Considering an additional source of 💵? Check out this online platform for a quick/easy way to grow your practice with little to no expense.

Hello, and welcome to Counselor Weekly! Thanks again for being part of the community!

Here's the short and skinny of today's newsletter:

• Meme of the Day

• Weekly Practice Tip

• Interesting Articles

Want to be a really cool person? If you enjoy my weekly newsletter, please share it with your colleagues!

Meme of the Day

This Week’s Practice Management Tip

Creating (and Sticking to) Your Late Cancelation and No-Show Policy

Does the meme above feel familiar? A client who missed their appointment the day before nonchalantly messaging you about rescheduling…

If you’re in private practice, you NEED this policy in your informed consent. More importantly, you NEED TO STICK TO IT!

Outside of a true emergency, if a client doesn’t adhere to your cancelation policy, make sure you charge them the agreed upon rate. I have personally struggled with this in the past, and regret not setting a firmer boundary earlier in my career.

This is about setting boundaries and valuing your time. Being “nice” and not charging when a client fails to attend their appointment, or cancels within 24 hours is likely to lead to resentments and frustration. Even worse, it’s a waste of your time! That’s an hour you’re sitting in your office making $0!

I find that it helps to set a healthy boundary by outlining this policy during your initial session. Even though it should be in your informed consent, it’s a good idea to verbalize this policy to confirm the client is aware. It can save you from having some very difficult conversations when charging a client’s card on file and then they dispute it saying they were never told about this policy. If I have to charge the client, I personally even take it one more step and message the client letting them know I’m charging their card the fee for the no-show with a statement about why they are being charged.

One important reminder: make sure you have their credit card on file! This will allow you to charge this fee if they don’t show up.

There are certain insurances that don’t allow you to charge late cancelation fees to be aware of. For example, Medicaid typically doesn’t allow you to charge clients for not showing up, or late cancelation (one of the reasons many therapists don’t accept Medicaid).

Here’s an example policy (this is the actual verbiage used in my informed consent paperwork. Feel free to use it, or modify to fit your needs):

Late Cancelation and No-Show Fees:   It is important that my clients understand that I am in solo-private practice; I do not receive a salary nor am I an employee of any business or organization.   When an appointment is canceled too late to find a replacement, I incur a substantial loss of income.   To maintain a stable private practice, I charge fees for appointments that are missed or canceled too close to the appointment time to reasonably find a replacement for the appointment.   It should be understood that these fees are not meant to be punitive in nature but are designed to moderately compensate me for loss of time.  By signing this document, you are agreeing to pay a $100 fee for any appointment canceled within 24 hours of the appointment time.  You agree to pay $150 for any appointment missed without a notification before the scheduled appointment time.  You agree that these are reasonable fees to compensate me for the time lost regardless of the reason for the cancelation or missed appointment.  You understand that these fees cannot be billed to your insurance and that you are solely responsible and agree to pay these fees out-of-pocket (personally).  It is understood that there will be NO fee charged for appointments canceled prior to 24 hours from the appointment time.

Don’t feel bad about charging for your time. Keeping healthy boundaries and maintaining compliance with your no-show fee is crucial to sustaining your business, and your own wellbeing!

Counselor Case Study: Inappropriate Court Testimony Concerning Custody Dispute

Quick summary: don’t work with children of parents currently going through a divorce! Just kidding, these kids need a lot of support. In reality, if you work with kids and divorce, make sure you follow your rules/laws to the “T”!

How Keeping Secrets Can Help Couple Therapy Succeed

Interesting concept… if you work with couples, this is worth a quick read.

In Texas, my rates for 53-60 minute sessions range from $84-$129. Keep in mind that Headway takes care of everything at no cost to you and guarantees payment! Click below for more info👇:

Are you an LPC Supervisor in Texas? Need your 6 Supervisor Refresher CEs?

You’re in luck! I offer multiple 6 hour courses specifically designed to meet the 6 hour Supervisor CE requirement for Texas LPC Supervisors. In fact, most of my courses also cover topics such as Ethics and Cultural Diversity, so you can get that CE requirement covered at the same time!

Check out my course site HERE!!

If you have any questions, click REPLY to this email and I can answer any questions you have. Thanks again for allowing me this personal promotion! 🙏

Don’t forget you can now receive some cool rewards simply by referring your friends/colleagues/parents/whoever to Counselor Weekly by clicking below: