When a Therapist Leaves Your Practice: Agreements and Transition Planning
A therapist tells a group practice owner that they intend to leave. The relationship has been productive, but the therapist is opening another practice or changing how they work.
The owner needs to reorganize appointment capacity, inform administrative staff and assess the effect on revenue. The therapist needs to consider ongoing care and professional responsibilities. Clients need clear information about their options.
The agreement provides a notice period. It offers little guidance on the transition itself.
Questions quickly follow. Who will communicate with clients? What happens to their records? Which appointments remain scheduled? How will outstanding payments be reconciled?
A departure brings the practice’s commercial arrangements and the therapist’s professional obligations into the same decision process. Reviewing them together helps the parties establish a workable transition instead of resolving each issue independently under time pressure.
For owners building a group practice, these arrangements deserve attention before a departure occurs.
A Notice Period Is Only the Beginning
Notice establishes one part of the transition. It does not explain everything that must happen before or after the therapist’s final day.
The practice may need to review active appointments, identify clients requiring particular attention and arrange administrative support. The therapist may need to complete documentation and participate in appropriate discussions about continuing care.
System access, outstanding fees and public information may also require changes.
Consider a therapist who gives the notice required by their agreement. Administrative staff immediately begin reallocating appointments, while the therapist starts discussing future arrangements with clients.
Without coordination, clients may receive different information or become uncertain about who is responsible for the next step.
The agreement should support a defined process, with responsibilities clear enough for the practice and therapist to apply.
Begin with the Agreement and the Actual Practice Arrangement
The first step is to establish the position that applies to the departing practitioner.
Relevant documents may include the practitioner agreement, amendments, privacy arrangements and policies incorporated into the relationship.
The practice should also consider how the arrangement has operated. Responsibilities may have evolved since the agreement was signed.
Who has managed client enquiries? Who has handled records requests? Which administrative functions has the practice performed?
Those facts matter when deciding what needs to happen during the transition.
A standard departure checklist can be useful, but it should not replace assessment of the particular agreement and circumstances. Different practitioners may have different terms or roles within the same practice.
Keep Client Decisions Central to the Transition
A departure affects three interests: the client’s care, the therapist’s professional and commercial position, and the practice’s continuing operation.
CRPO’s guidance recognizes that clients may wish to remain with the group practice, continue with the departing therapist where appropriate, seek another provider or discontinue therapy. Those options require consideration of the circumstances and relevant obligations.
The practice should therefore avoid treating the transition solely as a decision about retaining revenue or allocating appointments.
At the same time, client preferences do not resolve every contractual, privacy or professional question. The parties still need to assess how information is communicated and how any continuing service is arranged.
A coordinated approach gives clients clearer information while allowing the practice and therapist to address their respective responsibilities.
Agree on How Clients Will Be Informed
Communication should be planned before separate messages are sent.
The practice and therapist need to consider who will explain the departure, when that discussion should occur and how administrative staff will respond to enquiries.
The appropriate approach may differ between active clients, people awaiting an appointment and former clients who contact the practice later.
The content should be accurate and consistent with the decisions made. It should avoid suggesting that a client has already been assigned to a particular option before the relevant discussion occurs.
For example, a general administrative email may explain a scheduling change but be insufficient to address an individual client’s treatment needs.
The agreement and transition plan should allow professional judgment to inform those discussions while keeping operational responsibilities clear.
Assess Contract Restrictions Before Acting on Them
Practitioner agreements may contain provisions concerning solicitation, competing activities or acceptance of practice clients after departure.
Their wording and effect require careful assessment.
The practice should identify the concern it is trying to address and review the clause in the context of the working relationship, applicable law and professional responsibilities.
CRPO notes that contractual restrictions can complicate departures and recommends legal advice when assessing how contractual obligations interact with professional standards.
A broad clause should not be treated as a guaranteed answer to every question about client communication.
Similarly, the therapist should not assume that professional responsibilities automatically resolve all contractual issues.
Early review gives the parties more room to establish an appropriate process before either makes a commitment or sends a message that increases the dispute.
Review Records Separately from Client Appointments
The decision about where a client receives future care does not, by itself, determine what happens to the existing record.
