Patient motivations, managing expectations and consultation tips with Dr Emily Mehta

Ahead of her talk on patient motivations, managing expectations and consultation tips at The Aesthetics Business Conference on Tuesday 8 October, we chatted with Dr Emily Mehta, Chief Medical Officer of Harley Academy.  

Hamilton Fraser: Can you tell us about yourself and your role at Harley Academy?

Dr Emily Mehta: I've been with Harley Academy since its early days, about eight years now, and I’ve been working exclusively in aesthetic medicine since then. My role has evolved from being a trainer to becoming Chief Medical Officer. I oversee medical education and clinical practice across our four clinics. Two of these clinics focus on training, while the other two – one in London and one in the Midlands – operate under a different brand. My work revolves around educating our team of trainers and making sure that we deliver the highest standards of care. We have 25 trainers now who are awesome and make my job a lot easier than it used to be before we had them.

Q: What key takeaways can attendees expect from your talk on patient motivations and consultations?

Dr Emily Mehta: The main takeaway is that a patient's satisfaction is more closely correlated with their expectations than the expected outcomes you give them. Building a connection with the patient and understanding their true motivations is essential for positive results. Practitioners who excel in this area are often more successful, not because of perfect aesthetic results but due to the trust and understanding they build with their patients. Conversely, misaligned expectations are the biggest predictors of a problematic patient experience.

Q: Why is understanding patient motivations so important in aesthetic practice?

Dr Emily Mehta: Understanding why a patient seeks treatment is crucial for delivering successful outcomes. For instance, some patients may have long-term goals and seek gradual improvement, while others may react to a specific life event, like a reunion or a divorce. These reactive motivations can be more complex to manage. By delving deeper into why someone wants treatment, we can gauge if the request is coming from a healthy place or if it’s driven by a temporary emotional reaction, which could require a more cautious approach.

Q: How can practitioners better manage patient expectations?

Dr Emily Mehta: It’s essential to invest time in the first consultation. I recommend creating a structured consultation template for the initial visit and revisiting it regularly. For patients with previous treatments, dissect their past experiences to understand their satisfaction levels. If they’re new to treatments, practitioners need to carefully explore their motivations and expectations before proceeding.

Q: How do you handle situations where a patient’s desired treatment isn’t appropriate for them?

Dr Emily Mehta: Delivering this kind of news requires sensitivity. It’s essential to communicate that any refusal is in the patient’s best interest. By focusing on patient care over profits, practitioners can build more trust. Often, patients appreciate the honesty, and it strengthens the relationship. It may not be the right time or the right treatment, but you can always discuss alternatives that might better suit their needs.

Q: In your experience training practitioners, what do they struggle with the most during consultations?

Dr Emily Mehta: Many new practitioners fear losing face if they say no to a patient or admit that a certain treatment isn’t their expertise. In aesthetics, patients often view themselves as customers rather than patients, which can lead to more pressure on the practitioner. The key is to set clear boundaries, focus on what you’re good at, and communicate confidently. Saying no when necessary won’t harm your reputation if done with care—it can even enhance it.

Q: Why do you believe events like the Aesthetic Business Conference are important for the industry?

Dr Emily Mehta: I love educating and sharing knowledge. Events like this are valuable because they focus on the softer skills that are harder to master—patient consultations, managing expectations, and understanding motivations. While technical skills like injecting can be taught relatively easily, it’s these other skills that are crucial for long-term success in aesthetics.

Q: What’s an area of patient care you believe the aesthetics industry needs to understand better?

Dr Emily Mehta: We need more research into how a patient’s motivations for treatment correlate with how they feel afterwards. While we have guidelines for screening patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), there’s still a lack of understanding about how appearance-related concerns affect people psychologically in the long term. It’s an area the industry should focus on to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Dr Emily Mehta, Chief Medical Officer of Harley Academy, will present her insights into how to deliver an effective consultation while managing patient motivations and expectations at The Aesthetics Business Conference on Tuesday, 8 October. From their experience overseeing the treatment of over 1,000 patients per month, Emily and Tristan explore patient consultation and how to deliver positive outcomes for patients while minimising psychological risk. Book your tickets here.

For more relevant reading, see our article, ‘Patient selection: How to say no to patients’ and our interview with Dr Vincent Wong, ‘Patient selection: The power of “No” with Dr Vincent Wong’.

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