Psychotherapy Posts
Ways to Attract Psychotherapy Clients
April 7th, 2010 | 
Author: There are numerous ways to attract psychotherapy and counselling clients. Traditional ways focus on referrals from doctors, health centres, other colleagues or word of mouth. The use of brochures, letters and business cards are useful ways to 'get yourself known' so people can refer clients to you. Listings on online directories are also valuable ways for clients to find you directly as are listings in both online and offline general directories.
Many therapists are cautious of new ways of attracting clients which include using the internet or indirect ways to raise their profile, including writing online and offline articles, YouTube videos, special reports, reviews etc – all ways for people to find you and be attracted to you. However, these methods only work if clients can 'find you' after they have heard about you. Clients today are changing – many if not most, expect you to have a website and will research you (and many others) to ensure you are the therapist they want to work with.
If you are serious about attracting psychotherapy and counselling clients, then you must embrace these new ways of clients finding you and you finding clients! Psychotherapy clients, particularly, who are looking for a longer term relationship with a therapist, are today doing far more research about therapists to ensure they find the best person to work with.
Should psychologists and counsellors encourage clients to be honest?
Counsellors and psychologists often find themselves in a dilemma when their clients say they must embroider the truth they speak in order to avoid offending other people. They also say it is polite to avoid bragging and therefore are modest and self-denying of their abilities when praised. Should a counsellor empathise with this or are they encouraging their clients to be dishonest and therefore existentially inauthentic?
| Example Imagine a couple are in the process of divorcing. In an effort to avoid potential criticism or sympathy, one of the parents advises their ten-year old child not to tell people about the break-up. In a conversation with the child, an adult friend asks the child how he is. The response is the usual ‘fine’, which surprises the friend since she believes the child must be distressed. It becomes apparent, however, that once the child knows the friend is aware of the break-up, he is able to share his very painful and confusing feelings. What is the cost of the parent’s dishonesty? |
Posted in Members Only, Psychotherapy, Therapy Training | 
Tags: clinical practice, honesty, truthfulness | 
No Comments »
How can psychologists and counsellors interpret what clients are really saying?
Scientific Psychology considers human existence to be subject to laws similar to those of the natural world. From this perspective, personality comprises a relatively stable set of variables which change little over the lifespan. This positive approach pervades much of our thinking and results in individual and collective attempts to understand why people do certain things or behave in certain ways. Pick up any book or magazine article and it will become clear that searching for definitive answers to understand questions of human psychology pervade everyday experience. However, this perspective is only one way of making sense of the human condition.What can we learn about a client’s existential reality from the language they use? What is the meaning behind the language they use?
Posted in Members Only, Psychotherapy |
Tags: existential therapy, psychotherapy, therapeutic modiality |
No Comments »