The Practice of Therapy Podcast

In this episode, Bewindi Bobb, LCSW joins the show to speak about her recent move to full-time private practice. Bewindi explains the mindset shift that is necessary actually to make a move to private practice. First, the thing you need to know before making a move is your purpose. Are you driven to private practice, or are you just jumping on the bandwagon? Plus, Bewindi gives her thoughts on Black Lives Matter and the importance of mental health in the Black community. Meet Bewindi Bobb Bewindi was born and raised in the beautiful, gorgeous Island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. Her journey towards accepting the calling to be a counselor is interesting, but let's just say, she eventually stopped running (insert laughter) and realized that being a counselor is not just a profession but a God-given and ordained calling and ministry. Bewindi is super passionate about seeing people become free to live happily and free from emotional baggage, free from whatever is blocking, delaying, or hindering their healing. She loves the opportunity to create a safe space where clients receive permission to express themselves, their feelings, and find themselves while gaining a new and changed perspective. She helps professionals who are dealing with unresolved emotional conflicts such as depression, anxiety, grief, stress, etc live freely by equipping them with tools to renew their mindsets. She loves to encourage and empower clients and when they apply the tools, they are able to show up for themselves and be their best selves in all areas of their lives. Additionally, she provides Christ-Centered Counseling to whom it applies and for those who request. With over 14 years of clinical experience, she is driven and fueled by her professional and personal values including but not limited to Faith, Empower, Purpose, Service, Encourage, and Teach. She is so honored to be in this space and knows that whether she is providing therapy, coaching, supervision or speaking to an audience or on her podcast, 'Empowered to Empower You', which can be found on Spotify, Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Google, etc, she is convinced that people are definitely encouraged and ignited. Focus on Abundance Bewindi wanted to make the jump to full-time private practice for a long time. However, Bewindi would always focus on why she couldn't make a move to full-time private practice. When in reality, we should be focusing on the reasons why we can make a move to private practice. Once Bewindi made the jump, her schedule filled up! She made the jump into abundance – even amid a pandemic. Full-Time Telehealth Bewindi is doing 100% telehealth. She has been authentic and honest with her clients. Most likely, Bewindi will not go to the office for the rest of the year. Most of her clients have adapted and adjusted. However, there are a few clients who miss going to the office. Tennessee has been hit hard with COVID, and many people are switching back to 100% telehealth as well. Private Practice Isn't For Everyone When starting a private practice, you have to know your purpose. You shouldn't be doing something just because everyone else is doing it. It's essential to think about and reflect on the why behind your decisions. What is your purpose? Or are you trying to mimic someone else's path? Just because Bewindi has a license, doesn't mean she needs a private practice. Some people actually love working for a group practice. That doesn't mean they need to start a private practice. Overall, think about your purpose before making a jump. Black Lives Matter Bewindi has a set of values that anchor her practice and a set of values that anchor her personal life. Faith is a tremendous value for Bewindi. If she combines all of her values, Bewindi believes that Black Lives Matter. Bewindi is honored that 99% of her practice is Black people. One of the messages that Bewindi takes from these times is that we need to invest in our mental health. Mental Health in the Black Community Mental health is a stigma in the Black community and the Asian community. It's awful that it took things like this to happen for people to seek mental health. However, Black people have been reaching out for mental health help now more than ever. People are experiencing so many losses, and they are so angry. The Black Lives Matter movement gives an outlet for our feelings. Bewindi is thankful that people recognize the need for mental health care. It's time to permit yourself to feel without being judged. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Bewindi's Resources www.aaopcs.net/ 901.319.9677 [email protected] Empowered to Empower You Twitter Instagram Therapy For Black Girls Resources TherapyNotes.com - use the promo code "GORDON" to get 2 months free. G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Join the G-Suite for Therapists Users Group Mone

In this Best Of Telehealth episode, we feature four previous guests who know about running a successful virtual private practice. You will hear from Clay Cockrell, Jonathan Van Viegen, Jeremy Zug, and Danielle Blessing Taylor. The four speak about various topics like the importance of having a website and how to work with clients internationally. Plus, they give tips and tricks on making your virtual private practice run smoothly. As COVID is still among us, now is the time to think about how we will continue to serve clients virtually. Meet Clay Cockrell Clay Cockrell, LCSW is a therapist based in New York City and is the founder of several counseling oriented endeavors. Most recently he is the founder of Onlinecounselling.com – a listing directory with the mission of helping clients all over the world to find the therapist or life coach that will best meet their needs. The site also works through their educational resources and podcasts to help counselors work online in an ethical, responsible, and legal manner. A majority of proceeds from the site are donated to non-profit arts. Clay started his career as the creator of Walk and Talk Therapy (www.walkandtalk.com). Where Are You Licensed? The first question therapists will have licensure. Who can you work with? Back in the day, there weren't a lot of regulations. People will think if you're sitting in New York, then the therapy is happening in New York. However, that's not how it works. The only thing that matters is where your client is sitting. Is your client sitting in Nebraska? Then that's where you need to be licensed. Can You Work With Clients Internationally? There is a caveat. What about people outside of the United States? There is a massive mental health need all over the world. It would be best if you did some investigation on this. Think about your ethics and the different regulations around the globe. With the exception of Canada, no countries regulate virtual therapy. Clay says that he has clients all over the world. It's a personal choice. Clay has the ability to work with people who need his services; therefore, he works internationally. You Need a Website and Advertising Your private practice needs a website. On that website, you will need to explain that you provide this service. Make sure it's on your homepage. Plus, make sure you have another page about online therapy. On this page, make sure you describe the benefits of online therapy. Advertising is also essential. You can have your ad only show in a specific area. That way, people who are looking for you will find you. Find out where your target audience is and advertise to them. This is where the importance of having a niche comes in. Make sure you know who your ideal client is! Meet Jonathan Van Viegen Husband, Father of 2, Marriage and Family Therapist, Entrepreneur, and Coach, Jonathan Van Viegen, MA, MFT, CCC is the Founder and CEO of the Online Therapist Academy. Jonathan helps therapists all over the world attract new clients and build thriving online practices so they can do more of what they love to do while serving their clients with passion, integrity, and authenticity. Jonathan built a successful therapy practice in Canada before selling it all to travel full-time with my family. After transforming his struggling online practice into a 6-figure business, he decided to help other therapists do the same. His therapy website is: https://jonathanvanviegen.com/ The Do's of Online Therapy DO your research. Make sure you have the proper licenses to practice. DO have a goal in mind. You can be both a coach and a therapist if that's your plan! DO protect your license. Make sure you operate under the necessary authority. DO take action. Put one foot in front of the other. You can pay for mentorship – it will be a journey. DO be consistent. Regardless of how you build your practice, get your momentum. "Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill Getting Momentum Online It took about twelve months for Jonathan to get momentum. Jonathan learned everything himself using webinars and training. Today, Jonathan has three sales calls. People show up to book calls with Jonathan; he doesn't have to go out and find people. It took a lot of work and effort. If it were too easy, then everyone would do it. Online Coaching vs. Online Therapy With therapy, your client will come to you with the content. With coaching, we go to our clients with the content. We are teaching them skills that will help with their daily lives. We aren't supposed to label our clients – why are we labeling how we assist them? Psychotherapy isn't the be-all and end-all intervention for our clients. We can offer people coaching or therapy – you do not need to mix the two. There is no reason that we can't provide both. Meet Jeremy Zug Jeremy grew up in the Pacific Northwest where he discovered his passion for people. He decided to go to college in Chicago to further develop h

