New Clients

At the initial call, the front desk staff record contact information and some details about the presenting issue.  The demographics form is then forwarded to the Clinic Director, who will screen the case for appropriate fit in the Center then assigns cases to student therapists.  

Cases are assigned according to student need, based on the number of open cases, the number of client contact hours, students’ areas of focus such as Transgender Affirmative Support Team (TAST), Child Therapy concentration, Trauma Informed Practice concentration, and at times, client preference.  Student therapists should also communicate their caseload needs to the Clinic Director.

Once a case is assigned, the Clinic Administrative Assistant makes a file and notifies the student therapist of their new case via email.  This email may also include pertinent information for the case, such as safety/risk considerations or additional paperwork to be collected/completed at the intake appointment.

Note: a relational case will have one case number but can have multiple people under the case number.  Be sure to check for the main contact information on these cases.  This will be the 1st person listed in the comment section in Titanium.

The student therapist makes a call within 24 business hours to set up the first appointment. If you do not reach the client on the first call, try again in 2-3 business days.  Do not call the client multiple times a day or every day.

The chart on Titanium will indicate the best number to call and if it's okay to leave a message.  If it is a relational case, reach out to the main contact first (first person listed in comment section on Titanium). Phone calls can be made from any therapy room or private space in Peck Hall (dial 8 first to get an outside line: 8-xxx-xxx-xxxx).  You may make phone calls from a home or cell phone; however, you should block your personal number from appearing on caller ID.  To do this, enter *67 before dialing the client’s number.

For additional support, here is quick reference guide for using phones within Peck Hall.

All phone calls are to be recorded in Titanium as a “Telephone Call” note.  See Using Titanium > Client Record page for how to do this.

We require that student therapists do not disclose their home phone or cell phone numbers or email clients. Student therapists will receive a voice mailbox number.  Please instruct clients to leave messages on voice mail, 315-443-9405, and your two-digit extension.  Remember to check your voicemail daily. You are to leave your name on your voice mail message, so the client knows who they are leaving a voice mail for. Voice mail and email messages regarding clients or the clinic must be responded to within 24 hours.  If you will be out of town or unable to check messages, please make clients and your supervisor aware of your inability to respond.

Student therapists must make the observation, supervision and video recording procedures in the Center clear to all clients in their first session.  During live supervision, student therapists will tell clients that their supervisor is observing the session.  In the telehealth environment, this will be as a non-video participant.

Student therapist should attempt to reschedule the appointment.  If a client does not show for the rescheduled appointment, a closing letter should be sent to the client.

Any new person to the case that is over the age 18 may attend one session prior to doing a full intake appointment.  However, this adult must sign the following forms before session can begin:

• Consent to Teletherapy (if it is a telehealth session)

• Therapy Agreement

• Consent to Record

• Two Adult Release

If this new adult wishes to continue with the case, you will need to confer with your supervisor.  You will need to get that person’s name, date of birth, address, cell phone number, whether it is ok to leave messages, email address, and if it is ok to send email.  You must inform the Clinic Administrative Assistant of any additional family members.  The Clinic Administrative Assistant will need 24 hours to add the new person to Titanium before an intake appointment can be scheduled and/or person added to the appointment.

If a new child (under 18 years old) comes to the session, a legal guardian to the minor needs to sign the:

• • Therapy Agreement

  • Consent to Record & Supervision

  • Minor Consent

If there are adults in the session that are not legal guardians, you may also need the legal guardian to sign:

• Two Adult Release regarding Children (if a legal guardian is in the session, alongside a non-legal guardian), or 

• Provider Release (if no legal guardian is in the session).

These forms would allow confidential information about the child to be shared with the non-legal guardian’s who are present in the session.