What’s the Difference Between Urgent vs. Emergent?

Working with clients who have urgent needs means getting them care quickly, but doesn’t necessarily mean “emergent” care. Understanding the difference is important when making a decision about whether or not to work with these clients in your practice.
 

Clients with urgent needs

Clients in a situation requiring urgency means that, at SonderMind, we work to ensure these clients can schedule and attend a session in the next 48 hours. For SonderMind clients who call in to customer support to initiate care, we screen for suicidality and self-harm, as well as recent discharge from ER/residential/inpatient treatment. 

SonderMind providers who work with urgent clients are not “on call” – but we do ask providers to do their best to respond to these intake requests within four business hours.‍

Clients with emergent needs‍

Emergent care typically refers to clients who are in crisis. For instance, suicidal ideation and domestic violence situations where the individual is unsafe are emergent needs. At SonderMind, we transfer these individuals to local crisis resources.‍

Is working with urgent clients right for my practice?‍

Working with urgent clients can be a great choice. In this article, SonderMind provider Rita Denome describes her experience working with urgent clients within her private practice and beyond.