Setting Up Group Sessions for Fixed-Date Programs

In this article:

• Understanding Group Sessions in Programs
• Creating Your Group Service
• Configuring Program Session Settings
• Scheduling Group Sessions
• Managing Sessions and Attendance
• Client Experience with Group Sessions
• Additional Resources

Understanding Group Sessions in Programs

Group sessions are live (in-person or virtual) gatherings where program participants come together for coaching, teaching, or community connection. Unlike group chat (which is typically asynchronous), sessions happen in real time at scheduled dates and times.

📍 Note: Group sessions are only available for Fixed-Date programs. Evergreen and Self-Paced programs cannot include scheduled group sessions since participants enroll and progress at different times.

Program Group Sessions vs. Regular Group Services

Program group sessions use the same Group Service infrastructure as standalone group offerings, but with key differences:

• Program sessions are private by default — they don't appear on your public booking page for that group service on the dates scheduled via the program
• Auto-enrollment options — new program enrollees can automatically be added to upcoming sessions
• Integrated experience — sessions appear within the program for enrolled clients

💡 Tip: Use a dedicated Group Service for each program to keep attendance tracking and reporting clean. While the same service can be used across multiple programs, separate services make it easier to analyze program-specific attendance and engagement.

Creating Your Group Service

Before scheduling sessions for your program, you'll need at least one Group Service configured in your account.

1. Go to Practice > My Services.
    
2. Click the Fast Action Button in the bottom-right corner and select Add Service.
   
    
3. Choose Group Class/Service from the options.
   
    
4. Provide a service name that identifies this offering (e.g., "Q2 Wellness Program - Group Coaching").
    
5. Specify the session duration and fee (if applicable).
    
6. In the Group Options section, set a default enrollment limit for each session.
    
7. If you'll be using Zoom for sessions, ensure your Zoom account is linked to Practice Better and select Zoom from the Telehealth application dropdown.
    
8. Click Save to create your service.

Your Group Service is now ready to use when scheduling program sessions.

Learn more about Managing Group Services with Practice Better → 

📍 Note: Practice Better's native telehealth currently supports only 1:1 sessions. For group sessions, you'll need to use Zoom integration.

Configuring Program Session Settings

Before scheduling your first session, configure how new enrollees interact with upcoming sessions and what notifications they'll receive.

1. Go to Practice > My Programs.
    
2. Create a new Fixed-Date program. 
   • Or click Manage next to your existing Fixed-Date program and then click Edit program from the left navigation menu.
      
3. Go to the Advanced Options tab and locate the Group Sessions section.
   
    
4. Configure your Group Session settings (review the detailed setting descriptions below).
    

1. Click Save Changes to apply your session settings.

Auto-Enrollment Settings

• Automatically add new enrollments to upcoming sessions: Enable this option if you want clients who enroll after you've scheduled sessions to be automatically registered for those sessions. This ensures no one misses out on group connection opportunities.
• Mark sessions confirmed on behalf of auto-enrolled clients: When enabled, automatically confirms attendance for clients added to sessions. This removes an extra step and ensures clients receive session reminders without requiring manual confirmation.

Session Notifications

• Send confirmation notifications for upcoming sessions: Enable to send clients a confirmation email when they're registered for a session. This email includes session details, date, time, and (if using Zoom) the telehealth link.
• Send reminder notifications for upcoming sessions: Enable to send clients a reminder email before sessions begin. Reminder timing follows your standard session reminder settings.

💡 Tip: Session notifications are separate from module welcome emails. If you're scheduling sessions on the same day as module unlocks and including session details in the module welcome email, you might choose to disable session notifications to avoid overwhelming clients with multiple emails on the same day.

Scheduling Group Sessions

Once your Group Service is created and program settings are configured, you can schedule sessions directly from your program.

Scheduling a Single Session

1. Go to Practice > My Programs.
    
2. Click Manage next to your program.
    
3. Click Schedule session from the Fast Action Button in the bottom-right corner.
   
    
4. Select your Group Service from the dropdown.
   
    
5. Review the list of enrolled clients who will be automatically added to this session.
   • Remove any clients who shouldn't attend this specific session by clicking the remove (minus) icon next to their name.
     
      
6. Set the session date and time.
   
    
7. Configure the session delivery method by selecting either in-person, by phone, or online/virtual.
   
    
8. Adjust the enrollment limit if needed for this particular session.
    
9. Optionally, click the checkbox to notify already enrolled clients about this session.
    
10. Click Confirm to schedule the session.

Scheduling Recurring Sessions

For programs with regular weekly or bi-weekly sessions, use recurring scheduling to create multiple sessions at once:

1. Follow the steps above to begin scheduling a program session (don’t click the Confirm button just yet!).
    
2. Click the Recurrence Options tab.
   
    
3. Toggle on This session recurs.
   
    
4. Choose your recurrence pattern: daily, weekly, or monthly.
   
    
5. Specify which days of the week (for weekly recurrence) and how many sessions to create (up to 100 at a time).
   
    
6. Optionally choose to be notified when the recurring series is about to end.
   • Set this reminder from the range of options from 1 day before or up to 2 weeks before the last session date.
      
7. Click Upcoming Sessions to review the session series preview.
   
    
8. Click Confirm to create all sessions in the series.

💡 Tip: You can manually adjust individual session details (enrollment limits, times, participants) after creating a recurring series. Each session functions independently once created.

Rescheduling or Canceling Sessions

To reschedule a session:

1. Go to the Sessions section of your Program.
    
2. Click View next to a specific scheduled session.
    
3. From the Session Details page, click Update / Reschedule to update the date or time as needed.
   
    
4. Registered clients will receive notification of the change.

To cancel a session:

1. Go to the Sessions section of your Program.
    
2. Click View next to a specific scheduled session.
    
3. From the Session Details page, click Cancel session.
   
    
4. Confirm the cancellation. Registered clients will receive notification of the cancellation.

Managing Sessions and Attendance

Group sessions require active management to track attendance, add or remove participants, and maintain accurate records.

