Client Consent for Animal Assisted Sessions

Not every client will be interested in participating in animal assisted sessions. In these cases, you need to have a safe, quiet place for your animal to go where other people cannot access them unsupervised. Be sure to bring items to the office that are comforting to your animal and needed to maintain their emotional and physical wellness such as crates, beds, water and food dishes, toys, vaccine tags and records, treats, etc. Bringing an animal onsite also requires additional expenses as well as paperwork:

Bite/property destruction insurance for the animal
Disclose about the animal's involvement in services to clients
Disclosure about the animal's level of training if appropraite
Allowing clients to consent to animal assisted sessions
Animal health insurance if appropriate
Post a picture of your animal in the waiting room so clients know an animal is onsite

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Getting Licensed in Wyoming

Depending on your graduate school specialty area, you can find Wyoming mental health provider application materials and requirements on the following websites: For bachelor or master level social workers, licensed professional counselors and psychotherapists, marriage and family therapists, you can obtain the needed application forms from the Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board at http://mentalhealth.wyo.gov/ For doctoral level psychologists, school psychologists, post-doctoral psychology interns, and specialists in school psychology, you can visit the Wyoming Board of Psychology at http://psychology.wyo.gov/ School psychologists or Specialists in school psychology who wish to pursue a license as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) should contact the Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board at http://mentalhealth.wyo.gov/

State Rules and Regulations

The mental health licensing board in each state not only oversees the professional and ethical expectations of counselors but it typically outlines which professional licenses can and cannot own own private practices. For instance in the State of Wyoming, mental health licenses that require temporary or ongoing supervision are not allowed to own a private practice. This includes Certified Social Workers Provisionally Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Professional Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists Certified Mental Health Worker Clinicians that have full licenses (LCSW, LMFT or LPC) typically have fewer restrictions in owning a private practice. If you are uncertain if you can own a private practice, review the rules and statutes posted by the mental health licensing board in your state. Call or email the board directly with any questions not outlined within the state statutes.

Billing Considerations

Cash flow can easily be the bane of private practice. Your accounts receivables can be thousands of dollars while you are struggling to pay rent because the cash has not came in yet. This is especially true with private insurance companies that can take several months to pay. Be sure that you understand billing criteria, forms and timelines clearly if you are doing your own billing. Various software programs can integrate your notes, treatment plans and billing. You can also employ a business platform service or private mental health billing company. Whichever you choose, cash will need to be flowing as freely as possible into the coffers. Here are some tips as you set out to collect money for services Carefully read the contracts offered by the insurance companies and EAPs before signing up. Counter with an offer addressing any concerns. You may be able to negotiate higher reimbursement rate. Understand the specific pros and cons about signing up as in network vs out of net

Mental Health Practice Support

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