you. Things like paraphrasing, summarizing, reflecting feelings and VALIDATING are huge during a consultation! If they feel like there's no therapeutic element and they are just having to answer your questions, they'll probably go elsewhere
  
  
• Goals - how are you going to help them tackle their problem so they can be left with some hope after the call? I try to be very vague with this piece as we don't have much info to go off of. Something I might say is "This sounds like you might benefit from finding some day-to-day strategies we can use in the moment to help manage symptoms and perhaps once we have better symptom management we can really try to go a bit deeper and get to the root of the problem"  I might also say something like " I implement a variety of approaches - some approaches that are good at providing you practical solution focused options and others that help us go deeper where we need to - I love feedback and we can see what works and cater your therapy to that!"   These types of phrases can really help the client feel like you are eager to help and know how you're going to do it :)
  
  
• Don't forget to book the consultations in Jane - I know it's obvious but I wasn't sure if I was clear that even telephone consults have to go into Jane haha.

IMPORTANT - please review the conversion tips found here

To begin, all consults will be virtual or through telephone, and all Jane shifts are tagged with the “Virtual” tag. 

1. During a consult, if a client requests in person: 

   • collect their availability (get multiple availability options)

   • Let them know you will look into the office availability and will confirm with them within one business day

2. Review office schedule, find an available office time that works for the client and your schedule. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lmnYOUnU-gKoj...

3. Reach out to Erika and let her know the in person times your client has requested and office availability.

   • Erika will confirm which time slots / offices are available. 

4. Once Erika has confirmed the in person session, your in person shift will revolve around this session. 

   1. In Jane, get rid of the “virtual” tag and add instead the “in-person” tag and add which room you have been assigned to. 

   2. Change your shift to only include the hour before the session and the hour after the session. This will allow clients to book in before or after the session which will help build out your in person shift and optimize office space. 
      

   3. This shift can be extended if needed, consult with Erika. 

You will need access to: therapist database

Review Rebounds FAQ

Answering phone calls at Rebound is a great way to gain extra DCC hours, as well as to gain more client exposure and learn the ins and outs of private practice. This isn't something you need to know RIGHT away, but something you need to know if your DCC's are slow in the beginning, as we'll add this task in to keep your DCC's up!

If you start doing phones, The shifts that you have inputted into jane will be the hours in which phone calls will be forwarded to your phone. Don’t worry, clients can’t hear your personal voicemail. You’ll know you’re getting a call from Rebound because when you answer it will say “you are receiving a call from Rebound Total Health please press 1 to answer” or something of the like. Once you hit the button to answer, you then start your call with a welcome greeting. I understand you will have sessions/consultations during your shift hours. If a call comes through during one of your sessions or consultations, please call the client back. Note we receive a notification for each call that comes through, so just be sure to call them back when you are finished with your session/consult!

When clients call, they could be calling from a WIDE range of sources. A lot of the time, they've found a particular therapist on psychology today and they call them, thinking they'll get that specific therapist. So your first line of business for ANY call that comes in is to figure out if they're looking for a specific therapist or if they're looking for general information.

Answer the call - Hi This is (you) from Rebound Total Health - therapy services, how can I help you? (I add in therapy services so they know we offer therapy. sometimes people are calling for like a specific therapist and have no idea what Rebound total health is)

Therapist database - you're going to want to have the therapist database book marked on your computer because you're going to be referencing it quite a bit in phone conversations. If a client is calling for a specific therapist and that therapist is full (as per the database) you'll have to let that client know and try to offer other options. “oh im so sorry, that therapist is actually full right now and not accepting clients, but if you're interested we have a couple other therapists with a similar style and approach to __________... would you be comfortable with me emailing you some options?”

If the client is looking for a specific therapist and they ARE accepting clients - easy peasy... just get their contact info (phone, name, email) and tell them you'll have X therapist contact them within the next day or so. You can also ask for a brief message... or if the client would like you to pass along any details to them.

If a client is just looking to start therapy, you can explain the process of how rebound works (new clients get a free consultation, we take those details and provide therapist recommendations). You can ask them if they'd like to book in for a consultation OR if they want to do the consultation now with you, either or.... then you just book them in with Vanessa, Melissa or Malina for a consultation if they can't do it on the phone with you there and then... Please note.. you CANNOT book in a consultation with another practitioner with less than 24 hours notice so DO NOT book anything less than 24 hours away for anyone but yourself.

A lot of the times clients just have questions. They may ask if we offer in person... not yet. Hopefully by the end of 2022 and it will be in Dundas, Ontario. but also be sure to let them know that this is not guaranteed due to construction delays. I recommend you go check out the Rebound websites FAQ - this has a lot of answers that you can provide to clients. You aren't expected to know everything.. if a client asks you a question and you aren’t sure.. just name that! "say I'm not sure but I can get you an answer in the next couple of hours.. can I grab your email and email you back once I've spoken to my supervisor?"

Anytime you can get a client's email, do it. It's WAY easier to communicate with clients via email than us having to call them back all the time. Also, we need their email for Jane anyways. I always inform them to check out their spam folder as occasionally our emails end up there.

ANY INFO YOU GET FROM PHONE CALLS JUST SEND TO ME so we can figure out next steps together.

When on the phone, you are asked to please use a bubbly, outgoing & down to earth demeanor. You are the first point of contact representing our brand, it is important your voice reflects that.

When answering calls, please indicate your name clearly and the name of the business and what we do “Thank you for calling Rebound Total Health - Therapy Services , This is Suzy speaking, how can I help you today?”

• Get Comfy ahead of time! Be sure you find a comfortable way to sit that you can sustain for a long period of time without constant fidgeting
  
  
• Make sure the clock is easily visible to you
  
  
• Think about the clients needs in the room - sit in their chair and make sure they have easy access to tissues, the waste basket and an easy view of the therapist
  
  
• For safety reasons, and for access to the panic buttons, always sit in the seat closest to the door.
  
  
• Before your client arrives, place your clipboard or sweater on the chair closest to the door to 'reserve' your seat and encourage the client to sit in the further seat.
  
  
• Really stress the client experience - ask them to take their shoes off when they come in, then offer them a warm beverage or water. Tell them where the bathroom is, then encourage them to get comfy in the office :)
  
  
• Be mindful of your body posture - retain an open, warm posture and lean in as opposed to out. Be mindful of not crossing too many body parts (ie crossed legs, crossed arms) or leaning back/away from the client
  
  
• Be mindful of how your face shows up, be warm and engaging.
  
