Add Appointment

What this is The Add Appointment tool is used to add both client appointments and other events to the calendar. What it looks like The best way to access the Add Appointment tool is by clicking the calendar. However, there's also an Add Appointment tool under the hamburger menu on the right that looks like this:

Where this is You can access the Calendar from the global nav at the top of every page or from the Sitemap links at the bottom. The Add Appointment tool is on the left nav or can also be accessed by clicking the calendar.

There are two ways to access the Add Appointment tool: 1) by clicking the correct time slot on the calendar or 2) by using the Add Appointment tool, which is one of the hamburger menu tools. The form that opens is identical, but accessing it via the calendar can save you some clicks because the date and time will already be filled in. For example, the Add Appointment form below was accessed by clicking on the 10:30am time slot on December 29, 2018. The items with orange arrows were pre-populated:

Notice that since the default Contact Type is "Client" (i.e., a client appointment), the Stop Time is automatically set for 45 minutes later than the start time. However, the Stop Time (and/or the Start Time) can be changed on this form. The defaults are just PSYBooks' best guess about what you might want. If you change the Contact Type to Other Event, the Stop Time would change to 12:00pm, i.e., one hour after the Start Time.

If you had opened this tool from the hamburger menu, you'd have to fill in the Date, Start Time and Stop Time fields manually. However, by clicking on the calendar, in many cases, all you'll have to do is select the client's name from the Client Select box and click Save since the most commonly used items will already be filled in.

Types of Appointments

PSYBooks allows you to enter different types of appointments. The two broad categories of appointment types are "Client" and "Other." The Other category subdivides further into Person, Event and Group Appointments. The Client appointment type is for individual client appointments. The Other appointment type - with the possible exception of Group Appointments - is for people and/or events who are NOT clients. Each appointment type has features that are specific to that type, giving you a variety of tools and maximum flexibility in working with appointments.

Client Appointments

The default appointment type is for adding clients. All of your existing clients will be listed in the dropdown box, allowing you to easily select the one you want.

In addition, you can also add new clients from the Add Appointment tool. If you open the Client select box on Add Appointment, you'll see an orange link for Add Client:

Clicking the Add Client link opens an abbreviated version of the regular Add Client form. This abbreviated version is specifically designed to allow you to quickly add a minimal amount of client information you might need to schedule an initial appointment. This abbreviated Add Client form looks like this:

If you click Complete Setup in the Portal and Profile tools section, it will allow you to get this new client completely set up, including being able to send any Custom Forms and/or files you typically send to new clients.

For more information on the Portal and Profile part of the form, check the Add Client section of this Manual.

Once you click Save on the Add Client form, you're taken back to the Add Appointment form which is now populated with the information you just entered:

You can now click Save and the appointment will be added to your calendar or you can make additional changes to the Add Appointment form.

Other Appointments

In contrast, Other appointment types are often NOT clients. When you select the "Other" appointment type and then click the dropdown box, you'll see something that looks like this:

Notice at the top are three links where you can add any of the three "other" appointment types: Person, Event and/or Group. Below the links, you see lists of those other appointments that you've previously saved, arranged by category.

Each of the Other appointment types - Person, Event and Group - will be discussed below:

Add New Person

The Person appointment type is for other individuals who are NOT clients with whom you somewhat regularly schedule appointments or meetings. By saving them to your other appointment contact list, you'll be able to enter them from a dropdown list instead of having to type their name each time. The other advantage of saving an Other > Person appointment is that you can send them appointment reminders. Even for one-time appointments, you might choose to save the contact if you want to send them an appointment reminder. You can always delete them later with the Manage Other Person/Events tool, if you choose. Your Person contacts could be personal and/or professional contacts. For group practices and/or practices with admin staff, it may be helpful to add other subscribers and staff as Person contacts.

The "Add New Person" form looks like this:

Notice that the only two required fields are first and last name. However, if you might want to send appointment reminders to this person, you'll need to fill in the Email and/or Cell fields. The Time Zone select has been pre-selected with your time zone, but you can change it if that's not correct.

If you look at the buttons at the bottom of this form, you'll see that there are two ways to save a Person contact: "Save for Future Use" and "Save for this Appointment Only." Both buttons will allow you to schedule the appointment. If you choose "Save for Future Use," the contact will be added to your dropdown list for Other appointment types so you can easily schedule appointments for them in the future. Also, by saving the contact, you'll be able to send this new person an appointment reminder if you so choose. The other button - Save for this Appointment Only - does neither of those things but does allow you to enter a one-time appointment.

Add New Event

As the name implies, the Event appointment type is for an event as opposed to an individual person. It could be an event with another person (e.g., Dinner with Josie), but what you're listing in the calendar is the event itself. For example, if Josie is someone with whom you do a lot of things, you might want to be able to distinguish between whether you're getting together with her for dinner, a meeting, or something else. The Event appointment type lets you do this. A distinguishing feature of events, is that, although they will be listed on your Daily Schedule appointment reminder, no one else will receive appointment reminders for events. So in the example just given, if you want to be able to send Josie an appointment reminder, you'd want to list her as an Other > Person contact instead.

The "Add New Event" form looks like this:

The only field on this form is the name of the event. You can make event names fairly long. For example, if you wanted, you could list the name of the venue plus its address and phone number. That way, you'll have all the info in one place.

As with Person contacts, you can save Events for future use or just for this single appointment.

Add New Group

The Group appointment type allows you to schedule appointments for two or more people at one time. You might want to create a Group contact for therapy-related groups such as couple's therapy, family or group therapy sessions or even for non-therapy appointments such as staff meetings, supervision, webinars, courses you're teaching or even some social occasions. When you create a group appointment type, you have access to a set of tools in the "Manage Groups" supertool (discussed below) that are not available with any other appointment type. Learning more about the features of this tool will help you decide whether to designate an appointment as a Group as opposed to a Person, Event or possibly just a single client appointment.

The "Add New Group" tool looks like this:

Each of the fields on this tool will be discussed below:

• Name your group

  Give your group a name you'll recognize. This is the name that will appear on your calendar when you schedule appointments for the group.

• Is this a video group?

  Clicking this box will give you a confirm which asks if you'll be using PSYBooks video. If you are, any appointments you enter for the group will sync with SecureVideo. You'll be able to work with tools on either your PSYBooks video tab and/or your SecureVideo dashboard.

• Privacy setting

  For participants who have a Portal calendar, such as clients and "Other" appointment types, this setting determines whether they see only their own name in this group (Private) or whether they see the names of all group members (Public).

• Select

  When you click the Select dropdown, a list will open that's been pre-populated with the names of your PSYBooks contacts you might want to add to your groups. This includes your clients, other subscribers in your practice who use PSYBooks, any users you've added, plus your "Other People" individuals. You can use the search or just check the boxes beside the names you want to add to your group. Clicking Save will create the group with your group members in it:

  

• Therapy or Non-Therapy

  If you add at least one client to your group, you'll get an option on the form that will allow you to mark it as a therapy group or a non-therapy group:

  

  If you mark a group as a therapy group, you'll be able to write group notes which can automatically be entered in each client's chart, and also to add sessions for all group members from the Manage Groups tool, which is discussed below. Both therapy and non-therapy groups also allow you to track attendance and to add group notes for yourself on your "Tools > My Notes & Reminders" page

Appointment Features

The Add Appointment form has some additional tools you can use if needed. Each will be discussed below:

• Appointment Modality

  The Modality tool allows you to select whether the appointment will be in your office (the default) or whether it's to be a video or a telephone appointment:

  

  Depending on your choice, the appointment will be marked with the corresponding identifying Modality icon on your calendar (the "Other" Modality does not have an icon):

  Office:

  Video:

  Phone:

  The screenshot below shows three appointments, each with a different appointment modality, as can be identified by looking at the icons on the top right of each appointment block:

  

  • — Video Sync

    The Office and Phone appointment types on the Add Appointment tool are just informational. Designating an appointment as an Office or Phone appointment type does nothing except add the corresponding icon to your calendar. However, marking the appointment type as Video has some important implications. When you select Video as the appointment type, you'll get a confirm box asking you if you plan to use PSYBooks video for this appointment:

    

    If you are not using PSYBooks video and select "No", the Video appointment type is treated like Office and Phone appointment types, i.e., the only thing that happens is the addition of the appointment type icon on the calendar. However, if you ARE using PSYBooks video and select "Yes," it triggers the video sync feature of the program. That means that anything you enter here will also appear on your Secure Video dashboard. You will not have to enter appointments in both places. Just entering them on your PSYBooks calendar will automatically tell SecureVideo to schedule the appointment with the person or persons you indicated. SecureVideo will then send their normal invitations and reminders so the recipients will get links to join the session, just as if you had entered it on SecureVideo.

    If you answer "Yes" to the confirm box above, your Add Appointment form will change slightly, to allow you to enter the additional information that's necessary to schedule a video appointment:

    

    Notice that you still have access to the other features on the Add Appointment form, which means you can change the Contact Type to a non-client type or a group, you can make this a repeating appointment, add an appointment note, etc. Being able to schedule your SecureVideo appointments on your PSYBooks calendar gives you access to all of the regular features of the Add Appointment tool which gives you much more flexibility.

• Repeats (Create a Repeating Appointment)

  Repeating appointments are extremely common among mental health practitioners so PSYBooks makes them easy to enter. The Repeats select box is right on the Add Appointment form as can be seen below:

  

  Repeating appointments will be discussed in detail in a separate section below.

