How to organise your psychology practice's agenda

If you work by appointment, you know what it costs to keep the agenda by hand. Someone writes by message while you are in a session, another person calls at lunchtime, and by the end of the week there are double bookings, empty gaps and an online session that starts without a link. With sessions of 50 or 60 minutes, one small change pushes the whole day.

This guide is for the psychologist who works alone or with a small team, sees clients in a practice or online (a business picks one main mode, not one per service) and needs every session to have its length and its pause. It covers only how the agenda is organised, not the clinical side of the work.

By the end you will have made five decisions: how each session is named and how long it lasts, when you work, how whoever writes to you books, how late a change can be made, and how your online sessions connect.

One · Each session, a service with its length and its pause

Make each type of session a service with a fixed length. A 50-minute session takes 50 minutes, not a vague block of the morning. If you need a few minutes after each session to write notes, air the room or move on to the next person, keep them as the service's buffer time, so the next slot does not start on top of your pause.

Work out your day with the real lengths before you fix the hours. Two 60-minute sessions with a 20-minute pause take more room than two back-to-back 50-minute ones, and it is easy to forget when you only look at the list.

Think about the first session too. If it lasts longer than the others, give it its own service, so the page offers it at its real length and not at the length of a usual session.

In Reserrva: Services stores the name, the length in minutes, the price or the Free option, and the buffer time of each service. The psychologist setup starts with two services, of 50 and 60 minutes, and catalog changes never rewrite past appointments. If you have not created your page yet, the setup guide takes you through the services step.

Two · A weekly rhythm, with a break and with time off

Decide your week as a pattern: the days you work, when you start and finish, and the lunch break. A fixed pattern lets the rest of the week work itself out. Holidays and time off sit apart, so a free week does not force you to touch your usual hours.

Set a minimum notice as well. It stops a booking from arriving for ten minutes' time, before you have closed the session before it.

Review the pattern from time to time. If you have to move appointments every week, the problem is usually the schedule, not the page: maybe your break falls in the middle of your longest sessions.

In Reserrva: the weekly hours hold the open days and Add a break for your pause, and each professional has their own time off. The booking page respects those hours, the time off, the appointments already booked and the minimum notice as soon as you change something.

Three · A page where people book without creating an account

Whoever writes to you by message rarely wants to create an account. They want to see a free time and book it. Put your booking link in your profile, your signature and your first reply to someone who writes, and let them pick a service and a time. That way messages handle only what does not fit on the page.

There are two different contacts. Your business contact is decided by your profession: for a psychology practice it is the phone, and it appears on your page so people can call you. The contact the patient gives when booking is decided by your mode: in the practice, their phone; online, their email (or both), which is not shown publicly.

In Reserrva: your booking page is a public link with services, professionals, hours and format. With booking without an account, whoever books confirms with their name and the contact your business asks for, and sees their confirmation on screen. Your client list keeps the appointment history of each person, next to the business's private notes.

Four · A cancellation limit that frees the time

A last-minute cancellation is only a problem if the time stays blocked until the end. Set a reasonable deadline before each session and say it in your first reply or on your page. While the deadline is open, whoever booked can cancel from the link in their confirmation; after it, they can no longer do so, and you decide what to do with that time.

A clear deadline cuts down on arguments about it. Whoever reads it before booking knows what to expect, and you do not have to explain it in every case.

In Reserrva: Cancellation by the client lets people cancel from the link in their confirmation, up to the limit you set for your business. Whoever books does not need an account to do it. The limit is set in your business settings.

Five · Online sessions with your Google Calendar

If you see clients by video call, each online session needs its own link and a time that is really free. Each professional connects their own Google account from the panel. From then on, video-call bookings receive their Google Meet link, and the hours you already have busy in your primary calendar are not offered on the page.

Keep two things in mind. The link is created after the booking, so it may take a moment to appear in the confirmation. And only the primary calendar counts: if you keep your practice in another calendar, block those hours in the primary one as well.

In Reserrva: Video calls with Google Meet creates the link on each online booking, and availability subtracts the Google Calendar busy hours of the professional who connected their account. Each professional connects it from their own panel. Every agenda feature is listed on the features page.

• ✓Each type of session is a service with its length and its buffer time.
• ✓Your weekly hours show the open days, your break and your time off.
• ✓Your page asks for the phone or email you will really use.
• ✓You have a cancellation limit you can explain in one sentence.
• ✓A test booking from another device appears in your agenda, and its Meet link too, if it is online.

Frequently asked questions

Do my clients need an account to book?

No. They book from the browser with their name and the contact your business asks for, and they see their confirmation on screen.

What if an online session does not have its link yet?

The Google Meet link is created after the booking and may take a moment. If it does not appear, check in the panel that your Google account is still connected.

Can I change a session's length later?

Yes. Catalog changes never rewrite past appointments, so your history does not change when you adjust a service.

What if I only see clients online?

With the online mode, the patient leaves their email when booking (or email and phone), and it is not shown publicly. Your practice's phone stays the contact on your page, and bookings work the same way, without an account.