When The Therapist No Shows

(cc) photo by khawkins04

Last week's post How To Get Paid For No Shows prompted some excellent discussions and follow up questions about how to enforce cancellation and payment policies. One comment in particular, posted by "Paul" brought up a valid concern.

Do your policies go both ways? How do you handle the situation when you, the therapist, no show for a session due to a scheduling error, inadvertently double book a session, or cancel a session at the last minute due to illness? Here's what he wrote:

What happens if the therapist needs to cancel a therapy session with less than 24 hours notice to the client?

This isn’t a sarcastic question. My dentist has a policy similar to yours and I don’t really have a problem with it in general. However, one day I needed to rearrange my work schedule to accommodate an appointment with the dentist. The morning of the appointment I received a call stating that the dentist was sick and wouldn’t be available for my appointment. Ok, no problem, these things happen. They were able to reschedule me quickly, too.

A few months later the reverse happened – I had something very important and completely unavoidable come up and I had to cancel the morning of a scheduled afternoon appointment. To their credit, they acknowledged that I’ve been a client for several years and had never missed an appointment or had to cancel without 24 hours notice prior to this incident. They didn’t charge me and all was good.

What’s annoying is that not all offices practice this. Some are all too willing to charge a client who no-shows or calls to cancel with less than 24 hours notice, but when they need to cancel with less than 24 hours notice they act as if it’s no big deal and the client is expected to simply shrug it off.

If we, as therapists, expect clients to follow through with their session or pay for the missed session, shouldn't we offer them the same courtesy and model the accountability that we are requiring of them?

When the therapist no-shows

If I miss an appointment due to a scheduling error on my end, I offer the client a free session. If I am running more than 15 minutes late to a session I generally offer the session for free as well.

When the client or therapist is sick

To clarify, I don’t charge for no-shows when there is an illness or an emergency on the client's end. If I am ill I don't offer a free session unless I was unable to reach the client and then showed up for the scheduled appointment. However, I do watch closely for patterns in client behavior. If they are sick every other week, then I treat it as a relationship pattern and deal with it as a clinical issue in therapy sessions.

How do you handle the situation when you, the therapist, no show, double book, or have to cancel at the last minute due to illness or accident?

The 3-Letter Word That Gets More Clients

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A simple practice-building skill that many private practice therapists overlook is to ASK directly for new clients referrals. Some shrinks assume that if they're skilled clinically colleagues, clients, and acquaintances will automatically refer clients to them. While that may be true for some therapists, in my consulting experience, building a thriving private practice takes conscious effort and deliberate action.

Asking for referrals is important so you are on the "top of mind" for your referrals sources. Potential referral sources may assume that you're too busy, that you're not taking new clients, they don't remember your name or contact information, or it just didn't occur to them to refer a client to you.

Here are a few ways you can ask for referrals when you need to fill some of your appointment slots without seeming desperate.

1) Send A Note Or Email

Get some nice note cards and periodically send a personal note to referral sources. Let them know that you'd love to work with their clients, that you have openings, and include some business cards.

Shoot off an email to referral sources who've sent clients your way in the past. Make sure that you include all of your contact information in the email to make it easy for someone to contact you. Here's an example of what I have said in an email to a relationship coach.

Dear __________,

I hope all is well with you. I hear great things about your coaching practice and have sent a few clients to your marriage classes. I wanted to let you know that I currently have a few openings for individual or couples clients who need some help with with deeper issues that may need to be addressed in therapy. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if you want to discuss how I can help any of your coaching clients who are "stuck."

Warmly,

Julie

(detailed contact info here, including website, phone, etc.)

2) Ask Over Lunch

Invite a referral source to lunch on you and ask for referrals then. Everyone needs to eat. I've found that people, especially professionals, are more likely to meet with you if you feed them. When you meet, remember to bring something to the table (no pun intended) to offer to them.

Consider ways that you can spread the word about their practice or business, offer a free training to their staff on your area of expertise, or make yourself available for free consultations or coaching on mental health issues.

3) Ask For Referrals In Casual Conversation

Number of client hours can vary greatly in private practice. There is an art to keeping consistent direct care numbers.  If your client numbers are down, don't be afraid to mention your openings in casual conversations with colleagues, doctors, friends, and other associates that you have openings in your practice. It's your job to remind people that you are in private practice and that you'd appreciate more business.

How comfortable are you asking for new referrals from colleagues, associates, professionals, and friends?

Therapist Media Cheat Sheet: Get More Clients By Maximizing TV Interviews

While TV interviews and appearances rarely lead to an immediate increase in new clients, they do raise awareness of your private practice and your specialty areas, expose thousands of people to your practice, and set you up as a credible expert in your field. Marketing experts say that it generally takes 7 exposures to your business brand before a client will actually try your products or services. In recent posts I share how to get TV interviews and how to present your best self during interviews. Here are some tips for getting the most mileage out of interviews to build your credibility and increase referrals to your practice.

1) Be explicit about how you'd like to be introduced

Reporters aren't worried about your branding, they're concerned about their story. It is your responsibility to protect your practice name and brand by being explicit about how the interviewer should refer to you on camera. After having a few interviews where they say my practice name incorrectly, or didn't mention it at all, I've learned to clearly spell out how I want to be introduced. In email correspondence with media contact I request something like this:

Please refer to me on camera as "Therapist Julie Hanks LCSW, Director of Wasatch Family." I also request a lower-third banner (the text box graphic that pops up at the bottom of the screen during interviews) with my name, credential, practice name, and website during the interview. Here's what I ask for: "Julie Hanks LCSW, Director of Wasatch Family Therapy, WasatchFamilyTherapy.com".

2) Request a link to your website

Always request that the interviewer mention your website address during the interview and shows your website address on  a lower-third banner. You want to make it as easy as possible for potential clients to find your practice website, and ultimately, set an appointment. Additionally, if the TV station posts a web article or video online request that they post a link to your website. Having large websites link to your website improves your visibility Google searches.

3) Capture the video to post on your website

I suggest keeping an archive of all TV interviews so you can use them on your own practice website. Many TV stations post the interviews online and allow you to imbed them on your own website without uploading and converting the video. If the interview is not available online, you can request a DVD copy of the segment from the TV station.

4) Post on social media

Social media video sites, like YouTube, allow TV interviews to reach beyond the live TV viewership. I upload every TV interview to my YouTube channel and set up feeds to my websites and social media profiles and pages. The Men's Doc Will Courtenay, PhD, LCSW says that many clients have viewed his interview clips online before actually meeting with him:

Now that we can post TV interviews on websites and YouTube, they're really a great opportunity for marketing. And it's really the best kind of marketing, because the television show or news station has identified you as an expert. Today, many people search for and Google psychotherapists to see what they can find out about them before they meet with them.

Psychotherapist Terrence Alspaugh, LCPC says that YouTube videos give potential clients a feel for his style and expertise giving them the confidence to set an appointment.

I had the interview posted on YouTube with a link from my website, and that exposure has helped to attract new clients. Several prospective clients told me that they watched the YouTube clip first, and as they were favorably impressed, they contacted me about couples counseling. The interview has been watched by over 400 people, so it serves as a way for prospective clients to see me in action before meeting me.

Private practice therapist with YouTube channels

Enjoy watching these private practice therapists videos on their YouTube channels.

Dr. Will Courtenay

Eileen Kennedy Moore, PhD

Shift You Life Now Tracy Latz, M.D., M.S.

Julie de Azevedo Hanks LCSW