Policies & Expectations (Associate Handbook)

This section makes “how we work here” explicit so associates have clarity and consistency.

What belongs here

• Communication norms (response time expectations, what to escalate)
• Boundaries and scope (what associates decide vs what admin/owner decides)
• Cancellation / no-show expectations (and how to communicate them)
• Professional conduct expectations (tone, documentation standards, reliability)

Boundaries and scope (associate professional autonomy)

Associates are independent professionals and run their own independent sole proprietorships. Associates determine:

• their theoretical orientation
• their scope of practice
• what populations they prefer to work with
• what therapeutic interventions they use
• what therapy systems they use
• what sort of issues they treat
• their schedule, in collaboration with admin as needed (especially for in-person office coordination)
• what session types they want to offer, in collaboration with admin (session types are admin-owned in JaneApp and created in consultation with you)
• their session rate, in collaboration with admin

Ethical guidelines + professional boundaries

The clinic outlines ethical guidelines and professional boundary expectations for how we work here. Associates are also responsible to understand and uphold the ethical and boundary standards of their own professional designation and professional body (for example, BCACC for RCC clinicians, and CCPA for CCC clinicians).

See also:

• ./Clinic_Standards_of_Clinical_Practice.md
• ./Communication_Boundaries_Policy.md
• ./BCACC_Standards_of_Clinical_Practice.md

Cancellation + no-show policy (clinic-owned)

The clinic cancellation policy is 24 hours. No-show expectations are also governed by the clinic cancellation policy.

Associates are allowed to use clinical judgment to decide whether to charge a client for a late cancellation or no-show, as long as decisions are within reason and aligned with clinic expectations. Please notify admin when you waive a fee, so billing and tracking stay consistent.

See also:

• ../Billing/04_Late_Cancel_NoShow_Scripts.md
• ../JaneApp/Appointment_Status_Rules.md

Procedures to add next (placeholders)

• Communications: expected response times and channels
• Cancellation/no-show: what associates say vs what admin sends
• Handling complaints or concerns: escalation pathway (see also ./Client_Complaints_About_Clinic_or_Admin.md)

Drafts (owner to finalize)

• ./Response_Time_Expectations.md
• ./Boundaries_Scripts.md
• ./Office_End_of_Shift_Checklist.md
• ./If_Something_Breaks_or_Supplies_Run_Out.md
• ./Time_Off_and_Shift_Change_Notice.md

Clinic policies (ready to use)

• ./Late_or_Missed_Session_Immediate_Response.md
• ./When_Therapy_Ends_Notify_Admin.md
• ./Communication_Boundaries_Policy.md
• ./Client_Complaints_About_Clinic_or_Admin.md

Orientation

• ./Office_Orientation.md

Communication

• ./Client_Communication_Norms.md
• ./Team_Communication_Channel.md

Spirituality + psychotherapy (clinic approach)

• ./Spiritually_Integrated_Therapy_Guidelines.md

Policy updates

• ./Policy_Update_New_Year.md