Managing client’s needs (part 3 of 3)

Guided by ANZATA’s code of ethics (2017) which states art therapists should put the client’s well-being first, and informed by user-centric technology practices which parallels person-centred therapeutic frameworks, through the use of assumption personas, I created a vision of what my ideal clients look like, what their needs are, what they enjoy doing, to identify how best to serve them, with the intention of verifying and refining these personas once I begin (paid) client work. The inquiry permitted a number of categories to emerge such as ease of access and ‘discoverability’, reassurance in the process and therapist, and affordability and government rebates. This also highlighted the need to consider “what clients do I want to attract and are they the clients I am capable of serving?” (p.9).

As I continued adding content to my site, I observed how aggressively I was targeting keywords so I could increase opportunities to improve my Google rank. Immediately I became concerned that this might not actually be in the best interests of clients or the profession, asking “shouldn’t the most experienced art therapist be the first to appear, not just the most tech-savvy?” (p.8). Acknowledging my position as an emerging art therapist approaching graduation, I became concerned that by targeting keywords used by experienced art therapists in my area, I am potentially preventing clients from finding more experienced, well-respected art therapists who I hold in high regard, noting “what happens if I kick the #1 ranked Art Therapist on Google off their #1 spot?” (p.9), wondering how this would impact our relationship. Whilst this might be an unintentional consequence of creating my website, I wondered if my efforts might be better served by creating user-friendly art therapy directory where therapists would be ranked according reputation rather than marketing capabilities.

In the interests of client safety and the duty of care, whilst I identified opportunities to aggressively target potential clients, I questioned “Is what’s good for me also good for the profession and my clients? After all, who am I serving?” (p.10). Based on this insight, I decided it would be in my own and the client’s best interests if I “start small” (p.9) as “it’s really about the client, not about how much I just spent on my degree.” (p.10).