The practice needs to establish the applicable custody and access arrangements, including the responsibilities of the parties involved.
CRPO’s departure guidance distinguishes continuing treatment from the handling of the clinical record. Depending on the arrangement, records may remain with the group practice, while copies or a transfer of custody require appropriate consideration.
The transition plan should address relevant requests, documentation and permissions.
The parties should also consider any legitimate need for access after departure and how requests will be handled. The appropriate arrangement requires assessment rather than a general promise that access will continue indefinitely.
Records should be managed through a defined process that reflects privacy and professional obligations.
Complete Documentation Before Removing Access
The practice may need to change booking permissions, email access and record system accounts.
Those steps should be coordinated with outstanding responsibilities.
Removing access immediately can create difficulty if the therapist still needs to complete documentation or participate in an approved transition process. Leaving unrestricted access indefinitely creates a different concern.
The plan should identify what must be completed, which permissions are needed and when access will change.
Administrative and technical staff need clear instructions. They should not be left to infer the appropriate decision from the therapist’s final working date.
A controlled process helps the practice maintain security while enabling the agreed work to be finished.
Reconcile Payments Against the Agreed Financial Terms
A departure can reveal differences in how the parties understand compensation.
The agreement may calculate payments using amounts billed or collected. It may address refunds, cancellation fees and expenses differently.
The practice should establish the applicable position before preparing the final reconciliation.
Consider an appointment completed before departure where payment arrives afterward. The parties need to know how that receipt will be treated and when any resulting payment will be made.
Outstanding balances and later adjustments may also need a process.
A clear reconciliation should explain the calculation and identify any unresolved items. It should be considered alongside the relevant contract rather than relying on an informal expectation about the final payment date.
Plan for Appointment Capacity and Administrative Work
A therapist’s departure changes the practice’s operating requirements.
Rooms may become available, referrals may need reassessment and staff may spend additional time supporting the transition.
The owner should understand those consequences without assuming that every active client will remain or leave.
The practice may need to identify available practitioners and appropriate external resources. Clinical suitability and client circumstances should inform relevant decisions.
Website profiles, booking links and public contact information may also need updating.
These activities should have clear owners and timing. A coordinated plan reduces the risk of clients encountering outdated information or booking appointments that cannot be fulfilled.
Prepare for an Unexpected Departure
Some departures occur with limited notice because of illness, incapacity or other circumstances.
A planned resignation process may be insufficient for those situations.
The practice should assess its contingency arrangements, including access to information needed for appropriate communication and continuity.
Relevant professional requirements and records responsibilities need to be considered alongside the operating plan.
The objective is to establish who will coordinate the response and what resources are available. A practice depending heavily on one person’s knowledge or access may have fewer options when that person becomes unavailable.
Contingency planning deserves attention as the team grows, rather than being postponed until an event occurs.
Improve the Agreement Before the Next Practitioner Joins
An actual departure can reveal where the standard framework needs revision.
Unclear notice procedures, disputed payments or inconsistent records arrangements may indicate issues affecting other practitioners.
The review should consider whether the agreement adequately describes the transition and whether the practice can implement its terms.
A common framework may establish recurring responsibilities, with appropriate adjustments for different practitioner arrangements.
Existing signed agreements require separate assessment before changes are introduced. A new template does not automatically alter current commitments.
The findings should also inform onboarding. Practitioners and administrative staff should understand the relevant responsibilities before the relationship begins.
Seek Clarity Before the Transition Becomes a Dispute
If a therapist has given notice and the parties disagree about client communication, records or contractual restrictions, those issues warrant attention before either acts on an assumption.
The signed agreement, relevant amendments and proposed transition steps provide a useful starting point for review.
For owners planning ahead, the same assessment can identify gaps before a departure occurs.
Beginning early gives the practice more time to coordinate responsibilities, obtain appropriate advice and communicate on a clear basis.
The aim is an orderly transition that accounts for clients, professional duties and the commercial relationship.
Discuss Your Practitioner Departure Arrangements with Delta Law
Delta Law helps psychotherapy practices review practitioner agreements and assess contractual questions arising from planned departures.
A consultation provides an opportunity to discuss your current terms or an upcoming transition, identify the issues requiring attention and consider an appropriate scope for review or updating the agreement.
