Observations to Make Note of When Trying to Collaborate with Local Mental Health Practices to Support Your Employees’ Mental Wellbeing
If you’re here because you’re looking for Maryland-based mental health practices to collaborate with, so you can better support your employees’ mental health, good for you! We’re glad you’re here! If you’re not based out of Maryland, know that you may still find this article helpful.
Over the years, our clients have taught us a lot about their experiences when trying to find a therapist. Based on their experiences, we’re compiling a list of observations for you to make in order to find therapy practices that are most aligned with the experience you want your employees to have when reaching out for help. Remember: the experience you have while reaching out for information will likely be reflective of the experience your employees will have when they are reaching out for help too. Even though I haven’t met you, I’m confident you’re looking for your employees to have a smooth, seamless, and overall positive experience.
When you reach out, here are some things to make note of:
Does the therapy practice answer your phone call during regular business hours? If not, do they return your call promptly? Unfortunately, many of the people who call our office tell us just how grateful we are that we’ve answered the phone, because that has not been their experience. If you reach out to a counseling practice and can’t reach them by phone or get a returned call, you can expect that your employees will have a similar experience with that same practice. Provide your employees with referrals for practices that have administrative teams to get them scheduled quickly.
When the practice answers the phone, is the person polite, friendly, and helpful? How do you feel based on how they answer the phone? This is really important! At LifeSpring (link to home), we train our admin team to remember that they are the first contact with anyone who calls our office, and that we want people to have a pleasant experience when they call us. Making the decision to reach out for therapy is hard enough. Nobody wants to call a company and speaks to somebody who sounds like they don’t want to be there.
Does the therapy practice respond to your emails promptly? And, if you get no response at all? Pay attention to that too. The lack of response is information for you.
When you do receive a response, is it professionally written? How does the tone and wording of the email make you feel? Have you ever received an email response that looked like someone gave very little thought to their response. No “hello,” no formal closing. Just a jarring, short response. I don’t know about you, but I’m a little picky about this. If you’re reaching out for professional services, it’s not too much to expect a professional written response that makes you feel good about reaching out, even if that person is unable to help.
How easy/difficult is it to schedule an appointment? Make note of how easy or difficult it is for people to schedule their first appointment? Can new clients schedule online 24/7? Do they have to talk to someone by phone during regular business hours? Do they have to schedule a consultation call before they can schedule?
If you’re just starting this process, know that you can use questions from our other blog “Questions to Ask When Your Company is Looking to Collaborate with Local Mental Health Practices to Support Employees’ Mental Health” to cover the most important information you need. From there, you can use this blog to pay attention to your observations and experiences when you reach out. Both sets of information will be incredibly valuable to you, your company, and your employees. You want your employees to get the mental health counseling services they need with ease while also having a positive experience.
As you make your list of mental health counseling referrals for your employees, remember to only include those practices who have demonstrated alignment with your company and employees’ needs.
If you are looking for therapy resources to support your Maryland-based employees, know that we also have a FREE Starting Therapy podcast series that we’ve created to answer the most frequently asked questions that our Greater Baltimore therapy office receives.
Workplace Wellness Programs
LifeSpring Counseling Services offers Workplace Wellness Services that include educational workshops, experiential workshops, and retreats. If you believe that your workplace could benefit from these services, you can 1. share this information with your supervisor or company CEO, or 2. if you are the person in charge, just fill out this form.
Think we can help?
If you are a Maryland-based company who is looking to support your employees’ mental health, we invite you to check out our Corporate Wellness Services, our General Counseling Services for Children and Adults. Regardless of where you are located in Maryland, we are able to provide telehealth services in Maryland. If you are looking to collaborate with our office in a more official way, please feel free to contact Melissa Wesner, LCPC at melissa@lifespringcounseling.net. Know that you can also share our mini podcast series called Starting Therapy with your employees as well. It answers the most commonly asked questions that we receive here at LifeSpring Counseling Services.
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Interested in Counseling for Burnout or Compassion Fatigue?
If you’re a Marylander who knows that counseling is the direction you need to take, the therapists at LifeSpring Counseling Services are here to help. We offer online counseling services for mindfulness, depression, anxiety, trauma, and grief and loss. We also offer Brainspotting as a specialized service, and Brainspotting can be done online, too!
Here’s how you can get started! Online and in-person counseling for burnout and compassion fatigue aren’t the only services offered at our Monkton, MD office.
The counselors and social workers at our Maryland office also offer counseling services for trauma, grief and loss, boundary setting, communication skills, and difficult life transitions. We also offer specialized counseling services including Brainspotting and spiritually-integrated counseling. Because we are located next to several local universities, we also work with college students and international students.
