Your patient is struggling at work. You have twelve minutes.
When your patient or client is struggling at work, I help translate the concern into practical workplace-function language — job demands, functional barriers, possible accommodations, and return-to-work planning.
You understand the diagnosis. What often takes more time than a visit allows is analyzing the person’s actual job duties and connecting the clinical picture to them in language an employer or human resources department can act on.
Diagnosis and functional impact are different questions
A diagnosis establishes what a patient has. A functional impact statement describes what the patient can do, for how long, under what conditions, and with what support — measured against the specific demands of their role.
Employers, human resources departments, leave administrators, and insurers ask the second question. When the answer is missing or vague, requests come back for more information, accommodation conversations stall, and patients who could have stayed employed sometimes do not.
Consultation supplements your clinical role rather than replacing it. You remain the treating provider. This work handles the job-analysis and translation layer, then hands the patient back to you better able to describe what they need.
When to send a patient
- “My patient wants to return to work but is overwhelmed.”
- “My patient needs help understanding possible workplace accommodations.”
- “The employer is asking for more specific functional limitations.”
- “The patient is at risk of losing a job.”
- “The patient cannot clearly explain how symptoms affect job performance.”
- “I understand the diagnosis, but I need help connecting it to the person’s actual work demands.”
- “A return-to-work plan is needed after treatment, hospitalization, IOP, or PHP.”
What I help clarify
Job demands and essential functions
What the role actually requires — pace, schedule, cognitive load, physical demands, interpersonal demands, supervision structure — rather than what the job title implies.
Functional barriers
Where concentration, stamina, pacing, attendance, memory, communication, emotional regulation, or follow-through are breaking down against those specific demands.
Accommodation options to discuss
Practical adjustments worth raising with an employer, drawn from the demands of the role and current public guidance rather than from the diagnosis alone.
Documentation language
What a decision-maker still needs, where existing letters are too vague or too disclosing, and which questions the patient should bring back to you.
Return-to-work and stay-at-work planning
Pacing, sequencing, graduated re-entry, checkpoints, and what to do when a plan is not holding — particularly after hospitalization, IOP, or PHP.
Workplace communication
How the patient can describe limitations clearly to a supervisor or human resources contact without over-explaining or under-explaining.
Appropriate referrals
Patients and clients whose health condition, disability, injury, or mental health concern is affecting work or school participation — including those:
- Returning after medical leave, hospitalization, IOP, or PHP
- Managing anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, chronic illness, chronic pain, or injury that affects work
- At risk of job loss, or considering a job change because the current role is no longer sustainable
- Unsure how to request or discuss accommodations
- Having difficulty explaining limitations to a provider or employer
- Facing FMLA, leave-readiness, or documentation questions
- K-12 students and families needing IEP or 504 preparation, referred through a parent or guardian
Referrals from therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, primary care practices, occupational medicine clinics, IOP and PHP programs, pain management, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, chronic illness practices, substance-use recovery programs, practice managers, and care coordinators are all welcome.
Consultation and psychotherapy are not the same referral
| Clinical Function and Accommodation Consultation | A structured, practical consultation focused on job demands, functional barriers, accommodation options, workplace communication, documentation needs, and return-to-work or stay-at-work planning. Private pay only; not billable to insurance. |
|---|---|
| Function-Focused Psychotherapy | Individual psychotherapy, ages 16 and older, treating clinical symptoms while rebuilding daily functioning — coping, routines, communication, boundaries, confidence, adjustment, and sustainable participation. Billable to insurance. It is a treatment service and does not produce an independent, forensic, disability, or claims opinion. |
A person may be appropriate for one or both. When both apply, the boundary between them is kept explicit.
How to make a referral
- Complete the referral formUse the online referral form — it is the fastest route and captures what the office needs up front. You may also call (877) 305-0570, fax (877) 418-3074, or email dr.ca@cheryllandrews.com.
- Fit screeningThe office confirms which service fits — consultation, psychotherapy, or a referral elsewhere — before anything is scheduled.
- Consent and scopeAny communication back to you happens only with written authorization and a clearly defined scope.
- ConsultationJob or school demands, functional barriers, documentation review, accommodation options, and a return or stay plan.
- The patient returns to youBetter able to describe functional impact, with specific questions for the documentation you are being asked to write.
Public guidance referenced in this work includes the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Job Accommodation Network, and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy.
Provider questions
Does this replace my role as treating provider?
No. You remain the treating provider. Consultation handles the job-analysis and translation layer and returns the patient to you better able to describe functional impact.
Will you write the accommodation letter or restrictions?
No. Medical certification of restrictions remains with the treating provider. Consultation clarifies what a decision-maker needs and helps the patient bring you specific, answerable questions.
Is consultation covered by insurance?
No. Clinical Function and Accommodation Consultation is private pay only, and no superbill is issued. Function-Focused Psychotherapy is billable to insurance.
Can you communicate with me about the patient?
Only with written authorization from the patient and a clearly defined scope and role boundary.
What if my patient needs ongoing therapy instead?
Function-Focused Psychotherapy is available for individuals ages 16 and older in NC, SC, GA, and VA, and is billable to insurance. If neither service fits, the office will say so and suggest a direction.
Do you provide independent evaluations or expert opinions?
No. This practice does not provide independent medical examinations, functional capacity evaluations, forensic vocational evaluations, disability determinations, or expert-witness services.
What this service is — and what it is not
This service does not include
- Independent medical examination or functional capacity evaluation
- Forensic vocational evaluation, employability opinion, or earning-capacity opinion
- Expert-witness testimony or legal opinion
- Disability determination, claim adjudication, or benefits decisions
- Medical certification of restrictions
Decisions about accommodations, leave, restrictions, benefits, claims, and employment are made by the responsible employer, provider, insurer, administrator, or governing body. No accommodation approval, return to work, job retention, or claim outcome is guaranteed, and a diagnosis alone does not establish a workplace limitation.
Forensic vocational consultation and expert-witness services are rendered through a separate firm, The Vocational Standard, at (980) 326-0616. Attorney, legal support, workers’ compensation, third-party administrator, insurance, and case-management referrals are handled there rather than here.
Dr. Cheryl L. Andrews
Dr. Andrews is a doctoral-level, multi-state licensed clinical mental health counselor and supervisor, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, and Certified ADA Administrator with nearly twenty-five years of experience across behavioral health, rehabilitation counseling, vocational rehabilitation, employee assistance, and disability-informed practice.
She is the author of the Clinical Function and Accommodation Framework, a practice-informed model connecting clinical presentation to workplace function and accommodation planning. Cheryl L. Andrews & Associates maintains offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia, with secure telehealth in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia.
- Ph.D., Counselor Education and Supervision — Walden University
- M.S., Rehabilitation Counseling — Winston-Salem State University
- B.A., Sociology — Saint Augustine’s University
Cheryl L. Andrews, PhDLCMHC-S (NC) · LPC-S (SC) · LPC (GA, VA) · CRC · ACS · NCC · Certified ADA Administrator
Refer a patient or client for workplace-function clarification and structured next-step planning.
Call, fax, or email the office. The office confirms fit before anything is scheduled.
Office (877) 305-0570 ·
Fax (877) 418-3074 ·
dr.ca@cheryllandrews.com
cheryllandrews.com