Viewing Session Details

From your program's Overview page, navigate to the Sessions section and click View next to any scheduled session. This opens the session details page where you can access all management options.

Alternatively, navigate to My Practice > My Calendar, locate the session (confirmed sessions have a solid colored bar; placeholders have a lighter shade), and click View session details.

Session Management Actions

From the session details page, you have access to comprehensive management tools:

• Start Zoom Meeting: Launch the Zoom call directly from Practice Better when it's time for your session to begin (only available if Zoom is configured for the service).
• Register Clients: Manually add participants to the session. You can register clients who are enrolled in your program or, if needed, register clients who aren't program participants but should attend this specific session.
• Update / Reschedule: Modify the session date, time, enrollment limit, or other details. Registered clients receive notification of changes. For recurring sessions, this updates only the individual session — use "View recurring series" to bulk-edit remaining sessions.
• Send Reminder: Send a manual one-time reminder to registered participants separate from automatic reminder notifications. Customize the reminder message from your Group Service settings (Professional plan and higher).
• Send a Broadcast: Send a message to all registered session participants. This broadcast automatically filters recipients to only those confirmed for the session — clients marked as cancelled won't receive it.
• Send Forms: Distribute forms from your library to session participants. Use this for pre-session preparation worksheets, post-session reflections, or any assessments related to the group gathering.
• Add Internal Note: Document session highlights, discussion points, or action items in your private practitioner notes. These notes are only visible to you and help maintain session records.
• Share Registration Link: Each session has a unique registration link you can share with specific individuals. Note that registering via this link adds people to the session only, not to the program itself. This is typically used for standalone group services but can be useful if you want to invite guests to specific program sessions.
• Export Attendee List: Download an Excel spreadsheet with participant details including names, email addresses, registration dates, confirmation status, confirmation dates (if confirmed), and payment status.
• Cancel Session: Cancel the session and notify all registered participants. Unlike deleting a session (which sends no notification), cancelling properly communicates the change to clients.
• View recurring series: This opens the Recurring Series Details page, where you can find additional session management options that will apply globally to all sessions in the series. 

Managing a Recurring Series

If you've scheduled recurring sessions, you have additional options for managing the entire series efficiently.

Accessing Series Management:

1. From your program's Overview page, go to the Sessions section.
    
2. Click View next to any session that's part of a recurring series.
    
3. On the session details page, click View recurring series.
   

The recurring series page displays all sessions in the series along with their attendees, giving you a comprehensive view of your program's group schedule.

From the recurring series view, you can:

• Edit series: Reschedule all remaining sessions by updating the time, day, or frequency for all upcoming sessions in the series at once. Past sessions remain unchanged.
• Register clients: Manually select clients from your list to register them in the series of group sessions, even if clients are not enrolled in the program.
• Resend confirmation email: Send an email notification to your clients with details about this recurring series.
• Generate new Zoom links: (If you are using Zoom for virtual sessions) Easily generate new Zoom meeting links for the entire series. 
• Cancel series: Remove all remaining sessions and notify registered participants. This is faster than cancelling sessions individually and ensures consistent communication.

💡 Tip: Use the recurring series view when you need to make program-wide adjustments (like shifting from Tuesdays to Thursdays) rather than editing each session individually. Individual session edits are best for one-off changes like accommodating a holiday.

Managing Participants

Adding clients manually:

1. Open the Session Details page.
    
2. Click Register clients.
    
3. Select clients from your enrolled program participants.
    
4. Click Register to add them to the session.

Removing clients from a session:

1. Open the Session Details page.
    
2. Click the More Options menu (3 dots) next to the client's name.
    
3. Select Unregister to remove them from this session.

Marking Attendance

After a session concludes, record attendance to maintain accurate records:

1. Open the Session Details page.
    
2. Click the More Options menu (3 dots) next to each participant's name.
    
3. Select their attendance status: Confirmed (attended), No Show (registered but didn't attend), or Cancelled (cancelled in advance).

Attendance history remains accessible for future reference and reporting.

Client Experience with Group Sessions

Understanding how clients interact with group sessions helps you support them effectively and troubleshoot access issues.

Where Clients See Sessions

Clients view their scheduled group sessions in two locations:

• Within their program overview (alongside modules and resources)
• In their Upcoming Sessions list in the Client Portal

Session Registration and Cancellation

• Clients who are auto-enrolled receive confirmation emails with session details
• If Zoom is configured, the meeting link appears in the confirmation email and in their portal
• Clients can cancel their attendance based on your cancellation policy settings

Missed Sessions

If a client misses a session, no automatic consequences occur within Practice Better. However, you can:

• Mark them as "No Show" for your records
• Apply no-show fees according to your practice policies
• Follow up personally to re-engage them

Late Enrollments

Clients who enroll in the program after sessions have already occurred can still be added to upcoming sessions. Past sessions won't automatically appear for them, so consider whether to manually provide recordings or materials from missed sessions.

Additional Resources

Group sessions transform programs from content delivery into genuine community experiences. The combination of self-paced learning materials and live connection creates powerful accountability and support that helps clients succeed.

Continue building your program:

• Managing Program Enrollments →
• Adding Group Chat to Programs →
• Program Analysis and Reporting →

Additional resources:

• Managing Group Services with Practice Better →
• Guide to Profitable Programs →

If you need guidance on group session strategy or managing live program components, our support team is available to share best practices from successful practitioners.