Cancellation Policies & EMDR Intensives

business emdr consultation emdr intensives private practice Mar 06, 2023

What should my cancellation policy be for EMDR Intensives? Should it be different from my regular cancellation policy? How much time should I allow for cancellations? What should my cancellation fee be for EMDR intensives?

If some or all of these questions have crossed your mind, know that you’re not alone! Creating a cancellation policy for EMDR intensive sessions or programs is an important part of designing your offer.

The “right” answer is creating and sticking to a policy that works well for YOU in YOUR business.

There are many ways to handle the cancellation policy for EMDR intensives. This is going to look different depending on how your EMDR intensive sessions or programs are structured and priced. It also depends on your needs for advanced notice. I’ve seen therapists set cancellation policies ranging from 48 hours notice to 3 weeks notice. You have the flexibility to decide whatever time frame works best for you!

Some considerations for determining how much time to require for cancellations:

Are you booking individual sessions or a package?

For individual sessions you may have more flexibility in being able to book an open appointment and this may mean that you’re losing less revenue for a single session being canceled vs an entire package of sessions being canceled

For a package of sessions are you going to allow rescheduling of some of the sessions or does the entire package of sessions need to be rescheduled?

What is the volume of intensive sessions in your practice?

If you are seeing a higher volume of clients, it may be easier for you to fill a canceled session, but it also might be more difficult to reschedule someone if you're booked up. If you are only seeing a few clients, this will likely be harder to fill canceled appointments, and may cause more stress on you when a cancellation occurs.

What are some ways to fill a canceled appointment?

Keep a list of clients who want to be notified if you have an intensive session open up
Send out a quick email blast to your practice email list notifying clients of an opening
Consider how far out your EMDR intensives are booked. If you're booking several weeks or months in advance, can you move up an intensive to fill the canceled spot?

If these strategies feel manageable to you, then having a shorter cancellation window is a possibility. Alternatively, if none of this is resonating with you or feels really stressful, then give yourself a longer cancellation window.

What is the length of your EMDR intensive session?

Longer appointments are likely more difficult to fill with shorter notice. Longer EMDR Intensive sessions mean you're blocking off more time for the appointment and also losing out on more revenue in the event of a late cancellation.

How much notice do YOU need to make adjustments for a canceled appointment?

Cancellation policies aren't just about the lost revenue. Cancellations can cause a lot of stress in many ways. If it creates a lot of stress for you to adjust to a cancellation, give yourself more space to adapt by requiring more time.

Some considerations for determining the fee for cancellations:

Does the cancellation fee you’re charging match with the pricing of the service being provided?

The most important thing here is that the cancellation fee is a substantial (or complete) replacement of the revenue that you would lose if someone cancels and you can’t fill that appointment. If you're charging a higher rate for EMDR intensives than 45-60 minute sessions then your cancellation fee also needs to reflect this difference. And yes, I advocate for charging higher rates for EMDR intensives.

Additional payment considerations & cancellations:

Do you require a deposit for booking a package of sessions? Is that deposit refundable? If so, up until when?

Do you require payment up front or at the time of service? If it’s up front, is that refundable or transferable to another appointment in the event of a cancellation?

Your cancellation policy should be whatever you need it to be for your business to support your needs.

Yes, it should be designed to match the time and revenue commitment of your EMDR intensive services being offered. If you find yourself scrambling to fill a canceled session or stressed because of the impact of a canceled session, then you probably need to increase the amount of notice required. You are allowed to make your cancellation policy whatever you want it to be!

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