Psychological professionals can perform very diverse tasks; it is clear that in most cases the work revolves around caring for patients, couples and families. Now, even in psychologists who have specialized in the field of therapy, carrying out sessions in which emotional, behavioral or communicative problems are directly addressed is not 100% of the work.
A significant portion of the therapist’s time and effort is dedicated to other responsibilities that are no less important because they are more discreet or apparently banal, and underestimating them can lead to situations of lack of efficiency or even quality of life due to dedicating too many hours to tasks. that could be done much more fluidly using the right strategies and tools. Therefore, in this article We will see what are those common tasks that psychotherapists perform between sessions and that go beyond direct dealings with the patients who come to the consultation, the office or the mental health center.
The main tasks of the psychologist between sessions
In addition to intervening both in person or online with their clients and patients, psychologists must also take care of other blocks of daily, weekly or monthly work. Let’s see which are the most representative.
1. Agenda control
Keeping the agenda of both in-person and telematic sessions under control is one of the first obligations that any competent psychologist with a high level of professionalism must be responsible for. Managing the work agenda also means have control over which sessions we have as professionals on a daily basis and, if working in a center with other professionals, be clear about which offices are available.
In any case, psychologists must study between sessions who their next clients are and prepare themselves shortly before starting them about the type of intervention they are going to carry out.
2. Preparation of patient files
The preparation 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 typical psychology patient file should contain the person’s first and last name, age, profession, address, marital status, telephone number, identification number and other personal information that may be useful.
These files must be digitized and organized so that they can be consulted at all times with complete ease by both the psychologist and other professionals or their subordinates.
3. Update your own professional training
As in any discipline, it is of great importance and future usefulness that psychology professionals maintain constantly updated training to offer their 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 serve his client or clients in an individualized manner and adapted to their particular characteristics.
There are several methods of updating training that a psychotherapist can choose, among the most common we can highlight 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 updated training.
4. Management of informed consent
Informed consent is a legal and voluntary agreement between patient and therapist, in which the former agrees to be professionally operated on and receives all the necessary information regarding said intervention.
Is about an essential prior step and without which the therapeutic intervention cannot begin since legally consent and confirmation that the patient is willing to take the step is needed.
Informed consent is almost always based on a legal document that indicates the procedure that will be implemented during the therapeutic intervention and explains everything to the client so that they understand it and can give their conscious consent.
5. Billing
Billing is another area in which the psychologist must take responsibility, both to keep session payments up to date and to know how to issue invoices corresponding to the services offered.
This is a responsibility that belongs to the psychologist, although he may also have other people who do it for him or even virtual applications intended for this purpose.
This is one of the most expensive responsibilities for psychologists, since they must take into account the number of sessions that have been completed, how much and how each one has been charged, the type of therapy given, or the insurance coverage. 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 paid and pending paid sessions, charge for the sessions automatically and forget about making payments manually and it will do all the billing automatically.
6. Preparation of the clinical history
The clinical history is another essential document to carry out healthcare practice of any type and it is very useful for the professional to have all the client’s data at hand to be able to manage their visits.
The clinical history must include information such as: The reason for the consultation for which you request the service, your current symptoms of discomfort, the date on which the symptoms began and also the events that caused the problem, if known.
In addition to that, the medical history also contains the history that the person may have, their past illnesses or surgical interventions, their family history, traumas or disorders in the past and also eating and sleeping habits.
Before starting a consultation in which we are going to make a video call, it is also important to prepare all those logistical, technical or material elements necessary to carry it out successfully.
8. Manage the online agenda
Currently they are Many psychology professionals allow a public access agenda so that patients can request their sessions themselves.
This agenda must be well managed and we must ensure that no patient overlaps with another person when assigning sessions during the week, and the information must also 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 so that the intervention works and the client is well cared for.
10. Develop psychological and health programs
In addition to that, psychology professionals are also responsible for developing and creating all types of prevention or intervention programs in mental health in various areas.
This work is usually carried out outside the office where clients are treated and serves to promote habits and behaviors appropriate for people’s mental health.
Meet Eholo: the most useful software for psychologists
Eholo is a digital platform designed specifically for psychology professionals and psychologist centers and allows you to manage most of the tasks that we have seen in this list in a simple and centralized way: issuance and storage of informed consent documents, transcription of information expressed verbally during therapy sessions, billing, preparation of video calls, management of schedules and agenda, etc.
You will find more information about Eholo on this page.
