Learn how helpspace works. The following Helpspace Instructional Course videos are required viewing for new Helpspace counsellors. What would you like to learn about today?
What is Helpspace? | Key Takeaways:
Run by therapists, for therapists. Helpspace promotes your private practice as an online counsellor, helping you to stand out from the crowd.
By asking clients about their preferences, and you about your work-style, Helpspace strives to get your profile in front of clients that are looking for what you offer as a therapist.
Helpspace reduces the emailing and admin that can take up much of your non-contact time as a therapist. The intuitive Helpspace online calendar makes managing your sessions and bookings a breeze.
Automated payments, reminders, and video-conferencing that you can launch straight from your calendar.
Focus on helping your clients, CPD, and self-care (rather than admin, emailing, and fees).
Helpspace has been designed from the ground up to maintain your boundaries.
Join Helpspace as a Practitioner | Key Takeaways:
Joining Helpspace as an online therapist is a simple 3-step process. (1) Complete the online application form > (2) Enable payments in your Helpspace account > (3) Publish your Helpspace profile.
To join the platform, counsellors must be fully qualified, registered with a U.K. professional body, in supervision, and insured to practice privately.
Before filling out the online application form, it is helpful to have a digital copy of your qualification certificates, professional insurance certificate, and a high-quality profile picture ready to upload.
A member of the Helpspace team will review your application, and (assuming everything looks good), move you on to step 2: Enabling payment processing, so that you can get paid.
Setting Up Payment Processing in Your Helpspace Account | Key Takeaways:
If your application is successful, you will receive and email prompting you to enable payment processing in your Helpspace account.
Helpspace integrates with Stripe for secure payments. Stripe is similar to PayPal.
Since all Helpspace payment processing is handled via Stripe, creating and connecting a Stripe account is a requirement if you wish to offer counselling via Helpsapce.
You can easily set up and connect Stripe in a few minutes, straight from your Helpspace account, using our simple Stripe onboarding wizard.
The client fees you make through your Helpspace sessions will all land in your Stripe account, before being automatically transferred to your bank account.
When you have completed the Stripe onboarding wizard, remember to open the Stripe welcome email, and click the 'Verify Email Address' button.
On Helpspace, bookings for Initial Sessions, and bookings for Follow-Up Sessions are handled in completely different ways.
Understanding these differences is critical to understanding how to use Helpspace.
To attract new clients, counsellors can add open Initial Session Slots to their calendar. An initial session slot is simply a bookable appointment time-slot that is displayed to prospective clients on your Helpspace profile. When you decide to make an Initial Session slot available, it is bookable by any prospective client that happens to be browsing Helpspace. You can add as many slots as you like.
If you have zero Initial Session Slots available, your Helpspace profile will be hidden on www.helpspace.org.uk. As soon as you add at least one Initial Session Slot, it will be displayed again.
A 'Follow-Up Appointment' is any appointment after the Initial Session.
Only Therapists can book Follow-Up Appointments for their clients (typically in consultation with your client at the end of each session).
To maintain boundaries, clients cannot book Follow-Up Appointments on www.helpspace.org.uk
An email notification is sent whenever an Initial Session or Follow-Up Appointment is booked. A reminder is sent on the day of the appointment.
Click the appointment in your calendar, and click the Video Meeting link to open a video call for the session, at the time of your appointment.
How to Publish Your Helpspace Profile | Key Takeaways:
Before publishing your Helpsapce profile, remember to visit the 'Settings' page in your Helpspace account to set your minimum booking notice for Initial Sessions. This is an excellent way to maintain boundaries, so make sure to set the amount of notice you need to a timeframe you are comfortable with.
Your Helpsapce profile is hidden by default.
To publish your profile, simply add at least one bookable Initial Session Slot to your Helpspace calendar.
The act of creating this Slotalsopublishes your Helpspace profile.
You must have at least one available Initial Session Slot for your profile to be displayed.
If you have zero available Initial Session Slots, you public profile will be hidden.
Toggling the visibility of your profile can be useful; for example when you are on holiday, or if you are at capacity, and have no space available for new clients.
You can continue to work with existing clients as usual, even when your profile is hidden.
Your first session with a client | Key Takeaways:
During the initial session with your Helpspace clients, we would also ask you to remind your them of the following aspects, which are unique to Helpspace.
While your new client booked their Initial Exploratory Session themselves on www.helpspace.org.uk, follow-up sessions can only be booked in consultation with you, their therapist. Some clients may assume that follow-up sessions can be booked in the same manner as their Initial Session. To avoid confusion, It's helpful to remind them that this is not the case.
Inform your client about the cancellation and refund policy. Remind your client that, if necessary, they can easily cancel a session in their Helpspace account. Clients will not be charged for follow-up sessions if they cancel greater than 48 hours in advance of the session start time. Sessions cancelled less than 48 hours before the session start time will be charged in full.
Remind your client that payments are automated, and that their payment method on record will be charged 48 hours in advance of the session start time.
Lastly, remind your client that if they experience any technical issues with the platform, they can contact Helpspace support for assistance.
How to Cancel a Session | Key Takeaways:
When you create a follow-up appointment for a client in your Helpspace calendar, a number of things happen behind the scenes. As a therapist, it is helpful to be aware of the things that are set in motion when you take the action of creating a follow-up appointment.
When your client signs in to their Helpspace account, they will see the appointment you created for them, with the appointment details, therapist details, and video meeting link for the session. The client can also cancel the session in their Helpspace account, if they so wish.
Both client and therapist receive an automated confirmation email that also contains the appointment details, and a video meeting link for the session. Confirmation emails also contain the contact information of the other party.
Your client's payment method on record will be charged for the appointment you created 48 hours before the session start time.
Both client and therapist will receive a reminder email on the day of the appointment. This email contains much the same information as the confirmation email, and even includes a video meeting link.
Creating Follow-Up Sessions | Key Takeaways:
In rare circumstances, such as an emergency, or sudden illness, it may be necessary for you to cancel a session.
If you need to cancel, you should sign in to your Helpspace account, locate the appointment in your calendar, and open it to click cancel. Inform your client as soon as possible, or as soon as is practical.
You will find your clients contact details in the email you receive from Helpspace about the appointment in question.
When a therapist cancels an appointment, a number of things happen behind the scenes. If the client has already been charged, the client automatically receives a full refund for the session. If the therapist cancels an appointment, a full refund is always processed.
Both the client and therapist will receive an automated email informing them that the session has been cancelled.
As a therapist, you should avoid cancelling appointments on a client's behalf, even if a client requests that you do so. Instead, inform the client they can easily cancel their own appointment in their Helpspace account. It makes a difference which party initiates the cancellation.
When a client cancels an appointment from their Helpspace account, both client and therapist receive an email informing them that the appointment has been cancelled.