What To Expect When You Call For Therapy
When you call our office, Sarah is the first person that you're going to talk to. If you send us an email, she is the person who's going to answer you. We also want to say that Sarah is someone who gets tons of compliments! We hear a lot of feedback from clients who are just so impressed with how she takes care of them and how she makes them feel comfortable when they call our office.
And sometimes as a practice, we don't always get feedback. Sometimes people just kind of keep that to themselves, but we've had people reach out and just to tell us how wonderful they think Sarah is. I'm sure you'll see why that is as well.
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Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Hi, thanks for joining us today. Today I'm talking with Sarah Mosberg, who is our administrative assistant at Lifespring. When you call her office, Sarah is the first person that you're going to talk to. If you send us an email, she is the person who's going to answer you. And before I introduce you to Sarah, I also want to say that Sarah is someone who gets tons of compliments. We hear a lot of feedback from clients who are just so impressed with how she takes care of them and how she makes them feel comfortable when they call our office.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: And sometimes as a practice, we don't always get feedback. Sometimes people just kind of keep that to themselves, but we've had people reach out and just to tell us how wonderful they think Sarah is. And in a little bit, I'm sure you'll see why that is as well. So welcome, Sarah. Thanks for joining us today. Hi, Melissa. Thanks for having me. So, Sarah, you are on the phone all the time, right? You are available to talk to clients Monday through Friday from nine to five. When people call our office, they're going to get a real human on the phone.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: And if for some reason you don't answer, it's probably because you're on another line. Yes. But you're on the phone for all of these conversations. So tell us about what that first call is like for people and how are people feeling when they're calling for therapy services for the first time?
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, I mean, it can vary with each person that's calling, but typically speaking, they'll call me just to see number one, who we have available. If they don't already have somebody in mind, it's kind of just starting the groundwork and seeing who we have available, what our services are, insurances that we take, just those kind of general questions. But generally speaking, I would say people are pretty I'm not hesitant, but they're they're kind of weary of like oh you know I'm taking this first step and I need some help so they kind of put their trust in me to help them through that process so that's kind of why I'm here just to help them take that first step.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah, and that's something that is really important to us as a practice, right? We want to make sure that when someone calls our office, they feel welcomed, that they feel cared for, that they feel like the response is professional. We don't want them having to play phone tag necessarily. Yeah. You know, one of the things that we talk about at our office is like, think about when you've called any kind of business. And the person who answers the phone sounds like they just woke up off the wrong side of the bed or they never call you back.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: And so it is really important to us to make sure that people feel welcomed and cared for, that we can help answer their questions. So for you personally, what are some things that you are doing on the phone to make sure that people do feel taken care of?
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, well, I would say the first thing is just trying to be empathetic non judgmental. I want everyone to feel like when they call me they can just be open and honest. And I'm going to help them, you know, figure out what's best for them, even if we're not the best fit, we can always help find a good fit for them outside of our practice. So those are just kind of some of the things I'm thinking about when I get that phone call. And I'm also just trying to be aware of what place they're in, sometimes it can be a vulnerable state.
Sarah Mosberg: So just trying to be empathetic and just listen to them and make sure that they feel respected while we're talking and working things out over the phone.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah. And what are some of the common questions that people do you have for you when they call?
Sarah Mosberg: Sometimes it'll be, do you offer this specialty? Do you have any clinicians that have experience with this, whether that be trauma or anxiety, depression? And we do get quite a few calls about our brain spotting services. So just trying to figure out who's gonna be a good match for that client. Other than that, I mean, I'll get questions about insurance. Do you take my insurance? What is that gonna cover? So it can kinda go anyway.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah. And are there any things that you think people can do to prepare for that first phone call if they're really nervous about reaching out for counseling services? What are some things that people can do to be prepared and to make it as seamless as possible?
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, my first suggestion would be just take a look at our website. We always update who is accepting new clients. So you can kind of start to see people's personalities, their specialties. I would say that's a good way to go just to get started. That way you can kind of have something in mind if you see somebody that you really resonate with. But if you're still on the fence and you don't really know who's going to be a good fit, just kind of coming in prepared with some of the things that you know you want to work on in therapy or just why you're calling in general, that's always really helpful for me just so I can, you know, get you matched up with the right clinician.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah, and even if you're outside of Maryland and you're like, well, this doesn't apply to me. Lifespring is far away from where I live. You can still apply the same feedback that Sarah is talking about by really thinking about who you would like to work with. What is your availability? Are you looking to use your insurance? What do you want to work on in therapy and really checking out any practices website? to see if they're accepting new clients, to see what type of work they do and is that what you're looking for. So even if you're not in Maryland, you can use the same information to prepare.
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, definitely.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: So what would you say to someone who's feeling really nervous about calling and taking that first step to schedule an appointment?
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, I've had a couple of those calls and one of the first things that I usually say is just I try and reassure them that you're doing the right thing. You're taking the first step to put yourself first and just kind of be there for them and just kind of give them that reassurance that, you know, you're you're in the right direction. You're in the right place and, you know, things are going to go in the right direction for you.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah. So I love that. So, Sarah, I know that there's some feedback that you get on the phone, and that sometimes people are so happy that you've answered the phone. And I'm wondering if you can talk about some of the feedback that you receive, because even though we give people our phone number, sometimes they're surprised to answer. Tell us about that feedback.