  
• Similar to virtual sessions, avoid looking down to write notes constantly - this feels even more intimidating to the client in person when the therapist is looking away regularly
  
  
• be mindful of your body and it not being distracting (ie through fidgeting or constant movements). Consider fidget objects for yourself if fidgeting is a concern :)
  
  
• Me mindful of your voices and setting the quiet calm tone for speaking.
  
  
• session structure is even more important in person! it takes more time to get the client physically out of the office, so be VERY Mindful that the last 5 minutes of session needs to be used wisely.

Sonia

Sonia often isn't set up by Yorkville until 2-3 weeks into practicum. In the meantime, keep track of your direct & indirect hours. I definitely want these hours you're proactively putting in to count so we can track them!

Sliding scale – adjustments

All sessions are set to a predetermined base price. For affordable counselling, this price is $90 for individuals or $110 for couples If the client requires a price lower than this,  you will be required to apply an adjustment to their bill. If they will be receiving this adjustment for every bill, you can apply an automatic adjustment to their profile.

• Please view the Adding Adjustments / Sliding Scale to Jane guide here 

When discussing fees with client, anything under $60 need to get "approval by site contact" (Brittany) however, anything $60 and over has full approval. 

Insurance Companies

Occasionally, for clients who use insurance companies to reimburse the cost of therapy, the insurance company will call to confirm their sessions. The insurance company just wants to confirm when you saw the client and what the price of the sessions were along with how long the sessions were (50-mins)

The frustrating part is that they typically are calling looking for Rebound Clinical Supervisor  - they're asking for the supervisor to confirm the session as she is the supervisor listed on the receipts. This is why  It is imperative that we include the blurb in the receipts that states "Rebound Clinical Supervisor's name" supervision is on a consultation basis only. "Rebound Clinical Supervisor's name"  is not aware of any identifying client information, nor does she accept professional liability for this client. If the insurance company is wanting to verify appointments, they shall contact the treating clinician, (insert your name) as "Rebound Clinical Supervisor's name"  does not have any information about this client and is as such unable to confirm appointment dates/details."  

Obviously in this case, Rebound Clinical Supervisors don't know what you charge the client or how often you've seen them.

So, in this case, the therapist is going to need to call the insurance company to confirm the information they need.

 If an insurance company calls, they typically call the Rebound admin line first, at which point I will forward you the contact information and any voicemails they leave. You will be responsible for calling the insurance company back and providing information they require as you are the treating clinician. Now, in instances when the insurance company calls looking for Rebound Clinical Supervisors you will call them back saying something like the following:

I am calling to confirm the information requested for my client Alexandra E....

" In the message you left, you were looking to speak with "Rebound Clinical Supervisor's name", my external supervisor. On all of the receipts, I indicate that "Rebound Clinical Supervisor's name" supervision is only provided on a consultation basis.  I am the TREATING CLINICIAN and am the one to confirm attendance and price. "Rebound Clinical Supervisor's name"

only reviews cases with me on a consultation basis and doesn't have access to this information"

I’m hoping this will allow them to let you confirm this information. Most of the time they are looking to confirm the dates of the sessions as well as the price of the sessions.

Again, this is normal practice for insurance companies to call occasionally, however its extra annoying when this supervisor stuff pops up, so it’s important to be prepared

Video Recording

 I'm not sure what your syllabus says for when you need to submit your first video recording, but I highly recommend you start to think about the recording from the beginning of practicum as it sneaks up fast.

As you know you'll need to record a few of your sessions throughout the duration of practicum.

You want to start thinking about which clients you have a good rapport with, who would be comfortable with you recording.

Is there someone you feel very comfortable with and like you do your 'best work' with them? It might be a good time to start asking if this is something they'd be comfortable with ( you recording a couple of sessions).

Once you've determined which client you'd like to record a session with, you'll need to get them to complete a consent to record and release form . Our consent to record and release form is based off of Yorkville’s form but is enhanced to include sharing the video with your supervisor, peers, site supervisor (Brittany) and fellow students at Rebound (for learning purposes!). In jane, this consent form is titled “consent to record” and is found where the normal consent forms are located.

You'll also need to find some way to record the session, whether that's using a separate device (phone or second computer), or a screen recording software etc.

I also highly recommend reviewing the syllabus for the video recording assignment. It has a list of all the counselling competencies you'll be 'graded on' in the first video. 

In your current sessions you should be really focusing on practicing those skills in session so that in your video submission, you'll be a pro!!

Once you’ve completed this recording, it is to get uploaded to the following folder: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rlLJ9UyredGFaG...

You will also send this to your external supervisor. Brittany will review your video as well and provide feedback.

We recommend you upload to our Rebound Drive (it is PHIPA complient) and then share the video using a link - ensure there are NO client identifiers. 
 

Filling out Forms – Writing Letters

If a client ever requests you to complete a form, write a letter or summary etc, this is something to bring to my attention right away. There are many instances in which a client may require extra documentation from you. Some examples include a WSIB claim, long term or short-term disability claim, treatment summary, court report etc.

In all cases there are several things we have to make sure to cover.

1. Confirming that you are the correct person to be completing the form or letter. Often times, these forms must be completed by a doctor or nurse, so the first step is to confirm we CAN complete the form
   
   
2. Informing the client of the charge. We charge your hourly rate for the completion of forms or letters, prorated for the duration of time it takes you to complete the task. Before completing the request, the client needs to acknowledge the fee and be willing to pay it. This should be charted in the client file. To bill the client for a product created (or form completed) see the training guide for Billing A Product
   
   
3. Completing the form or letter itself can be tricky. We should always refrain from making inferences, listing any subjective information etc., Our job is to report the facts in these instances. Using objective phrases such as “client reported symptoms of anxiety including ….” verses “client is anxious” . If you are required to complete a letter or form, we can provide you with templates and examples and I ask that  you get the note/letter/form reviewed by both your site supervisor and external supervisor prior to sending it to the client. Here’s a sample template for a letter/summary: here
   
   

Therapy with Couples

Once you begin working with couples, please read, review and fully understand the following document

Counselling With Couples

Caseload Management

• As part of a practicum placement in private practice, we feel it’s very important that students learn how to develop and manage their own caseload. This includes understanding when you are full, when you need to pick up on the networking etc.
  
  
• Yorkville requires students to obtain a minimum of 7 DCCs per week in order to hit the 200 DCC requirement. That said, we seek to build up a caseload of a minimum of 10-12 DCC hours per week before ‘pausing’ on accepting clients. Here are the reasons why: a) clients cancel, reschedule or no show A LOT b) after a few frequent bookings, clients tend to change their pacing and naturally see you less over time, c) we do not want students getting to a point where they are stressed about meeting clients d) as a business, we do not want to put ourselves in the position of having to scramble to get you hours in the last few months of practicum e) it’s unethical for us to be giving you lots of clients at the end of practicum, this is because clients are seeking out a low cost rate. At that point, only being able to offer this rate for 4-8 weeks is not ideal. F) the last few months of practicum can be very stressful with the demands of the capstone project. We try to have students peak their caseloads around the mid point of practicum, allowing the DCC’s to taper off for the remaining months of practicum.
  