In this episode, Jennifer Sneeden shares her journey in private practice. Unfortunately, it took Jennifer months after opening her private practice to realize the importance of marketing. After becoming a marketing guru, Jennifer recognized that she could help other private practice owners with marketing their private practice. You'll hear Jennifer give marketing tips. First, stop saying you need to "get clients." Instead, think about how you can "attract clients." Plus, Jennifer and Gordon dive deep into changing your marketing mindsets. Meet Jennifer Sneeden Business coach and author, Jennifer has written three books and helped thousands of therapists and coaches all over the world create thriving 6-figure businesses that they love. Jennifer understands that success in business starts from within, but that mindset must be combined with effective marketing techniques in order to get results. To learn more about Jennifer, visit JenniferSneeden.com. Masters and Disasters of Private Practice When it comes to masters and disasters, Jennifer started in the disaster category of private practice. She opened her practice in 2007, and she agonized over finding the right leather couch. Plus, she spent weeks perfecting her business cards. After improving everything, Jennifer was in her office all by herself with ZERO clients. So, Jennifer realized that she needed to market – people don't just show up! It took a few months for Jennifer to realize that she needed to get on any panel that would take her. Jennifer started making $43 an hour. However, she wasn't going to get where she wanted to go with $43 an hour. Learn To Market Jennifer made herself a student of marketing for eighteen months. She realized that she wasn't the only therapist that sucks at this stuff. So, Jennifer launched her coaching business on how to market yourself. Now, Jennifer is a total marketing junkie. It took her a long time to get there because she never realized how important it was going to be for her success. Give, Give, Get Marketing Jennifer's philosophy is to come from a place of service. What do your clients need, and how can you help them? Provide value before you ever ask for something in return. When you provide value, people will want to work with you. Serve first, then ask later. Jennifer teaches how to serve clients through marketing. When you can come from an adding real value perspective, then clients will naturally show up. If you come at people from desperation, not only will it feel icky, but it will also repel the clients you're seeking. Attracting Clients in Uncertain Times Some people are questioning if they should even be marketing during COVID. Jennifer says that there has never been a greater need for therapy services than there is right now. There is so much global psychic trauma. Who is going to make this better? Mental health professionals are going to allow us to get through this difficultly. Step up and tell others that you are here to help. It's the most exceptional service you can offer to clients. When you hide, you can't do any service. Make A Marketing Mindset Shift Empower yourself to make your private practice stronger through COVID. First, don't try and do anything until you have decided that you will be successful. It is all about mindset. Permit yourself to change your mind about things, especially when it comes to marketing your private practice. Use marketing to generate clients and eventually make money. Sometimes, there can be a scarcity mindset when it comes to marketing. Often, the mindset you have about money will be the mindset you have about marketing. If you think there's not enough money to go around, you most likely believe there are not enough clients to go around. Remember, that mindset will give you the results that you want. The actions you take are not going to get the results that you want if you don't come with the mindset of having great value. You do not need to "find clients," and you do not need to "get clients." Instead, it's about attracting clients. Put your best work out there and know that people will want to work with you. When you have a scarcity mindset, clients will not be attracted to your practice. Rather than finding clients, your clients should be able to find you. A client will need to WANT your services. Make yourself be seen and available to your ideal client. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Jennifer's Resources Jennifer's Website The Own Your Worth Podcast Attracting Clients in Uncertain Times Jennifer's Instagram Books Attracting Clients In Uncertain Times Building A Six Figure Private Practice Resources TherapyNotes.com - Use the coupon code "GORDON" to get 2 months free G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course The Session Note Helper System Free Google G-Suite Hacks Sheet Join the G-Suite for Therapists

