Section 7.5 Administrative Policies

Policy No. 5.01 Definitions:

A clinician-in-training is defined in terms of the following positions:

• For the purposes of this document, all trainees, interns, doctoral trainees and doctoral interns will be referred to collectively as “clinicians-in-training” when applicable.

Policy No. 5.02 Dress Code:

The following are guidelines for dress and hygiene for all staff, including clinicians-in-training, at CPS. They are to be applied equally to all employees, regardless of gender. The guidelines are meant to be flexible and cultural and religious beliefs that apply to dress and hygiene will always be honored. Clinicians-in-training must appear neat and professional at all times, whether or not one is seeing clients, in the computer lab writing notes, or working remotely. When conducting formal presentations, meeting with administrative officials, or attending other campus meetings, more formal and traditional business attire may be required.

Clothing that reveals your underwear, stomach, lower back, or cleavage is not appropriate.

Any clothing, jewelry, or tattoo that conveys a negative statement/sentiment toward a race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, or is otherwise considered harassing or offensive is forbidden.

CPS has a fragrance policy that includes the following: Use of air fresheners, plug-ins, candles, and other fragrance products are prohibited in Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS). Personal care products such as cologne, perfume, aftershave lotions, scented lotions, fragrance hair products and/or similar products are to be fragrance-free or lightly fragranced and applied prior to the start of the trainee’s shift. At no time should the personal care product be applied at work.

Policy No. 5.03 Moonlighting for Doctoral Interns:

Due to the intensity of the internship year, interns are discouraged from seeking or maintaining outside employment. However, if an intern chooses to work outside of CPS, there are certain requirements.

Procedures:

• Outside employment may not interfere with the intern’s ability to perform their required duties at CPS and must not conflict with their regular work schedule (8am-5pm Monday through Friday, with regular after-hours responsibilities, attendance at campus events, etc.).
• Interns are expected to make significant progress towards the completion of their dissertation during their training year.
• If a doctoral intern decides to seek outside employment, they must first seek the approval of the Training Director prior to accepting a position and disclose any outside employment as soon as possible.
• Other clinicians-in-training are exempt from this policy.

Policy No. 5.04 Trainees/Employees Receiving Services at CPS:

In an effort to protect client confidentiality and avoid ethical dilemmas, guidelines exist regarding graduate students from mental health academic programs at Ohio University who may seek counseling services or training at CPS.

Procedures:

• Students who have been accepted for internship, practicum, GA, or contract work will not be eligible to receive clinical services at CPS during the tenure of their training or employment at CPS.
• If the student chooses to seek services at CPS after completing employment/training, the identified clinical issues cannot be related to training/employment experiences received at CPS (e.g. grievances with another staff member or trainee).
• The file of a previous employee/trainee who is currently a CPS client will be restricted to the assigned clinician and that clinician’s supervisor (if applicable).
• If any master’s or doctoral student within the Counseling, Psychology or Social Work programs anticipates future training and/or employment at CPS, they should strongly consider seeking services elsewhere. If such a student attends a drop-in session and discloses this information, it is the responsibility of the drop-in clinician to discuss potential conflicts for the student at that time. Referrals to community resources will be provided as needed.
• If, due to financial or other constraints, graduate students from mental health training programs are unable to secure treatment elsewhere, CPS staff will bear in mind their potential future training opportunities when considering client assignment. Specifically, these students cannot be assigned to another clinician-in-training in any academic program, with the exception of doctoral psychology interns. They will also not be seen clinically by the TD or ADT, to avoid the future possibility of dual roles.
• If a former client is accepted for a training or work placement at CPS, they should inform the ADT or TD promptly to minimize any dual roles. No CPS staff member will attempt to obtain any information from the former client’s file and the file will be restricted. If the client’s former clinician is still an active staff member, the former client is encouraged to promptly initiate a conversation with that staff member to discuss any concerns and negotiate any role overlap.
• It is the responsibility of the staff member to maintain the confidentiality of any former client, including the situation in which the former client is now in the position of clinician-in-training at CPS

Policy No. 5.05 Remote Access to Electronic Health Record:

When clinician’s-in-training are authorized to work remotely, clinicians’ may be asked to access the CPS’s EHR while outside of the Center. This policy is in accordance with Policy No. 4.41 Remote Access to Electronic Health Record in CPS’s Clinical Policies & Procedures manual.

