The purpose of the Client Engagement Course is to assist with the subtle aspects of therapy that hold clients back from continuing their journey with the clinician. One of these subtle aspects is helping the client understand the importance of their commitment to therapy and the impact this has on clients keeping their appointments.
Many clinicians will encourage clients to choose themselves and their therapy sessions over others. The clinician may think that by encouraging their clients in this way, they have done their due diligence to reduce cancelations and rescheduling of appointments.
However, when we review the monthly data to understand when and why clients are cancelling, clients continue to choose work or other responsibilities over attending their appointments.
Where the conversation (or rather action) tends to fall over is in the how. How exactly should the client "choose themselves" over their demanding employer? How should the client choose therapy when they have a child home sick?
Often, it is not enough to speak about the way of doing something. We must teach the HOW.
How does a parent choose themselves over their sick child? Instead of attending in person, provide the option to have a phone session.
How does a client attend the appointment when they are traveling due to work? The clinician may offer a video session instead.
By providing a solution to the barrier, we can lead the client through their journey of therapy and teach them how to make it a priority.
Exercise: When working with clients, explain to them the importance of attending and provide alternative solutions if they are unable to attend in person.
More on supporting your clients with the how:
In our Client Engagement Course, we speak about providing a list of Q & As to your clients. The clinician can use this list to assist the client in the process of making informed decisions. A Q & A list can provide transparency in your style as well as an understanding of the expectations of your work and the client’s commitment to therapy. Together this information will help the client achieve a clinical outcome.
