One of the problems that impact the quality and effectiveness of mental health treatment for clients is therapist burnout. In recent years, 54% of psychologists and up to 67% of mental health workers reported feeling burned out (Lin et al., 2023; Morse et al., 2012). Clinician burnout is a factor that contributes to high turnover rates and poorer quality of care. As a client seeking services, one should be able to expect that a therapist is able to competently show up to treatment, be consistent, and be attentive to the client’s needs. When therapists work for dozens of clients for low fees, unfortunately, although this arrangement appears to be a bargain for clients, the quality of care may decrease due to therapist burnout, turnover, or lack of genuine and ethical engagement in the therapeutic process on the part of the therapist. There are many factors that contribute to therapists showing up and doing quality work that you can count on. One of the most important factors is financial consistency and stability. This blog post will provide further information about rescheduling and late cancellations at CCDBT. Please consider these policies in light of the importance of preventing therapist burnout, so clients can count on receiving quality services.
Rescheduling or canceling therapy sessions has a significant impact on the quality of services that can be provided. There are several factors at play here: On the client’s side, a client can be directly impacted by getting off target with core aspects of treatment that lead to significant setbacks. On the therapist’s side, which impacts the client, a therapist can struggle with treatment planning and difficulty providing consistent and high-quality services. In addition, not only do therapists, like any other human being, sometimes feel personally conflicted about last-minute cancellations, but the cancellations impact the therapist’s livelihood by making it unpredictable whether or not they will get paid for their work.
Despite the difficulties that arise as a result of rescheduling and canceling therapy sessions, there are certain principles to keep in mind that can minimize the impact on treatment.
- If possible, it is best practice to reschedule or cancel as little as possible by working with a therapist to schedule sessions out in advance, preferably at the same time, and clearing other obligations that may get in the way of the therapy.
- When a significant event or circumstance does arise, it is the next best option to reschedule the therapy session in advance. At CCDBT, there are two parts to the rescheduling policy:
- a session needs to be rescheduled 24 hours in advance
- the session must be rescheduled for a time either the week before the appointment, the week of the appointment, or the week after. Rescheduling a session in advance reduces interference with the therapy process and honors the space that you reserved in the therapist’s calendar.
- If rescheduling is not possible or something emerges that requires a last-minute cancellation, then the client commits to paying the session fee. Although paying a fee for a late-canceled session can be quite frustrating, this policy is necessary in most therapy practices so that the therapist can be paid a reasonable, expected wage. Moreover, in some cases, such as paying for group psychotherapy even if a client has not attended group psychotherapy, this commitment keeps the group alive and going, whereas many psychotherapy groups have shut down due to members inconsistently not showing up or paying for group sessions.
Although rescheduling in advance and paying for late cancellations can be difficult at times for clients, these policies do play an important role in ensuring that clients receive quality mental health services. These practices also sustain therapists economically and promote therapist self-care to minimize therapist burnout and turnover rates, which directly impact client care.
In rare circumstances when a client’s concern about payment does not appear to be addressed in the policies, it may be appropriate to ask your therapist if an exception can be made. In this case, the therapist will have to seek approval from leadership, and an exception is not guaranteed. As such, it is recommended that clients do what is in their power to minimize rescheduling and cancellations to receive quality mental health services that are satisfactory for both the client and therapist as well.
References
Lin, L., Assefa, M., & Stamm, K. (2023). Practitioners are overworked and burned out, and they need our support. Monitor on Psychology.
Morse, G., Salyers, M.P., Rollins, A. L., Monroe-Devita, M., & Pfahler, C. (2012). Burnout in mental health services: A review of the problem and its remediation. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 39(5), 341-352.
About the Author
Samuel Eshleman Latimer (he/his), Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist that specializes in effective conflict management and dialectical behavior therapy. Samuel also works to help individuals, couples, and families decrease interpersonal suffering and manage challenges associated with borderline personality disorder. He believes that people do not need to choose between learning effective techniques that are based on science and developing warm, genuine relationships, as both of these styles complement each other. Click Here to learn more about Samuel’s experience and therapeutic style.