  
• That being said, once you see you’re getting about 10-12 hours a week of DCC hours, it’s time to start considering when you should be pausing accepting clients. In our experience with private practice, we have learned that a ‘safe’ zone to pause, is when you are booking 3-4 weeks CONSECUTIVELY hitting your target number of sessions. So if you’ve had 3-4 weeks of 10-12 sessions per week, your caseload is stable and you are probably good to pause accepting clients.
  
  
• Many students are ambitious and have higher capacities to see clients. You have a voice in your caseload. If you’d like more clients and have already reached that 10-12 clients per week average, we are happy to have that discussion with you, and will take into consideration what is ethical and what allows a healthy work/life balance!
  
  
• We highly recommend that you don’t see too many clients back to back. As clients start to book into your schedule, you can use the ‘break’ tool to add breaks. Ideally, you shouldn’t see more than 2 clients back to back, but a maximum of 3 back to back. So, if you get 3 clients back to back, please put breaks before and after.
  
  
• Ensure you’re implementing all the necessary self care into your schedules – allowing time to eat throughout your day, catch your breath etc. When working with caseload management this also includes you finding the right schedule that feels balanced and still accommodates clients to the best of our abilities.
  
  
• Anytime you want to update your caseload availability, please update the therapist database and email Erika. It’s critical that we have regular communication about caseload.
  
  Getting Clients
• Being that this is a private practice placement, part of the learning is you being involved in the ins and outs of how we find clients. While it is Rebounds mission to get you all the hours you need to complete practicum it’s your responsibility to support in the process as well. Here are some tips!
  
  
• Photos – providing our marketing team with LOTS of photo options as well as video options (psych today) is a great way to help your marketing. Our team has found that different pictures make a huge difference with marketing, and we’ll test different photos to see what works best!
  
  
• Engage in local facebook groups to put yourself out there.
  
  
• Get yourself out there in your community – we’re here to help you with flyers, business cards etc!
  
  
• Check out Meeting #11 – Business & Networking Tips for more ideas!
  
  

Retaining Clients

• Throughout practicum, it is critical that you learn how to best retain clients.
  Please review the tips below as well as the following guide on retaining clients
• Some tips to help you retain clients:
  • Book your clients in for 6-8 sessions from the beginning of your therapeutic relationship with them & make this a common habit.
    
    
  • Very fast follow ups. When you receive a new client inquiry, follow up right away. I also recommend using the gmail snooze button, to remind you to follow up if you don’t hear back from the client after 24 hours. I usually send a second email just stating “just following up as occasionally our emails end up in spam!! Just wanted to make sure you received my email!” or something similar, to ensure the email didn’t go to spam.
    
    
  • Booking clients at the end of consults & at the end of each session – don’t just leave it up to online booking if you can avoid it.
    
    
  • Set a pacing with your clients, determine what the best frequency is and do your best to hold them accountable to that
    
    
  • Ask for feedback. Ask your clients what’s working or not working for them, in order to best suit the therapy to their needs. Conduct regular feedback every few sessions.
    
    
  • Use your chameleon skills – match the clients energy and vibe where relevant, mirror them and find points of connection where you can!
    
    

Up to Date records

• Please review the Termination policy and termination process
  
  
• In order to remind yourself to update your records, set a break in our calendar once per month to review the reports and conduct termination of any inactive files. I also highly recommend using google's “snooze” feature. Send yourself an email titled “monthly file terminations” and have it snooze to pop up once per month to remind you to follow these steps.
  
  
  
• 
  
  

Email Templates

• Review Email Templates tweak these to suit you and be sure to make edits for each client. Also note that these are simply intended to show you what kind of information you need to communicate to clients at which points. You are welcome to write your own email templates completely!
  
  

Weekly Email

At the end of each week, students are expected to send Brittany a weekly email. This will allow for streamlined organization and communication, as well as allow you to schedule your time each week.

For the purposes of organization, weeks will run Sunday - Saturday. Ideally, this email is sent as early as possible following your last client of the week, in order to allow Brittany enough time to review.

Following your final session of the week, please send Brittany an email including the following:

1. List of completed chart notes (using Jane ID # instead of identifying info) for Brittany to review
   
   
2. Session plans for clients. To prepare a session plan, you want to address multiple POTENTIAL topics that could come up in a subsequent session. You should include how you will explore said topics (what questions are you asking), any psychoeducation you want to provide, and any potential interventions you can use. Note that you will NOT get through an entire session plan in a session, it is simply intended to help you feel prepared. You can reference the learning document for ideas. Please view a sample Sample Session Plan
   
   
3. Screen shot of sonia hours submitted for the week
   
   
4. Screen shot of sonia total hours summary
   
   
5. Indirect hour participation –1 Instagram video & 1 blog per month (please see onboarding guide for details on expectations for video and blog, step #21). 
   • Use of AI:It can be used as an idea generator only. It 1000000% MUST be thoroughly edited for two reasons: 
     • 1) AI isn't fact checked. 
     • 2) AI created content does not perform nearly as well in the SEO world as organically created content 
6. Learning document contribution. This document is simply a location to ‘store’ your learning and awesome, relevant, practical pieces for you to use as a therapist! It’s a GREAT resource and wealth of knowledge that past students have contributed to! Don’t feel too much pressure with this part – if you learn something new that’s helpful (new technique, new way of asking a question, new theory, new worksheet) you can include it in there. If you didn’t really learn anything noteworthy, don’t worry. Please find the learning documents here and here 
   
   
7. Any questions, concerns etc you have
   
   

Brittany will review each piece of communication and provide feedback as soon as possible after receiving this email! Please remember that if you have any urgent communication throughout the week, you’re always welcome to email, text or call with questions!

Supervision

• As you know, external supervision takes place with a supervisor outside of Rebound. With that, it’s your responsibility to maintain that relationship with your supervisor. It is your responsibility to schedule your supervision sessions with your supervisor, arrange payment with your supervisor and ensure all of your required supervision hours are being met.
  
  
• As per the CRPO, both students and supervisors are required to keep notes of their supervision sessions. I recommend creating a google spreadsheet to include all the information required! Your notes for all supervision sessions need to include the following:
  
  
  • Date of the supervision
  • Supervisor name
  • Length of the supervision
  • Format of supervision (individual, dyadic, small group, group of >8)
  • What was discussed in supervision/what was learned or supported. This does not need to be a lot of detail
  • Must not include client identifiers
    
    We have included a copy of a supervision & DCC tracking spreadsheet. feel free to make your own copy to track your own hours!
    
    docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FHdaUoXfga1ky...
    
