10 tasks for psychotherapists between sessions

Psychology professionals can perform very diverse tasks, it is clear that in most cases the work revolves around the care of patients, couples and families. However, even for psychologists who have specialized in the field of therapy, conducting sessions in those that directly attend to emotional, behavioral or communication problems are not 100% of the job.

A significant portion of the therapist's time and effort is devoted to responsibilities other than being more discreet or apparently banal are less important, and underestimating them can lead to situations of lack of efficiency or even quality of life for dedicating too many hours to tasks that could be done much more fluently using the strategies and tools suitable. Therefore, in this article We will see what are those habitual tasks that psychotherapists carry out between sessions and that go beyond direct contact with patients who come to the consultation, cabinet or mental health center.

The main tasks of the psychologist between session and session

In addition to intervening both in person or online with their clients and patients, psychologists must also deal with other blocks of daily, weekly or monthly work. Let's see which are the most representative.

1. schedule control

Keeping the agenda of both face-to-face and online sessions under control is one of the first obligations for which any competent psychologist with a high level of professionalism. Managing the work schedule also means have control of the sessions that we have as professionals on a daily basis and, in the case of working in a center with other professionals, be clear about which offices are available.

In any case, psychologists should study between sessions what their next clients and mentalize shortly before starting them about the type of intervention that they are going to carry out cape.

• Related article: "10 essential characteristics of a good psychologist"

2. Preparation of patient files

The elaboration of patient files is of vital importance for have the essential data of each person who comes to our consultation well organized and digitized.

A regular psychology patient file must contain the name and surname of the person, their age, profession, address, marital status, telephone number, identification number and other personal data that may be of utility.

These files must be digitized and organized in such a way that they can be consulted at all times. moment with total ease both by the psychologist and by other professionals or their subordinates.

• You may be interested in: "What to expect and what not to expect from psychological therapy"

3. Update your own professional training

As in any discipline, it is of great importance and future utility that the professional of the psychology maintain a constantly updated training to offer its clients the best possible service.

The permanent and specialized study in the area of ​​intervention of the psychologist in question will allow him to equip himself with strategies, tools and alternatives to attend to your client or clients in an individualized way and adapted to their characteristics individuals.

There are several methods for updating training that a psychotherapist can choose, among the most common we can highlight the training courses in psychology, master's degrees, postgraduate degrees or participation in conferences of all kinds.

It is also evident that the higher the level of training or specialization, the more clients will consult the qualified professional, to the detriment of those who are less trained or have less up-to-date training.

4. Management of informed consent

Informed consent is a legal and voluntary agreement between patient and therapist, in which the former He agrees to be professionally intervened and receives all the necessary information regarding said intervention.

Is about an essential previous step and without which therapeutic intervention cannot be started, since consent and confirmation that the patient is willing to take the step are legally required.

Informed consent is almost always based on a legal document that indicates the procedure that will be implemented during the therapeutic intervention and everything is explained to the client in such a way that he understands it and can give his informed consent.

• Related article: "Informed consent in Psychology: what it is, parts and functions"

5. Billing

Billing is another of the areas in which the psychologist must take responsibility, both to keep the payments of the sessions up to date and to know how to issue the invoices corresponding to their services offered.

This is a responsibility that concerns the psychologist, although he may also have other people do it for him or even virtual applications designed for this purpose.

This is one of the most expensive responsibilities for psychologists, since you have to take into account the number of sessions that have been completed, how much and how each one has been charged, the type of therapy that is given or the insurance coverage of the patients.

With EHOLO, billing is no longer a problem for psychologists. With this tool you will be able to control all the sessions carried out, have control over the sessions paid and pending payment, charge the sessions automatically and forget about making payments manually and it will do all the billing for you automatically automatic.

6. Preparation of clinical history

Medical history is another essential document to carry out any type of health practice and it is very useful for the professional to have all the client's data at hand in order to manage their visits.

The clinical history must include information such as: The reason for the consultation for which you request the service, your symptoms of current discomfort, the date the symptoms began, and also the events that led to the problem, if any know.

In addition to that, the clinical history also contains the history that the person may have, their illnesses or past surgeries, your family history, past traumas or disorders, and also eating habits and sleep.

7. video call preparation

Before starting a consultation in which we are going to make a video call, it is also important prepare all those logistical, technical or material elements necessary to carry it out with success.

8. Manage the online agenda

At present they are many psychology professionals who allow a public access agenda so that patients can request their sessions for themselves.

This agenda must be well managed and we must ensure that no patient overlaps with another person when assign sessions during the week, and also the information must correspond to our real agenda, the one we use in the consultation.

9. Collect and organize tests and tests

During periods between sessions, psychologists also they must collect and organize all types of psychometric tests and other tests that may be useful during interventions.

These tests must be administered in a professional and scientific manner at all times for the intervention to work and the client to be well cared for.

10. Develop psychological and health programs

In addition to that, psychology professionals are also in charge of developing and creating all kinds of prevention or intervention programs in mental health in various fields.

This work is usually carried out outside the consultation where clients are seen and serves to promote habits and behaviors suitable for people's mental health.

Meet Eholo: the most useful software for psychologists

Eholo is a digital platform designed specifically for psychology professionals and for psychologist centers, and allows you to easily and centrally manage most of the tasks that we have seen in this list: issuance and storage of consent documents informed, transcription of the information expressed verbally during therapy sessions, billing, preparation of video calls, management of schedules and calendar, etc. More information about Eholo can be found at this page.