Couples & Families
Seeing a couple or a family together? Book one session with everyone in the room. Each person keeps their own chart and their own private portal - the session is the only thing they share.
Linking Clients
Section titled “Linking Clients”Relationships connect two clients in your caseload, so HIPAAtherapy knows who belongs together when you book a session or send a form.
To link two clients:
- Open a client’s profile and find Relationships in the Contact Information section
- Click Add relationship
- Pick what the other person is to this client - Spouse, Parent, or Child
- Select the client to link and click Link
The link shows up on both charts - add a spouse from one partner’s profile and it appears on the other’s too. To remove a link, click the × on its chip.
Tips:
- Both people need to be active clients of yours. If a partner isn’t in your caseload yet, add them as a client first.
- Each client can have one spouse. Parents and children aren’t limited - a child can have two parents linked, and a parent any number of children.
Booking a Couples or Family Session
Section titled “Booking a Couples or Family Session”The Client field on the session form takes more than one person. Add everyone who’ll be in the room:
- Open a client’s profile and click New Session (or create one from your calendar)
- In the Client field, add the other people attending - linked relatives appear at the top of the list
- Set the time, duration, and session type as usual, and save
The first client is the billed primary - more on that below. The session shows everyone else under Also attending on its details page, and it appears on every attendee’s chart, not just the primary’s. Every attendee also sees it in their own client portal, where they can join the video meeting or cancel.
Recurring sessions carry the roster forward: set a couples session to repeat and every session in the series includes both partners.
Who Gets Billed
Section titled “Who Gets Billed”A session has one billed client - the primary, listed first in the Client field. One charge, one claim, one clinical note on the primary’s chart, which is how payers expect couples and family therapy to be billed.
Once a session has a payment or a claim, the billed client is locked. You can still add or remove other attendees, but the primary can’t change - that would redirect money or a submitted claim to a different person.
Write the session note as usual - it lives on the billed primary’s chart. Anything you write about one partner individually stays on that partner’s own chart.
Sending a Form to Everyone
Section titled “Sending a Form to Everyone”From a session’s details page, click Send form and pick a form. Every attendee gets their own private copy in their portal - handy for sending both partners a Couples Intake or a consent form in one click.
Each response lands in that person’s own record; partners never see each other’s answers. See Forms for how form delivery and the portal work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Section titled “Frequently Asked Questions”Can I bill each attendee separately? Not today. A session has one billed client. If you run group therapy and need a claim per participant, that’s on our radar but not built yet.
Do session reminders go to everyone? Reminders currently go to the billed primary. Other attendees see the session in their portal but don’t receive reminder emails yet.
What happens if I unlink a couple? Nothing changes on existing sessions - past and upcoming sessions keep their attendees. Unlinking only removes the relationship from their profiles and the shortcut in the booking picker.
Can I link someone who isn’t a client, like a parent who just pays the bills? Relationships are between clients. For a parent or guardian who isn’t in treatment, invite their email to the child’s client portal instead - they can handle scheduling and payment from there.