• Provider Select Box

  In GOI accounts (GOI = Groups of Individuals, i.e., more than one subscriber at the same address), therapists may choose to share their calendar with one or more therapists in their office and/or with their office manager. In these situations, assuming those individuals have been given both read and write permissions, they can select the calendar you need with the Provider Select Box. Individual subscribers will not have this feature. Only one name will be listed in an individual subscriber's Provider Select Box:

  

• Office Location Select Box

  The Office Location select box looks like this:

  

  If you only have one office, you will never need this tool. However, if you entered more than one office address in PSYBooks, each one is given a different color by default to help you keep your appointments straight. (You can change your default office color(s) at any time in the Calendar Settings tool.) Assuming you have not changed the default colors, watch what happens when we change this therapist's Office Location in the Add Appointment tool:

  

  In other words, when Jane Therapist adds appointments to her first office address, they'll all be in blue (unless she changes the color for a specific appointment). If she changes the Office Location setting to her second office address, the appointments will be listed in orange. Assuming she doesn't change any specific appointment colors, her calendar for the week might end up looking like this:

  

  It's also possible to toggle certain office locations on or off. If you click the gold down arrow on the General Settings tool on the left nav, you'll see each of Jane's office calendars listed separately:

  

  If you click Jane's name, all of her appointments will toggle off or on. Similarly, if you click either of the addresses, that office's appointments will toggle off or on. For example, if Jane clicked the 555 Blue St address to toggle all of those appointments off, only the orange appointments would be visible on the calendar:

  

• Appointment Color Coding

  Each subscriber has a default base color for their calendar appointments. Also, as discussed above, if the subscriber has more than one office, each office will be given its own default color. Although any of the default colors can be changed at any time in the General Settings on the Calendar page, all client appointments and other events added to the calendar will be created in that office's base color unless otherwise specified.

  The Add Appointment form has a series of color swatches that can be used to create a different colored background for any particular appointment. This feature can be useful in making some appointments stand out from others.

  In the screenshot below, you can see that Jane C. Therapist's base color is purple (the purple swatch beside her office location and also, purple is checked as the default color in the row of swatches in the Appointment Color section):

  

  If nothing is changed, this appointment will be created with a purple background. However, Jane is free to change the color of this particular appointment by clicking a different swatch in the Appointment Color row. Changing an appointment color will NOT change the office's default color. To change the default color, you have to use the General Settings tool on the Calendar left nav. That tool is discussed elsewhere.

• Client Information Section

  The Client Information Section of the Add Appointment form is just there to give you easy access to information that you may need when you're scheduling and/or changing client appointments. It's closed by default, but you can open it by clicking the magnifying glass on the right side of the gold bar that has the words "Client Information":

  

Repeating Appointments

What this is The Repeat Appointment tool is triggered by a select box on the Add Appointment tool. It allows you to create weekly, bi-monthly, or any other type of repeated appointment that you'd like. What it looks like The select box that allows you to mark an appointment as a repeating appointment looks like this:

Where this is You can access the Calendar from the global nav at the top of every page or from the Sitemap links at the bottom. The Repeat Appointment tool is part of the Add Appointment tool, which can be accessed on the left.

Clicking the Repeating Appointments select box opens these options:

Depending on which value you select, a new section of the form will open allowing you to further refine your choice. For example, clicking "Weekly" reveals these additional options:

Each of the other "Repeats" selections also gives you additional filters which should allow you optimum flexibility in scheduling your repeat appointments.

Notice that you can also enter repeating video appointments. These will show up on your PSYBooks calendar like any other repeating appointment. However, on your SecureVideo dashboard, you will only see one appointment at a time. The subsequent one will not appear until the current one has passed. This is done to prevent SecureVideo from sending out reminders for more than one appointment at a time. Once one appointment in a series has come and gone, the next one will appear in your SecureVideo dashboard and the appropriate invitations and reminders will be sent. You do not need to do anything further once you've entered the repeating video appointment.

Edit Appointment

What this is The Edit Appointment window allows you to make changes to existing appointments or events. What it looks like The tool to access the Edit Appointment form looks like this: You can open this window by clicking any appointment or event on the calendar.

Where this is You can access the Calendar from the global nav at the top of every page or from the Sitemap links at the bottom. Clicking on any appointment or event will open a small window that allows you to edit the appointment.

Accessing the Edit Appointment tool is a two-step process. First, you have to access the Edit Appointment Multi-Tool by clicking any appointment or event on the calendar. Once you've clicked the appointment, the Edit Appointment Multi-Tool pops open like this:

Clicking the "Edit" button on the right opens the Edit version of the Add Appointment Tool - in other words, it's the Add Appointment form but with your data already in place:

From here, you can make any changes you want to your appointment. If you change from an Office or Phone Appointment Type, you'll be asked if you intend to use PSYBooks Video, which will engage the video sync features. When you save the change, SecureVideo will send the appropriate invitation and reminder emails or texts. If the appointment is part of a series of repeated appointments, when you save it, you'll get this popup which will allow you to select which appointments you want to change:

Delete Appointment

What this is The Delete Appointment window allows you to delete an existing appointment or event. When the appointment is part of a repeating appointment series, you can delete a single appointment or a series of appointments. What it looks like The tool to access the Delete Appointment form looks like this: You can open this window by clicking any appointment or event on the calendar.

Where this is You can access the Calendar from the global nav at the top of every page or from the Sitemap links at the bottom. Clicking on any appointment or event will open a small window that allows you to delete the appointment.

As with the Edit Appointment tool, accessing the Delete Appointment tool is a two-step process. The first step is to access the Edit Appointment Multi-Tool by clicking any appointment or event on the calendar. Once you've clicked the appointment, the Edit Appointment Multi-Tool pops open like this:

Clicking the Delete button will delete the appointment. If the appointment was a PSYBooks video session, it will also be deleted from SecureVideo and the participant will be notified of the cancellation. If the appointment is part of a series, when you click delete, you'll get this window, which allows you to choose which appointments you want to delete:

Cancel Appointment

What this is The Cancel Appointment tool allows you to keep an appointment on your calendar, but mark it as canceled. What it looks like The tool to access the Cancel Appointment tool looks like this: You can open this window by clicking any appointment or event on the calendar.

Where this is You can access the Calendar from the global nav at the top of every page or from the Sitemap links at the bottom. Clicking on any appointment or event will open a small window that allows you to cancel the appointment.

Canceling an appointment is a way to maintain the appointment on your calendar while also visually cueing you that the appointment has been canceled. To cancel an appointment, click the appointment or event on the calendar, then check "Mark this appointment canceled." This action will expand the Edit Appointment Multi-Tool to allow you to make additional choices:

Once you've made your selection and clicked "Submit", the Edit Appointment Multi-Tool window will close and you'll notice that your appointment now has a line through it and the opacity has been reduced, making it stand out from your regular appointments:

If the appointment you canceled was part of a series, only the appointment(s) you designate will be marked. If the session was a PSYBooks video session, Secure Video will get the information that the session has been canceled, will remove it from their dashboard and send the recipient a notification of the cancellation.

Print Calendar

What this is The Print Calendar tool allows you to print out a list of the client and/or other events on your calendar. What it looks like The Print Calendar tool is under the Hamburger Tool on the top right side of all pages in the Calendar (Daily, Weekly and Monthly). It looks like this:

Where this is You can access the Calendar from the global nav at the top of every page or from the Sitemap links at the bottom. The Print Calendar tool is in the Hamburger menu.

When you open the Print Calendar tool, it looks like this:

There are many filters here to allow you to select the items you want as well as the color and format you'd like them to be in. Of particular interest is the area with the gold background called Client Display Settings. This feature can be used to help keep printed copies of your schedule a little more secure by not using the full names of your clients if you feel that might be a concern.

Although it's not necessary to use the print preview function, clicking Print Preview displays an HTML version of your calendar beneath the filter like this:

Notice that days that don't have appointments will not appear. For example, the sample above used a date range filter of Sun, Oct 6 - Sat, Oct 12. However, there were no appointments on Saturday so that day isn't listed on the calendar. Your calendar will be printed using the time zone you have listed in the Settings & Preferences section of Libraries > Therapists. On the screenshot above, it says "Times given are in EDT" because that's the time zone this particular therapist was using.

When you're ready to print, clicking the Print button will create a PDF form which you can then send to your printer.

Manage Other Person/Events

What this is The Manage Other Person/Events tool allows you to edit and delete contacts that you've added with either the Add Appointment > Other > Add New Person tool or the Add Appointment > Other > Add New Event tool. What it looks like The Manage Other Person/Events tool looks like this (dropdown appears after you click the hamburger menu on the Calendar page):

Where this is The Manage Other Person/Events tool is accessed by clicking the hamburger menu at the top right corner of the Calendar page. The hamburger menu looks like this:

When you click the Manage Other Person/Events tool, the window that opens looks something like this, depending on what Person and/or Event Contacts you've entered:

This tool allows you to add new contacts of either type, remove contacts you no longer need and edit existing contacts. Notice that Other Person Contacts can be scheduled for appointment reminders, whereas Other Event Contacts cannot. If you're scheduling an event with one or more individuals and you'd like to be able to send them appointment reminders, enter them as an Other > Person or an Other > Group contact instead.