In this episode, Danielle Blessing Taylor reveals her creative avenue for telehealth. Before COVID-19, Danielle was already utilizing telehealth services for her clients. So, COVID-19 wasn't as much of a shock to her therapy business – essentially nothing changed! Danielle describes how subleasing an office can save you loads of money, and she also gives her telehealth tips and tricks. Tune in later as Danielle and I speak about working with couples and high-risk patients virtually. Meet Danielle Blessing Taylor Danielle Blessing Taylor is a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist in DC, MD, VA, and PA who has been providing therapy since 2010 and has built her ever-growing private practice which was created in 2015. In addition to specializing in Telehealth, she also specializes in helping individuals, families, and couples to cultivate healthy relationships. She helps people to make sense of their past and create healthy changes for a happier life within themselves and in relationships with others. Starting Your Private Practice Danielle uses her EHR as the base for her practice; it is straightforward. It has everything you need like scheduling, billing, and all of that. At first, Danielle started off having an Excel spreadsheet, and her husband would track how much she was making. It just became a headache. Danielle says to set up your LLC or sole proprietorship to keep it separate from your personal stuff. When tax season comes, it's easier to look at your business credit card and bank statement. Then, write it off from there. Telehealth Tips Danielle shows private practice owners how to position the camera at the top of the screen and put their head at the top of the screen. That way, it looks like you're making more eye contact. If the internet goes out, Danielle encourages therapists to restart their computers and update their browsers. Also, clearing the cache in the browser and updating the actual computer system will help with any audio issues. Danielle gives a tips and tricks sheet to her clients for the initial set up, which also explains how to troubleshoot if they have issues. Also, think about where you will be practicing therapy virtually. You need to be comfortable at home in a private space, where nobody can hear you. Do not be in a moving car. Danielle says it's important to know where your clients are. If the client is in a different place, you need to be licensed in that state. Especially in the summer, clients will be on vacation all over the place, and not even realize that it will affect their therapy. Telehealth Is The New Normal Gordon was surprised how smooth the transition was for telehealth. However, some clients did not want to do it. Gordon is seeing 1/3rd of his clients online. At first, telehealth can be uncomfortable. Therapists are used to seeing people in person. It's a little weird not being able to see people from the waist down. So, Danielle has started asking specific questions on her questionnaire. For instance, now, Danielle asks: do you have any physical limitations? Sometimes, you can't even tell if someone is in a wheelchair when you're talking online. Telehealth has become second nature for Danielle. Plus, her clients are so open when they are in the comfort of their own home. Couples' Work in Telehealth Knowing your client's names is essential. You have to keep addressing each person by name because they won't be able to tell who you are looking at. Couples' work in telehealth can be challenging. Not being able to move around puts you in an interesting position. A therapist can only get so loud. So, Danielle uses telehealth to her advantage. For instance, she will ask one of the partners to go in the other room and calm down. Having another place to cool down in isn't something you can usually do in the office. Higher Risk Clients in Telehealth Danielle says that higher risk clients need someone in person that they can also see. Someone needs to be monitoring this person, especially if they have severe depression. A few of Danielle's clients have been suicidal. She cannot call 911 when she is in a different room than them. So, you have to find the right emergency number to call. Plus, it's essential to have current emergency contact numbers up to date. Seeing an actively suicidal person on telehealth is a liability. Consent Forms Danielle built in her telehealth consent form into her other paperwork. There is a separate section on technology and everything else the client needs to know. There is a clause where Danielle encourages them to be sober during therapy sessions. Also, there are crisis numbers in the forms too. Basically, Danielle adds anything a client should know about telehealth into the paperwork she already needs to give out. Subleasing An Office Danielle blocks off a week every couple of months and rents the office by the hour. It is the same office every time, as long as they have the same rent situation, Danielle will keep renting out that space.

In this episode, Gordon dives deep into the systems and processes it takes to run a private practice. No matter what size your practice is, you will want things to run as smoothly as possible. A few ways to ensure your practice is running smoothly is by automating specific administrative tasks. Plus, you'll need to consider where and how you are storing all your documents and information. Later, Gordon dives deep into the benefits of using G-Suite and how to ensure your practice stays HIPAA compliant. Systems and Processes Systems and processes are what happens when you receive a client's call until the time you discharge them. Particularly on the back-end in terms of the clinical documentation and the administrative functions. For example, when you get a new client, you'll probably give them some paperwork or forms. We need to do that, just legally and ethically have them sign forms, understand their HIPAA privacy policy, understand their fees, and the risk involved in doing therapy. Especially with teletherapy, our clients need to understand the risk of doing virtual therapy. In addition, we have that whole moving piece for those of us with insurance-based practices. We are checking benefits for their insurance and then filing the claims. So, when I say systems and processes, it means all of those things that occur outside the therapy room in terms of documentation and administrative functions. When starting in private practice, all of those things can be overwhelming, particularly in the beginning. A lot of people are not sure how to pull all that together. Regardless of the size of your practice, you want those things to run smoothly. Divide Your Tasks So the first thing that I think is helpful is to divide things into what I think of as clinical functions versus administrative functions. So, you've got your progress notes and session notes, your treatment plans, your discharge plans, all of that kind of documentation that we keep for our patients. Those are the clinical functions, and that's the stuff that we really have to focus on keeping protected and confidential. These things are commonly referred to as personal health information. The administrative side includes tracking things like where your money is coming in and coming out from. Plus, it would help if you had a marketing plan and a business plan. Those things are all administrative functions. HIPAA HIPAA comes in around our clinical functions. A lot of times, we can make HIPAA much more complicated than it is. If you want to keep paper records, which there's nothing wrong with that, then HIPAA doesn't apply other than keeping it under a double lock. With analog paper records, you can quickly run out of space. I have moved to pretty much paperless office now and any documents we get, we either scan them and convert them, or we put them into an electronic health record system. Also, we use our Google Drive, which is HIPAA secure. I make it a policy within my practice that the only thing that I'm going to communicate with a client by email is just something around appointment times and changing appointments and sending out initial paperwork. I'm not going to use email to address clinical issues as I would in a session. So in that sense, you're keeping things a little more private. Using G-Suite You cannot make your regular Gmail account HIPAA complaint. Instead, you need a G-Suite account. G-Suite allows you to change the email name from @gmail.com to @yourcounselingpractice.com. Plus, when someone emails you, it is handled through the Gmail app, it's just like using the free Gmail app. Also, you get the benefit of having HIPAA secure emails. G-Suite allows you to create all sorts of cool things with it. Google Drive is one of my favorites because it comes with cloud storage. Cloud storage is much better and more secure than storing stuff on your computer. If you're storing things on your computer, there is always the potential for someone to hack into it. Also, you could lose your computer, or it could crash. However, if stored in the cloud, you will always have access to it, and you will always have a backup. Plus, Google's security will be better than anything you can put on your computer; they depend on it. Most people are familiar with Google Docs and Google Sheets. The biggest nugget for private practice owners is Google Forms. It allows you to track how many sessions you have per week and the average session rate. This dashboard can be done on a Google Form – it will automatically put the information from the form to the sheet. This way, the data can be manipulated. If you get creative, there are lots of different ways you can set up systems and processes using Google G-Suite. Electronic Health Records System An EHR is a way to go! That way, you can file all your claims electronically. Plus, it makes things a lot more automated. Most EHR systems will track the money you make from clients. However, it doesn't necessarily have a function t

