Category: New Clients

Getting Paid: Using Your Website to Get New Clients to Contact You

11/1/2020

Your website represents your therapy practice. The best client friendly websites make it as easy as possible to find out about you and your therapy services and to contact you to schedule the first session.

Here are some things to remember and questions to consider to make sure your website does that!

1. Your website is one of the first places new clients look to decide whether or not you’re the therapist for them—even when they’re referred to you by a friend or one of your colleagues.

Does each page on your website help your potential clients better understand who you are, what you do, and how you can help them? People want to know about you and your practice before they contact you or do anything with you.
As you put together the pages on your website, focus on your ideal clients and talk directly to them, addressing their wants, needs, concerns and issues.
Is your website easy to use? Is the information your ideal clients need included and easy to find? Does what’s on your website make your potential clients feel confident that you know what you’re doing?

2. Potential clients visiting your website want to know if you can help them—and they want to know it quickly.

They want to know if you have answers to their questions and if you can help them solve their problems.
Do you have answers to their questions? Show them with examples or information that tells them that.
Can you can help them solve their problems? Share that information.
When someone is in pain, struggling or feeling stuck, all they’re focusing on is, “Can this person help me?” Help them answer this question with the information you provide about who you work with, the solutions and expertise you can contribute, your credentials, your community participation, and more—but don’t make it too wordy or long.

3. Do your best to make sure you have the type of content and answers on your website that your ideal clients are looking for.

Does the information you provide make potential clients feel like you are experienced, know what you’re doing or are familiar with what they are experiencing or struggling with? That you understand them and what they need? That you’re equipped to work with them? That you can provide support and answers?
Do you have the type of content on your website that your ideal clients are seeking?Make sure you include some information about the problem or problems your ideal clients face that cause them to seek therapy.
Information and content that addresses the questions that clients have—and that conveys who you are, what you do, and how you can help, assures your potential clients that your therapy services can provide the solutions they’re seeking.
When you have the type of information and answers your ideal clients looking for, it helps them feel comfortable and confident in your ability to help them so they can take the next step to call or email or text you to set up a first session.

4. Get your potential client to the information they’re looking for as easily and quickly as possible.

Home, About, Services, and Contact are the basic pages clients find helpful. The About page is usually the most visited page on a website—with the Home page following that. Some websites are now one long page with sections instead of separate pages as this works, too, for some clientele.
Make sure each of your webpages has a sentence or two about you, your counseling services and what therapy is generally like. Remember people don’t always look at more than one page so if there’s something on each page about how you work, that may be the deciding factor in whether they leave your website for another one or end up contacting you to set up a first session.

5. Remember, the main goal of your website is to get new clients to contact you.

Is your contact information easy to find?
Does your contact information include your phone number, email address, and location of your private practice? (Yes, you need to include this even if you’re only doing teletherapy.)
Does your contact information let your clients know the best way to contact you? Phone, email, text or ?
Is your contact information consistently placed on every page more than once? Header, footer, sidebar, end or middle of page?
Is your contact information conveniently placed on every page? Header, footer, sidebar, end or middle of page?
Remember, if potential clients are looking to contact you, always make it as easy as possible.

Each therapist is unique and brings different experience, training, expertise, and personality to their private practice. Think about the type of client you want to work with and their specific needs then offer useful information to your potential clients, information that assures them your therapy services can provide the change they’re seeking. Let your website help your ideal clients feel comfortable and confident enough to contact you for their first session.

Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping them develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com.

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Getting Paid: Guiding Reluctant & Resistant Clients into Teletherapy

7/3/2020

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Most psychotherapists now have telepractices and conduct video and phone therapy sessions instead of face-to-face ones in an office because the majority of mental health providers switched to all, or primarily, Teletherapy sessions as a result of stay at home orders. While these types of online video or phone services are not for every client or practitioner, many therapists are reporting that, after moving their practices online and doing therapy with clients over several months, they find video or phone telesessions not only effective but convenient—and plan to keep offering some form of Teletherapy along with in-person sessions when they’re once again feasible.

However, clinicians are also reporting that when some new prospective clients find out in-person sessions are not an option they seem reluctant, resistant or unsure about beginning or making the switch to virtual therapy.

When this type of client reaction occurs, it causes psychotherapists to feel conflicted because client consent is needed in order to work virtually—and in-office sessions aren’t an option. Therapists also then wonder if it’s okay to influence a client towards Teletherapy when the client doesn’t seem to want it or is less than comfortable with it. Should therapists address the issue further when this happens or just refer? What's a therapist to do?