Procedures:

• If clinician-in-training is accessing the EHR while outside of CPS, they shall ensure they are in a room alone.
• If clinician-in-training is accessing the EHR while outside of CPS, they shall ensure they log off when leaving the room and shall never leave the computer/electronic device unattended when logged on to the EHR.
• The clinician-in-training EHR activities are subject to audit, to support them in engaging in only necessary and appropriate EHR activities.
• Access to EHR may be discontinued for a clinician-in-training at the direction of the Director, Clinical Director, and/or Training Director
• If staff is making contact with a current CPS client while outside of CPS, the clinician must utilize Jabber on a computer to call from the CPS line or *67 to block the clinician’s number from being identified by the client. When possible, inform the client via email prior to the phone call that when the clinician calls, the phone call ID will appear as “Private Call”.

Policy No. 5.06 Digital recordings:

All clinicians-in-training are required to digitally record every client session for supervision purposes. Exceptions to this policy must be negotiated between clinicians-in-training and their primary supervisors.

Procedures:

• Each recording must be stored securely in the clinician-in-training’s folder on the shared drive and labeled with the client’s identifying information (e.g. first name, initials) and the date of the session.
• Digital recordings of client sessions should not be stored anywhere other than the shared drive, such as on the desktop or on a flash drive, unless the supervisor initiates this request for a specific reason and the TD and ADT approves.
• Clinicians-in-training are encouraged to delete client recordings older than 2 weeks, unless the video is needed for program requirement or another clinical reason as discussed with primary supervisor. While it may be agreed that it is the primary responsibility of the clinician-in-training to delete client recordings, it is the primary supervisor’s responsibility to ensure such files are deleted in a timely manner.
• By the end of their training experience, all clinician-in-trainings’ recordings will be deleted permanently from the shared drive. It is the responsibility of the individual supervisor to confirm that this task is completed by the clinician’s last day at CPS.

Policy No. 5.07 Communication with Academic Department:

CPS typically communicates with the academic departments of the clinicians-in-training during mid-year and final evaluations.

Procedures:

• Prior to submitting evaluations of clinicians-in-training, CPS training staff will consult with the ADT/TD to collaborate on generating feedback around clinicians’ progress and recommendations.
• The ADT/TD and individual supervisors for the trainees and GAs will meet with representatives from the academic departments to discuss ongoing progress and evaluations twice per year.
• The ADT/TD will communicate with the academic department for the respective trainees and GAs on a regular basis to discuss ongoing training concerns not directly related to evaluation.
• If supervisors have questions or concerns, they are expected to consult with the ADT/TD prior to any contact with a supervisee’s home program.
• For doctoral psychology interns, under normal circumstances, the home programs are contacted in writing three times during the internship year.
  • The first contact occurs when the intern accepts an offer from CPS. A letter will be sent to the Director of Clinical Training in the new intern’s program informing them of acceptance.
  • The second and third contacts occur after the mid and end of the year evaluations, respectively. These reports include the intern’s progress in the program, a description of the training and service activities in which the intern engaged, and a summary of the evaluation reports written by the supervisors.
  • In the case that serious concerns are experienced about an intern, the home department is contacted early in the remediation process as outlined in the section on “Evaluation, Disciplinary Actions, Appeals and Grievances Procedures.”

Policy No. 5.08 Remote Work for Clinicians-in-Training:

Procedures:

• Individual supervisors are responsible for assessing their supervisee’s remote working environment prior to the clinician-in-training engaging in telehealth from their remote working address. Supervisors should assess: background visible by webcam, lighting, noise, maintaining confidentiality if roommates/others are present, etc.
• Graduate Assistants and trainees are eligible for remote work in the following conditions:
  • If clinician-in-training is ill but able to work (e.g., needing to quarantine but asymptomatic).
  • If weather conditions make it unsafe for clinician-in-training to come into the office, and university is still open.
  • If clinician-in-training has university accommodations that permit remote work. This is coordinated in collaboration with Student Accessibility Services, the TD, the ADT, and Director.
• Doctoral psych interns, as full-time staff at CPS and in alignment with flex-work options available for other full-time employees, are eligible for remote work after Thanksgiving Break during their internship year.