Therapy Paperwork Forms Included in this Package:
Purpose: The "Reduced Fee Agreement" provides a mechanism to determine equity when setting your fees to help you document why one client might be paying a different fee from another, which is an ethical requirement. It asks about key life circumstances vs. getting into the awkwardness of tax forms or income tiers. Additionally, it sets up a boundary to revisit these circumstances each quarter (or a time period of your choosing) to determine if it is appropriate to continue to reduce the client's fee and have a healthy clinical conversation about the arrangement.
Authors: Every form on our website was written by ethics expert Dr. Becky Beaton-York, who is a Licensed Psychologist and a Licensed Professional Counselor and has been practicing since 1991. She is well-versed in all the ethics codes for all licensed mental health therapists. Additionally, every form has been approved by multiple attorneys, including her husband, Chris York, Attorney at Law.
Modification: This agreement is designed in a compatible version of Microsoft Word format (.doc) so that you may edit them as you see appropriate, whether you are using a Mac or a PC. Every place in a document where you need to enter information particular to your practice (e.g., your name, location, fees, etc.) will be in a bright blue font to prompt you for this information.
Disclaimer & Copyright Agreement: By purchasing and downloading these forms, you understand and accept that the form is intended to be used as an example or sample of ways in which the form and information can be used. You understand and accept that you are ultimately responsible for your own version of the forms and for adapting the forms for your own use. Neither Dr. Becky Beaton, LLC nor The Knowledge Tree assumes any liability or responsibility for the use or misuse of the forms you download. All of Dr. Beaton-York's and The Knowledge Tree's forms are copyrighted. You understand and accept that unauthorized duplication or sharing of the forms you download or any information contained therein is strictly prohibited and illegal. Thank you very much for your cooperation.
Updates: On occasion, Dr. Beaton-York or Chris York, Esq. may decide that a form needs to be updated or an additional form is critical to practice therapy ethically and/or legally. If this is the case, those forms will be updated, and a date will be added behind the name of the form or new forms will simply be added automatically to your package). Please return occasionally to check for updates. Unless there is something extremely labor-intensive that needs to be done, updates and new forms will be taken care of for you free of charge. We hope you find this service helpful. :-)
Your Instructor
Dr. Becky Beaton-York is the author of Practice Smart Forms, and they have all been vetted by more than one attorney. She is passionate about psychological ethics and helping therapists grow their practices grounded in ethics and integrity while also creating a personally and professionally fulfilling career. Dr. Beaton-York began creating these forms when she founded The Anxiety & Stress Management Institute, a very large outpatient facility in Atlanta, Georgia, which she clinically directed for 15 years. She realized quickly that managing therapists required creating documentation that was ethically and legally sound while also being as efficient as possible to ensure compliance. Her staff grew to love these forms, as well as thousands of other clinicians who rave about them in Georgia and around the country. Several hospitals and university counseling centers have also adopted them.
Dr. Beaton-York is a Licensed Psychologist and a Licensed Professional Counselor. She has been on the Georgia Psychological Association's (GPA) Ethics Committee since 2010 and Ethics Chair for eight of those years. Additionally, she was the Ethics Chair for the Licensed Professional Counselor's Association of Georgia (LPCA-GA) for two years and has taught numerous ethics workshops since 1999.
Related to her interest in ethics and documentation, Dr. Beaton-York has served as an ethics expert in malpractice lawsuits. Part of her role in these cases is to examine the clinician's documentation to determine if the therapist was practicing below the standard of care and/or committing any ethical violations. This experience has made Dr. Beaton-York extremely aware and diligent about designing these forms to help the therapist write them in such a way that they will hold up in court. Of course, there are no guarantees in court; however, this is a great place to start! We hope you find them to be helpful.
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