Scheduling for therapy and counselling practices
Scheduling for therapists and counsellors, in person or online
Sessions are fifty minutes and you need space between them. Coordinating on WhatsApp every week with every client eats the time you should be spending in session.
Your catalog, with the duration it actually takes
- Initial consultation60 min
- Individual session50 min
- Couples session75 min
- Online session50 min
- Brief check-in30 min
Couples session takes 75 minutes. A calendar that treats everything as “an hour” will offer you a slot that service doesn't fit into.
Why it fits
Why WhatsApp scheduling fits therapy and counselling practices
The session has a fixed length and needs real space between clients.
The relationship is weekly or fortnightly and sustained over time.
The cancellation policy genuinely matters, and it's better communicated by the system than by you, case by case.
Services
Typical durations in this trade
Duration is what decides which times get offered to the client. These are the usual values to start from and adjust with your own measurements.
What changes in your calendar
The turnaround time between sessions is part of the service, so the system never offers two sessions back to back without that space. It's one of the reasons paper calendars fail in this field.
| Service | Duration |
|---|---|
| Initial consultation | 60 min |
| Individual session | 50 min |
| Couples session | 75 min |
| Online session | 50 min |
| Brief check-in | 30 min |
Your calendar
How your calendar ends up
One therapist, one schedule
Each therapist sets their own days and hours, split shifts included. Anyone without their own inherits the business hours.
The assistant checks before it answers
It never tells the client you're full or closed without having looked at your calendar. If it tries, the system blocks the reply and forces it to check.
A reminder the day before
The client confirms or says they can't make it, and that slot goes back on sale.
Days you open as an exception
A Sunday or a public holiday opens for that date, without touching the weekly schedule. The assistant respects it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep different hours for online and in-person work?
Yes, by creating two services with their own hours and availability. A service can also be restricted to certain days.
How does the cancellation policy work?
You set how many hours ahead a session can be cancelled or moved. The client gets their own link to manage the session within that window; past it, they have to write to you.
Is what's said over WhatsApp confidential?
The assistant handles scheduling, not clinical content, and is configured to stay out of therapeutic topics. Even so, WhatsApp isn't a clinical channel: it's worth telling clients it's only for arranging the appointment.