As a mental health clinician, you know that the most effective therapeutic relationships work like ongoing collaborations between clinician and client. The client trusts the therapist’s judgment, appreciates their insights into ineffective patterns of thought and behavior, and works with them to break cycles of dysfunction. You’ve seen the difference, too, in outcomes between a client that comes in with clear goals, ready to work on themselves, and a client who shows up unsure of what to expect or even where to start.
You also know, though, that not all clients visiting a mental health clinician have the same degree of familiarity with therapy in general. Some may be getting referred from an already trusted clinician and just be looking for someone with which they can build a new, equally effective relationship. Others however, might be coming from a much more skeptical place.
Depending on a clinician’s specialization, clients could be hesitant to engage, or even mandated to attend. Many will probably fall somewhere in the middle—intent on getting something out of therapy, but not quite certain what that means or how to approach it.
It’s not unexpected that people visiting a therapist for the first time wouldn’t know quite what to do. Sitting in a room (or on an online video call) one-on-one, divulging deeply personal information, can feel awkward—maybe too familiar, maybe not familiar enough—and can leave a client confused about how to navigate the room. The expectations on either end aren’t necessarily intuitive, but it’s crucial that to succeed with therapy, a client understands certain things about the experience—and the sooner, the better. Virtual client onboarding bridges that informational gap, and gets clients up to speed on what they have to know, and what they have to do, before the first day of therapy. The following run-through explains how it works.
Virtual client onboarding is a method by which mental health clinicians can provide incoming clients with information about how to get the most out of their experience in therapy, before their first appointment.
Virtual client onboarding content consists of informational video resources based on a whole body of data from across the entire mental health world about how clients can best hit the ground running on their first visit with a therapist.
A comprehensive slate of onboarding resources can consist of everything from simple “do’s and don'ts” to guidance on how clients can pursue effective conversations, to what signifies success in the short and long term, to those inevitable questions around billing. Furnishing incoming clients with easy-to-watch, easy-to-absorb content explaining what they can anticipate from start to finish, and how they should prepare themselves, can set the stage for a productive, beneficial experience that doesn’t get sidetracked or stifled by well-established pitfalls.
Creating the right kind of onboarding materials for your clients and getting them into their hands is the first step. Even the most conscientious among us know, though, that when you’re busy it’s easy to forget about, or ignore, ancillary materials that someone sends you a link to for an upcoming appointment.
When it comes to communicating with a client seeking therapy, the issue is compounded. They may already feel overwhelmed due to other things going on in their lives. A link to a bunch of videos is an easy thing for clients to forget, ignore, or put on the backburner if this is where they are mentally. That’s why strategy and communication around the onboarding material is as important as the videos themselves.
Mental health clinicians have to communicate clearly that onboarding materials set the groundwork for the first visit. Clients should appreciate that therapy starts the moment they receive the materials, and that watching them, and taking them seriously, is an important part of the foundation for getting the most from their investment of time and money.
More people are visiting mental health clinicians today due to post-pandemic difficulties, inflation, and all the stressors that come with them. That means more and different kinds of clients with different backgrounds, expectations, and levels of previous experience with therapy. That also means it is more important than ever, and more potentially helpful, for clinicians to make sure everyone who comes in the door has a clear idea of what to expect, and what to do.
Luckily, it is easier than ever for mental health clinicians to facilitate onboarding. Virtual onboarding provides a far more engaging experience than the xeroxed pages or emailed checklists a clinic might have sent clients in days past. And providers who are focused specifically on creating onboarding content can make use of the latest insights about what mental health clients need to know, and to what types of materials they respond to best.
When working with a provider that stakes its reputation on making sure clinics always have the most effective resources available, there is no need for clinics to take time trying to create in-house onboarding materials or keep them up-to-date.
Success with therapy can be a matter of mindset. It’s well established that clients get the most value out of therapy when they see themselves as playing an active role in their own self-improvement. Virtual client onboarding helps get clients thinking in the right direction, before even stepping foot into your office.
Start setting your clients up with the tools they need to make therapy an effective collaboration on day one. Check out our Guide to Getting Started with Shrink Think to see how your clinic can get on board with virtual patient onboarding. The right client mentality is the basis for effective therapy, and virtual onboarding is key to letting clinicians help patients get started.