Manage Groups

What this is The Manage Groups tool allows you to add, edit and delete both therapy and non-therapy groups that you've added with the Add Appointment > Other > Add New Group tool. What it looks like The Manage Groups tool looks like this (dropdown appears after you click the hamburger menu on the top right of the Calendar page):

Where this is The Manage Groups tool is accessed by clicking the hamburger menu at the top right corner of the Calendar page. The hamburger menu looks like this:

When used with therapy groups, the Manage Groups tool allows you to schedule appointments for all clients at once, send appointment reminders, track group attendance, post a generic group note to each client's chart and enter sessions with individualized group notes. As you enter the session, you can also enter client payments and file insurance - all from the Manage Groups tool. You don't need to go to each client's chart separately for these tasks. Non-therapy groups are ideal for staff meetings, supervision, classes or other meetings where you might want to take notes, keep track of attendance and/or send appointment reminders to each person in the group.

When you click the Manage Groups tool, the window that opens looks like this (notice that video groups have a camera by their names so you can recognize them easily):

Although at first glance, this tool looks like it's primarily for archiving or deleting groups, it's actually a multi-tool for doing all tasks pertaining to your groups. Each of the separate tools will be discussed below:

• Add Group

  

  The Add Group tool on the right of the form is another access point to the Add New Group link that's on the Add Appointment tool, i.e., Add Appointment > Other > Add New Group. No matter which access point you use, the tool looks like this:

  

  More information on using the Add Group tool can be found above.

• Archive Group

  

  The Archive Group tool is the filing cabinet icon at the beginning of each group's row. It's used when you want to remove a group from your Active Groups list and yet keep all the records that are contained within the group. You can view or reactivate archived groups at any time.

• Delete Group

  

  The Delete Group tool is the trash can icon next to the Archive Group tool. Delete Group should be used sparingly since deleting a group will permanently remove all records associated with the group. The Archive Group tool is often a better choice if you want to remove a group from your Active Groups page but maintain a copy of your records.

• Edit/Manage Individual Group

  The Manage Individual Group tool is where you'll do most of the work for each group individually. You can access it by clicking the link of the group you want to open:

  

  When the form opens, it looks like this - this is the tool you'll use for all functions needed for this particular group:

  

  This multi-tool is comprised of several individual tools. You should be able to do most, if not all, of the tasks you need to do with your groups from this one tool. Each of the individual tools will be discussed below.

  • Add Group Member

    On the upper right is a tool for adding additional group members to your group:

    

    This tool differs from the tool you used when you created your group in that it adds members to this specific group. The group has already been created - you're just adding one or more new members to it. The tool looks like this:

    

    The current members of the group are listed at the bottom and are not included in the select box options.

  • Edit Group Name

    The name of the group can be edited by clicking the link under "Group Name":

    

    Clicking the name gives you a text input field where you can change it's name:

    

  • Convert To/From Video

    Beneath the group name is a checkbox where you can change this session to a video session. Or, if it's already designated as a video session (i.e., if the box is checked), you can uncheck the box and it will no longer be scheduled as a video session. Changes made here will sync with your SecureVideo account:

    

  • View/Remove Group Members

    You can view and remove current members of the group by clicking the "Members" link:

    

    Clicking the link slides open a section that looks like this:

    

    From this window, you can see all the members that are currently in your group and remove any that no longer belong. Clicking the trash can icon ONLY removes the person from your group. It does not delete them from anywhere else in the app.

  • Change to Therapy/Non-therapy Group

    The last tool in the shaded section of the Manage Groups tool is a checkbox that allows you to convert therapy groups to non-therapy groups and vice versa:

    

    At the top of the form, right under the group's name, it will tell you whether this group is currently designated as a therapy group or a non-therapy group. You can check the checkbox and convert it to the other type. If a group doesn't have any clients, there is no difference between a therapy group and a non-therapy group. However, when one or more clients are in the group, designating it as a therapy group will allow you to enter sessions (with client payments), file insurance claims, and also add group notes to each group member's chart right from this tool.

    The rest of the tools on this form pertain to the actual sessions or encounters the group may have had. Those tools are in the non-shaded section of the tool at the bottom and will be discussed below:

  • Track Group Attendance

    The table in the Encounters section at the bottom of the Manage Groups tool lists each scheduled group whose date has already past as well as the next upcoming group. (The upcoming group is a shaded row at the top to help you keep it separate from the others.) The first column in the green "Members" section of the table lists the group members that were marked as having attended the session. The second column in the Members section shows those who either didn't attend or who perhaps just haven't been entered yet.

    

    In the screenshot above, we can see that this group has met three times: 01/25/2018, 03/14/2018 and 03/18/2018. The next upcoming group, 04/30/2018, is listed in the shaded row. By looking at the two "Members" columns, we can see that Bonner, Dobbins and Low all attended the group on 1/25/2018; Low and Guinn attended on 3/14, and so far, either no one attended or no one has been entered for the 3/18 group.

    To enter attendance, you use the Attendance tool, which appears on each row of the table to the left of the Members columns:

    

    Clicking the Attendance Tool beside a session will open the attendance section for that particular date where you'll be able to see each group member's name beside a checkbox. You can mark which members were present - including using the checkbox in the blue header to select "All". The Attendance icon for the 3/18/18 group was clicked to produce the screenshot below:

    

    When you click "Save," names of the members who had checkboxes by their names will be moved to the "Attended" column. For example, from the screenshot above, if we had clicked the "Select All" checkbox at the top and then clicked "Save," the Encounters table would now look like this:

    

    Notice that the Group Attendance form also has a way to mark cancellations for individual members with the second column of checkboxes on the form:

    

    You can cancel sessions ahead of time or, if a member canceled and you forgot to mark it, you can also cancel them after the fact. When you click a checkbox in the cancel column, you get the kind of date range options you're used to seeing on a regular appointment cancel. This allows you to mark cancellations for individuals that need to miss several appointments in a row so you don't have to enter each one separately. In the screenshot below, we've marked James Bonner as canceled for the 3/18 Art Therapy group. Notice that an individual can't be marked BOTH as having attended and canceled, so by marking him canceled, the checkbox was automatically removed from the attended checkbox:

    

    One of the values for having the upcoming group displayed is that it allows you to mark cancellations ahead of time. For example, during a group if a member tells you they'll be out of town and have to miss the next two groups, you can mark it right then so you don't forget. Because of the date range feature, you'll be able to mark the individual as canceled in both groups, even though only one group is visible in the Attendance Table.

  • Add Sessions (Therapy Groups Only)

    You may have noticed that some members' names in the Encounters tables use regular black fonts whereas others are orange - indicating that they are links. You will only see links in groups that have been designated as therapy groups, and only for clients - because the links are what allow you to add sessions right from the Manage Groups tool. For example, in the screenshot above, if we click Bonner's name for the 3/18 session, the Add Session form, pre-populated with his information, will open right from this tool. You don't have to leave the Manage Groups tool and go back to the Charts area to enter the client's session:

    

    Notice in the black bar at the top, it now says "Add Group Session" instead of just "Add Session." Also, although you can add Group Notes to each client's chart (covered in the next section), if you want to add an individual group note for this client that would not be appropriate to post in everyone's chart, you can do it here as you regularly would with the Add Session tool. When added from the Manage Groups tool, a note written on the Add Group Session form will be listed in the Notes tab of the client's chart as an Individual Group Note.

    Once you have saved the client's session, their name in the Encounters table for this session date will no longer be a link. This will allow you to use the Encounters table to visually keep track of which sessions you've entered and which you haven't. For example, after we save James Bonner's session above, the session form would close and the Encounters table would look like the screenshot below. Notice for the 3/18 group, the name "Bonner" is now just a regular black font, indicating that his session has already been added. However, Dobbins, Doe and Low still need to have their 3/18 sessions added.:

    

  • Add Group Note

    The Add Group Note feature can be found in the last column of the Encounters table:

    

    When you click a group note - let's say the one for the 3/18 group - the form that opens looks like this:

    

    Notice at the top of the note, the four clients in this group - Bonner, Dobbins, Doe and Low - are listed, with checkboxes by each of their names. Although this group has another individual, Guinn, listed in the Encounters table, Guinn may be the facilitator or some other non-client group member, since their name is never presented as a link. Because of this, group notes cannot be posted for them so they are not included in this list. All client group member names are selected by default, but you can deselect any that didn't attend the group, or for whom you don't want to post the group note for some other reason.

    Notice that there's also a checkbox that allows you to post a copy of the note to your "Tools > My Notes & Reminders" page if you wish. Doing this puts all of your notes for the group in one place so you don't have to open each group note separately to read them.

    Write your note as you normally would, including any of the extras you want at the bottom (i.e, indicating whether the note is part of the medical record or your personal note, signing the note, and/or marking it as important.)

    When you click "Save," the group note will post to the chart of each client whose checkbox was checked. This is unlike any other note in PSYBooks in that the same note gets posted to more than one client's chart. For this reason, although PSYBooks cannot offer legal advice, there may be HIPAA laws that govern what should and shouldn't be included in a group note. If you need to write specific information about certain individuals, you may want to write a somewhat generic group note for all, and then use the individual notes on the Add Group Session form discussed above for any more personal information you want to write. The screenshot below shows a client chart that has both a Group Note and an Individual Group Note posted. Following those, you can see a plain session note that was added with the regular Add Session tool, i.e., NOT the Add Session tool that's part of the Manage Groups tool:

    

    Most of what's been written so far about group notes pertains only to therapy groups. Group notes can also be useful for staff meetings, group or individual supervision appointments or other kinds of non-therapy groups where you may want or need to take notes. Group notes for non-therapy groups will only post to your Tools > My Notes & Reminders page and might look something like this:

    

Manage Appointment Requests

What this is The Manage Appointment Requests tool allows you to edit or delete any outstanding Appointment Requests to which the recipient has not replied. What it looks like The Manage Appointment Requests tool looks like this (dropdown appears after you click the hamburger menu on the top right of the Calendar page):

Where this is The Manage Appointment Requests tool is accessed by clicking the hamburger menu at the top right corner of the Calendar page. The hamburger menu looks like this:

When you click the Manage Appointment Requests tool, the window that opens looks like this:

Notice that your Pending Requests are available in a table for you to see, but there's also a "View History" link at the bottom left that will allow you to see Archived Appointment Requests. For convenience, there's also a tool for adding a completely new Appointment Request at the top left. However, the more important parts of this tool are the two tables.

