Where to get Clients?

February 7, 2006 2:28 PM

How shall I attract clients to my new therapy group?

I am a clinical psych grad student, and I just got the go-ahead to start a therapy group. It is going to be a men's interpersonal skills group that will focus on the relatively common experience of males in our society feeling alienated and unable to connect with others. It is up to me to attract new clients: I am looking for some (internet based?) ideas for getting the word out and attracting clients to my group. I only need like 10 folks, and, since this is a student clinic, our fees are very low (20$ a session, or 10$ if you are an individual client at our clinic.) I am going to solicit the current clients of the clinic I work at, but realisticly that will get me like 0 to 2 participants. My clinic is located in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Beyond posting to craigslist, I haven't thought of anything good.

posted by Infernarl to human relations (11 comments total)

This seems like a very weird way of approaching the problem. Wouldn't potential clients be seeking you out? In which case, you should get in contact with organizations that may potentially refer their clients to you.
posted by odinsdream at 2:30 PM on February 7, 2006

Not that I live in Oregon, but I wouldn't fit in to the group anyway. Perhaps you could flyer a Morrissey concert?

How 'bout craigslist?
posted by gregariousrecluse at 2:55 PM on February 7, 2006

Clients are referred to our clinic as a whole, not any particular part (like my group), and we, as a clinc, have been having a big problem getting clients in general: We have very poor community visibility. That being said, once a person comes to us we have an internal referal process that may result in people coming to my group (that sort of falls under what I was saying about soliciting current clients). I want to be more proactive...
posted by Infernarl at 2:58 PM on February 7, 2006

backpage ad on whatever the Portland weekly is:

"CHEAP THERAPY!!!
ARE YOU MALE? FEELING DISCONNECTED?
JOIN INFERNAL'S MEN'S INTERPERSONAL SKILLS GROUP"

also, a press release to the sorts of people that write or know about these things couldn't hurt. in the same vein, post flyers on bulletin boards where people already involved in group therapy that you think is complementary or where your demographic is would be.

sorry I can't offer any anecdotal experience that applies to therapy, but I have worked promotion before, and you know what?

it's friggin' tough.

expect about 1-10% response for every flyer you put out there -- maybe even less, because I doubt therapy has the kind of draw that club nights do.

don't give up. if the people in your group really like it, word of mouth will help you grow. Word of mouth is probably your best tool in this situation, but I have no idea how you can capitalize on it. DO spend a lot of time telling people about your group. Also, maybe don't charge people their first time there, if possible.

If all else fails, just put out "FREE KEG" flyers with the address and time. Ah, billy dee..
posted by fishfucker at 3:11 PM on February 7, 2006

You have to think about this in a marketing perspective. You're selling something and you want customers. So, in deciding how to market, you need to make sure your ads are in places where your target group will be likely to look at them.

So you need to ask yourself, where would men who are isolated tend to be? What would they read? If you were going to do craigslist, maybe it should be in the personal ads section. Or if you were going to advertise in a newspaper, do it in the personals section. Ask yourself where else do these guys go - are there certain "loner" type bars or coffee houses in the area? Maybe video gaming stores or user groups?

This is a marketing in the mental health world book I found helpful.
posted by jasper411 at 4:18 PM on February 7, 2006

The Pacifica and other independent radio stations will probably run free PSAs. The free newspapers will probably run ads for free, too, if you approach them nicely. Do the independent radio stations have call-in shows? Try to get booked as guest on an appropriate one to talk about the problems men face today.

The profile of your clinic needs to be raised. Send out press releases to the local news outlets about mental health issues and event, even about this new therapy group. Focus on niche areas. Eventually, the news outlet will think of you/your clinic for quotes when they're writing about these issues. Maybe you should plan an open house you can promote heavily to talk about all your services and raise awareness.
posted by lalalana at 4:21 PM on February 7, 2006

Local PPC usually works well for stuff like that. Check out local.yahoo.com, local.google.com and superpages.com
posted by FeldBum at 4:48 PM on February 7, 2006

Back of the Mercury or WW. KBOO might be game if you ask the right DJ.

The other way would be to get the word out to other therapists who do individual therapy with men who could benefit from a group and get them referred. Find some private supervision groups and hit them up with your info.
posted by nonmyopicdave at 4:48 PM on February 7, 2006

I would look at organisations that are likely to be working with people who are having issues with their lives - non-government assistance offices and so on, and ask to display fliers or if appropriate, suggest you to the people they are seeing. Alienation and feeling unconnected, while common across all socio-economic groups, probably cause greater issues for people who have other problems as well (such as unemployment), so I would imagine this is a good source.. but I am just guessing..
posted by AnnaRat at 6:02 PM on February 7, 2006

The best way to get new patients for something like this is to have them referred to you. That means that it's important to talk to other clinicians and let them know what you're offering, and why they should send patients your way. I would focus on clinics where therapists are not getting paid by the client, like university clinics, and perhaps free/cheap health clinics that don't provide therapy. If possible meet with people and talk to them, at the very least send them a flyer and then follow-up with a call.

It's pretty hard to attract patients through advertising, especially in a timely way.
posted by OmieWise at 7:30 AM on February 8, 2006

Put up a blog with information about the group (mission, time and place, fees, examples of activities, application process).

In appropriate sites, with owner permission, post messages about it, sending interested people either to your blog or email (in your targeted group people might be shy of phoning).

Now would be a good time to add a relevant link in your Mefi profile.
posted by mirileh at 7:32 AM on February 8, 2006