Beating the Summer Slump: Tips and Strategies

Now that summer is in full swing, you might’ve noticed a significant drop in client appointments and caseload size. This phenomenon, often referred to as the "summer slump," can be a challenging period for mental health professionals. Understanding what the summer slump is, how to navigate through it, and how to prevent it in the future are important steps in maintaining a full caseload (however that may look to you) year-round.

What is the Summer Slump?

The “summer slump” is a common experience for mental health professionals, characterized by a noticeable decrease in client sessions and new client inquiries during the summer months. This slowdown can be caused by several factors, such as clients taking vacations, adjusting to new routines with kids out of school, or simply prioritizing outdoor activities and leisure over weekly therapy appointments. Sometimes clients (especially cash-pay clients) also attempt to “take the summer off” to put their money into the aforementioned activities. If you’ve seen a decrease in appointments and referrals this summer, you’re not alone!

Facing the Summer Slump: What Can You Do?

If you find yourself in the midst of a summer slump, there are several proactive steps you can take to manage this time effectively:

Networking: If you’ve got an extra couple of hours (or several hours) on your schedule this week, consider using that time to catch up with some of your consistent referral sources or create new connections. You can do this by setting up in-person meetings at your favorite coffee shop or by setting up virtual meetings. Not sure what to say? Try sending this email to a new connection: “Hi (name of professional)! My name is (your name) and I’m a therapist in (your location). I noticed that our offices are in the same building, but I haven’t had the opportunity to meet you. I’d love to learn more about your practice, as I think you’d be a great referral for some of my clients. Would you be interested in meeting sometime within the next week or so?” In my experience, other mental health professionals are excited about the possibility of connecting, and they will welcome this invitation. Want to know a secret? No one has ever declined my invitation to connect when I express an interest in THEIR practice. There’s a huge difference between inquiring about someone else’s practice, and plainly asking them for referrals. 

Offer Flexible Scheduling: Accommodate your clients' summer schedules by offering more flexible appointment times. If your 10 am Thursday client can’t make their weekly appointment, but they can make it some Wednesdays and some Thursdays, could you schedule their sessions individually instead of keeping them in a fixed schedule?

Promote Summer-Specific Services: Introduce special summer groups or workshops that address seasonal issues such as travel anxiety, managing family time, or dealing with changes in routine. If you’re going to do this, be sure to advertise several months in advance so you can reach as many potential clients as possible, and so your clients can plan accordingly.

Consider Offering a Sliding Scale Spot or Partnering with an EAP: I always tell other therapists that “some money is better than no money.” Rather than keeping four spots open on your caseload at your fee of $130 per session, could you fill one of those spots sooner by filling it with a session that pays $80/session? Consider this: your income will be $2080 less if those four spots are open for a month. If you fill one spot with a weekly session that pays $80, you’ll be making $1760 less instead of $2080 less. If you add one more weekly session that pays $100, you’ll only be making $1360 less. When you’re full again, you can create a waitlist of full-fee clients to move into some of your open spots. 

Professional Development: Use the downtime to invest in your professional growth. Attend workshops, pursue certifications, or focus on areas of practice you wish to expand. If you regularly use social media, create a bulk of your content during this time so you can use it later. Do you blog? Write several posts during this time that you can share at later dates.

Preventing the Summer Slump Next Year

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