Tulip and Indy,
My clients don't get charged, because I "work" in a clinic. You can do the "no show, you still have to pay," thing when you are in a private practice, whether it's an individual or group practice. As an intern, I only see clients on Mass Health; some, who are working, pay a $20.00 co-pay and they don't often miss sessions. The people I see vary in level of problems, but they are not seriously mentally ill, as it's an outpatient clinic. But, some of them have very complicated lives, with all kinds of issues, poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse. This is just a problem in the medical field in general, more in mental health than physical health, but still.
I am very proactive in calling them and getting them back in, as I need a certain amount of hours to get my credits from Lesley and for my license. And, the ones who "forget" are the ones who need to be there the most. My supervisors, both at school and in the clinic would say I am enabling them, but if they get that picture of me "reminding" them to come in and they start coming regularly, then we can build enough of a relationship, so that they don't miss sessions. I guess I spent so much time calling parents to tell them their kids didn't do their homework, that making the calls doesn't bother me.