A Day in the Life (of a Clinician Owned Therapy Clinic)

When most families think about therapy, they picture the hour their child spends in the room with their therapist. What they don’t always see is everything that happens before, between, and after those sessions.

Here’s what a typical day looks like inside ICAN:

Early Morning - Preparing for Care

A clinician starts the day by reviewing their schedule:
Seven children. Different needs. Different goals. Different families.

Before the first child ever walks through the door, the therapist is already working:

• Gathering materials for therapy sessions

• Reviewing past notes and progress

• Preparing parent education and home-practice ideas

• Checking in on assessments or re-evaluations that are due

This preparation is what allows sessions to be focused, individualized, and effective.

The Day - Back-to-Back Therapy

The day moves fast.

Three children in the morning. Lunch. Four more in the afternoon. Each session requires:

• Real-time clinical decision-making

• Emotional regulation and connection

• Play-based learning and skill-building

• Careful observation of what’s working and what’s not

Your child isn’t receiving “generic therapy.” Their therapist is constantly adjusting, adapting, and fine-tuning every session to match their needs.

After Sessions - The Thinking Work Begins

Once the last child leaves, the real behind-the-scenes work starts.

This is the time insurance doesn’t pay for — but it’s where progress is created.

Clinicians spend hours:

• Writing and analyzing therapy notes

• Deciding what your child’s next goals should be

• Adjusting treatment plans

• Preparing for upcoming evaluations

• Communicating with families about progress

This is where clinical expertise turns into meaningful growth for your child.

The Hidden Work Families Don’t See

On top of clinical care, there’s another layer of work happening every day:

• Emails from families about goals, scheduling, and progress

• Coordination between speech, OT, ABA, psychology teams, school teams, and more

• Insurance payments delayed or denied without warning

• Appeals, authorizations, and billing follow-ups

Every denied or delayed claim means someone on our team has to step in and fight — so your child can keep receiving services.

At ICAN, clinicians don’t have to fight these battles. We protect their time so they can stay focused on your child.

But that means we have a whole team behind them doing this work.

What Insurance Refuses to Pay For

Insurance does not pay for the hours that go into:

• Scheduling

• Care coordination

• Parent communication

• Appeals and denials

• Interdisciplinary team meetings

• Progress tracking

• Training and supervision

• No-show/cancellation gaps in schedules

But all of these things directly impact the quality and consistency of your child’s care.

Your administrative and attendance fees make it possible for ICAN to:

• Keep therapists focused on therapy

• Fight insurance on your behalf

• Keep schedules stable so your child doesn’t lose their spot

• Provide fast, responsive support to families

• Maintain high clinical standards

These fees exist so we can make care equitable, reliable, and sustainable for every family.

Our Promise to Families

We can’t control what insurance companies decide is worth clinician’s time (regardless of their high level of education and medical decision making expertise).

But we can control how much support, advocacy, and clinical quality your child receives.

Administrative and attendance fees help our team:

• Show up for your child

• Stand up to insurance

• Keep care consistent

• And continue delivering on our promise of Great Care, Made Easy

We are grateful to walk this journey with your family, and we take that responsibility seriously every single day.