With the Pending Requests table, you can view, edit and delete any of your outstanding Appointment Requests. To be listed in this table, the Appointment Request must have at least one pending appointment time that the recipient would be able to choose. If the recipient has already chosen a time from that request, if the request has been canceled (by either recipient or therapist), if all times have been booked by others, or if the dates for all pending appointment times have passed, the Appointment Request will fall off of the Pending table and be moved to the Archived Requests table which can be found by clicking the "View History" link.

Each row in the Pending Requests table represents an entire request, which means it could include one time or many. If you click the Edit tool from one of the pending requests, it will open, allowing you to see exactly what was sent with that particular request. Notice that you may need to scroll forward in the calendar to find all of the times you sent:

You can make any changes you want in the Edit window, then click "Create Results" to generate a new Appointment Request. Notice that by editing a Request, it will overwrite the original, not create a new one. If you'd rather send a new Appointment Request, you can use the "Add New Appointment Request" tool.

View History

All previous Appointment Requests can be found by opening the View History link. The Appointment Requests in this table allow you to view older Appointment Requests. When you click the View History link, the table that opens would look something like this:

By default, archived Appointment Requests from the last 90 days are displayed. However, you can change the dates to whatever you want. You can click the binoculars to see the details of any original Request.

The Reason column lets you see at a glance the final disposition of that particular Appointment Request. The Reason column will have one of four different icons:

• A green check indicates that this Appointment Request was fulfilled, i.e., the recipient chose an appointment.
• The clock icon means that the Appointment Request timed out before the recipient chose a time.
• The "No" icon means that all of the times sent were claimed by others before the recipient could choose one. This might mean that the therapist booked over the times and/or that other Portal Users did.
• The trash icon means that the request was canceled. It could have been canceled by the therapist or the client.

Manage Duplicate Contacts

What this is The Manage Duplicates tool allows you to edit or delete duplicate contacts that may have inadvertantly been added to your account. What it looks like The Manage Duplicates tool looks like this (dropdown appears after you click the hamburger menu on the top right of the Calendar page):

Where this is The Manage Duplicates tool is accessed by clicking the hamburger menu at the top right corner of the Calendar page. The hamburger menu looks like this:

When you click the Manage Duplicates tool, the window that opens looks like this:

Enter at least two fields to check to see if you have more than one contact with those two values and then click "Search." Assuming you find matches, you'll get a window that looks something like this:

The user had entered two values - a first name of Jake and an email of xyzfake@anyemail.com. The Duplicates tool found 4 matches - 3 of them are for Jake Bonner. If the user had entered a last name of Bonner with the other two values, the tool would have provided this:

Here we can see that all 3 of these entries are for Jake Bonner and that the main difference between them is their portal user status. In one case, the client is a Portal User. In another, the invitation to join the portal has been sent, but the client has yet to respond. The remaining one has not yet received a Portal User invite. If you determine that these are all meant to be one person, you can delete the ones you don't need with this tool. If you're not sure which one you need to keep, you can go to the Charts page and change the last name a bit - like Jake Bonner1, Jake Bonner2, etc. Then, with the Duplicates tool, enter just first name and email and delete the ones you don't need.

There is a similar tool that appears if you're adding a new client or a new Person (Other > Person) and the program detects at least two fields in the new contact that matches an existing contact. You are shown the potential duplicates to ensure the duplications are intended. This tool allows you to add family members who share a last name and email address, e.g., for parents with small children who both want to be notified of all PSYBooks correspondence via a single email address.

Onine Booking Calendar

What this is The PSYBooks Booking Calendar is a powerful tool that lets you offer online scheduling on your terms. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or part of a group practice, it gives you complete control over when, how, and by whom appointments can be booked. You decide which days and times to offer, who can see your calendar, and what types of services are available — all with flexible options for cancellations, exceptions, and more. It’s designed to save time, reduce back-and-forth communication, and give your clients (or anyone you choose) a smooth, professional scheduling experience. What it looks like The last tool on the bottom allows you to add and edit your Booking Calendar:

Where this is You can access the tools to setup or edit your Booking Calendar with the last tool on the Calendar page.

Booking Calendar Setup: Rules & Settings

When you first open the Booking Calendar, it looks like this:

There are two main sections: "Set Up Your Booking Calendar: Rules & Settings" (the part at the top with the white background) and "Customize the Look & Feel of Your Booking Calendar", the green bottom half. Each has numerous tools as part of it, so we'll discuss each below.

The Booking Calendar is divided into two main sections:

• Set Up Your Booking Calendar: Rules & Settings — the upper section with a white background
• Customize the Look & Feel of Your Booking Calendar — the lower section with a green background

Each section contains several tools, so we’ll walk through them one at a time below.

In the top section, you’ll find three functional links on the left:

• Set Booking Page Link
• Availability Setup
• Appointment Policies

On the right side of the top section are the Styling Options, which include:

• Body Styles
• Button Styles
• Footer Styles

The Functional Links

The three functional links on the left look like this:

We'll discuss each one below.

Set Booking Page Link/URL

This link does one thing: it allows you to create the URL you’ll use to let clients book appointments with you.

When you click it, it looks like this:

Notice that there's only one field to fill out - the name at the very end of the https://secure.psybooks.com/booking URL. PSYBooks makes its best initial guess at what you might want by following these rules:

1. If you entered a practice name when you signed up (or later in your Profile), PSYBooks uses that.
2. If there’s no practice name, PSYBooks uses your first, middle, and last name along with your credentials.
3. If a booking URL with that name already exists, PSYBooks adds numbers, starting with 1.

If you don’t like the default, you can change it to anything you feel will be easy for your users to remember. However, once it’s saved and you begin using it, the Booking Page URL cannot be changed.

Availability Setup

The Availability Setup section defines the framework of your schedule. Think of it as creating “containers” for when, where, and how you’re available to meet with clients.

Each Availability combines three parts:

• Set Availabilities – your regular business hours.
• Exceptions – adjustments to those hours, such as holidays or recurring personal events.
• Services – the types of appointments users can book with you.

Together, these determine what users actually see on your public Booking Calendar. Let's take a high level look at each one:

Now that you know the building blocks of Availability Setup, let’s look at how they come together in your Current Availabilities list.

Current Availabilities

Once you create an Availability, it will appear in your Current Availabilities list (inside the Set Availabilities section of Availability Setup):

This list shows all of the Availability “containers” you’ve created so far. From here, you can quickly see what schedules exist and add new ones as needed.

An Availability describes when — and for what — you’re open to booking. Think of it as the backbone of your schedule.

• If your practice is straightforward (for example, one location, one service, and consistent weekly hours), you may only need one Availability.
• If your schedule is more varied — different services on different days, special programs, workshops, or separate telehealth hours — you’ll want to create multiple Availabilities to reflect that complexity.

Don’t assume a group or clinic practice automatically needs more Availabilities than a solo practitioner. The number depends on the variety of schedules, not the number of people in the practice.

Each Availability combines these parts: Name, Location, Dates, Business Hours, Therapist(s), and Services. Since Anne Danner’s new account currently shows no entries in Current Availabilities, let’s create her very first one together.

Adding a New Availability

Clicking Add New Availability opens a form with the five main sections:

• Name for this Availability
• Location for this Availability
• Date(s) for this Availability
• Business Hours
• Therapist(s) and Services

We’ll walk through each section using Anne’s example.

1. Name for this Availability

   This is just for you — clients never see it. Choose a name you’ll recognize later when editing or deleting this Availability.

   Examples include: General Business Hours, Wed Night Grief Group, Telehealth Only.

   • Anne enters: General In Office Business Hours.
   • Other examples she might have entered are things like: Mom's Night Out, Telehealth, In-Person Hours for Blackwood Trace.

2. Location for this Availability

   This dropdown is filled automatically from your Profile. It includes any addresses you listed in your Profile, plus Telehealth.
   • Anne has one office location and Telehealth, so both appear in the list.

     

     Since she's available for either in office and Telehealth appointments, she'll create one Availability for each. Note that if you use Telehealth, set it up as its own Availability (or as your only Availability, if your entire practice is virtual).

   Since Anne offers both in-office and Telehealth appointments, she’ll eventually create one Availability for each. For now, she’s starting with her in-office schedule.

3. Date(s) for this Availability

   An Availability defines when one or more Services can be booked. Every Availability must include at least one Service. Most Availabilities are ongoing and apply to all dates. This is the most common choice for regular clinical schedules.

   However, you can also limit an Availability to specific start and end dates — which is especially useful for time-limited offerings such as workshops, classes, or short-term groups.

   

   For this first Availability, Anne leaves the setting at All dates. Later, she’ll add a separate Availability for a Pickleball Performance Enhancement group. That Availability will use specific start and end dates, because the group runs for a defined series of sessions.

