Should therapists publish their prices?

Let’s start with the obvious; along with ‘Will it work?’, price is one of the things that every therapy client wants to know. Many of them have not used a therapist before and have no clue whether your prices are nearer £5 or £500.

A lot of businesses consider it essential to put their prices online and when you’re selling a product like shoes or tins of peas this seems very sensible. Imagine buying from a site like Amazon or eBay if they removed their prices.

Self Care – 10 Top Tips for Therapists

You might wonder why therapists need tips about self-care. After all, we’re supposed to know all about coping with stress, to have lots of techniques at our fingertips, and (most of all) to have a dream job helping others which is fulfilling and satisfying. All that might be true, but therapists can be tempted to put other people’s needs before their own, and sometimes they need to stop and take stock. After all, as every airline tells you, you put your own oxygen mask on first so you are in a fit state to help others.

Are SMART goals good enough?

Many therapists are taught to work with SMART goals – in case you aren’t familiar with this, it’s a mnemonic and stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-limited. As far as therapists go, it’s a really good system which allows you to understand exactly where the therapy is going and to recognise when you get there. But as far as motivating clients goes, it can be a bit dry.

Mindfulness in your Therapy Practice

Whatever kind of therapy you offer your clients, it would be hard not to be aware of mindfulness which has become a popular intervention in pretty much every well-being approach. So what’s all the fuss about, and should you be using it with your clients?

 

Fear of change in therapy

Have you ever driven past a new housing estate with a big sign that says ‘If you lived here, you’d be home by now’?
Starting therapy is a bit like that. Most clients who come to see me have had their problem for some time. They’ve lived with it, or around it, or just avoided whatever situation made it worse. To re-frame the sign, if they’d had therapy a year ago, they’d have solved it by now. So what stopped them?