Talk to your doctor or therapist
Your doctor or therapist certifies the leave on a one-page form (WH-380-E). Therapists, psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers count. Before your visit, know what you need them to say and what you do not have to disclose to your employer.
You do not have to disclose a diagnostic label to HR
FMLA requires a medical certification with appropriate medical facts, not a diagnostic label. Your provider fills out WH-380-E and confirms (a) that you have a serious health condition, (b) how long it is expected to last, (c) what duties you cannot perform, (d) how often you will need leave, and (e) the medical facts (such as symptoms, treatment regimen, and frequency of incapacity) that support those conclusions. Your provider does not have to write the diagnostic name on the form, but the cert must contain enough medical detail for HR to confirm the condition qualifies. A near-empty cert that says only "serious health condition exists" can be lawfully rejected as insufficient under 29 CFR 825.305(c).
What to ask your provider for
Ask them to certify the medical necessity of leave. Be specific about what you need: continuous leave for a defined stretch, or intermittent leave for therapy appointments and bad days. Tell them your work schedule so they can estimate frequency accurately. If symptoms are worse on certain weeks (for example, in months containing anniversaries of trauma), tell them.
Script: what to say at the appointment
"I need FMLA leave because of my mental health. I am asking you to fill out form WH-380-E to certify that my condition is serious and that I need leave. I do not need you to disclose my diagnosis to my employer. I need you to describe the functional impact and how often I will need to be away from work."
Do these before moving on
- 1
Download WH-380-E
Hand the blank form to your provider. Official US Department of Labor page.
- 2
Write down your functional symptoms
Before the appointment: dissociation in meetings, panic before emails, days you cannot get out of bed. Your provider cannot certify what you do not tell them.
For survivors of childhood trauma
If your therapist is LCSW or LMFT
WH-380-E can be completed by any healthcare provider authorized to treat your condition, which includes licensed clinical social workers and licensed therapists. You do not need a psychiatrist to certify FMLA for mental health. Your therapist of several years knows your case better than a new prescriber does.
Trauma responses count as symptoms
Freeze responses in meetings, flashbacks triggered by email subject lines, inability to speak when a supervisor raises their voice. These are functional impacts. Your provider can describe them on WH-380-E without using the word "trauma" or naming a diagnosis.
Mental health symptoms of trauma