How to keep to treatment times? - Advice please!
Hello. I'm at the end of my AOR reflexology course. I've completed all my case studies and only have the exam to worry about now. To keep me ticking over I took on a new free client last week. One of my other case studies recommended me to her and I thought it would be worth treating her now in the hope that she will pay to come back and see me regularly when I'm qualified!
I started off by explaining what reflexology is and what we were going to do in the first session - consultation followed by treatment.
Anyway, it then took 1.5 hours just to do the consultation. I'm quite a chatty person but I was really careful NOT to chat to her so I don't think it was me that made it take so long. She has got many current health problems (hormonal imbalance, PMT, heavy periods, indigestion, constipation, sinusitis), and many past health problems, family problems, complicated family medical history. She's currently trying for a baby. Basically, there was an awful lot to talk about. The thing is I just didn't know how to speed things up. After that I felt I ought to do the treatment as well. In the end the whole session ended up taking 3.5 hours!
How should I have handled the situation? In future I think I would say at the start that the session should take 1.5 hours because of the consultation but that if the consultation took a long time then there may not be time for a full treatment. It's very hard to hurry someone along when they're trusting you with such personal information. So, any ideas?[/align]
Answers:
Hi Potion,
I can be tough to get going on the actual treatment!! You'll find that many clients like to chat and tell you their problems or complete medical history. You, as a therapist, may be the only person that has listened to them.
The trick is to take charge of the consultation ~ you have to move things on ~ so long as you are interested in what they are saying it's fine ~ you just have to keep bring them back to the question you originally asked then move on to the next. Use your consultation sheet to work quickly and thoroughly through your list of questions &note down your answers. It should take no longer than 20min. Get started on the treatment and allow your client the space to continue chatting if they like.
If you have a returning client you'll probably find that by the 2nd or 3rd treatment they become less chatty. Some of my clients chat all the way through ever treatment and that's ok !!
Good luck with your exams.
meridianmoon xx
Answers:
HI Potion,
Some good advice from MeridianMoon there.
3.5 hrs for a Reflexology treatment and consultation is extreme!!! I bet you were really tired after that!!
I keep my consultations to a min of 20 mins. I have a designed a consultation sheet, so that i can get all of the relevant info i need within that time limit. I agree that sometimes its not long enough to get a really detailed insight into the person and their problems, but to start giving Reflexology you really only need to check for contraindications, get a brief medical history and some info on their current health issues. I also like to get some personal info about lifestyle, job and interests ect.
I find that once the initial consultation is over and the treatment gets underway, the client will elaborate on points touched upon in the consultation. By doing this you can get all of the 'extra' info you need while the treatment is in progress, and just add what you can remember to their consultation form after the treatment has ended.
Most of my clients would be really chatty and tell me all of their problems/ailments/issues within the first2 treatments. By this time i will have build up a holistic picture of the client and can start to design their treatment plan.
If you feel however, that you would like to spend longer on the consultation, then make sure you charge accordingly. E.g. if you charge £25 for a treatment and would like to give a 45 min consultation, i would suggest charging an extra £10 for this. Clients are paying for your time, but if you will be spending longer with each client at the first treatment, then you will only be able to fit a certain amount of clients into your work day/ evening ect. So, you have to charge extra to compensate for this. (these are just a few ideas.)
Hope this helps.:D
Good luck with your exams!
If you ever need any other help or advice, just drop me a pm.
Kate xxx
Answers:
Thanks to you both.[/align][/align]I'm usingthe consultation form that we were given on our course to use for the case studies. It's incredibly detailed and repeats itself a bit. I think I probably need to create my own form. It's really hard to know how to cut it down at this stage. Although I don't like the form we've used on our course, it feelsfamiliar and safe![/align][/align]Perhaps I should start a new thread asking if anyone wants to share consultation forms with me?[/align]
Answers:
Hi Potion,
I know how you feel!!! The consultation formi used when i was training was really detailed and took far too long to complete in the time allowed. So, when i qualified and started seeing clients i decided to make my own. I will e-mail you a copy of my consultation form if you like? Send me a PM with your e-mail details and i will get it to you ASAP.:)
Kate xxx
Answers:
That would be great Kate. I'll PM you straightaway.[/align][/align]Mind you, I've just finished a 2hr session with the same lady. I think she's just very chatty really. It's awkward because she's someone I know a bit so it's hard to have that professional, moving things along manner.[/align]
Answers:
Sounds like the perfect opportunity to practice it then..could you say to her that you want to practice some other skills on her as well as the actual treatment?
If she knows that, she could eg give you feedback on your tone etc.
We have to train our clients to be good clients!!!!!
When I have asked people to be practice clients I have told them in advance that I would like to behave with them as if they are clients /with my therapists hat on
I do remember the night mare first time I used a client sheet in a reiki session..what is the problem /how big a problem is it on a scale of 1-10..it took forever....good luck on gaining experiencing /reducing the information gathering time to something more manageable
tigress