Marketing for therapists Archives - Effective Therapist Blog

Ethics and Effectiveness in the Age of Social Distancing

At a time when the need for your help is greater than ever, and you are already dealing with all the adjustments in your own life, the demand to switch to a phone or web based therapy setting can feel overwhelming. Dedicated FIT practitioners everywhere are questioning how to safely and responsibly work with clients, now that in-person has been so drastically altered.

Over the past few weeks my colleagues and I have been focused on creating support resources to help Feedback-Informed Practitioners, and their clients, adapt to this new era of social distancing.

Initial posts focused on instructional videos created specifically to help therapists and clients use the Outcome and Session Rating Scales from home: Telehealth options for Feedback-Informed Practitioners and ORS & SRS Telehealth Support

Now, that everyone has started ‘zooming’ I see new questions of effectiveness and ethics emerging. If you are new to Telehealth, our colleagues at PESI have created a special package to support you, filled with best practices, case studies, and treatment adaptations for working virtually. Providing the education you need to confidently and competently offer safe, effective Telehealth services to your clients. Not only will you be able to work with clients without leaving your home, you’ll also…

Gain access to remote clients, or those practicing social distancing
Become a Certified Clinical Telemental Health Provider AND a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional
Get tools to grow your practice in troubling economic times

Interested? Find out more or register today to take advantage of today’s deeply discounted registration!

Mastering Telehealth & Anxiety Treatment in the Age of Social Distancing:
Your guide to documentation, ethics and insurance

Can a wheel draw in more clients? – Therapist Marketing Tip #1

Drew McLellan wrote an excellent article called â€œBuild your digital footprint in a hub and spoke modelâ€. He suggests that every business needs a hub that all their online and offline content point back to. He explains how using a hub/spoke model will increase your visibility on the web. Studies show over 70% of people check out a health care practitioner online before booking an appointment. Therefore, having a website easily found by clients and search engines is now central to a therapist drawing in clients.

Your website is where you most effectively present your skills, training, unique offerings, contact information and valuable content (articles or blog posts). The logic of have everything you do point back to your website is pretty straightforward as Drew explains: Continue reading…

February 10, 2016 by Cindy Hansen MyOutcomes PCOMS Private Practice Therapist Marketing Tips Therapy effectiveness

Is a video the best method to explain the benefits of Measuring Outcomes?

Video will soon be 90% of Internet traffic. ¹

Video is the most effective website initiative.²

Do you include video on your website? Video is a very effective way to relay information about your practice and connect with visitors. Many experts predict that video will continue to grow in popularity and sites that do not utilize this method to deliver content will be left behind. Pointing out the benefits you offer as a therapist who utilizes MyOutcomes would be a great subject for a video. If you are not comfortable in writing and recording your own Dr. Barry Duncan has created a video for clients explaining PCOMS and measuring outcomes. This video is available on Heart and Soul of Change Blog for anyone to use. Continue reading…

April 27, 2015 by Cindy Hansen Heart & Soul of Change Project ORS / SRS PCOMS Private Practice Therapy Outcome Measures

Engage your website visitors immediately before they disappear! – Therapist Marketing Tip #3

After describing how most visitors scan websites according to an â€œFâ€ pattern, Therapist Marketing Tip #2 recommended taking advantage of this well-established behavior in the design and layout of your site.

Does your current homepage defy or fail to capitalize on the â€œFâ€ pattern? Are you considering a redesign as a result?

If the answer is â€œyes,â€ proceed carefully. Don't do anything until you've obtained additional feedback on your online presence as it now stands. A website may not follow all the design â€œrulesâ€ yet still be highly effective. If — after careful review, including taking into account other people's feedback — you still want to look at site alterations, here are some important considerations you should keep in mind.

March 28, 2015 by Cindy Hansen Client engagement ORS / SRS PCOMS Private Practice Therapist Marketing Tips

Why you need an â€˜F' to have an A+ website – Therapist Marketing Tip #2

According to the latest research, more than 70 percent of people will go online to check out a prospective health-care practitioner before booking an appointment. What will these potential clients discover when they get to your site? Is it easy to navigate and helpful or is it difficult to navigate and uninformative?

How people interact with sites has been the subject of extensive study. This, in turn, has given rise to a set of established practices for optimizing online content and layout.