   

4. At this point, Anne's first Availability looks like this:

   

   Next, she needs to set the times when this Availability will occur.

5. Important Distinction: Group Practices vs. Group Sessions

   PSYBooks uses the word group in two different ways, and it’s important not to confuse them.

   • Group / Clinic practices describe who is providing services (multiple clinicians vs. a solo practice).
   • Group sessions describe what is being offered (one clinician meeting with multiple participants at the same time).

   A Note About Group Sessions with Fixed Dates

   Some Services offered within an Availability may be group sessions with different booking rules than individual appointments.

   For example, Anne’s Pickleball Performance Enhancement Group will meet for six sessions total. Because this is a defined series:

   • Clients sign up for the group, not individual dates
   • Enrollment is for the start date only, even if they already know they'll need to miss the first session
   • Clients may miss an individual session and still remain enrolled
   • Anne may require payment for the entire series upfront, rather than per session

6. Business Hours

   Business Hours define the time blocks during which the Services in this Availability can be scheduled.
   • Anne enters: Mon–Fri, 9:00 am–6:00 pm.
   • If she were creating one for a group, she’d enter only that group’s day and time.

7. Therapist(s)

   For Anne’s solo account, this section doesn’t appear. In a group or clinic practice, you would choose All if clinicians share the same schedule, or create separate Availabilities if schedules differ. This select box for a group account might look like this.

   

8. Services

   Services are a required component of every Availability. They define what is offered during the time blocks you’ve just set. If no Services exist yet, click Add Service. Anne clicks Add Service and enters her first service: Psychotherapy, 50 minutes. She sets the Fee, Length (50 minutes), Setup (10 minutes), and Cleanup (5 minutes). PSYBooks calculates this as a 65-minute block, so if Anne starts at 1:00 pm, her next opening shows at 2:05 pm.

   Services also allow:

   • Groups (max participants, pricing, billing terms).
   • Description (client-facing, the most important field).
   • Confirm message (optional; nice for telehealth instructions).
   • Category (e.g., Psychotherapy, Coaching; optional).
   • When can this service be booked? (either Any available time or specific dates/times).

• Edit or Remove Availabilities

  Before editing an Availability, it’s important to remember how Exceptions work.

  Exceptions—such as Holidays, Other Exceptions, and Out of Office—carve time out of your Availability schedule. If something isn’t showing the way you expect, it’s usually best to check Exceptions first.

  Where Exceptions are managed:

  • Holidays and Other Exceptions – created/edited from the Availability Calendar.
  • Out of Office Exceptions – created/edited from your regular calendar (Add Appointment → Out of Office).

  Once your Exceptions look right, you can edit or remove the Availability itself using either method below.

  Option 1: Edit Directly from the Calendar (Visual, Card-Based)

  When you click an Availability block on the calendar, an Availability card opens showing its details. Each Availability card includes three tools:

  1. Open your calendar and click Show availability to display your Availability Calendar:

     

     When the Availability Calendar opens, it might look something like this:

     

     In this example, the practice is available Monday–Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, with an earlier end time on Friday (noon).

     Each of the green Availability Blocks represents one or more individual Availabilities. When you click a block, one or more Availability Cards “pop out”—one card for each Availability that makes up that block.

     

     Each Availability card includes three tools:

     Availability Card Tools

     • View – Opens the Availability in a read-only format. This displays all Availability details—such as dates, times, locations, providers, and services—but does not allow changes.

       Use View when you want to:

       1. Confirm details without editing
       2. Double-check dates, times, or services
       3. Safely review an Availability before making changes

       (img here)

     • Edit – Opens the full Availability form, allowing you to update dates, times, services, locations, and other settings.
     • Delete – removes the Availability entirely.

     Working with Availability Cards

     On smaller screens—or when clicking near the edge of the calendar—the card stack opens close to your click point so it stays readable. The cards are also draggable, making it easy to move them out of the way while you decide which one to work on.

     If you don’t see an expected opening after editing, try toggling Show / Hide Availability or refreshing the page. This forces the calendar to redraw and apply any active Exceptions.

  Option 2: Edit from Booking Calendar (Structured, List-Based)

  Go to Booking Calendar Setup → Availability Setup → Set Availabilities. In Your Current Availabilities, locate the Availability you want to change. Each entry appears as a single-line summary showing key details such as location, date range, days, times, provider, and services.

  

  Each Availability in the list includes the same three tools described in Option 1:

  1. View – Opens the Availability in read-only mode (see Option 1 for details)
  2. Edit – Opens the full Availability form for changes
  3. Delete – Removes the Availability entirely

  This path is ideal when you:

  1. Prefer a structured list view
  2. Want to scan or compare multiple Availabilities at once
  3. Are working outside the calendar itself

  In summary, both options for editing Availabilities have the same tools. The one you choose is a matter of personal preference.

• Exceptions

  Once you’ve defined your general Availabilities and Services, the next step is to fine-tune when you’re not available. That’s where Exceptions come in.

  Exceptions temporarily override your normal business hours — without deleting or changing them — ensuring your Booking Calendar always reflects your real-world schedule. You might use them for standard holidays, recurring personal dates, or one-off situations like an unexpected day off.

  PSYBooks supports three types of Exceptions, each designed for a different kind of scheduling need:

  1. Holidays — pre-defined, commonly observed dates.
  2. Other Exceptions — Personal or professional dates that repeat each year.
  3. Out of Office — One-time or short-notice absences managed directly from your calendar.

  Each type builds on your base Availabilities, giving you flexibility and control—even when plans change.

• Holidays

  Holidays are pre-defined calendar events (such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Memorial Day) that you typically observe.

  Best for: National or widely-recognized dates when your office will be closed.

  1. Holidays come pre-loaded; just select the ones you want to apply.
  2. If you decide to work on a holiday, you can uncheck it at any time.
  3. Selected holidays automatically block availability on your Booking Calendar.

• Other Exceptions

  Other Exceptions are recurring personal or practice-specific dates that you know you’ll want off every year—such as birthdays, anniversaries, or religious observances.

  Best for: Recurring personal or practice-specific dates that you plan to take off annually.

  1. You can add as many as you need.
  2. These exceptions repeat automatically each year, so you don’t have to re-enter them.
  3. They can be edited or deleted at any time.

• Out of Office

  Out of Office Exceptions are designed for quick, flexible changes to your schedule—such as a sick day, vacation, or a temporary break in your day.

  Unlike Holidays or Other Exceptions (which are edited from the Availability Calendar), Out of Office Exceptions are created and managed directly from your regular calendar. This makes them fast and familiar to use, since they behave much like appointments.

  Creating Out of Office Exceptions

  From your regular PSYBooks calendar, click Add Appointment, then select Out of Office in the Booking Calendar row:

  

  When it opens, the Out of Office form looks like this:

  

  With the Out of Office form, you can:

  • Name and describe the exception (optional, but helpful)
  • Choose the date, date range, or timeframe it applies to.
  • Specify whether it applies all day or only during certain hours
  • Select how often it applies (Current year, Every year, or a custom range)
  • Optionally allow PSYBooks to automatically cancel affected appointments, so you don’t have to track them down manually.

  Once saved, the blocked time appears on your calendar as an Out of Office entry—clearly visible and visually distinct from regular appointments.

  

  Viewing, Editing, and Hiding Exceptions

  Out of Office entries behave like appointments:

  • Clicking one opens a detail view where you can edit or delete it
  • Any changes take effect immediately, preventing new bookings during that time
  • Cancellations and updates can be handled from the same screen

  If your calendar becomes visually crowded, you can temporarily hide these entries using the Show / Hide Exceptions control. Hiding exceptions does not remove them—it simply makes the calendar easier to read while you work.

  

  Because Out of Office entries are stored directly on your regular calendar:

  • They can be edited or deleted just like any other appointment.
  • Any changes take effect immediately on your Availability Calendar, automatically preventing bookings during those times.
  • You can handle cancellations directly from the same screen, ensuring no double-booking or client confusion.

  As stated above, clicking the Out of Office appointment allows you to edit or delete it just like you would any other appointment:

  

  Choosing the Right Exception Type

  The chart below summarizes the differences between Holidays, Other Exceptions, and Out of Office entries to help you decide which option fits your needs best.

  Exception Type	Created / Edited From	Repeats Automatically	Best For	Editing & Deleting	Special Features
  Holidays	Availability Calendar	✅ Every Year	Practice-wide holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving, July 4)	Managed from the Availability Calendar	Applies automatically each year; visible to all relevant staff
  Other Exceptions	Availability Calendar	✅ Every Year	Recurring personal/practice dates (birthdays, anniversaries, religious observances)	Managed from the Availability Calendar	Repeats annually without re-entry; easy to edit or delete
  Out of Office Exceptions	Regular Calendar (via Add Appointment)	⚙️ Optional (choose date, range, or “Every year”)	One-time or flexible absences (vacations, breaks, last-minute changes)	Managed directly from the Regular Calendar	Editable like appointments; can auto-cancel affected sessions; “Hide Out of Office” toggle reduces clutter

  Exceptions are designed to be flexible and reversible. You can adjust them at any time—without risking your underlying Availabilities—so your calendar stays accurate, professional, and stress-free.

• Services

  Services define what your clients can book with you. They appear directly on your public Booking Calendar, so clear names, accurate durations, and helpful descriptions are essential for a smooth booking experience—for both you and your clients.