In this episode, Ed Darrah joins the show and describes how to streamline your private practice using G-Suite. Ed reveals which G-Suite tools are HIPAA and BAA compliant. After loads of trial and error, Ed is here to describe what he now knows about using G-Suite to streamline and make your practice as efficient as possible! Meet Edward Darrah Edward Darrah is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Edward holds board certifications in Counseling, School Counseling, and TeleMental Health. Edward founded Edward Darrah Counseling & Athlete Wellness Consulting in 2015, providing mental health and sport performance services within the greater Philadelphia area. Edward is currently a full-time staff member at Temple University, where he serves as a mental health and performance counselor. Streamlining Your Practice Ed started to look at potential ways to streamline his practice. G-Suite is a HIPAA compliant platform, and it was very familiar to Ed because he uses it for personal work. Ed learned how to interconnect all the tools to use within his healthcare facility and transmit healthcare data. It was a lot of trial and error to connect the pieces. But once Ed became familiar with what he wanted to do, it became his primary EMR. Ed was looking at his return on investment, and he was pouring money into an electronic medical record that is well known, but his patients were not using a lot of the features that Ed was paying for. They didn't sign into the portal, and they didn't manually schedule appointments. Plus, his patients didn't use the messaging system. Instead, they often chose text message or email as primary communication, all things that didn't fit into this software. The most significant difference between an EMR that you pay for monthly is that once you create that account, everything's there for you – forms are there for the scheduling and billing. The optimization is undoubtedly there, especially if you take insurance, which will be the most significant piece. EMR will undoubtedly give you an advantage if you're doing insurance claiming. In contrast, an out of pocket provider might find that of the features and customization, the product might not technically meet all your needs, or you might not need everything. So, you might be overpaying on your subscription. Ed realized that maybe there's a better way. With G-Suite and some of the third party add-ons, he found you're able to build a robust system, and he doesn't call it an EMR because it doesn't do everything, but it does allow you to run your practice pretty efficiently at a low cost. Providers that are working part-time or even providers working full-time need to maximize their profits. Cloud Search Not many EMRs are going to have such a robust cloud search, like Google, that's what they specialize in. So, if you were putting your documents into your drive, you can go into a patient's folder and narrow it down. You can type in medication and then bring up the notes on that medication in seconds. So, in terms of paper and being able to access data, it makes sense to use both to allow more consistency and streamline that care. G-Suite Marketplace Within G-Suite, they have what they call the marketplace. The marketplace offers what we're calling add-ons from companies that have other tools that G-Suite might not provide. They can add different applications like Google Forms or Google Docs to allow for different types of customization and accessibility. You have to make sure that the companies that you're integrating with your G-Suite account are compliant. You need to go on their sites and look at their privacy policies if they offer a BAA. Then, make an informed decision. JotForm JotForm is just an alternate solution to Google Forms, but there are advantages to JotForm. You can take a natural electronic signature right on the form, which makes a document legalized. You could also capture your IP addresses, create form IDs, and submission IDs. You can take payments through JotForm so you can create a receipt or even an invoice and send it out. There's a little more customization; there's a bit more opportunity to make it more branded. They do have very streamlined integration to Google Drive into Google Sheets – it generates a PDF. It cuts down on error and time. About Ed's Workflow Ed uses Google Meet for his telehealth work. There are things to keep in mind with telehealth. For instance, you should have a backup telehealth service in case a client is not able to access Google Meet. In addition, Ed uses Google Tasks in his calendar. It helps him stay organized and prioritize. Also, Ed uses Google Sheets as a chart, for case management, contact information, and taking notes. Google Voice falls into a BAA agreement. Many therapists are confused if they can or cannot use Google Contacts. Ed says not to use Google Contacts for client information – it is not covered under BAA. Instead, Ed will keep a separate Goo

In this episode, Gordon dives deep and speaks out about racism, white privilege, and fear and how we can do a better job about speaking truth, reaching out, and genuinely helping one another through this time. Gordon explains how we can speak loudest at the ballot box. Plus, he talks about how we can use free speech responsibly and the importance of emotional intelligence. It's time that Gordon no longer keeps silent about racism, bigotry, and white privilege. Let's end racism together. We Need To Speak Truth We need to speak truth to what is going on around us – this has been happening for centuries. Our country needs to do what we need to do to change things. Gordon is still learning about how his prejudices have affected himself and others. As white people, we do not know what it's like to go into a place and be automatically self-conscious. Gordon hasn't done enough to reach out to people in this situation and help them feel comfortable. We need to let people know that we are safe people. Have the power to speak out against other people's injustices, prejudices, and racism. It's time for us to speak out. We Need To Speak Out We can speak out loudest at the ballot box. The rhetoric and talk that we have heard from our political leaders over the last four years need to stop. This speech is doing nothing but creating more division within our country. The rhetoric has got to end. We need to use free speech responsibly – words do count. We have an opportunity to use our knowledge with psychology and emotions to teach people emotional intelligence. Racism is rooted in fear – it's fear of someone that looks and speaks differently than us. There is no "they" or "them." It's all of US. We need to get away from separating ourselves based on economic status, what we look like, and how we speak. We Need To Stand Together We need to go above and beyond and reach out to our clients of color. We need to let them know that we are aware of what's going on and how it may be affecting them. Gordon is feeling a lot of grief and guilt around this as a white person. It is time to be very aware and be there for others. Be present with people and stand with them. Reach out to each other and understand how racism is affecting those around us. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Resources TherapyNotes.com Racism Resources The Session Note Helper System Free Google G-Suite Hacks Sheet you can get here. Join the G-Suite for Therapists Users Group Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