Upon initial viewing, most people will scan the page with a pattern of eye movements that somewhat resemble an â€˜F.' This â€˜F' is made up of the following three components:

March 17, 2015 by Cindy Hansen MyOutcomes Private Practice Therapist Marketing Tips

Marketing Tips for Therapists #10

outcome software, client directed, outcome informed

Building a Community Referral Network

Effective marketing today is about building relationships and engaging communities. It’s about telling stories people want to hear, adding value through information sharing, and participating in open and honest conversations that motivate and energize people. Marketing in today’s economy are driven by conversations at a grassroots level and you can participate in this process both online or off. Mental health practitioner who take the time to engage people at this level significantly improve their reach and influence. Have you ever considered developing a community referral network through public speaking and training/workshops?

The best way to start is by creating a list of potential referral sources. Don’t forget to include hypnotherapists, fitness coaches, life coaches, massage therapists, chiropractors, weight loss professionals, nutritionists, local medical associations, etc. Identify other Community Partners such as Local Red Cross, Hospice Associations, Health Networks, Wellness Centers, Senior Outreach Services, Community Resources, Local Family Centres, Local churches, Arthritis Society, Brain Injury Societies, Mental Health Associations, Societies for Community Living, Community Recreational Initiatives, Women's Shelters, United Way etc.

Once you have created your target list, offer yourself for speaking engagements, monthly or weekly meetings, luncheons, annual general meetings etcâ€¦ When giving a presentation to your audience establish how your practice is unique and specialized. You should highlight points like how therapist tools such as PCOMS quickly and efficiently reports when treatment isn't working, enabling a therapist to adjust services to improve outcomes. Or, the fact that using MyOutcomes allows the clients’ feedback to be central to the care they receive. This message will resonate with many potential referral sources.

February 27, 2013 by Cindy Hansen Therapist Marketing Tips

Therapist Marketing Tip #9: Creating Referrals for Therapists Who Work with Children

fit outcomes, myoutcomes, cdoi, the heart and soul of change, outcome software

It has been my observation that therapists who work with children grow their caseloads faster and receive more referrals. Why would that be?

School Systems

It seems it is much easier to find the younger clients because of the school systems. Once you establish a relationship with a couple of schools the referrals consistently come in usually from October until May. There really isn’t that type of resource for adult clients which make it tougher to build your practice.

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth for kids seems to build a practice more than for adults. You'll notice that parents will easily give their therapist's information to another parent, but not necessarily to co-workers or others about their therapist or even that they know one.

Pediatricians

Another good referral source for children is pediatricians once you have established a relationship, referrals will come. This is where MyOutcomes Children's Individual Progress Summary Reports can give you a competitive advantage building that relationship.

February 21, 2013 by Cindy Hansen Therapist Marketing Tips

Therapist Referrals: Therapist Marketing Tip #8

What tools are available to source therapist referrals in the short term?

The internet has free or low cost directory listings for our industry which can produce short term gains if you take the time to use these. Did you know that 28 â€“ 35% of people search online specifically for mental health information? Will they find you? Get on every relevant directory listing you can. Here is an easy first step to ensure you are visible online:

Check Out This Online Directory Listing

The Heart and Soul of Change, Dr. Barry Duncan's website, includes the Client-Directed, Outcome-Informed Therapy/Counseling Services Directory. The Directory lists practitioners who consistently use the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) and who subscribe to the assumptions and values of client-directed, outcome-informed (CDOI) practices.

February 15, 2013 by Cindy Hansen Therapist Marketing Tips

Superhero Referrals – Therapist Marketing Tip #7

superhero referrals, MyOutcomes, therapist marketing

Our last therapist marketing tip pointed out you how you should consider adding a newsletter sign-up form to your website. As this video reveals, you could gather numerous addresses but not immediately get new clients.

That is because efforts like building your email list should be considered a long-term marketing effort. You need to continue to build your list and send out your newsletters regularly. The newsletters should reinforce who you are and what you do. Then, if someone off your list decides to look into therapy you should get a call. Also sending a newsletter will help you stand out in the local market. Here are two suggestions to further harness the power of a newsletter:

November 15, 2012 by Cindy Hansen Therapist Marketing Tips

Take your website to the next level – Therapist Marketing Tip #6

Last week’s Therapist Marketing Tip #5 suggested you take an impartial look at the copy on your website. If it doesn’t effectively connect and inform those who are visiting you may want to consider some changes. You could edit the content, to make it easier to read and more effective at answering the questions most visitors to your site have.

The question this week is what else can you do the therapist website?

This week’s suggestion is to add two offering to your website. The first addition is a newsletter sign up form and the second option is a downloadable report.

October 25, 2012 by Cindy Hansen Therapist Marketing Tips