  When you open the Add Services form, it looks like this:

  

Fields on the Add Service Form

• Name of service

  This is client-facing, so keep it simple and professional (avoid insurance jargon). Examples are:

  • Psychotherapy (50 minutes)
  • Initial Assessment
  • Couples Session
  • Group Therapy.
• Fee

  Optional, but if you plan to collect payment during booking, a fee must be entered here.

• Length, Setup, and Cleanup

  Together, these fields determine how much total time PSYBooks blocks on your calendar.

  • Example 1: 50-minute session + 10 min setup + 5 min cleanup = 65 minutes blocked
  • Example 2: 90-minute group + 30 setup + 20 cleanup = 140 minutes blocked
  • Example 3: 20-minute check-in + 0 setup + 5 cleanup = 25 minutes blocked

  Using setup and cleanup time helps prevent back-to-back scheduling and gives you realistic buffers between appointments.

Is this a group?

• Check this box if the service is a group offering. Group services unlock additional options such as participant limits, pricing structure, and billing behavior.

Service description

• This is one of the most important fields. Clients see this description when choosing what to book.

Confirm message

• Optional. This appears immediately after a client books. It’s a great place to include:
  • Telehealth links
  • Office directions
  • Intake reminders
  • What to expect next

Category

• Optional. Categories help organize your services when you offer more than a few (e.g., Psychotherapy, Testing, Coaching).

When can this service be booked?

• During any available time — most common
• Only on the following times — useful for workshops, classes, or limited-hour offerings

Once saved, each Service becomes part of your Booking Calendar’s foundation. Services are then tied to one or more Availabilities, allowing clients to see exactly when and how that service can be scheduled.

Best Practices for Creating Services

• Keep names consistent.

  Use a clear, recognizable format like “Psychotherapy (50 minutes)” rather than “Session 1” or “Short Visit.” This helps both you and your clients stay oriented.

• Use plain language.

  Clients don’t need to see “CPT 90837.” Say what the session is, not how it’s billed.

• Include setup and cleanup time.

  Even 5–10 minutes between appointments helps prevent overlap and burnout.

• Write strong descriptions.

  Use the Description field to clarify who the service is for, what’s included, and how to prepare.

• Leverage categories.

  Grouping related services (e.g., “Therapy,” “Testing,” “Coaching”) keeps your offerings neat and intuitive.

• Add confirm messages for clarity.

  They’re a simple way to provide telehealth links, office directions, or first-session details automatically.

• Review durations regularly.

  If you adjust session lengths or workflows, update your Services so your calendar always reflects your real availability.

• Appointment Policies

  Your Appointment Policies define the rules for how clients can book, cancel, and manage appointments through your Booking Calendar. Think of these settings as your built-in office policies — they control who can book, how far in advance appointments may be scheduled, how cancellations are handled, and what additional information you’d like to collect at booking.

  These settings fall into three categories:

  1. Booking Preferences — How and when appointments can be scheduled
  2. Cancellation Preferences — Who can cancel and under what conditions
  3. Additional Booking Preferences — Extra details you want to request or customize

  Once saved, these rules apply automatically every time someone schedules through your Booking Calendar.

  Booking Preferences

  Booking Preferences set the boundaries for how appointments are requested.

  • Who can schedule appointments?

    This setting determines who is allowed to request appointments through your Booking Calendar.

    You have three options:

    • All

      Anyone with your booking link can request an appointment.

    • No one

      Temporarily disables online booking (helpful when you’re updating your calendar or not accepting new clients).

    • Only the categories I choose below

      Lets you control access more precisely.

    When you choose this third option, additional categories appear:

    • General public
    • Active clients
    • Archived clients
    • Admin staff
    • Other subscribers in my office

    

    You can select any combination of these categories. If all categories are checked, this option behaves the same as choosing All. The real benefit is selective access — for example, allowing only active clients to book while preventing new or archived clients from scheduling.

  • When can appointments start?

    This setting controls which start times are available on your Booking Calendar — for example, only on the hour, only on the half hour, both, or every 15 minutes.

    

    Important: This setting does not control how long an appointment lasts. Appointment length is determined when you create your Services.

    How this works in practice

    Let’s say you’ve created a 15-minute Med Check service with no Setup or Cleanup time, and you’re available from 3:00 to 4:00 on a given day:

    Your selection here determines which start times appear:

    • Only on the hour

      clients can book at 3:00 only.

    • Only on the half hour

      they can book at 3:30 only.

    • On the hour or half hour

      they can book at 3:00 or 3:30.

    • Every 15 minutes

      they can book at 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, or 3:45.

    Creating space between appointments

    This setting simply controls when appointments may begin — not how tightly they’re scheduled.

    If you want built-in breathing room between sessions, add it directly to the Service by using Setup and/or Cleanup time. That way, your calendar remains accurate without restricting start times more than necessary.

  • What's the minimum amount of notice before someone can book an appointment.

    This setting defines how much advance notice you require before someone can book an appointment through your Booking Calendar. It helps prevent last-minute scheduling surprises and gives you time to prepare, review records, or adjust your day if needed.

    The available options are:

    • At least 1 hour
    • At least 2 hours
    • At least 4 hours
    • At least 8 hours
    • At least 12 hours
    • At least 1 day
    • At least 2 days
    • At least 1 week

    

    How this works

    The minimum notice is calculated from the current time, not from the start of the day. For example:

    • If it’s Tuesday at 10:00 AM and your minimum notice is 4 hours, the earliest available booking time would be 2:00 PM.
    • If your minimum notice is 1 day, clients won’t see any times available until tomorrow.
    • If your minimum notice is 1 week, only appointments at least seven days out will appear as bookable.

    This rule applies automatically to all online bookings, regardless of service type.

  Best practices

  • Use shorter notice (1–4 hours) if you offer same-day check-ins or urgent visits.
  • Use longer notice (1–2 days or more) if you need preparation time or want to protect your schedule.

  Pair this setting with Setup and Cleanup time in Services for the most realistic calendar flow.

  Once saved, this policy works behind the scenes to ensure your Booking Calendar reflects the lead time you actually need — without requiring manual oversight.

  • Appointment confirmation.

    This rule controls whether appointments are confirmed automatically or require your approval after a client submits a booking request.

    Important: This setting appears only for Individual and GOI accounts. In Group/Clinic accounts, all booking requests are always sent to the practice owner for review, approval, modification, or rejection — so this option is not shown.

    When you’re using an Individual or GOI account, the Appointment Confirmation section looks like this:

    

    Confirmation Options

    You can choose one of the following:

    • Automatically, as soon as they're requested
    • Manually - I'll review and approve each one

    Regardless of which confirmation method you choose, you’ll always be notified when someone submits a booking request.

  Best practices

  • Choose automatic confirmation if you want frictionless scheduling and trust your availability rules.

  • Choose manual confirmation if you need to screen requests, coordinate care, or protect certain time blocks.

  Once saved, this setting applies to all future bookings made through your calendar.

  Cancellation Preferences

  • These settings control who can cancel appointments and what happens when they do. When you first open this section, you’ll see this:

    

    Who can cancel?

    • All – anyone can cancel their own bookings.
    • No one (default) – only you or your staff can cancel.
    • Only the categories I choose below – Limit cancellations to specific groups (e.g., Active clients, Admin staff).

    If you select All or Only the categories I choose below, an additional option appears:

    

    Would you like to allow users to cancel via their Portal?

    This setting controls whether clients can cancel their own appointments from their Portal.

    

    • No (default) – Users cannot cancel appointments through the Portal. If they need to cancel, they must contact you directly using another method.
    • Yes – Users can cancel appointments directly from their Portal. You’ll receive a notification each time a cancellation occurs.

    Allowing Portal cancellations gives clients flexibility while still keeping you informed in real time.

    Cancellation reminder for last-minute changes

    If Portal cancellations are enabled, you can optionally display a reminder when a user tries to cancel close to the appointment time.

    Would you like us to remind users of your cancellation policy if they attempt to cancel too close to their appointment?

    

    • No (default)

      No reminder is shown.

    • Yes

      Choose when the reminder appears (48 hours, 24 hours, 4 hours, or 1 hour before the appointment), and enter the message users will see.

    Users can still cancel after seeing the reminder, but this prompt often reduces last-minute cancellations and helps set clear expectations.

    Example reminder text:

    “Our cancellation window is 24 hours. Cancellations inside 24 hours may be charged a fee as outlined in our practice policies.”

    Now you’ve defined the core rules for who can cancel and how close to the appointment cancellations are allowed.

    The next section, Additional Booking Preferences, lets you fine-tune how your calendar works behind the scenes — including notifications, client information, and additional booking conditions that help your scheduling run smoothly and automatically.

    Additional Booking Preferences

    This section lets you fine-tune what happens during and after the booking process.

    Notifications for incomplete bookings:

    Sometimes users start booking an appointment but don’t finish — they may get interrupted, close the browser, or decide not to proceed. This setting lets you choose whether (and when) you’d like to be notified about those incomplete booking attempts.:

    

    The options are:

    • Yes, for all incomplete bookings

      You’ll receive a notification each time someone begins a booking but doesn’t complete it.

    • No (default)

      No notifications are sent for unfinished bookings.

    These notifications can be helpful if you want visibility into potential scheduling issues or want to follow up with clients who may have run into trouble. If you prefer fewer alerts, leaving this set to No keeps your inbox quieter while still allowing bookings to function normally.

    Collecting Additional Information

    When a new user books with you for the first time, PSYBooks automatically collects the essentials — name, email address, and time zone — so you know who they are and when they’re available. You can also choose to gather additional information that may streamline scheduling, billing, or clinical workflows.

