Couples and family therapy: how to book the sessions

For couples and family therapy, make each session one booking for the whole group, not one per person. Create separate services with longer lengths than individual sessions, open them at times when everyone can come, usually evenings and some Saturday mornings, and ask in the note who will attend. Keep individual sessions as their own services, and be clear in the description about how you handle one partner cancelling.

A couple or a family is seen together, in one room, for one session. On Book, keep one place on the slot: one person books it for everyone and writes in the note who will attend. That avoids two partners each booking a place in what looks like a group, and it keeps the slot clearly reserved for one couple or family.

If you book the session yourself from your calendar, you can also set the number of persons, which appears in your new-booking email.

Sessions with several people can be longer: everyone needs time to speak. Create each type as its own service with its own length and description, and open slots at those lengths. Leave a buffer after a family session before the next client arrives; a family with young children may not leave on the minute.

Finding an hour when two working partners, or a family with school-age children, are all free is the hardest part. Evenings after work and Saturday mornings are the natural windows; school holidays can open daytime slots for families. Open your couples and family services mainly at those times, and keep daytime slots for individual work. A slot created once can be repeated on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so a regular Tuesday and Thursday evening pattern takes minutes to set up.

The booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone of the person booking, plus an optional note. Ask for the rest in the note, and remind people to keep clinical details for the session itself. You receive an email for each new booking, with the note.

The first couples or family appointment sets the frame for everything that follows. It's where you hear each person's view of why they came, explain how you work, and agree on the rhythm and the rules: frequency, length, what happens with cancellations, whether individual sessions are part of the process. Say in the service description that everyone concerned should attend if possible, and that the first appointment is also a chance for them to see whether your approach suits them.

After it, book the following sessions yourself at the agreed rhythm, so the couple or family doesn't have to renegotiate a time every week.

Couples work raises a specific question: what happens if only one partner turns up, or one cancels at the last minute? Some therapists hold the session with the partner present, others prefer to reschedule. Whatever your approach, write it in the service description and say it at the first appointment. When a session has to move, reschedule it from your bookings list and tell both partners yourself, since Book doesn't email them when a booking changes.

If you see individuals as well as couples and families, keep the services distinct so new clients choose the right one. The descriptions can explain the difference in a few lines: who each service is for and how the first appointment works. When an individual client later wants a couples session, book it yourself in the couples service, so the length and the note match.

Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited bookings and services, no commission and no contract. It doesn't take payments or store clinical notes.