Dr. LaRonda Starling joins the show and speaks about self-care. Private practice owners need to practice self-care because it's too easy for business owners to work 24/7. We need to allow ourselves to be real people and take care of ourselves in the ways that we take care of others. LaRonda says we need to learn how to say no, practice prayer throughout the day, and be still. Tune in for more of LaRonda's self-care advice! Meet LaRonda Starling Dr. LaRonda Starling is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas, a National Certified Counselor, an adjunct professor at a Christian university, and the author of Be Still: Spiritual Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, a Master of Science degree in Counseling, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology. As a clinician, Dr. Starling provides therapeutic services (psychological assessment and counseling) in a private practice setting. Along with her clinical experience as a mental health professional, Dr. Starling has over fifteen years of experience working in academic environments; first as a staff member and then as adjunct faculty in both classroom and online settings. In all that she does (working or volunteering), she hopes that God receives the glory as she uses the gifts He has so graciously given her. Why Private Practice Owners Need to Practice Self-Care Private practice owners need to take time for themselves. When you work for yourself, you have so many roles to take on. There is always a time where you could be doing some work. One of the things that LaRonda suggests is to be still. Sometimes that means to physically be still – stop being so busy during the day. Also, you need to spiritually be still. Find the Good in Your Day Who is God as a person? If you know that God is everywhere, then we can lean on God. Also, be intentional about prayer. Sometimes we only pray when something terrible happens. We need to take the time throughout the day to pray. Throughout the day, think about what is good. What's the silver-lining of quarantine? Maybe you learned how to use teletherapy, that's a fantastic silver-lining during this time. Saying No and Other Self-Care Techniques One way to practice self-care is by being able to say no in a loving way to other people. Also, make sure you can say no to yourself. You have time to do loads of extra work during the day, but you need to say no. Staying at home with the family, you may not have time to get up early and be still. Parents can set boundaries with their children, this is a great way to practice saying no. We still have to sleep, eat, and exercise. Plus, we need to surround ourselves with good people and good friends. There's so much to do during the day, make sure you are taking care of your body and spirit. Plus, LaRonda says to take an hour by yourself and reflect on what's going on with you. Being outside is a refreshing difference. When COVID-19 is over, we should be able to go out and get some fresh air and exercise. Lastly, don't forget that every therapist needs a therapist. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! LaRonda's Resources Grace Psychological Health Services, PLLC Be Still: Spiritual Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Healing the Shame that Binds You The Session Note Helper System If you want to be kept in the loop about things as they develop, >>click hereand I'll add you to list. Free Google G-Suite Hacks Sheet you can get here. Join the G-Suite for Therapists Users Group Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, James and Lorinda Marland join in speaking about outsourcing work in private practice. A virtual assistant can be used to do loads of things in your private practice. For one, a VA will help you stay connected with clients. When a potential client speaks to someone on the phone the first time they call – that's going to be a massive win for your practice. James and Lorinda talk about other things a VA can do for your practice, such as marketing, social media, and perfecting your website. Plus, they explain how a VA can help you build relationships and sell more content. Meet James & Lorinda Marland James Marland is Chief Operations Officer at Move Forward Virtual Assistants with over 18 years of experience in social service and non-profit organizations. James loves the power of learning and holds a Master's degree in Ministry and Business Administration. Lorinda has been doing secretarial and scheduling work for over 15 years. Her experience ranges from working in small businesses to large scheduling offices. Some of those years were spent working in the medical field with Philhaven, now Philhaven Wellspan. Lorinda enjoys working with the public and using her administrative gifts to help the business grow and thrive. She brings a unique perspective to the table having not only worked doing scheduling but also managing an office. Listen to her interview on what makes it easy to onboard with a new virtual assistant and what might make it hard to start with a new practice. Using a Virtual Assistant to Stay Connected with Clients A virtual assistant will connect with the clients by passing along messages or just getting them in contact one-on-one with their therapist. A virtual assistant can generally do that a little quicker or maybe much quicker than the therapist. Many new clients like to get a live person on the phone – they appreciate that fact. When Lorinda first started taking calls for a therapist, she got like sixteen calls. Out of the sixteen, there were probably about four or five that she scheduled as new clients to her practice. Whereas if Lorinda hadn't been there, the therapist wouldn't have gotten all of those calls. How to Utilize a Virtual Assistant Despite COVID-19, we still have clients to see. We still have phone calls to make. We still have insurance issues to figure out. We still need marketing, podcasts, social media, webpages. It's good to remember that even though a lot has changed, a lot hasn't changed. You're still a therapist, you're running a business. How you do it now that the world has changed? We need to figure out that puzzle. One thing a virtual assistant can do is connect with current clients. A lot of work needs to be done to ensure that the existing clients keep coming to their sessions. The VA can spend a lot of time connecting with current clients, sending letters, checking emails, calling them, making sure they know about virtual therapy. A VA can even call the client and let them know about the missed session. Lorinda has been sending out emails, making phone calls to different referral places, and reminding clients of their appointments. She has also calls to reschedule with clients and touch base with them. Some of the clients aren't as technology savvy. Lorinda has had clients call before their session, trying to figure out how to get into the link. Lorinda will send a message to the therapist and let the client know they are trying to enter the session while coaching the client on how to use the technology. Building Relationships Using a Virtual Assistant We still need to continue to build relationships with referral sources. A VA can let referrals know that you are doing teletherapy. Plus, they can find new referrals by contacting hospitals, schools, churches, and colleges. Now with everything kind of shut down, a VA can develop relationships with these referral sources because it does take time. Virtual assistants always pay off for people. The sooner you can get back with somebody, the more likely that person will go with you. Selling Your Content with a VA Many people have been trying to repackage their workshops, classes, paperwork packets, or some sort of online course or tool. Typically, that's a lot of investment of time to get that going, but once it's out there, you have it forever for marketing. So a virtual assistant can assist with social media and helping create teachable courses. They can also create blog posts for your website. You might have an HR policy that's out of date, or you have to review your paperwork, and it's not really clear. A VA can help you do those types of things. It's essential to have systems and processes in place to where things are more automated. A virtual assistant can help you bridge that gap. When we're starting out in private practice, we've got a lot of time on our hands. Once you get busy and your practice starts getting full, that's really the time to begin outsourcing and getting those things off your

In this episode, Jeremy Zug from Practice Solutions joins the show to explain what's going on with telehealth during these uncertain times. Jeremy advises on submitting telehealth claims and explains how telehealth is rapidly becoming our new normal. Then, Jeremy gives tips on collecting from patients. As a business, we need to make money. Your patients may be in financial distress, so Jeremy describes what to do in this situation. Stay tuned as Jeremy gives the pros and cons of accepting insurance as a private practice owner. Meet Jeremy Zug Jeremy grew up in the Pacific Northwest where he discovered his passion for people. He decided to go to college in Chicago to further develop his skills working with people and pursue a degree in counseling. While in Chicago he worked for a group practice as a practice biller and marketing manager. This initiated his desire to pursue learning about the business of private practice, particularly medical billing. He now lives in Michigan with his wife of 3 years. They both are pursuing their passion for helping helpers maintain sustainable and compliant billing practices. In his free time, Jeremy loves reading, fishing, biking, hiking, and camping. Telehealth Claims How can you determine whether your patient's copay will be waived? There are some excellent resources, but the best way to do that right now is to call the insurance companies. You're going to want to say is telemental health is covered on an outpatient basis for this patient. Then, give them the insurance information and the date of birth because that will lead the provider representative to tell you what they have. What we're seeing as a trend is if the patient had telehealth benefits into their benefits before COVID-19, they are covered at one-hundred percent. If they didn't have those benefits, the patients still have copays and deductibles applying through this time. It's confusing for many people, but as providers, we can do the best job we can by being as clear as possible. We want to be as transparent as possible with that. Telehealth is the New Normal Providers can do a good job as far as lobbying with their government officials on telehealth being the new normal. Telemedicine is effective, and you can reach more people. Jeremy knows that insurance companies often get a bad rep, but this has been an enormous agenda item for them for a long time. Send a letter to your governor, your senator, and congressmen to push for it. Telehealth can also make the lives of the private practice owner easier too. Telehealth will make it more convenient to choose your hours, and therapists can even be available for clients who are overseas. Collecting From Patients People need to start collecting from patients – you are contractually obligated to receive it. If the person is out of work, you still have to collect the copay and deductible. As a business owner, you need to treat people the way you want to be treated. If a patient is short on cash, the provider should tell the patient they owe for the service. However, you can offer an extension on their debt. Another thing you can do is set up a weekly payment plan. That way, the private practice owner knows that that patient will pay. Plus, the patient can budget it into their weekly expenses. We should not feel bad for getting paid for what we do. Think about all the time and effort that you went through to get licensed. People know when they go to a doctor's office that they are going to owe something. So, when a patient goes to a therapist, they should expect to pay. Jeremy suggests reading the book Against Empathy. Accepting Insurance It's much easier logistically to not take insurance. However, there is a case to accept insurance. Clinically, you can work with populations that you are passionate about. If you work with military patients, that's a huge client base, and they need it. If that's your expertise, then do that. At the same time, you will sacrifice profitability. If you take insurance, then you will receive a hit on the money side. Do you want to work with those clinical populations? You will have to weigh that with the profitability side. There is something to be said about access to care and that growing market. Perhaps you can grow your practice faster when accepting insurance – plus, they can be easy to work with. There is a sense of speed and deployment with insurance, and that matters. However, you'll have to manage paperwork and fuzzy bureaucracy. Jeremy's Resources Practice Solutions Practice Solutions on Facebook Practice Solutions on LinkedIn Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Against Empathy The Session Note Helper System Free Google G-Suite Hacks Sheet you can get here. Join the G-Suite for Therapists Users Group Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy P