    Check the boxes for the items you want:

    

    • Birthday

      Essential if you file insurance or plan to provide a superbill. It can also help verify age or add a personal touch, like sending birthday greetings.

    • Credit Card Information

      Required if you plan to accept payment at the time of booking. Collecting this information at booking can save time and streamline your billing process.

    • Insurance Information

      Collect this if you plan to efile or if you want to prepare superbills for your clientsRecommended if you plan to eFile or prepare superbills for your clients.

    You can select any combination of these options — or none at all — depending on how you prefer to run your practice and billing.

    Session Attendance — Who and How Many

    The Session Attendance — Who and How Many section lets you control who may attend a session together and whether multiple people are allowed in a single booking. These settings determine whether your Booking Calendar supports only individual appointments or also allows couples, families, or other multi-person sessions.

    By default, this setting is No, meaning sessions are limited to a single individual.

    If you’d like to allow more than one person to attend a session, select Yes next to “Do you want to allow more than one individual to attend the appointment?” When enabled, additional options appear that let you define which types of relationships may be included in the same session.

    

    For example, some clinicians may allow sessions with:

    • A spouse or partner

    • A parent and child

    • Multiple family members

    Others may choose to limit multi-person sessions to very specific relationships. You can select as many options as apply to your practice.

    These choices directly control what users see during scheduling, ensuring that appointments align with your clinical boundaries, comfort level, and practice policies.

    Together, these settings give you flexibility to support individual, couple, family, or group-style sessions — while maintaining full control over how and when multi-person appointments can be booked.

    Collecting Fees When Booking

    The Collecting Fees When Booking setting lets you decide whether PSYBooks should process payment at the time an appointment is scheduled.

    If you select Yes beside “Would you like us to collect your fees when booking?”, PSYBooks will collect the user’s credit card information during scheduling.

    Note: A connected Stripe account is required. Stripe securely processes payments and deposits funds directly into your bank account.

    How and when the card is charged depends on your appointment confirmation settings:

    • Automatic booking approval (available in Individual and GOI accounts):

      The user’s card is charged immediately when the booking is submitted.

    • Manual approval required:

      The card is charged only after you review and approve the appointment.

    Once you select Yes, an additional option appears asking how much you’d like to collect at booking time:

    How much to collect

    

    You can choose:

    • The entire fee of the service they’re booking

      Charges the full session amount when the appointment is confirmed.

    • Another amount

      Allows you to collect a specific amount (such as a deposit) at booking, with the remaining balance due later.

    If you select No, users can book appointments without paying during scheduling. You can then collect payment separately — for example, through invoices, client checkout, or in-session processing.

    Providing Directions for Users Booking Appointments

    Provide optional written directions for both Telehealth and In-Office appointments. These directions appear automatically when clients book and are included in their confirmation details.

    The Provide Directions section lets you share clear, practical instructions that help users know exactly what to expect. This is especially useful for telehealth sessions and for first-time in-office visits:

    

    If you’d like to include directions, check one or both of the following options:

    • Telehealth appointments

      Use this field to enter instructions for online sessions. You might include information such as how to access your video link, what device to use, or any steps to take before the session begins.

    • In-office appointments

      Use this field to enter directions for clients coming to your physical location. This is a good place for parking information, suite numbers, building access notes, or arrival instructions (for example, “Please wait in the reception area until your appointment time.”)

    The text you enter will be displayed to users during the booking process and again in their confirmation details.

    This setting gives you a convenient way to communicate key details proactively—helping reduce confusion, no-shows, and “Where do I go?” messages from new users.

    Providing directions upfront helps reduce confusion, no-shows, and last-minute “Where do I go?” messages—making the booking experience smoother for both you and your clients.

    Clinician Profiles on the Booking Page

    Once your appointment and location details are set, you can customize how you and your team appear on the booking page.

    The Clinician Profiles section lets you control how your information — or your staff’s information — appears on your public Booking Calendar. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or part of a group, this is where you personalize the details users see when choosing whom to book with.

    Each clinician listed in your account will appear in this section. To make updates, check the box beside the practitioner’s name and edit the fields provided.

    

    You can:

    • Upload a staff image

      Click Choose File to upload a photo or logo for the practitioner. If you prefer not to display an image, you can leave this blank.

    • Select an image shape

      Choose whether you’d like the image to display as a rectangle or circle. This allows you to match the look of your practice branding or personal preference.

    • Add focus areas or specialties

      Provide a few key areas of practice (about 10 words or fewer), such as Trauma, EMDR, or Couples Work. These appear as brief highlights to help users identify the right fit.

    • Add a short description

      Use this optional field (up to about 100 words) to describe the clinician’s background, training, or approach. This is your opportunity to share your style, philosophy, or areas of focus in your own words.

    Changes made here are saved along with the rest of your Booking Calendar settings. Depending on your setup, updates may appear immediately on your live site or after you save the entire form.

    This section ensures that your Booking Calendar accurately reflects the tone and professionalism of your practice — whether that means highlighting a full team or simply presenting your own credentials in a way that feels personal and inviting.

    Tip: Clinician profiles typically only need to be set up once, but you can update them at any time. If you’re testing your Booking Calendar, try booking a mock appointment through your public link to confirm everything appears and behaves as expected.

  • Styling Options (Look & Feel)

    Now that you’ve completed all of the functional setup tools — including setting your Booking Link, Availabilities, and Appointment Policies — the next step is to customize how your Booking Calendar looks to clients.

    The Styling Options are located on the right side of the top section and control the visual presentation of your public Booking Calendar. These tools do not affect scheduling logic or booking rules. Instead, they let you adjust colors, fonts, and layout details so your calendar aligns with your practice’s branding and feels cohesive with the rest of your website.

    The Styling Options include three tools:

    • Body Styles

      Controls background colors, fonts, and overall text appearance

    • Button Styles

      Controls the look of action buttons (such as Book, Continue, or Submit)

    • Footer Styles

      Controls the appearance of the footer area shown at the bottom of the booking page

    Together, these tools affect what users see in the live preview area below and on your actual public Booking Calendar page.

    We’ll walk through each styling option below, starting with Body Styles.

    

    You can customize three main areas:

    1. Body Styles

       Body Styles control the overall look and readability of your Booking Calendar. These settings affect the main background and text that clients see when they visit your booking page, making them an important foundation for your calendar’s appearance.

       

       When you click Body Styles, you’ll see the following options:

       Background Color

       Choose the background color for the main booking page.

       • You can select a color directly from the preset swatches, or
       • Enter a specific hex color code if you want to match your website or brand colors exactly.

       This background appears behind all booking content, so lighter, neutral colors tend to work best for readability.

       Font

       Select the font used throughout the Booking Calendar body text.

       • Default is designed to be clean, professional, and easy to read across devices.
       • You can preview alternatives by clicking View Sample Fonts before making a selection.

       Changing the font here updates the overall tone of the page, from more traditional to more modern.

       Font Size

       • Adjust the base text size used across the booking page.
       • A size of 14 is the default and works well for most practices.

       Increasing the font size can improve accessibility and readability, especially for clients viewing the calendar on smaller screens.

       Font Color

       Choose the primary text color for your Booking Calendar.

       • As with background color, you can select from the swatches or enter a hex code.
       • For best contrast and accessibility, darker text on a light background is recommended.

       Saving Your Changes

       Changes you make here are reflected immediately in the live preview of your Booking Calendar. Once you’re satisfied, click Save to apply them.

       Tip: If you’re unsure where to start, keep the background light, text dark, and font size at the default. You can always come back and refine these settings later.

    1. Button Styles

       Button Styles control how action buttons appear on your Booking Calendar — including buttons like Book, Next, Save, and Confirm. These are some of the most important visual elements on the page, since they guide users through the booking process.

       

       Most of the options here work the same way as Body Styles, but apply specifically to buttons instead of page text.

       Button Background Color

       Choose the color used for all buttons.

       • Select from the color swatches, or
       • Enter a hex code to match your website or brand colors.

       For best usability, choose a color that clearly stands out from the page background.

       Button Font, Size, and Color

       These settings control how text appears inside buttons.

       • Font – Defaults to a clean, readable style that matches the rest of the calendar.
       • Font Size – 14 works well for most practices.
       • Font Color – Make sure there’s strong contrast between the text and the button background.

       Button Shape

       Choose how your buttons are styled visually:

       • Rectangle – A more traditional, squared-off look
       • Rounded Corner – A softer, more modern appearance (default)

       Saving Your Changes

       As with Body Styles, changes appear immediately in the live preview. Click Save to apply them.

       Tip: If you’re unsure what to choose, stick with the default rounded buttons and pick a background color that matches your site’s primary accent color.

    1. Footer Styles

       Footer Styles control the appearance of the footer area at the bottom of your public Booking Calendar. This area typically contains small, informational text and is meant to be present but unobtrusive.

       Like Body Styles and Button Styles, these settings update the live preview as you make changes.

       

       Footer Background Color

       Choose the background color for the footer area.

       • Select from the color swatches, or
       • Enter a hex code to match your branding.

       Most practices choose a subtle or neutral color so the footer doesn’t compete with booking content.

       Footer Font, Size, and Color

       These settings control how text appears in the footer.

       • Font – Defaults to the same font used elsewhere on the calendar for consistency.
       • Font Size – The default smaller size (often 9) keeps footer text readable without drawing attention away from booking actions.
       • Font Color – Choose a color with enough contrast to remain legible against the footer background.

