What is it?

At times when adolescents have had incidents at school – the school requires that they see a psychologist to certify that they are ok to return to school. The same for an employee, if they have expressed an issue that is of concern to administration – that they might be a danger to themselves or others.

So for example if an adolescent has expressed some type of suicidal ideation – they need a clearance stating that they are not at risk to harm themselves.

Who's it for?

It is for students or employees wanting to return to school or work after having had an incident where their emotional stability is/has been in question.

Who is qualified to provide this clearance?

Licensed doctoral level mental health provider.

Step By Step Process

1. Usually some incident has occurred at school/work where patient has been referred for mental health clearance.
2. They would then call/e-mail the office - complete all intake forms (intake form, consent for treatment, consent to release information to school/work site requesting the clearance)
3. Once all forms are received the patient needs to sign up with Simple Practice (create username and password) and schedule an appointment to his/her convenience.
4. The evaluation is a 45-50 minute videoconference where the clinician will ask patient questions with regards to their present and past mental health, family background, current level of functioning, level of social support, along with their thoughts and views of the proposed procedure.
5. Clinician will then write a letter to the facility requesting evaluation -based on her findings. In approximately 10% of the cases there are no issues and patient can demonstrate that he/she has made significant changes in his/her life to help him/her cope more effectively to avoid future difficulties and a clearance letter can be issued immediately.
6. 90% of the time, however, patient can benefit from short-term counseling where he/she can explore issues contributing to current difficulties and learn alternative coping strategies to avoid similar situations in the future.
7. Once those issues are resolved –letter can be issued – clearing patient to return to work/school.
8. Often times, however it is not necessary for patient to complete the treatment prior to returning to school/work – It is just necessary to show that he/she is receiving therapy.
9. A letter indicating that patient has been seen for an evaluation and will continue in treatment will be issued following the initial evaluation.