    
• Here’s an example below:

  Sept 29th 2022

  Group

  2 Hours

  Supervisor: Carly

  - discussed dissociation and strategies to support clients with dissociation/depersonalization - discussed new CRPO updates & updates for discharging process - discussed strategies for supporting clients experiencing BDD

• Group supervision – every first Wednesday of the month at 4pm, Rebound Total Health offers a free group supervision, in which Nancy comes in and provides this supervision to anyone on the team who wishes to join. We also offer a group supervision the second tuesday of each month at 1:00pm with Kaitlin Baldwin. These supervisions are  FREE to you. However, please note that Yorkville does not accept group supervision hours, however CRPO does! We can only take 8 folks per group supervision, so you will have to RSVP to them if you want to come. Also please note do not RSVP yes if you will not be there :)
  
  

Spam folder

• It’s referenced many times throughout this document, however it's strongly recommended that you use a reminder system or a google task reminder or email yourself (and snooze it daily) a reminder to check your spam folder. Checking your spam folder daily is important to ensure no emails get missed!
  
  
• We always tell clients to check their spam folder when receiving new communication from a new therapist, however, they don’t always! If you haven’t heard back from a new client in 24 hours, you may have ended up in their spam folder, so be diligent in setting yourself reminders to follow up with the client. Usually a second email sent to the client will bump your emails to their inbox!
  
  

Third party communication

Occasionally we’ll have a family member or friend reach out on behalf of the client. When this happens, we have to be extra careful how we navigate the consent and communication pieces. For the purposes of practicum you’ll only be working with individuals old enough to provide their own consent. That being said, when a parent, friend or other third party reaches out on behalf of the client, we should communicate to them something like the following as the first response of communication

• Email template example:
  • “ hello (name!) Thanks for reaching out and your interest in working with me. Before we set up further communication, I want to bring to your attention some ethical guidelines I need to adhere to. As a therapist, my job is to do what’s in the best interest of the client. That being said, I can’t keep any secrets etc from the client and any information provided to me without the client's knowledge is something that I will have to convey to the client. For this reason, we recommend that the client be directly involved in any communication regarding their therapy services, whether that be me communicating with them directly or you (or any other support) communicating on their behalf where necessary, but with the client present! Next steps typically involve a free consultation where the client and I get to know each other and confirm we’re a good fit! If the client would like you to be there for that, or to communicate on their behalf during that consultation, that’s totally fine! I would just strongly encourage the client to be present, that way I’m not put in a position of obtaining third party information that I later have to disclose to the client.” * In this email, you would include times to schedule for a consultation.
    
    
• If working with younger children or younger teens, it may be necessary to send a consent form to both the client and the parent that has reached out
  
  
• When discussing fees, if a third party is paying for it, you’ll want to have that discussion with the parent (or third party). If it's an older child, you’ll need to inform the child that you need to speak with the parent regarding payment.
  
  
• Oftentimes when working with children/teens or sometimes even others, there will be a need for the relationship function in Jane. For example, if the teen is using mom’s credit card, we need to add mom to Jane, link the profiles, put the credit card under mom's profile and have mom complete an authorization billing form.
  
  
• Note, if at any point someone other than your client gives you information about the client, you need to report this to the client – there can’t be any secrets from the client, especially if that information could cause any kind of bias.

When learning jane, you can use jane's demo clinic which is a fake jane clinic that allows you to do all the things without messing up on our Rebound clinic's Jane account.
To access the demo clinic, go to the top right of your jane account, click "need help" then select the blue writing "demo clinic" then select sign in at the top right. Use the username "counsellor" enter the password that the help guide provides. Note the password for the demo clinic will change each week.

Charting Basics:

jane.app/guide/practitioner-training/l...

Assigning Chart Notes to Sessions * REQUIRED *

Assigning Charts for Appointments

It's important that the charts we input into jane are assigned to specific appointments. Of course, this does not apply to 'extra' notes such as consent notes or email correspondence notes that aren't associated with a specific session.

Each note that is related to a session, will have a session date stamp attached to it. 

In the photo below, you can see the TOP chart note has a little calendar at the top right of the chart note - this has been 'assigned' to an appointment/session.

The other charts do not have the little calendar symbol, meaning they have not been assigned to an appointment/session

How to assign a date to the appointment/session:

Option 1) When you go to CHART, click the appointment on the schedule, then view the client profile from there, and click chart. This tells jane that you are charting for that specific appointment

Option 2) Chart as normal, then click the top right down arrow, and click add appointment (as pictured below)

• Sample Session Note can be viewed  here
• Page of Master Intervention List Found here - this is to help remind you of the variety of interventions that can be implemented and recorded :)

For many students, notes can be the most difficult part of the counselling process, mainly because it can be difficult to understand what to/not to include. Here are some important pieces to consider when taking notes and how to fill out the different sections of a session note.

The template you will use for basic sessions is the "basic session note" template.
Note that any boxes that you DO NOT check, will not appear on your chart note once you sign it.

Content Section

Topics

• – new important information. For example – client got a new job, client reported reduction in anxiety symptoms. Note this shouldn’t include long winded stories. If client shares a story it might look like “Client shared story of new job successes”
  
  

Themes 

• this is an important section for case conceptualization and treatment, these are the themes that showed up in the session. Some examples – anxiety, relationship toxicity/conflict, insecure attachment, trauma exposure in childhood. 

Impressions & Observations

• Impressions need to be clearly identified as impressions. These are things you infer from the session but that aren’t necessarily reported by the client. For example “Therapist impression – client is upset when discussing family”
• Observations are things you observe.  "Client was tearful when discussing family" "Client looked away when discussing trauma"

Interventions section –

Interventions Implemented

•  this is the stuff you do  as a therapist. This could include anything from providing psychoeducation on certain topics, doing a particular intervention in session (ie engaged in 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise with client in session) or explaining a new intervention, it could also be as simple as your basic skills and competences – reflecting theme of ____ to client, reflected feelings back to client, paraphrased to client to ensure they felt heard.. allowed client space to vent, offered silence to help client sit in and process emotions etc. You will want to select the interventions you use and elaborate or complete the sentence where applicable

Modalities used

• this is where you indicate what modalities you incorporated in the session. You should el aborate but not by much . For example if you click CBT you may write "explored corebeliefs"

Client

Client PResentation

• select the most appropriate option

Client Functioning

• This is where we want to be able to show improvement and track progress
• If imminent risk is identified you MUST conduct risk assessment
• to add risk assessment components, go to the bottom left of the chart note, click add item, then select risk assessment and follow the prompts.