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, absolutely. So I've gotten quite a few people that have mentioned this to me that They were kind of in shock that I even answered the phone. They've reached out to other practices, other providers, and they've either gotten no response or it's been months since they've heard back from somebody. When I hear that, I'm like, whoa, that's just shocking to me because we really take the time to make sure that everybody's answered and everybody's taken care of. Like I said earlier, even if we're not the best fit, we still want to respond to them and make sure that they know that you know we're here we've seen your communication and you know we're here to help you so that's kind of some of the feedback that I get which can be pretty shocking that you know other places aren't.
Sarah Mosberg: aren't doing the same level of care that we that we have for our clients.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah, and that is really important to us and that is one of the reasons why you are here Sarah right because we want to make sure you know starting therapy can be a big decision for people or you know like any goal that you have when you have made the decision that I want to do this you want the ball to keep rolling you want. You don't want an obstacle getting in the way. And if you're not getting an answer, you're not getting a response, that feels like an obstacle interfering with your ability to move forward.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: So we want to make sure that if people have made the decision, hey, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to get some support that we can make that process as easy as possible for them.
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, absolutely. And kind of going off of what I said earlier, I'll also hear from people that they just get frustrated that no one's working out or no one's getting back to them. So I think, you know, when you're in that place, you don't want to feel like no one's listening to me, no one cares. So I'm glad that I'm able to be there for them and, you know, give them that reassurance that, you know, we're here and we hear you.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah, yeah, you know, and because we are a group practice and we have a number of therapists who are at our office, we have different options for people based on different specialties, different preferences for scale for scheduling or different things that people want to work on. But because we're a group practice, we also have some of those supports in place like having someone who can answer the phone all of the time, Monday through Friday. And sometimes if someone is a solo practitioner, They can't answer the phone if they're in sessions and if they don't have an administrative support, then, you know, it might be a while for them to respond.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: And so we really do want to make sure that at our office, people know that we prioritize, you know, answering your phone calls and getting you scheduled as quickly as possible. Yeah. So that is definitely really important. Definitely. Yes. Now, Sarah, you had also said that, you know, sometimes we're not able to help people because maybe what they're looking for is not something that we offer. Like currently we don't offer couples counseling and we still have people who call for couples counseling. And even if we're not able to help, you do still provide outside resources because whether it's with us or with someone else, we still want to make sure that people are taken care of.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: And so one of the things that I know you've done recently, Sarah, is you have met with, you've had a few meetings with other local office managers, other administrators to say, hey, let's get together, let's meet one another, let's learn about one another's processes for getting started, one another's specialties. So that way as a community, we can be working together to make sure that we can help people find counseling practices that are going to be good fits for them. Can you talk a little bit about some of the things that you've done behind the scenes to make sure that we have community connections and community referrals that we can share with people?
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, so I mean, quite frequently I'm making connections and trying to network with people. Like you said, it's so important to have that network because you want to be able to have those resources readily available. And vice versa for the other practices that I'm in connection with, it's helpful for them to have our information in case they need to pass a referral over to us. So it's been really helpful to meet with other administrators, other providers at other establishments. And even if we're just meeting virtually, it's helpful to have that connection and just to know that there's a network out there and we can support one another and more importantly, support our clients.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Right, so we get to help people directly when they are at our office and even if they never work with us directly that we can still be of assistance by referring them elsewhere.
Sarah Mosberg: Yes, yeah.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah. And Sarah, given that you are on the phone, what is your favorite part about talking to people who are scheduling therapy?
Sarah Mosberg: I would say my favorite part is just interacting with each personality. Everyone is so different and even though most of the time when people call me, they're kind of going through something. There can be some humor and people just wanna talk and it's just fun to interact with people and just kind of make that connection. And I feel closer to the clients even though I'm not their therapist, not working directly with them, but it's just nice to just nice to have that connection and have that moment with them. Yeah.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: And what would you say to someone who's kind of sitting on the fence? Like they're scared about calling, they're scared about scheduling. What would you say to those people who are a little bit nervous about picking up the phone?
Sarah Mosberg: Yeah, I would say just take the leap. I know it can be hard. I know it can probably feel a little bit daunting, especially because, you know, even if you make an appointment at a doctor's office, a dentist's office, it can feel a little bit daunting to get all that stuff done before the session. But we're here to help you and we're going to make it as painless as possible. And I can promise that and that's kind of why I'm here. So I would just say take the leap. make the call. And even if you aren't comfortable talking on the phone, we do have an online scheduling system.
Sarah Mosberg: So if somebody wants to take advantage of that, we do have that in place. But you know, I'm here to talk and I don't bite. So it's okay to call me.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: Yeah, well, I'm glad you said that, right? Because some people have a preference to call on the phone because they want to ask some questions. Sometimes people want to talk with a particular counselor before scheduling. Yeah. So some people do prefer talking by phone so they can get answers to their questions, but you're right, they can send you an email if they have questions and for people who don't like talking on the phone because I think lots of people these days are like, I don't like talking on the phone with people anymore. that they can schedule online on our website 24 seven.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC: So if you're feeling spontaneous and it's midnight and you decide at midnight that this is the time for you to sign up for therapy, you can go to our website and check it out and review those profiles and sign up.
Sarah Mosberg: Yep, exactly. And even if you have questions after that, I'm still available for that. So you can always give me a call. No question is too big or too small. So just feel free to reach out.
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