> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.opentherapy.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing sessions

> See what's booked, run the session, and record attendance — the step that releases your payment.

## When a booking arrives

You get a **New booking** email with the day, time, client, service, where, and what they said they're seeking.

If it's a client's first session with you, the email says so and notes that an introduction fee applies to this booking — once, not on every session after it.

The client has already paid. Their money is held until the session happens.

## Recording attendance

This is the one action that matters most, because **nothing settles and nothing transfers until you do it.**

After a session has finished, it appears in the **Waiting on you** queue on your earnings screen with one of two buttons.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Attended" icon="check">
    The session happened. Fees are calculated and your share is queued for transfer.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No-show" icon="user-x">
    The client didn't turn up. Your policy's no-show rate is charged and the rest is refunded.
  </Card>
</Columns>

<Note>
  Attendance is your word, not an inference from the clock. A session that has passed its end time
  isn't assumed to have happened — someone has to say so, and only you can.
</Note>

Pressing the button twice is safe. It's idempotent, so a double-click can't settle a session twice.

## Why you might not be able to settle

| Message                                                  | Reason                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| *"You can close this once the session has finished."*    | Its end time hasn't passed |
| *"A cancelled session can't be settled."*                | It was called off          |
| *"Only the therapist who ran the session can close it."* | It isn't yours             |

The timing check exists so nobody can be paid for next Tuesday.

## The two things the queue asks for

| Flag           | What it means                                                                                  |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Attendance** | The hour has passed and nobody has said whether it happened                                    |
| **Settlement** | You recorded it, but the fee calculation didn't complete. Press the button again to re-run it. |

<Tip>
  Make it the last thing you do at the end of a day rather than the first thing on Monday. An
  unrecorded session is an unpaid one, and the queue is the only place it will chase you.
</Tip>

## Cancelling a session

You can cancel from the session itself. **A therapist's own cancellation never charges the client**, whatever the notice and whatever your policy. That isn't a setting, and it's deliberately not one.

The client is refunded in full and told straight away.

<Warning>
  If a client asks to move a session inside your notice window, cancelling from your side is the
  courteous option — it costs them nothing. Cancelling from theirs may charge them a late fee even if
  they rebook immediately.
</Warning>

## Rescheduling

There's no reschedule action yet. Cancel and have the client rebook, or cancel and rebook on their behalf.

## No-shows

Recording a no-show charges the rate in your cancellation policy — 100% on three of the four presets, 50% on Flexible. Only you can mark a session as a no-show.

See [Cancellation policy](/therapists/cancellation-policy).

## Your schedule

**Schedule** shows the week as a grid: booked sessions with their mode, admin blocks you've held for notes or supervision, and blocked time. Your waitlist sits alongside it.

**Overview** shows today's sessions and anything needing attention — unsigned notes, referrals to review, and registration documents approaching expiry.

## Messaging clients

<Info>
  Client messaging is being rolled out. Until it's live for your account, use the contact details you
  exchange at booking.
</Info>

Threaded and attached to the clinical record. Intended for scheduling, worksheets and short check-ins rather than clinical work between sessions, and clients are told to expect a reply within one business day.