Therapy client satisfaction questionnaire | The Private Practice Hub

Satisfaction guaranteed…

Good quality of care is vital. It’s important not only for ethical reasons; it’s key to the success of your therapy business. In our quality of care article, we have already discussed the most important things you should be doing.


One way to ensure quality of care is with a customer satisfaction questionnaire, given to clients at the end of their treatment. These are a great way to get feedback, not only about the treatment that you have provided, but about the way you run your private practice as a whole.


Satisfaction questionnaires are also useful for getting client testimonials, which can be used in your marketing efforts.


You can find an example questionnaire in our Downloads section, which is free to access for Exclusive members.


Want to design your own? Here’s some guidance…


How to structure your questionnaire


If you want to be able to effectively analyse the responses, don’t rely on a question and answer structure. Instead, use statements, and ask your client to tick whether they agree, mostly agree, mostly disagree or disagree with those statements. 


What to include in your satisfaction questionnaire


1. Ask about the client’s experience of you, their therapist. How did they feel about their relationship with you? Do they think that you were competent, behaved professionally, and understood their needs?


2. Ask about the client’s experience of the therapy itself. Did they think that the treatment was suitable? Did they understand the treatment, and did they feel that they could contribute to their treatment plan?


3. Ask about whether the client felt the treatment was effective. Did it help with their current concerns? Do they feel well-equipped for the future?


4. Ask about the appointment system and therapy rooms used by your private practice. Was the client happy about the timing of their appointments? Were they comfortable with the therapy rooms and their location?


5. Ask about the client’s overall experience of dealing with your private practice. How do they feel about the cost of the treatment? Were they happy with your staff?


6. Finally, ask whether they would recommend your private practice to a friend or family member, and give them space to add additional comments. You may want to ask them to tick a box if they are okay with you using a comment anonymously in a testimonial.


When to send your satisfaction questionnaire


It is good practice to send a letter or email to your client at the end of treatment (whether it’s been provided over just one session or a course of sessions), with a summary of their treatment and the progress made. This is when you should enclose your satisfaction questionnaire.


Explain that their feedback will help you continually improve your service, and, if you are sending a letter, enclose a stamped addressed envelope to make it as easy as possible for the client to return it. If you have permission to communicate by email you may want to send it as an online form.


Take action


  • have a look at the sample questionnaire in our downloads section if you are an Exclusive member – you can use it as a basis for your own questionnaire
  • what other feedback may be useful to you that is not included in our sample?
  • keep a record of questionnaires that you have sent and those that you have received back
  • don’t just hide them in a drawer – examine the feedback and ACT upon it
  • a simple spreadsheet can be set up to analyse the data
  • decide what you will do if the feedback is not up to the standard you have set for your practice