While there are many good reasons that people are reluctant to do teletherapy—no private place, no equipment but their phone, etc., it’s important to remember that when in-person services are not available some individuals may initially find it hard to switch to or commit to therapy that’s different from what they’ve thought about, imagined or come to expect. Teletherapy is that kind of different. No couch, just a screen.

While clinicians know that some reluctance or resistance to beginning therapy is usually present in any intake, and are used to addressing that, what counselors aren’t used to is handling intakes where the reluctance is around Teleservices--video or phone--when it's the only option available.

The truth is that many of the issues that are initially expressed as client reluctance about Teletherapy, aren’t actually about the telesessions at all but are really just another manifestation of the client’s issues that are inherent to therapy—and these same types of objections or complaints would come up even if the therapy was face-to-face.

While it's important to keep in mind that online services are not right for every client or practitioner, a client’s reluctance, discomfort, and resistance is most often not about Teleservices, but about entering a new world where they are moving from a familiar way of operating to the therapy context where different rules apply. Our job as therapists begins with helping clients enter, become familiar with, and safely navigate the therapeutic context. We are, and need to be, their guide.

As you read the following information, be sure to remember:

Only do and say things that fit for you, your clients, and your practice—and always within legal and ethical guidelines.
You can ignore everything written in this article and still be successful. Discover what works for you, your clients, and the practice setting you work in.

What’s the best way to respond to a potential client who seems reluctant or resistant to engage in video or phone therapy when a therapist isn’t seeing clients in person in the office?

Teletherapy reticence, reluctance, discomfort, and resistance are clinical issues. The therapist needs to take charge of any conversations regarding teletherapy issues. Yes, it’s part of therapy and it’s the therapist’s job to aid-educate-facilitate pre-therapy (intake) or Teletherapy resistance conversations
New clients don’t really know what teletherapy is or what it’s like if they’ve never had therapy or online therapy before. They only have an idea of what it’s like or the description of what someone else told them.

Teletherapy with a clinician who is a good match can be a great option when in-person therapy is not available and many clients are great candidates for video or phone therapy.
Use your clinical skills to address and respond to a client or prospective client’s Teletherapy issues when they come up—just like you would address anything else. Treat the issues that come up about teletherapy sessions the same way you’d treat any other client issue.

Taking it personally = Countertransference!
Don’t take a client’s Teletherapy reluctance and resistance talk personally when clients demonstrate their issues and skill level in dealing with them—take or use a therapeutic stance just like you would about any other topic or issue. Under your guidance clients can then make an informed decision about beginning, continuing or ending Teletherapy.

To review:

Conversing with and helping influence or change a client or prospective client’s mindset about Teletherapy when reluctance or resistance comes up is part of doing therapy!
Educate clients-prospective clients-referral sources about Teletherapy, how Teletherapy works, how you work, what successful Teletherapy takes, how much Teletherapy costs
Reset a client’s or prospective client’s mindset and expectations for Teletherapy, price, frequency, duration, participation/involvement, and ways to optimize the teletherapy experience.

It’s important to remember that it’s normal for the clinician and new client to experience an adjustment period with remote care. New clients might need extra guidance if they’re unsure about how to navigate Teletherapy when working from home with family members, roommates, or small children around. Portions of sessions can be used to formulate solutions and manage creating a physical and interpersonal zone that works to provide a safe space for therapy.

Teletherapy is definitely here to stay. Its effectiveness is equivalent to face-to-face sessions and the flexible nature of video and phone sessions benefit both clients and clinicians. Add in the ease and convenience of scheduling a video or phone therapy session and talking with a mental health practitioner from the privacy of your home or another convenient location, and you find that these virtual services are a huge draw, especially for many people who are seeking therapy for the first time.

Telepsychiatry, teletherapy, telepsychology, and video therapy are more than just trends. In fact, a good number of mental health professionals are finding they prefer working with clients using teletherapy video and or phone sessions and will not be returning to in-office sessions. Yes, these therapists are reporting that they plan to keep their therapy practices solely virtual when in-office services become available again on a large scale.

Both in-person therapy and Teletherapy have advantages. Some view office sessions as a way to get some distance from problems at home and find it easier to see and deal with challenges objectively. Some clients prefer phone therapy, which works fine in many situations.

While Teletherapy and online services are not for every client or practitioner, online therapy is here to stay, like it or not. Consumers are changing, and so are therapists and their practices. Teletherapy has become another viable option for clients and mental health practitioners. It may not be the best option for everyone but the good news is that it is just as important and effective as the traditional therapist’s couch.

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Getting Paid: Using Your Website to Get New Clients to Contact You

Getting Paid: Guiding Reluctant & Resistant Clients into Teletherapy

Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT

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