Chris Swenson joins Gordon on the podcast to explain why we shouldn't forget about our inner game in private practice. Our inner game is always happening, and it's continuously turning – it shouldn't be ignored. Chris describes how he found his passions, purpose, and principles by diving deep into mindset and the importance of mental clarity. Then, Chris tells us all about what it means to be a Private Practice Warrior and why a bigger practice isn't necessarily better. Meet Chris Swenson Chris Swenson, LMFT is the author of the recently published book, "Private Practice Warrior." He is the Owner/Founder/solo-operator of Rhino Wellness Center which is Chris' successful full-time solo practice in rural Colorado. Chris is a true Private Practice Warrior who is currently developing a program called, "Private Practice Warrior – A Powerful Mindset for Ambitious Practice Owners – The "Way" to True Fulfillment in Life and Business. To receive a free pdf copy of "Private Practice Warrior" and a special bonus, click https://rhinomentality.lpages.co/pp-warrior-ebook-pdf-giveaway/ The Inner Game The biggest thing for Chris is that he has learned to never forget about the inner game. It's always going on. Early on in Chris's private practice, he felt like he was like a slave to the practice. It didn't feel like it was his. There was almost this illusion, and he had no sense of fulfillment. But once Chris stepped back identified his purpose, he found his passion and lives by his principles. Plus, he realized the big things he could do each and every day to move the dial, things began to fall more into place, and he began to feel a lot more fulfilled. Even though there are still struggles and challenges, we all have to fly through that turbulence to build a practice. Finding Mental Clarity Chris probably took a different journey than most. He got ingrained within the warrior community and learned about mental toughness and mindset. Chris found his purpose, passion, and identified the principles which he operates by each and every day. Plus, he has daily practices to make sure that he is making the right decision instead of making decisions out of fear. Chris felt an internal struggle. However, once he began daily work and ingraining a new mentality, he feels great. Chris has a lot more confidence and is a lot calmer. Plus, Chris says he has more mental clarity for what he needs for decisions to be made. Boosting Our Mindset People will say to build your practice, scale your practice, expand your stuff, do all of these things, and then you're going to reach that promised land and feel that sense of fulfillment. Chris found that it's an illusion. If you have a bigger practice, you might end up more stressed, more mentally fatigued, and more tired. So, Chris looked at what really makes a successful practice for the long haul. He looked at numbers of failure rates over the years, and he noticed that the failure rate has remained the same even though we've got better technology and we've got a lot more programs. What is the missing variable? It's our inner game. We have to get ourselves to do XYZ every day, and how do we get ourselves to do that? Get yourself, your mindset, mentality, purpose, passion, all these things in line. From there, you can accomplish great things. However, the point of it is not just to create this great business; this great practice, it's about being a better person through doing all of it. Chris is just tired of seeing people struggle and have a hard time not getting that joy and fulfillment from what they're doing. It's not just building the practice. It's becoming a better person through the challenges of building a better practice – which, of course, requires some mental skills, but also just a different mentality on how you look at your practice. Private Practice Warriors Chris initially had the idea for Private Practice Warriors when he started seeing the struggles of private practice owners, he knew he needed to do something. Chris wanted to make a difference and what made a difference was being able to share stories with others. Chris thought about writing his book. He wrote it like a story. You get to follow the main character through their journey. There's a lot of twists and some turns in the book as well. You begin to learn about the identity of being a warrior and identifying your purpose, your passion, never forgetting about the inner game, things like that. So you can take out a lot of those ideas as you learn from the story. Bigger Isn't Necessarily Better What's most important to you? What is the lifestyle that you want to have? What's going to bring you fulfillment? Being a warrior is about wanting to be a better person. It's about the personal growth that develops. It's not only about becoming that way for a better practice but as a better person. There are challenges to grow or to put stuff out into the external world, those difficulties can lift and we can overcome them. As we be