Progress & Plan

Homework 

• only relevant if you give them anything to do post session,

Treatment Direction–

•  this is important for the CRPO, your general treatment should be in this section and should be updated after each session. The treatment plan, is just a  loose direction of where you're headed with that client, just so in the eyes of the CRPO you aren't just 'winging it' (which I very much know you're not LOL) Things like "DBT to increase distress tolerance skills" "Polyvagal to help process trauma" "Incorporate ACT to foster more acceptance of current life circumstances" "Begin with CBT to enhance anxiety management, later incorporate trauma work to uncover and process root cause of anxiety" - of course this can change as you go and learn more information so continue to tweak and show that you are using your case conceptualization skills.
  
  
  General Important Notes about NOTES
• When taking notes, it should be clear if it’s a therapist interpretation or if the client reported it. If it seems unsure, simply add to the chart note to state “client reported that..” or “therapist observed…” or “therapist impression: _________”
  
  
• When determining if a detail needs to be included in the chart note or not ….
  • Is what I’m putting in this chart note relevant for client treatment?
  • Would I be comfortable reading this in a court of law if subpoenaed?
  • What’s the point of including this?
  • In the face of the law, what is put in a chart note is assumed to be True – so keep this in mind when charting.
    
    
• Any time there are fee changes or admin discussions, chart this (i.e. if you are changing pacing, increasing price, they request sliding scale etc.)
  
  
• Email communication is important to discuss with clients, including limiting what they do/do not email you to communicate about. Specifically, anything that is emailed that is not billing or booking related, NEEDS to go in the chart note. So, if a client sends you a completed worksheet or any kind of personal update or anything, this needs to be added to the client file. To do so, add a new chart to jane using the “note” – name the title of the note something like “email correspondence” then you’ll copy-paste the email chain with you and the client, and you can upload any files the client has sent. Again, clients need to be made aware that this is not ideal, as everything WORD FOR WORD is put in the file.
  
  
• Be concise, what’s the POINT? Avoid any story telling, asking yourself – what’s the point of this story the client is telling me? And write just that.
  
  
• If any time there is any risk or suicidal ideation identified you MUST conduct a risk assessment and addd the risk assesment component of the chart note - go to the botttom left of the chart note, and add item 'risk assessment' and complete the required components.
  
  

Signing chart notes

• As per PHIPA requirements, it is imperative that chart notes are signed as soon as possible. Do not sign until I have approved your notes. In the beginning stages of practicum you will have to wait to sign chart notes until I have reviewed them, after which you should make edits promptly and sign them asap. 
  
  
• For best practice, I recommend using a break tool to block off a time once per month to review to ensure all your notes are locked. I combine this task with the “terminating clients” task.
  
  
• You can see if your notes are all locked by doing the following:
  
  

Go to your staff profile, click charts, then click the filter function on the right side and filter by chart status - draft. This will populate a list of all chart notes that are in draft status and have not been signed by you yet.

• In the beginning of practicum you are asked to make session plans for each of your clients.  A session plan is a document, with a detailed plan of what you could do in upcoming sessions with your client.

Why do we session plan?

• These session plans are used for a few reasons
  • 1) So we can see your case conceptualization skills and support you where necessary 
  • 2) to help you feel more prepared when working with your clients and what to do or say in session
  • 3) to help you retain and implement the knowledge you're provided.
  • 4) to confirm you are integrated the training we are providing
  • 5) for you to identify where you need more research/knowledge etc.
  • 6) To avoid repetition in the supervision process. I.e., not making recommendations you've already included.
    
    

When to Session plan

• You'll start a session plan for each client, once they have completed a consult AND a first session with  you.
• Your first initial session  (after a consultation!) with a client will follow the initial session chart template found in jane - it is essentially a biopsychosocial assessment, so there's no need to prepare more content for that!
• Once you have completed your first session and information gathered, you will then draft your first session plan and send it to brittany in your weekly emeail.

How to Session plan

• During your consultation and your first session, you'll want to identify different themes that are happening in the clients' life and for case conceptualization.
  
  
• For each theme, you’ll want to identify things such as how are you going to explore that theme with the client? What questions are you going to ask them? Then, what types of psychoeducation might you need to provide? And of course, what interventions might be useful for this topic?
  
  
• In your session plan, you’ll also want to prepare a way to open and close the session.
  
  
• You can find lots of helpful resources and things to include in session plans in the learning journals and/or through your own research
  
  
• Anything you do not get to in a given session, you can copy paste for next week's session plan!
  
  
• You should identify multiple themes - usually 5+ that COULD pop up in session and you want to prepare the following for each theme.
  
  a) Questions to explore the theme with the client. Open & closed questions
  b) Psychoeducation on the theme, to be able to educate the client and help them understand what's going on 
  c) Interventions to use to help address the theme, reduce symptoms, help client navigate, understand etc. 
  
  Each theme should have all three of those aspects prepared. 

Example:

• A Sample session plan can be found Sample Session Plan

Admin items:

• Create a session plan for each client in a google word doc
• Title each word doc with the clients jane ID - don't use any client identifiers
• these should be attached to your weekly emails
• Each week, you'll be editing the session plan to add more content, based on new themes identified, or to remove content, based on things you've completed in session. The weekly work becomes much easier as the weeks progress because the majority of content you've prepared just carries over.

Other Notes:

• This is a very "top heavy" task. Meaning, once you've completed a first session with a client, its a LOT of work to prepare for all the different types of themes that show up. However, your session plans will last you months, if not more, with minimal additions as things develop. So, it will feel like a tonne of work, but it will last you a long time!
• you will never come close to  executing an entire session plan in one session! The idea here is that you are prepared for almost whatever the client throws your way, and have preparation for the future.
• Over time, as you feel more comfortable with what you’re doing preparation wise, we will encourage you to find whatever means best for you to be prepared, and we won’t be reviewing your session plans for the entirety of practicum 😊

When learning jane, you can use jane's demo clinic which is a fake jane clinic that allows you to do all the things without messing up on our Rebound clinic's Jane account.
To access the demo clinic, go to the top right of your jane account, click "need help" then select the blue writing "demo clinic" then select sign in at the top right. Use the username "counsellor" enter the password that the help guide provides. Note the password for the demo clinic will change each week.

