For Therapists:
Efficiently Handle New Client Inquiries
When You're Fully Booked
When you're not taking on new clients, it can be challenging to find the time to respond to emails and calls from new inquiries. And when you do respond, you may feel responsible for helping them find a therapist who has availability, which only adds to your workload (and you don’t always know who’s taking new clients). If this sounds familiar, I’m here to help. I make it easy to refer people to me for reliable, interim support and guidance to keep them engaged, either until you have space (if you keep a wait list) or until they find a therapist with openings (which I can also help them with). It costs you nothing, saves you time and energy, and reduces the pressure on you...and those referrals will pay a discounted fee for their sessions with me. Because I do short-term and periodic work only, I always have availability to get people in quickly.
How It Works
You would copy/paste my provided service description (‘blurb’) below in your response to new client emails to easily and quickly refer them to me for Consultations. Then we leave it up to them to get in touch with me, and once they do, I would take it from there and get them in quickly for a session, usually within a few days. They can choose to do one session or a few in a row, and they can choose the length of the session. I help them get focused and ready for future therapy, and when needed, assist them in finding available therapists, overall making their transition to a therapist smoother and more productive. Although Consultations aren't a replacement for therapy, they’re similar enough to bridge the gap and can serve as an interim, non-clinical version of counseling until they can work with you or find a suitable therapist. The people I work with think of it like coaching, except offered by an experienced counselor instead of a life coach.
Benefits of Collaborating With Me
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Reduce your workload: Handle new inquiries more quickly and effectively.
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Feel more at ease: Ensure that people seeking a therapist feel supported and valued without the stress of unaddressed inquiries.
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Streamline your practice: Focus on your current clients and running the other parts of your practice while you easily hand off new inquiries to get support from someone you can trust.
How I'm Able to Provide Access to Appointments on Short Notice
In order to be able to provide interim services and sessions scheduled easily and quickly, I’ve designed my current practice so that I’m not working with clients long-term and I’m not carrying an ongoing caseload, but instead schedule standalone sessions as needed, either one-time, a few in a row on a short-term basis, or periodically. I don’t schedule sessions in advance nor do I reserve regular/recurring spots for clients. This enables me to have a highly flexible schedule with plenty of availability to get people in (usually) within a few days.
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I call my sessions Consultations to differentiate them from therapy, and I'm lightheartedly calling them Therapy-ish. I am still licensed and follow the board rules and ethics guidelines for the counseling profession. But I am clear with clients that we will not be entering into a Client-Counselor relationship, and our Client-Consultant relationship lasts the length of a single standalone session. As mentioned, Consultations can serve as a version of non-clinical counseling, somewhat like coaching, as I don’t give diagnoses and no longer operate by the medical model of treatment for disorders. So while I wouldn’t work with clients directly on depression or anxiety, for example, they could still get support and talk through problems and challenges in any area of their life, like relationships, work, health, general stress, and overall well-being, with a focus on strategies, skills and tools they can apply in their life right away.
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You can find a brief description followed by more details about Consultations here.
Fees
Because my Consultations don’t meet the criteria for medical necessity, (i.e., not treatment for a diagnosed mental disorder) they are not eligible for insurance reimbursement or payment through HSAs. However, for people referred to me by other counselors, I offer up to 3 sessions at half of my regular fee and they can choose the length of their session—30-minute, 45-minute, 60-minute, or 75-minute sessions at different price points. Ex: a 45-minute session is normally $90, but for people you refer to me it would be $45. While this model won't be helpful to people who have to use their insurance to cover the cost of many sessions over a longer period of time, my sessions are one-time, short-term, or periodic, and not a recurring, ongoing expense. Also, I can help people find resources and a counselor who takes their insurance for longer-term work. You can find more information about my pricing here, and keep in mind that anyone you refer will pay half of the prices listed.
Blurbs to Copy & Paste into Email Replies
to New Client Inquiries
Of course you can feel free to edit these to your liking, but I like to give some wording you can use to describe my services.
When You're Not Taking New Clients, and You DON'T Keep a Wait List
Thanks for reaching out! I’m not taking new clients at this time, and I don’t keep a wait list, but I want to let you know about someone you can talk to while you’re looking for a therapist. A colleague of mine, Dawn Ascanio, offers consultation sessions that you can schedule in the interim while you're looking for a longer-term therapist. The consultations she offers aren’t a replacement for therapy, but they’re similar enough to therapy to bridge the gap until you find a suitable therapist. You can think of them more like coaching, except offered by an experienced counselor instead of a life coach. You can schedule consultations as-needed, promptly (usually within a few days), and sessions can be one-time or a few-in-a-row on a short-term basis. While they’re not designed to directly address issues like depression or anxiety, you can still receive support and guidance for various challenges in your life, such as problems in relationships, work, health, and overall stress. Dawn can also help you find a therapist who has openings, and assist you in prioritizing issues and getting focused for your future therapy sessions. Consultations have a strong focus on tools, strategies and resources you can use in your life right away. Insurance doesn't cover Consultations, but Dawn offers half-priced sessions to clients who are referred from me. You can find a summary about Consultations and Dawn’s contact information on the Contact Info & FAQ page of her website at: dawnascanio.com/Contact. You'll also find a page on her site with pricing information, and keep in mind you would pay half of the fees listed if you let her know I sent you.
When You're Not Taking New Clients, and You DO Keep a Wait List
Thanks for reaching out! I’m not taking new clients at this time, but I do have a wait list. I will put you on this list and will be in touch when I have an opening, but I want to let you know about someone you can talk to in the meantime. A colleague of mine, Dawn Ascanio, offers consultation sessions that you can schedule in the interim, for professional support and guidance until I have a spot open up. These consultations aren’t a replacement for therapy, but similar enough to therapy to bridge the gap until you and I can work together. You can think of them more like coaching, except offered by an experienced counselor instead of a life coach. You can schedule consultations as-needed and promptly (usually within a couple days), and sessions can be one-time or a few-in-a-row on a short-term basis. While they’re not designed to directly address issues like depression or anxiety, you can still receive support and guidance for various challenges in your life, such as problems in relationships, work, health, and overall stress. Consultations have a strong focus on tools, strategies and resources you can use in your life right away, and will help get you focused on what you'd like to work on with me. Insurance doesn't cover Consultations, but Dawn offers half-priced sessions to clients referred from me. You can find a summary about Consultations and Dawn’s contact information on the Contact Info & FAQ page of her website at: dawnascanio.com/Contact. You'll also find a page on her site with pricing information, and keep in mind you would pay half of the fees listed if you let her know I sent you. Thanks and I'll be in touch as soon as I have a spot available!
I welcome your comments and questions, so please be in touch!
See this page for a summary of what Consultations are, Frequently Asked Questions, and my contact information,
including my new business phone number for both calls and texts.