In this episode, Rob Reinhardt from Tame Your Practice joins Gordon to talk about the importance of having a contingency plan in private practice. First, Rob explains the difference between a contingency plan and a professional will. Plus, he reveals the first things you will need to do when thinking about your contingency plan, including considering who will be on your emergency response team. Rob highly recommends having another mental health professional on your team, rather than a family member. Later, Rob speaks about all the things you will need to inform your emergency response team about. If you need more assistance with your plan, get Rob's book Private Practice Preparedness: The Health Care Professional's Guide to Closing a Practice Due to Retirement, Death, or Disability (use code WF44M for 15% off the ebook). Meet Rob Reinhardt Rob Reinhardt, LPCS, M.Ed., NCC has his own successful counseling practice and is CEO of Tame Your Practice. Known for his expertise in reviewing and recommending EHRs for therapists, Rob previously worked in Information Technology for over ten years and has lived around technology his entire life. Contingency Plans for Private Practice Mental health professionals usually don't have a contingency plan. If something happens to a private practice owner, what is the spouse going to do? The owner is in charge of helping all of these people get informed about the situation. Plus, there are all of the records to deal with. There's all of this business to take care of. If there were no plans, an attorney would have to help them through it. It's not just what happens when you die; there could be lots of reasons that you need a contingency plan. For instance, you need a plan in case you decide to retire or in case you find some fantastic job opportunities that you can't turn down. What if your family decides to move across state lines? That would change everything. You might have to take an extended leave of absence to care for an ill family member. There's any number of reasons that draw you away from your practice and require you to have this plan in place. Well, there are not many resources out there for private practice owners to create the plan. And that's when Rob decided to sit down and write Private Practice Preparedness: The Health Care Professional's Guide to Closing a Practice Due to Retirement, Death, or Disability with Nancy Wheeler. They talk about how to make the plan and provide some templates that you can fill in your information and have that plan. Professional Wills Many people talk about a professional will in this context. The reason Rob doesn't say professional will a lot, and instead, he talks about a contingency plan is because the professional will tends to be focused on if you die. Plus, it also tends to be focused on the business aspects of private practice. Some people do incorporate other things into the professional will, but not everything will be covered. For instance, what if somebody needs to get into your G Suite? What if somebody needs to get into your EHR? These are the kinds of details that often aren't included in something like a professional will. So, make sure you're covering all these things that someone would need to address if someone else has to care of business. There are so many things that you do that are connected to your practice that are in your head. However, you never really bothered to write down or explain it to anybody else. Starting Your Contingency Plan Get Rob's book, Private Practice Preparedness: The Health Care Professional's Guide to Closing a Practice Due to Retirement, Death, or Disability, and go through it. Rob would step back and make a list of all these things that he does. Including all of the things that he doesn't even really think about. They're second nature to him. Think about what are all the things that you do, and if you weren't there, who would do them? As you are making a list, think about doing these things, how are you doing them, and what are you doing them with? In other words, what tools are you using? Are you using G suite a lot? Some people have electronic health records, and they have bank accounts for their business. So, make a list of what are all the tools that you use, and how do you access those tools? Then, it can get even more detailed. So one example is electronic health records. We're talking about protected health information here. It may not just be enough that somebody has your login and password information. You may want to have them set up in that EHR as a confirmed user. And in fact, some of the electronic health record systems have that as part of their programs. Rob advocates firmly using two-factor authentication. So that means you're not just entering a username and password, but you're often entering a code that you either receive via text or through an authentication app. It's an extra layer of security to be sure that if someone gets your username and password, they can't

In this episode, Annie Schuessler joins the show and talks about serving others outside of the therapy room. Annie explains what type of people are most likely to start a business outside of therapy, including the person who is on the verge of burnout or the person who is looking to be more creative. There are many ways we can serve others outside of therapy, including coaching, courses, and groups. Stay tuned as Annie dives deep into how we can best be successful when getting outside of the therapy room. Meet Annie Schuessler Annie Schuessler is a business coach and the host of the podcast Rebel Therapist® Podcast. She's been a therapist in private practice for 20 years, and a business coach for over 10 years. With her Rebel Therapist® Programs, she helps therapist entrepreneurs make an impact beyond the therapy room. You can find her resources at rebeltherapist.me. Why We Go Outside of the Therapy Room Annie has noticed a couple of different kinds of types of folks who are drawn to creating a business outside of the therapy room. Someone who is headed to burnout will find other ways to generate income. Most likely, this person is hitting the ceiling in terms of the number of hours they can work. They have built a successful private practice. However, they want to use their time differently, and they want to be able to leverage their time, learning, and experience into something else. The other kind of person may not even have a full practice yet, and they may just be growing their private practice. However, they already see that there's another part of themselves that they want to bring out into the world. Or there's another message they want to bring out into the world. Plus, creativity is a massive value for them. So, from the very beginning, they want to create some programs beyond the therapy room so that they can express their full selves and work with people in these different ways. How To Get Out of the Therapy Room It works when a therapist can create some program that they can get started with quickly. We tend to have these big dreams and these visions of what it could look like, what our empires could look like. People have amazing ideas; the first step is creating something that is done more quickly so that before you have grown an enormous audience, you can start testing a pilot program. When people can start promptly and check something early in the process, Annie sees them getting early wins and being able to move forward as opposed to folks who have this tremendous vision and maybe don't ever figure out how to accomplish it. Starting a Coaching Program Annie says that people are starting with perhaps either a small group coaching program or even a one on one coaching program. Make sure you are creating a separate website. This is going to be an independent business, so that you're not taking any chances with your private practice. Start with one program. It could be one on one coaching where you're walking through people through a process, within a very particular niche and a specific outcome. Or it could be a small group coaching program where you've got three people who you're walking through a process that brings about a profound change in one particular area. Creating a Course Annie sees people growing their businesses into membership communities. It is a beautiful way to bring people together who share a particular problem and who share a specific identity. Plus, it's a way to add value! Also, Annie sees people creating courses. That can be such a rewarding way to bring together a lot of the stuff that you've learned and that you love. However, some people believe that they can create a course, never touch it again, and make a load of money. Annie doesn't see that working except for when it's Oprah. Annie advises people to at least start with a lot of interaction where you're just adding tons of value by actually being with the people who you're serving and then pulling back from there. Being Transparent… Some of the resources listed below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you make purchase using the link, we receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Annie's Resources rebeltherapist.me Listen to The Rebel Therapist Podcast Check out the free training & resources Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Join the G-Suite for Therapists Users Group The Practice of Therapy Teachable Courses (use code SPRING2020) Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pintere

