Excuse Absence Letter Template
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As a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, you may be asked to write a letter excusing your client’s absence from work, class, or practice.
The excuse absence letter template in this article includes examples of each type of online excuse letter—a sample of excuse letters for various situations, including a therapist excuse note for school.
Reasons you may need to write an excuse letter
There are several reasons why clinicians may be asked to write an online excuse letter for clients to miss work, class, or practice, such as:
Therapeutic reasons
You may need to excuse a client from class or work in order to attend a therapy session.
Bereavement
A recent loss of a loved one and grief can cause significant distress and may warrant absence from school or work.
Family emergency
Another reason to write an absence letter might be for a family emergency, like caring for a sick family member.
Religious observance
Your client may ask to be excused from class, practice, or work due to religious reasons, like observance of a religious holiday.
Mental health concerns/crises
Conditions like depression and anxiety can cause impairment of day-to-day functioning, such as attending school or work. Part of the treatment plan for the client may involve taking time off school or work, and a clinician may need to make such a request.
What to include in an excuse absence letter
Before writing a letter of any sort, therapists will want to be mindful of the detail they provide in an excuse absence letter and diligently review applicable laws and regulations. If you have questions regarding what disclosure is appropriate, you should consult with legal counsel.
As you know, therapists are bound by ethical responsibilities and federal laws protecting the confidentiality and privacy of the client’s protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
While there are exceptions to this confidentiality—such as the client being at risk of serious and imminent harm or if they are incapacitated—state and schools may have distinct requirements regarding minors seeking mental health treatment.
For example, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) considers health treatment information as part of the educational record which, in some instances, may be disclosed without the student or parent’s consent.
If you are unsure whether to write a letter on behalf of your client or how much information to disclose, you should consult your licensing body’s ethical guidelines and seek consultation from a legal expert. You may also need to ask your client to sign a release of information form.
Keeping this in mind, the letter should include:
Appropriate greeting
Start the letter with a professional greeting by including the full name and professional title of the person you are addressing. If you don’t know their name, you can begin the letter with a generic greeting, such as “To Whom It May Concern.”
Introduce yourself
State who you are and your relationship to the client/student.
Excuse/absence request
Provide brief details about why you are requesting the client to be excused from school, practice, or work and their expected return date. (See the excuse absence letter template in the next section, below.)
Contact details
Include your contact information if the school administrator, employer, or social worker needs to verify the details of the letter or needs to reach you with additional questions.
Edit
Always proofread your letters before sending them to ensure they are free from typos and grammatical errors. You could ask a colleague to proofread the letter or use a word processing software with a spell check and grammar editor.
To save time in the future, you could save your excuse absence letter template within your practice management solution, like SimplePractice’s electronic health record (EHR) for therapists, so you only need to make brief edits to the letter next time.
Sample excuse absence letter templates
Rather than searching for online excuse letter templates, we’ve provided a few different sample letter template paragraphs that you may find helpful:
- Excuse absence for therapy: “I am writing to excuse [student/employee name] from school/practice/work so they can attend for a therapy appointment at [practice name], on [date and time].
- School sick note template: “I am writing to inform you that [client name] is being treated by me for mental health reasons. I recommend that they take [insert days/weeks] off school to recover. I anticipate that they should return/resume school activities as of [date]. I can be reached at [contact details] should you require any further information.”
Check out our other therapist letter templates, such as the Coordination of Care letter template, to save time communicating important information to your clients or other providers.
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