Jane Basics

• adding clients 
• booking clients
• adding shifts
• adding breaks
• how to access the session
• how to edit/cancel/no show sessions
• payment 
  • Sliding scale adjustments. These are needed anytime the client is getting a discount from our standard rate. Learn how to add adjustments here
• charting, assigning dates to charts, signing charts
• duplicating notes for couples ** note this no longer needs to be done now that we use group bookings!
• relationships
• consent forms, where to find and send, how to recognize if its signed or not
• Editing receipts
  • insurance info : please review how to add insurance information to receipts here
    
    

First Session

• Signed Consent
• Following the template
• Housekeeping items
• Expectations of how much to cover during first session
• Stay curious
• Reminder to book after session, payment after session

Important Reminders

• Your goal should be to practice the counselling skills and competencies that you will be graded on. We often get caught up in the content of the therapy sessions and forget to implement those small skills! I highly recommend posting the techniques you should be using, behind your computer to remind you to implement them throughout. For example, things like validating, reflecting meaning etc. Practicing these skills right from the beginning means that you’ll be used to implementing them come time for your video recording submissions and grading
  
  
• Review other students’ recordings to help you learn what skill level you should be at and to learn different techniques & approaches for providing therapy.
  
  
• If you have a question, look through this training guide, as well as the training guides in the Rebound Google Drive. Most of the information you require can be found in these locations!
  
  
• Reminder that you MUST be knowledgeable and up to date on PHIPA requirements. Resources for this can be found in the onboarding guide.
  
  
• Reminder that you MUST be knowledgeable and up to date on the CRPO requirements and standards of practice. Resources for this can be found in the onboarding guide.
  
  
• Reminder to take notes of all supervision sessions – please see the section on Supervision.
  
  
• If I’m asked a question by one student, that I feel would benefit all students to hear (and to hear the answer to) I will CC all students on the response.

While it does not happen often, it's important that you are prepared for the fact that suicidal ideation or risk may show up in session.
To prepare for this, please review the following document:
Sessions with Suicidal Ideation

Every month set a reminder to check if there are any: 

• Uncompleted Chart Notes
  • Chart notes -> go to your staff profile -> Click charts -> Filter -> draft status -> Draft - that'll show you all your chart notes that are in draft mode, not signed  
• Unpaid Payments 
  • Go to reports tab -> Sales -> filter invoice statuses to unpaid
• Check for 60 day terminations

General Tips

• Clinical Supervisor vs Site Contact
• Self care
• Note taking
  
  Reminders for In Session
• Stay Curious
• Give them something
• Avoid the ‘need to fix’
• 5 step process to help you slow down & meet the client where they are at.
• Managing session
• Content, affect & process
• Constant consent, including for giving psychoeducation
• Must have line indicating treatment plan
• Setting Goals collaboratively
• Homework
  
  

Anxiety Cycle 

• Using cycle for multiple ‘things’
• Using this as a framework for overarching goals/plan for therapy
  
  

Self Care 

• all pillars of life
• small promise and good enough days
• set the bar low about “fluffiness”
• Scheduling
• One or two things per month
• Accountability
• Stacking Habits

Behavioural Techniques Part 1

• Behavioural activation
• Awareness
• Behave as if
• Breathing
• Grounding
• Mindfulness
• Daylio Mood Tracking.
  
  

Book Recommendations

• Mind Over Mood

Cognitive Techniques Part 1

• Cognitive Distortions
• Awareness
• Pasture analogy

• 407 analogy
• Connecting the anxiety cycle to thoughts
• Personifying
• Fight the thought
• Speaking the thoughts – enunciate

Behavioural Techniques Part 2

• Self Care Check ins
• Accountability
• Polyvagal techniques
• Mantras
• DBT chaining exercise
  • TIPP, STOP, ACCEPTS, IMPROVE

Core beliefs, thoughts, assumptions

• Hole analogy – thoughts, assumptions & core beliefs connected
• Alternative Assumptions
• Rating Assumptions

Socratic questioning

• Connecting back to ‘pasture analogy’
• Example of working through thought
• Creating balanced thought

Cognitive diffusions

• Power of language/assigning meaning
• Sky Is green
• Leaves on Stream
• Cars passing
• I am having the thought that ____

Polyvagal Theory

• Neuroception
• Zones
• Awareness

Working through Polyvagal Theory

• Interventions for Each Zone
• Heart Rate ‘tracking’
• Connecting to safety cues

Dissociation

• What is dissociation?
• Daily Dissociation
• Trauma Dissociation

Dissociation Tips & tricks

• Purposeful dissociation
• Grounding
• polyvagal

Empaths & Empathy

• Psychoeducation
• Tips and tricks
• Hamster ball technique/analogy

Inner Compassion & Inner Critic

• Analogy
• Strengthening Self Compassion
• Engaging compassion & critic in conversation

Inner Child Work

• Identifying inner child
• Letter
• Empty Chair Technique
  
  

Recommended Resource

• self-compassion.org/ by Kristen Neff

ACT 

• Values
• Acceptance & commitment
• Committed action – the reward is DOING the work, not the outcome
• Plains, Valley, Mountain Analogy

ACT Matrix

• Act Matrix Exercise
  Identity Exploration
• Who are they?
• How to explore identity
  
  

Recommended Book

• The Reality Slap by Russ Harris

Attachment Theory

• Bowlby Experiment
  
  Implementing Attachment Theory with Clients
• Fostering secure attachment
• Origin of clients’ attachment
  
  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Inner parts - IFS 
  
  Recommended Books
• Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual
• Attachment theory in practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples and Families – Sue Johnson

Practical Pieces of Private Practice 

• Trainings & Differentiators
• Private practice ins and outs
• Supervision Tips
• Managing a caseload
• Feast or Famine
• Advertising Self
• Pros & Cons of Private Practice
• Win Book

Recommended Books

• Sometimes therapy is awkward by Nicole Artz
• Maybe you should talk to someone by Lori Gottleib
  
  

Business & Networking Tips

I wanted to connect quickly regarding some components of the "business-side" of therapy.  As you know a big component of private practice is obtaining and retaining clients! Once you get a bit into practicum, I want to encourage and support you both on the business side of things.

As you build your caseload, I'd love for you to look at ways you can build up your client portfolio. 

Here's some ideas!

Existing clients

• checking in on how they're feeling therapy is progressing, if they want or need any changes to continue getting what they need out of therapy. Are they being accountable to their appointments? Do you need to talk about pacing with them? Encourage rebookings at the end of each session. 
  
  Obtaining new clients
• social media! We can create social media posts for each of you on the Rebound Total Health instagram or facebook for both of you to share to your audiences to strum up new clients.
  