       Saving Your Changes

       As with the other styling tools, changes appear immediately in the preview. Click Save to apply them.

       Tip: Footer styles work best when they’re subtle. Clear contrast and simple colors help keep the focus on scheduling — not the fine print.

    1. Booking Page Identity

       The following video illustrates how to customize your logo:

       The Booking Page Identity section lets you define who your Booking Calendar represents. While the Styling Options control colors, fonts, and layout, this section focuses on the information that helps users recognize your practice and feel confident they’re in the right place.

       Here you’ll customize the visible identifiers that appear on your public Booking Calendar — such as your logo, practice or provider name, and footer text. These elements work together to reinforce your professional identity and create a consistent, welcoming experience for clients as they schedule appointments.

       Changes made in this section update the live preview, allowing you to see exactly how your Booking Calendar will appear before you publish or share the link.

    1. Logo

       Located in the top left corner of your Booking Page, the logo serves as the visual anchor for your calendar. You may keep the default PSYBooks image or upload your own custom image.

       

       Most practices choose to upload a practice logo, clinician photo, or a brand-aligned image such as an office photo, nature scene, or calming graphic. As soon as you upload an image, the preview updates instantly so you can see exactly how it will appear to users.

       Cropping and Positioning Your Logo

       After you upload an image, PSYBooks opens a built-in image editor (Croppie) to help you fine-tune how your logo displays. This ensures your image looks polished and professional, regardless of its original size or proportions.

       Using the cropping tool, you can:

       • Drag the image to reposition it within the frame
       • Zoom in or out to adjust the size
       • Ensure the most important part of the image stays visible

       The cropping frame represents exactly what will appear on your Booking Page. Nothing outside the frame will be shown.

       Once you’re satisfied with the placement, simply save your changes. If you ever want to adjust the image later, you can reopen the editor and refine it at any time.

       Tips for Best Results

       
       

       • Use a simple, uncluttered image for best visual balance
       • Logos with transparent backgrounds work well but are not required
       • If text is included in your logo, make sure it remains readable at smaller sizes

       Your logo helps set the tone for your Booking Page and gives users immediate visual reassurance that they’re in the right place.

    2. Name of Practice / Provider

       

       Displayed prominently near the center of your Booking Page, this name identifies who the calendar belongs to and helps users confirm they’re booking with the correct practice or provider.

       

       By default, the name is pulled directly from your PSYBooks profile. You can edit the text here if you prefer a different display name — for example, showing your practice name (“Dragonfly Cove Psychotherapy”) instead of an individual provider name (“Anne Danner, LPC”), or vice versa.

       Any changes you make are reflected immediately in the live preview, so you can experiment with wording and formatting until it feels just right.

       Tips

       • Solo practitioners often choose either their full professional name or a practice name, depending on how they market their services
       • Group practices typically use the practice name, with individual clinicians shown below in the Provider Preview section
       • This setting affects display only and does not change your legal or billing information elsewhere in PSYBooks

       This name, together with your logo, forms the primary identity of your Booking Page — giving clients a clear, professional first impression before they choose an appointment.

    3. Footer

       

       The Footer appears at the bottom of your Booking Page and gives you a simple way to share additional information with users.

       You’ll see three editable fields that you can use however you like. Many practices enter contact details such as a name, phone number, and email address, but you’re not limited to those. You may leave any or all fields blank for a cleaner look, or use the space for something else entirely — such as a brief note or favorite short quote.

       

       As with the rest of the Booking Page, changes appear instantly in the live preview.

       Tip: In group practices, owners often include a shared office phone number or administrative email rather than individual clinician contact information.

    4. Provider Display (Preview Area)

       The white preview area in the center of the page shows exactly what users will see when choosing a provider or service on your Booking Calendar.

       For solo practices, this section displays your name, location(s), and available services.

       

       For group practices, the owner can choose which clinicians appear by checking or unchecking them in the list. Each provider may also have a profile photo displayed next to their name. Photos can be uploaded either by the practice owner or by the individual provider. If no image is uploaded, the space is simply left blank.

       This area also lists each provider’s available locations and services exactly as defined in Availability Setup, ensuring that what users see here always matches your scheduling rules.

       Group Practice: “First Available” Booking

       Group practices have an additional option in the preview area. Because all group booking requests are sent to the Master Clinical provider (MC) for approval, some users may prefer to book the first available appointment rather than selecting a specific provider.

       

       When this option is available, users are prompted to provide a bit more information, including:

       • Which location they prefer (including Telehealth, if offered)
       • Which service they are requesting
       • Optional additional notes (for example, therapist preferences or limited availability such as weekends only)

       All of this information is sent to the Master Clinical subscriber to help them match the request as accurately and efficiently as possible.

       Tip: Use professional, friendly headshots whenever possible. Clients often feel more comfortable booking when they can put a face with a name.

       Group practices have an additional features in the Preview area. Since all group practice requests go to the MC (group owner) to pprove or reject, some users may just wish to book the First available appointment. In such cases, the user may need to give a bit more info, i.e., which Location they want to use (including Telehealth, if offered) and which Service. The form we provide for that gives those things and also a textarea where the user can provide additional info (e.g., maybe they prefer a certain therapist or maybe they can ONLY come on weekends). This info is all sent to the MC to help them best satisfy this customer.

       

       Tip: Use professional, friendly headshots — clients often feel more comfortable when they can put a face with the name.

       In summary: The Customize the Look & Feel section is your opportunity to make your Booking Calendar reflect your professional personality. Every change is visible instantly, so you can experiment until it feels just right.

  What Happens When Someone Books

  Once a user begins scheduling through your Booking Calendar, PSYBooks guides both the user and the therapist through a clear, structured process designed to reduce confusion, prevent errors, and keep everyone informed at each step.

  What happens next depends on your Booking Calendar settings — including whether appointments are confirmed automatically or require manual approval, whether payment is collected at booking, and which notifications you’ve enabled. Some steps happen immediately, while others occur behind the scenes.

  In the sections below, we’ll walk through the experience from both perspectives:

  • What Users See — the screens, confirmations, and messages clients encounter as they schedule.
  • What Therapists See — how booking requests, confirmations, and follow-up actions appear inside PSYBooks.

  Together, these views help you understand exactly how information flows from the moment someone clicks “Book” to when an appointment is confirmed, pending, or declined.

  What Users See

  After a user finishes booking, PSYBooks takes them to their Portal Calendar, where they can immediately confirm the appointment is on the schedule.

  Confirmed vs. Pending appointments

  How the appointment looks depends on whether the therapist has Automatic Approval turned on in their Appointment Policies:

  • Automatically approved (solid color): If the therapist is set to auto-accept bookings, the appointment displays as a solid green block on the Portal calendar.

    

  • Pending approval (striped): If the therapist reviews bookings manually, the appointment displays as striped to show it’s pending approval.

    

  This gives users quick visual confirmation of whether their appointment is fully confirmed or still awaiting therapist approval. If the therapist DOES accept the appointment, the striped block will turn solid. Notice also, that the user's portal also has a large "Book Now" button that allows them to book any time from their portal, without having to go to the therapist's website for the link to the Booking Calendar and without having to sign in again.

  What Therapists See

  When a client schedules an appointment through your Booking Calendar, the request appears directly on your calendar. What happens next depends on whether you enabled Automatic Booking Approval in the Appointment Policies.

  Pending Booking Requests

  If Automatic Booking Approval is not enabled, new appointments appear on your calendar as green striped blocks, just like what your users see, indicating that the request is pending your review.

  To review a pending request, simply click the striped appointment on your calendar. This opens the Accept Booking Request window, which shows all of the key details at a glance, including:

  • Client name
  • Date and time
  • Service selected
  • Location (in-office or telehealth)
  • Session length and fee

  It looks like this:

  

  At this point, you can choose to Accept or Reject the request.

  When you click Accept, you’re taken to a second screen where you can confirm or adjust important details before finalizing the appointment. This includes:

  • Assigning the therapist (for group practices)
  • Confirming or changing the service or location
  • Verifying the date and time

  

  Once accepted:

  • The appointment becomes a solid green block on your calendar
  • The appointment also becomes solid on the client’s portal calendar
  • The client is automatically notified by email
  • Any applicable appointment reminders you’ve configured begin their normal delivery process

  This ensures that both you and the client are fully aligned and notified the moment the appointment is confirmed.

  Rejecting a Booking Request

  If you choose Reject, an additional area opens that allows you to write a message to the client explaining why the request wasn’t accepted or providing next steps:

  

  When a booking request is rejected:

  • The pending appointment is removed from both calendars
  • The client is notified that the request was not accepted. Your optional message is included in the notification, helping keep communication clear and professional:

    

  This gives you full control to manage your schedule while still offering thoughtful, transparent communication to clients.

  When Fees Are Collected at Booking

  If you’ve chosen to collect fees at the time of booking, that information is immediately available to you when a client schedules an appointment.

  When a booking request is submitted:

  • You receive an email notification indicating that payment information was collected
  • The payment appears in the client’s chart under Sessions & Payments
  • The appointment remains pending or confirmed based on your approval settings — payment collection does not bypass your control

  Once you accept the appointment (or immediately, if Automatic Booking Approval is enabled), the payment is processed according to your settings.

  If you need to issue a refund for any reason, you can do so directly from the Sessions & Payments tab in the client’s chart using the built-in Refund Tool. This allows you to handle changes or exceptions without leaving PSYBooks. The Refund Tool will correctly change s the balance and refunds the money from your Stripe account.