Navigating Contractor Offboarding with Care: Supporting Your Team and Clients
When you first start a group practice, it’s exciting to bring new clinicians on board. You imagine building a strong team and creating a workplace that supports everyone for years to come. But the reality is, not every contractor will stay forever—and that’s okay. On average, most contractors remain for two to three years before moving on. While that transition can feel daunting, having a thoughtful offboarding process in place allows you to care for your contractors, clients, and your business all at once.
In this post, I’ll walk you through how to approach contractor offboarding in a way that honours relationships, protects your business, and reinforces your leadership.
Step One: Be Clear About the Process
When a new contractor joins your practice, you likely have a strong onboarding process—clear expectations, paperwork, introductions, and systems to help them succeed. Offboarding deserves the same level of clarity.
At first, I resisted creating an offboarding process. It felt strange to outline how someone might leave when they’d just joined. But I quickly realized that clarity benefits everyone. Just like contractors deserve to know what to expect when they start, they also deserve to know what leaving looks like.
Your offboarding plan should cover:
Communication steps: Who tells clients first, and how.
Paperwork and records: How records are transferred, releases of information, and ensuring compliance.
Technology access: When and how access to email, scheduling, and documentation systems ends.
Practical wrap-up details: Returning keys, submitting final notes, and coordinating with admin staff.
Being proactive ensures the transition is smooth and reduces unnecessary stress for you, your contractor, and your clients.
Step Two: Support Your Contractor with Dignity
Even though someone is leaving your practice, how you treat them during this transition matters. I like to think of offboarding as rolling out a red carpet. A warm, respectful send-off not only preserves relationships—it strengthens your reputation as a leader in your community.
Here are a few ways to care for your contractor:
Communicate with kindness and professionalism: Provide them with a draft email they can use to inform clients of their transition.
Empower them in client conversations: While you may send the first communication to clients, make space for the therapist to follow up in session. This honours the therapeutic relationship.
Track client transfers clearly: Decide whether your contractor or admin team will manage who stays, who transfers internally, and who follows the contractor.
Avoid burning bridges: Emotions can run high during transitions. Do your best to maintain open communication, even if it’s hard in the moment. You may end up collaborating or referring to each other in the future.
Remember—our professional world is small. The way you offboard can either leave doors open or shut them permanently.
Step Three: Care for Clients Through the Transition
Clients are often the most vulnerable part of the offboarding equation. They’ve built trust with their therapist, and now they’re faced with change.
The first step is communication. I recommend you, as the practice owner, be the first point of contact. This reinforces that the practice is stable, organized, and trustworthy. In your email, provide clients with clear options:
Continue with the contractor (if they’re moving to another practice and it’s appropriate).
Transition internally to another therapist within your practice.
Receive an external referral to a trusted colleague.
It’s also important to ensure all client paperwork is handled properly—especially releases of information when clients follow their therapist elsewhere. As the custodian of records, this shows you’re handling transitions ethically and responsibly.
And don’t forget to prepare clients for conversations in session. Let them know their therapist will discuss the change with them directly. This honours their autonomy while ensuring they feel supported.
Of course, not every client will stay. Some will follow their therapist, others may choose to end therapy altogether. Yes, this can mean a temporary dip in income. But it’s also an opportunity for new growth, both for your clients and your business. Trust that your practice can recover and continue serving the community.
Step Four: Lead with Confidence and Compassion
As a practice owner, these moments test your leadership. It’s easy to get caught in the emotions—frustration, disappointment, even fear about the impact on your business. But when you step into the CEO role with clarity and care, you show your team and clients that you are steady, trustworthy, and capable.
Leadership here looks like:
Preparing and communicating clearly.
Prioritizing dignity and respect for all parties.
Balancing business needs with human needs.
Remaining open to future collaboration, even if the present transition feels tough.
Done well, offboarding can strengthen your leadership and your reputation. Contractors will leave knowing they were valued. Clients will feel cared for during a vulnerable time. And you’ll feel confident that your business can weather transitions with integrity.
Final Thoughts
Offboarding is an inevitable part of running a group practice. While it’s never easy, it doesn’t have to be painful. With a clear process, compassionate communication, and a focus on relationships, you can handle transitions in a way that leaves everyone feeling respected.
At the end of the day, being prepared isn’t just about logistics—it’s about leadership. The way you guide your practice through these transitions sends a powerful message: you value your contractors, you care deeply for your clients, and you are committed to running your business with excellence.
So the next time a contractor leaves, take a deep breath, lean on your systems, and lead with confidence. Your practice—and your people—will be better for it.
