Giving your product away for free might seem like total insanity to some. To us, though, it makes perfect sense. Here's why:
1. We think it is important that our clients and our specialists have personalities that will work well together. Our consultation gives us a chance to get to know each other a little bit before there's any real commitment.
2. We think it is important that our clients understand the special skill set of their clinician and that our clinicians understand the unique needs of every client. Our consultation helps to ensure that the skills of the clinician match up with the needs of the client.
3. We think it is important to begin to identify our client's functional goals before they make an investment. Our consultation helps us to offer an informed opinion about how long therapy might take so that our clients are able to budget their time and money appropriately.
4. We think it is important that our clients understand up front that real speech improvement comes from their own hard work and commitment, and that we will be their partner in that commitment. Our consultation allows us to have that conversation with our potential clients.
5. We think it is important to Give. Our consultations allow us to identify whether a client may be a candidate our therapy scholarship program.
6. We think it is important to serve clients for whom online therapy is a good fit, and to refer those who are not on to our brick and mortar colleagues. Our consultation gives us the chance to assess if our method is a good fit for our potential clients.
7. We think it is important that technology issues don't get in the way of our client's sessions. Our consultation allows us to make sure that clients have the equipment necessary to make online therapy a success.
8. We think it is important to partner with clients, not just talk at them. True partnership requires trust on both sides of the equation. Our consultation is the first step in building the trust that will be the foundation of a successful therapeutic relationship.
That last bit about trust might be the most important reason of all for us to offer a free consultation. See, it's not really trust-building for us to say "pay us up front and then we'll check all this out and cross our fingers that therapy works." We know that therapy can be a long journey and we want it to get off to the best start possible. This isn't an "Online Therapy vs. Brick and Mortar Therapy" thing. This is a Care Options for Kids, formerly The Hello Foundation thing.
