Terminate clients who repeatedly late cancel at the last minute

I bet that you’ve dealt with clients, that cancel right before their session. And this has happened not just once, but multiple times. You find yourself getting really frustrated with your clients! But you give them a “free pass” each time, instead of charging them. You feel bad if you charge your clients, so you avoid it.

I understand that we’re not in the business of “policing” our clients, but we’re enabling their bad behavior. I know you’ve heard all their excuses as to why they can’t make their session. But here’s the thing, you’re losing money when you could have filled their spot with another client. After all when we create weekly standing sessions, we are carving out that time for our clients. It also feels disrespectful when some clients expect us to not charge them, and to keep their standing session. Remember that this is our business, so it’s our call.  So we must stick to our business policies, or we’ll lose income. I remember not holding this boundary with clients, when I was an associate. At the time I didn’t realize that not only was I not getting paid, but neither was the agency I was working at. This is a losing situation, because it impacts our income and our clients continue to benefit from it.

It is always appropriate to terminate clients who repeatedly late cancel their appointments, especially if you’ve reminded them of your cancelation fee policy.

Here’s 3 reminders to feel okay with terminating clients who disrespect your cancelation fee:

Reminder 1: You have a business to run and expenses to pay.

Reminder 2: You can replace clients you terminate, with clients who are ready to pay for therapy.

Reminder 3: It is our ethical responsibility, to access whether continuing the relationship is in the best interest of both you and your clients. So sometimes termination is the best option, especially if they are no longer progressing in therapy.

So the next time a client late cancels, use this as an opportunity to remind them of your cancelation policy, to set boundaries to prevent this behavior from continuing and to decide if it’s beneficial for both, to work towards termination. However you handle this situation, always be mindful on protecting your business and your mental health.