Would you like to spend less time at therapy Or get more therapy for your money?

Do you know the three most important factors to getting outcomes from therapy?

There are fewer factors than you probably think that impact on whether therapy works and how quickly it works

There are three very important ones that can have a significant impact on how quickly therapy works and how long your child may need to come to therapy.

The first is having a good rapport with the therapist – it’s really important that you and your child feel comfortable with your therapist. The second important factor is the type of therapy and commitment the therapist has toward you. Both of these are the things that our therapists work on consistently to ensure progress for every child or person that come to our clinic.  I encourage anyone who attends one of our clinics who has questions or issues with either of these to please talk to your therapist or the Clinic Director.

The other important factor is consistent attendance. Attending therapy consistently ensures faster progress toward therapy goals. When you do not have consistent attendance progress slows, and in fact children are likely to regress backwards – the old two steps forward one step back scenario.

Think about it, if you are learning a new skill it might be playing a musical instrument, learning to speak another language or, anything really. If you go to lessons once a week consistently your ability to play guitar/speak French is going to progress quicker. You will learn the guitar/ French quicker than if you kept missing appointments. Whereas, if you go to two lessons and miss the next lesson it is likely that you will need to refresh what you learnt in the first two lessons before moving forward. The greater the time between lessons or therapy the less likely you are to retain the information or skill learnt at the previous lesson.

That is why when a child misses a scheduled appointment our therapists need to spend important therapy time re-teaching previously taught skills or concepts. Slowed progress through inconsistent attendance actually results in longer therapy time overall. Attending regularly ensures that your child gets the best chance to learn the skills they need in a timely manner. It’s also more cost effective because it means that each and every session we can move quickly into the next part of the skill they need to develop, meaning overall you need less therapy. In some cases therapy can decrease by 10 -12 sessions!!

So how do you avoid the two step forwards one step backward progress for you child?

1. Book your child’s therapy at the same time every/ week fortnight where possible. This way you can ensure it is less likely to clash with other  family and work commitments.
2. If you must miss a session see if you can book in a different time that same week to ensure your child’s progress stays on track.
3. Use reminders and calendars to ensure you don’t double book yourself or your child. Phones are a great way to keep track of everything you have to do and get done, use reminders to keep you aware of upcoming appointments. Most clinics send our SMS reminders before each appointment these can also help you to ensure you don’t forget an appointment.
4. Life can get hectic and there is often so much to get done. Getting to your therapy appointment is only one of many things busy people have on their to do list. Remembering why you sought therapy in the first place and how it is going to help you and your child progress and achieve can help you both juggle the daily demands and focus on what is important.

And as always if you don’t feel your child is progressing ask questions of your therapist sooner rather than later, this will ensure that you can all work together to make your child’s progress and goal achievement a must.

For details on our cancellation policy click HERE