  
  Current Business Networking
• Think of like minded businesses you might already use and have relationships with  - yoga studios, chiropractic, naturopathy, doctors' offices etc. Are you able to advertise yourself there (flyer, business card), are you able to connect with owners, managers etc to talk about services you offer? It's really important to make a genuine interaction that leaves an impression
  
  New Business Networking
• Think of businesses or organizations in the area that you currently don't have relationships with - community centres, family lawyers offices, doctors offices, wellness clinics , moms groups. I think a "give" is always good - a box of timmies muffins or something and dropping off a flyer that talks about what benefits THEM from your services - it can't be just about what benefits you.. make sense? Getting in front of them and making a personal connection once again, huge!!!
  
  
  Online groups
• Facebook groups are an AWESOME place to advertise as well - online moms groups, buy/sell groups in your area, student groups in the area etc. These would be a great place to advertise your website profile and to list affordable counselling services.
  
  
  Rebound Support
• If you would like to create your own flyers or Instagram / social media posts to post anywhere or print off to advertise places, I would be thrilled to help you out. Of course, any hours spent on networking/business stuff can be counted as indirect hours.

• No associated training or videos
  
  

• Frequently Asked Questions
• What if another therapist reaches out to do a warm transfer? 
  • Learn more about warm transfers here
• What if a client wants to see me more than once per week?
  I take a very client centered approach so in the beginning stages I tend to support clients with what they need/want. Some supervisors disagree with multiple sessions a week but depending on the case and especially in the beginning stages of therapy, I’m okay with it! One of the considerations NOT to do it, would be if this is a client who repeatedly crosses boundaries or who struggles with boundaries, or if this is a client with whom you have a concern that they will rely on you as a crutch throughout their therapy treatment. What would I do?
  If a client requests multiple sessions per week, review the clients expectations, the boundaries of therapy, how you can ensure as a team that the client doesn’t become overly dependent on the therapist, and discuss the longer term plan which will be to reduce sessions over time. If the client is comfortable with this, I think you are good to move forward with more than one session per week!
• What if a client wants to see me for a longer session?
• The first question to ask yourself is it clinical necessary to ? like does the client NEED more time in his sessions. I would be sure to check with your supervisor and discus, but generally if i do offer longer sessions i only do so for a brief period of time (ie in the beginning of therapy to allow client to get their whole story out) But i like to revisit the fact that part of doing therapy is learning how to do therapy, how to be effective within a 50 minute period of time.. to tell your story, be heard, learn, apply new teachings, and wrap up within 50 mins. The biggest concern in offering longer session is the boundary piece - if they are unable to learn boundaries of therapy, that can be a problem. That being said, you want to review the clinical necessity with your supervisor and determine any limitations / boundaries you want to put on the longer offering. If you do go forward with offering a longer session, talk to Erika about adding another session option with the correct price - the session will cost the client more!
  
  
  
   
   
• What do I do if the client isn’t responding after I follow up via email?
  Sometimes when we first email new clients, our emails end up in spam. I recommend sending a quick follow up email about 24-36 hours after the first email was sent just stating “sorry to bother again – just ensuring my email went to your inbox as occasionally our emails end up in spam. Usually, this second email helps bump it to the inbox if that’s the case! Let me know your thoughts when you have a chance! All the best”
  If after a few days there is still no response, then you call the client if you have their phone number. Do not leave a conspicuous voicemail.
  The best way to remind yourself to do these follow ups is by using the ‘snooze’ feature on Gmail that way Gmail will bring back the email to your inbox when it is time for the next follow up.
  If you have not been able to make contact with the client at this point, let Erika know as admin may have had previous contact with the contact. At this point, there is nothing further you need to do. This does happen occasionally and it’s okay, as long as you are following all previous steps, there is nothing more you can do.
• 
  
• My client has not paid for their session, what do I do?
  Step 1: Send pay balance email with customized message (Client profile -> Billing -> Pay Balance Email)
  If they do not pay within 2 days, move to next step
  Step 2: Send an email to the client directly from your email reminding them that payment was due at the end of session, as per the consent form they signed.
  If they do not pay within 2 days, move to next step
  
  Step 3: Call client to request payment, referencing the consent form that they signed.
  If they do not pay within 2 days, move to next step
  
  Step 4: Tell admin (Britt)
  Notes – DO NOT proceed with sessions until the client has ‘paid up’ as per our consent form. You’ll have to let the client know the day before their next session that you have to cancel their session due to outstanding fees. If this issue proceeds we will require a credit card on file.
• My client still has not completed their consent form and their session is tomorrow, what do I do?
  Do your absolute best to have the client sign before your session – send them an email noting the importance of this being signed before starting therapy. You can also resend the intake form via Jane. If the client has still not completed the consent form at the beginning of the session you need to let them know right at the beginning of the session that we have to go through the entire consent form before we can move forward as it ‘has to be signed’. You’ll then have to use the ‘fill out’ function on Jane to fill out the intake form for them. You’ll then have to read every single word to the client and have them verbally consent to every piece. This has to be done before proceeding with the regular first session template. It is definitely a big hassle if this happens, so we do all we can to avoid it from happening 😊
• I made a payment/billing error, what do I do?
  Inform Erika as soon as you can via email – don’t worry it happens. All payment/billing errors require full access to edit. Erika will let you know of any steps you need to complete such as informing the client.
• If a client is seeing other health providers and either wants me to connect with them, or could benefit from me collaborating with them, what do I do?
  You'd want to have this conversation in depth a couple times with the client. Discuss with your client the pros and cons of you connecting with another health professional. Then get their  verbal  consent, and we can get their written consent  via a specific consent form in Jane - we'd want specifics about exactly what you are or ARE NOT permitted to disclose to the other care professional. It's up to the client if they want that collaboration to happen :) Then we'd have to be very careful about what we communicate to the other care provider about, ensuring we only disclose what the client consented to being disclosed.  Also, typically these consultation services would be billed to the client, so that’s another thing you'd need to discuss - if the client cannot afford to compensate for the time spent collaborating with the other professional, you'd want to put your own boundaries on how much time you're willing to spend 'for free' on collaboration.
• They will need to fill out the "Consent to Disclose PHI" form, and once signed,  you will need to open it and confirm the name of who we have permission to disclose PHI to. 
  What's that process like for a standardized assessment? 
• Personally, I am not well experienced in standardized testing, however I do understand their value. I've never had a client fill one out personally, but I know others on the team do. You can do multiple things, you can just read off the inventory and do it in session with the client, record their score and put it in the chart (what assessment was completed, what they scored), you can upload a chart template into jane that is the inventory questions (you can see there’s already a bunch on there, including in the jane template library!!!)
• If you're using an assessment you want to make sure you provide the necessary disclosures to the assessment, the pros and cons of the assessment, what you are using it for, what the limits to the results are, and of course reiterate that you cannot diagnose and this is just to HELP guide the work we do, not to provide any concrete conclusions. Get the clients consent to do that and chart that you had all of that discussion BEFORE completing an assessment. 
• Your chart notes should also clearly indicate why it was your decision to implement an assessment.

