Assistant psychologists: booking group programme places

Let people book a place in the group programmes and workshops an assistant psychologist runs for the practice: a stress management course over six weeks, a sleep workshop, a parenting group. Create one service per programme, set the places the group can hold, and say in the description who the programme is for, how many sessions it has and how the practice checks it's suitable. Places fill without a round of phone calls, the assistant knows who is in the group before the first session, and the qualified psychologists keep their time for individual work.

A sleep workshop and a parenting group need different invitations, rooms and materials. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own capacity.

Durations and places are examples: set your own, and state the practice's fees in the description of each service.

Set places to the group size the programme is designed for and the room can hold. When a session is full, it leaves your page, so later bookers choose the next cycle. The public page doesn't show places left, so if the practice wants to keep places for people referred by its own psychologists, set the capacity lower and add them yourself.

A programme that builds week by week works best with the same people throughout. The first booking takes a place in session one; the assistant then books the following sessions of the cycle for each participant from the calendar. Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so set the end date to the last session. Each slot sits within one day, so a cycle is a series of weekly slots, not one long booking.

An open information session lets people meet the assistant, hear how the programme works and ask questions before committing. Offer it as its own service with more places, and say in the description that joining a programme follows a short suitability check by the practice.

Some programmes run online for people who can't travel or prefer to join from home. Create the online version as its own service, so participants choose the format that suits them. Book doesn't create video links: send the meeting link by email once the place is booked, and say in the description what participants need, such as a quiet room, a camera and headphones, so the group stays confidential.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that reaches you in the new booking email and appears in the booker's calendar file. Since the note appears in the calendar file, ask in the description for practical information only, such as accessibility needs, and collect anything clinical through the practice's own intake process. Name services by topic rather than by condition if the practice prefers, since the public page lists every open service.

Assistant psychologists work under the supervision of a qualified psychologist, according to the rules that apply to the practice. Say in the description who supervises the programme. Book has one booking page per business and no staff field, so if several people run groups, give each their own services, so the bookings list shows who leads which group.

Put the booking link on the practice website, in referral letters to GPs and in the waiting room. People on the practice's waiting list for individual sessions can also join a group in the meantime, if the practice offers it.

Participants can't move or cancel bookings online: they contact the practice, and the assistant moves or cancels from the bookings list. If a session is cancelled, tell each participant yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Participants who entered an email received a confirmation with a calendar file; Book doesn't send reminders. Bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.