F.A.Q by Counsellors
Our Story
In 2011, Lynda Gilbert, an experienced counsellor and our founder, was running her own private practice. Her prices were just a little lower than other local counsellors, and so she started receiving more requests for counselling than she could fulfil. She teamed up with another counsellor to address the demand, but it just kept growing. As her husband, Andrew, and her two children, Joe and Natasha, all had business experience, they decided to set up an agency that referred clients to several counsellors in Milton Keynes. With Lynda’s counselling knowledge, the team grew into a large group of highly reputable counsellors, leading to the popularity and success of the organisation in the area.
Upon noticing the potential of this business to help people across the country, Natasha (our regional manager), set up new teams of counsellors in Bromley, West London and Northampton at the beginning of 2016. Later that year, we worked with award winning digital marketing company, Red Giraffe, to digitise our booking system. This meant that clients could pay in advance and instantly book a counsellor + appointment time of their choice. As well as this being a hit with clients, it has freed up more time and resources for our staff to take on new teams. We are once again expanding and our new location this year is Brighton & Hove.
Our Referral System
Most of our clients find us on Google, due to our extensive SEO work to get us a listed at the top. They click on our website and find the page about counselling in their specific area. At this point, they choose whether to call us or book a counsellor online.
The client will first click on the tab that says Find a Counsellor and select their area. A page with a calendar will appear, where they can choose the date they want to have their first session on. A list of counsellors who are available that day will then appear. The client can read any or all of the profiles, and click on the availability of each one. Upon doing this, a list of the counsellor’s free times on that day will pop up. The client will select an appointment time, which will take them through to a booking form. They will fill in their Name, Email Address, Phone Number, Age and Brief Description of Problem. Once they fill in all fields and click submit, a small payment form will appear asking for card details. An advanced payment is processed upon completing this.
As soon as the client has paid, our online bookings administrator gets an alert on her phone. She texts the counsellor who has been booked, with the name, age, appointment time and problem of the client. The counsellor is usually given 5 hours to respond with either a text that says ‘yes’ to accept, or ‘I wish to speak to the client’ if they are not sure the client is right for them. The counsellor is expected to give us a reason if they wish to decline the client without speaking to them. With the first and last response, the counsellor will then receive the contact details of the client and is expected to get in touch with the client immediately (24 hours). If the counsellor declines, we will find a new counsellor for the client or refund them. Once we receive a ‘yes’, we send the client a text and email confirmation. It is up to the counsellor to then send address details to the client
Like many organisations with several branches, we no longer operate a phoneline. With our online booking system, client helpdesk and advanced contact form, a client has everything they need on the run up to their first therapy session.
For every client we refer to you, we take the payment of their first session in advance. We keep this payment as a referral fee, so clients referred from us will not pay you when they see you for their first session. For all following sessions, clients will pay you directly, and we charge no commission or any ongoing fees.
Under your counsellor profile, clients can view a list of your available appointment slots. Our team updates these appointment times each week by hand on your behalf. You will receive a text from us every Thursday, requesting your available appointment times for the coming week. You will need to reply with a text listing your free times to see clients. If this changes during the week, you can text us at any time with the change, and our administrator will be on hand to do an instant update between 9 and 3pm Thursday, or 9 and 5pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. In your weekly text response, you must also list any upcoming holidays/unavailable dates or ‘no change’ if the times are the same as the previous week.
Your Relationship With Us
Our organisation is an agency, which means we refer clients to you without employing you. We do not provide a salary for our counsellors, as we are supporting self-employed counsellors in private practice. After the first session, your clients from us will pay you in the same way all of your clients pay you, and we will have no involvement in your counsellor-client relationship from that point.
A.) All of our counsellors need to be DBS checked and registered with an ethical body.
B.) We require our counsellors to have a fully trained, one-to-one supervisor.
C.) A full counselling qualification is necessary.
D.) Our face to face counsellors must already have a practice room in one of our operational locations.
E.) The application form must be completed and professional.
Yes. We have an in depth contract that you will need to sign in order to receive work from us. This protects you, as well as us, and keeps every part of our system transparent. We will also require copies of your qualifications, insurance, DBS, a biography and photo for our website.
In most cases, we will not interview you. Our application form is designed to give us all the details we need. If we feel that we need more information from you, we may call you to ask for this, but the conversation will not be formally conducted.
Once we have in your contract, documents and references, we will ask you for your upcoming availabilities. After sending us these, we will have your profile online within a week. Clients can book from that point onward.
Demand for counselling varies according to each area and what each team can offer. We cannot guarantee an instant or steady supply of clients, and we encourage our counsellors to seek clients from as many sources as possible. In our brand new areas, it usually takes about 4-6 months for us to climb to the page one on google, so it’s worth being patient with us as the reward will grow over time. Many of our counsellors in Milton Keynes, our oldest branch, are fully booked on an ongoing basis with our clients. We have also seen a great increase this year of referrals coming in for our 2016 branches, which is why our counsellors have remained loyal to our teams.
Those who offer evening and weekend availabilities are more likely to be booked quickly and regularly by our clients.
We only accept applications from counsellors who are fully qualified. Therefore, we would be keen to hear from you once you qualify, but cannot refer clients to you currently.
We are currently too under-resourced to support trainee counsellors with assignments and research. We wish you the best of luck finding information elsewhere.