What if I run into a client in public?

• Anytime I have a client that lives nearby (or within 30-60 minute drive of me) I tend to bring this possibility up in the first session. I’ll say something like “In the event that I run into you in public, I won’t be able to say hello first, unless you approach me and communicate with me first. I promise I’m not being awkward or ignoring you, I just have to maintain confidentiality unless you break it! So if this ever happens, you know why!”
• If you do run into a client in public and haven’t had this conversation, don’t communicate with the client unless they communicate with you first. Then, debrief this in your next session and explain why you responded the way you did (I.e not saying hello first).

What if a conflict of interest arises during my work with a client?

• This is another thing that should be discussed in the first session as ‘housekeeping.’ In the event that a conflict of interest arises, it will depend on the case by case scenario as to how we proceed. Generally speaking, if the client is aware of what the conflict is, this may be something that therapist and client can work through with healthy boundaries and limitations set on the therapeutic work. HOWEVER, if a conflict arises that the client is not aware of, you can’t reveal that conflict. Meet with your supervisor to discuss if this is a workable conflict or one that requires termination. You would need to have a conversation with the client letting them know that a conflict has arisen that has limited your ability to do your ethical work as a therapist. you would then work to ensure they understand why this is happening, and how to proceed. We would want to do our best to do a warm transfer, transferring them to another therapist who can provide similar care and transfer the information so the client doesn’t have to start over.

Do consultations with children need to have parents present?
We typically leave this up to the client - often times they'll show up with a parent, depending on their comfortability level. If you notice the parent/guardian are answering all the questions, similar to couples consultations I recommend directing some confirmation towards the client (child). "Thanks for sharing that (parents name), (childs name) do you agree with that? Do you have anything to add to what mom just said?". Often times if the client is younger, the parent might attend alone. For older children (for example 13 year old), we'd ideally want them there. If the child is older and is NOT present for the consultation, I like to let the parent/guardian know that any details shared in the consult will be discussed with the client as we can't keep secrets from clients.

How does Vacation work for Practicum Students?
How long do I wait in a session before considering it a no show?
If you have a virtual session with a client, after 5 minutes, call them - do not leave a  conspicuous voicemail. After 10 minutes, I consider it a NO SHOW. At this point, I send them an email letting them know It's unfortunate we were unable to connect today, I have set the session to NO SHOW status as you were not present after 10 minutes. That said, I hope to see you soon - you can rebooking using the link below (and insert your booking link). If the session is a telephone call, I try calling 3 times over 10 minutes, at which point I email them, and consider the session a no show.

A client has psychologist coverage, are they covered for my services?
Depends. The easy answer is no, a psychologist is different than a registered psychotherapist qualifying. You can let the client now that psychologists have a phD and typically charge upwards of 200 dollars per session. Having said that, some mental health plans have psychotherapy by registered psychotherapists (and qualifyings) covered under the umbrella of psychologist. It's up to the clients to ask their insurance plan/provider directly to inquire to see if they will also cover psychotherapists. 
If the client does not have psychotherapist coverage, they will need to seek a psychologist outside of rebound OR they can work with you at a discounted out  of pocket rate (and not use their benefits).

My client cancels/noshows/reschedules last minute what do I charge them?
Technically, the policy in our consent form states that any reschedules or cancellations or no shows with less than 48 hours notice are subject to a full fee charge. That being said, some clinicians opt to be a bit more lenient with the first cancellation. If a client has displayed any signs of difficulty with boundaries (ie emailing lots, rescheduling lots, being late etc) it is recommended that the charge be applied, in order to reenforce boundaries and consequences of not respecting therapeutic limitations. If the client has never displayed any issues with therapeutic boundaries, and this is their first cancellation/ no show/ reschedule, I usually connect with them to ask if everythings alright and ask them to reschedule. Depending what their reason is, you may wish to waive the first fee, but it's imperative that you let them know that the next time it happens it will definitely be a full fee charge. When communicating with the client you want to be kind but firm, as to set the boundaries but not tarnish therapeutic alliance. You may also wish to copy-paste the cancellation policy into your email with the client to remind them of what they signed. LAstly, chart the correspondence.

check your spam folder daily! Often times, clients get stuck in our spam folder!

For the following tasks, I recommend you put a break in your schedule  or set a recurring email remonder (or both) once per month to remind you to do these - they are easy to forget once you get busy!

60-Day Terminations
- Run the report at least once per month to show you which clients need to be discharged.
- Reference the following procedure for 'how to' Setting Clients to Discharged

Unpaids
- At least once per month, run an unpaids report and connect to clients who have not paid to recuperate payment. 
- To do go to reports -> sales -> filter by the dates of the month -> change invoices status to 'unpaid' and this will populate a list of all your  unpaid clients for the month.

Chart Locking
- sometimes we accidentally forget to lock a chart note. For this reason, make it a habit to double check once per month.
- To check this, go to your staff profile, click charts, then filter -> all chart states -> select "Draft" and this will populate a list of any unlocked notes. Complete the notes and lock them asap.

Therapist Database
 - update your client availability, training or any other updates needed
-  if any training updates, inform clinical director/admin to get these uploaded to your web profiles.

Supervision Notes
- make sure your supervision notes are complete and up-to-date
You can find a supervision and DCC tracking spreadsheet here. Make a copy to customize your own!

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FHdaUoXfga1ky...

New Top Tips - These have come from students who have completed the course and learned from course prep experts

1) Don't overselect. As a general rule, don't select more than 50% of the options. 
2)  Avoid response selections that start with Tell, Ask, Suggest, and really look carefully/proceed with caution with Encourage. Sticking to responses that start with "explore, discuss, inquiry & invite" are much safer.
3) Most exam versions will have a situation that discussions couples & individual work.
4) the exam is all about competency and not about modalities. If one is to study/read anything - crpo entry to practice competencies is the one document to look at for sure 

Review video linked below:
Video found here
(not my finest work ;) )


- How exam works +3 to -3, 'choose your own adventure'
- What to expect during the exam - timing, technology, notes, can't undo a click
- Do the practice : crpo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Re...
- Read the tips!
- Understand timing & context
- Example of context 
- Practice exam offered through COMPASS
- Practical Application VS knowledge
- Therapeutic Relationship
- Totally NO, Totally YES, most likely, maybe
- Watch this video : youtube.com/watch?v=7sdgEoEZqFw&ab_channe...

Review this:
compassexams.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ca...