John Clarke joins the show; he helps private practice owners build a practice that they love. In this episode, John gives tips on how to do private practice made human. First, start with your "why". Why are you considering private practice, or why did you get into private practice in the first place? Later, John gives more tips on establishing your endpoint, creating company values, and knowing your ideal income. Meet John Clarke John Clarke is a licensed psychotherapist and a private practice expert at PrivatePracticeWorkshop. After learning a lot of things the hard way while building his first practice in San Francisco, he started a blog to share with others the lessons he had learned. Private Practice Workshop was born, and this blog eventually evolved into so much more: a thriving Facebook community, a successful podcast, online courses, and coaching/consulting. Some therapists want to learn how to use digital marketing to grow their audience and get more clients, but the majority just want to leave it to the pros. John founded Unconditional Media, the digital marketing team for therapists, to meet the biggest need of private practitioners: getting more clients! When he's not nerding out over all things private practice, he's playing jazz drums, practicing Muay Thai martial arts, and talking to his pets like they're humans. Having Fuel in the Tank Start with your why. You are crafting your purpose statement. Why do any of this in the first place? Why does this matter? Knowing your why will be your fuel source. So especially on days where it's tough to get out of bed in the morning like in a crisis, you need enough fuel in the tank to make this worth it. There are more risks associated with being a business owner than being an employee. There are more risks; there's more stress. You are going to take work home more often; you're liable to different things that you're not as responsible for if you're the employee of a company. So for John, it has to be worth that. The bumps in the road have to be worth it. Why Private Practice? Many therapists feel like they were born to do this. They were born to help people. Take that one step further and write down why private practice? If your purpose in life is to help people, then why private practice? It's not the most effective place for you to help people. Do you have other ideas behind your purpose? Whether it's owning your schedule or increasing income. Try to get honest with yourself. Establish Your Endpoint The endpoint is a mission statement. You should think big! You should think of the ripple effects of your work. Your mission statement is this high-level impact that your business could have on the world. Start to sketch out how are you going to get there? If you don't know where you're going, than any place will do—reverse engineer your big tasks. So if you want to get 50 fully booked students in this launch, you can start to work backward and go, then what do you need to do in these next one to three months to build your email list for that? What do you need to do this week to create more lead magnets to make your email list? So it helps if you trace back what actions you are taking today and what they should lead to. Establish Company Values Establishing your company values will help you make decisions. Even if you're a solo practitioner, John highly recommends doing this. Create the kind of practice that you want to have for yourself. Put some thought into that and get out a piece of paper to write stuff down. When we write, we get clarity and can see the big picture. Set Your Ideal Income and Ideal Schedule Get in there, create that income target and make it sure it's based on something. What are you going to need to get that money, and how are you going to use it? Then, you can reverse engineer that around your schedule. If you want to make a certain amount, how many hours will you have to work to get there? What kind of schedule do you need? Start sketching out your days, weeks, months, and years and make sure when you look at your calendar that it seems right to you. It looks good. It looks like, yes, this is worth it. John's Resources Private Practice Workshop Listen to John's Podcast PODCAST| Grace and Gratitude with Gordon Brewer of the Practice of Therapy John's Free Online Training Apply For 1-1 Consulting Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Financial Tips for Surviving The COVID-19 Crisis The Practice of Therapy Teachable Courses (use code SPRING2020) Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play.

In this episode, Jane Carter joins the show. We speak about why your mindset in private practice will change everything, especially during COVID-19. Jane's motto is imperfect action. Instead of experiencing constant panic, we can use this moment to relax and reframe. Jane explains the various ways we can use our time during the coronavirus and why we need to focus on the things that we can control. Meet Jane Carter Jane Carter, LPC is a counselor and business coach from Asheville, NC. Jane has spent the last several years in private practice as a counselor and has recently begun focusing more on business coaching, not only for therapists but other businesses as well. Her website is: JaneCarterCoaching.com Jane says, "As a therapist, business coach, and life coach, I love helping people navigate the path to achieving their goals for a meaningful life. I apply these principles in my own life in the mountains of Asheville, NC, where I'm an outdoorswoman, world-traveler, dog-mama, food-and-wine lover, reader, and coffee-shop connoisseur. (I'm also known for making up great puns on the fly)." The Mindset in Private Practice We've all got crap. Our job is to help people turn it into fertilizer, which is the work of what all therapists are doing. The way you grow your business can be very healing of some of that deeper stuff without you even realizing it. It just feeds Jane's soul to do this work. It's fun to be with people on this journey. Imperfect Action Jane's motto is imperfect action. Right now, we're recording this podcast during the current virus crisis where we're in lockdown; we are at home. I think a lot of people experienced this kind of sudden panic. Jane put together a mindset checklist of short-term strategies and long-term strategies. A lot of people are feeling overwhelmed at this moment. So Jane hopes that people mostly focus on their mindset right now. To be in business is just to be dealing with the problems that come up regularly. We should relax, reframe, and use this moment. Have a Moment Anxiety and fear make us want to contract and get small and hide under the covers. It's hard to see beyond what we are going to do today, what are we going to do tomorrow? Sometimes we can get into that very reactive place. There are three things we need to do: Look at the big picture. Be intentional. See the expansion at this time. Fear and anxiety want us to contract, and this time may seek to expand us, some amazing things could come out of this time. How can we see an expansion at this moment? Private Practice as a Tool For Spiritual Growth We need to look at the big picture. The big picture is this will pass. Every challenge throughout history has given. The coronavirus will pass, we are going to get through this. Keeping that long view helps us to look at it kind of from a distance and go, okay, so what is our sense of purpose? When we look back at this moment in a couple of years, how do we want to say that we handled it? That's a spiritual thing. Do we want to make decisions from a place of love or a place of fear? When we're looking at the small picture and fear, it's easy to get into those thoughts of, well, how are we going to get the money? When we look at the big picture, it gives us space to think about how we are serving people. We are here to fulfill our most profound purpose. So, when we go through a crisis, it's an excellent opportunity to think about your "why." It's a gift to recommit and realign with why we are doing this. Figure Out What You Can Control We need to figure out the things that we can control. And then, the flip side is learning to just be with those feelings, to learn to be with the lack of control, to learn to be present with our grief and our fear, and just kind of allow it and wear it like a backpack. Jane wants to encourage people to be intentional at this time. We need to figure out how we want to use this time and who we want to be at this time? Look at the checklist and start checking things off. We can also be intentional about our goal for this time. What if it's possible that this is the greatest thing for our private practice? Thinking about that question then allows you to start seeing that. Being transparent… Some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you use the link to make a purchase, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Jane's Resources Email Jane For Her Free Checklist: [email protected] JaneCarterConsulting.com Money Mindset in Private Practice | TPOT 005 Finding Your Superpowers in Private Practice | TPOT 038 Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Teachable.com Man's Search For Meaning Financial Tips for Surviving The COVID-19 Crisis The Practice of Therapy Teachable Courses (use code SPRING2020) Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, M

In this episode, Derek Collins, MEd, CADC explains how he started his drug & alcohol counseling private practice and how he navigated imposture syndrome. Also, Derek describes how he reaches the maximum amount of people using Google rankings and SEO. Stay tuned as Derek dives deep into his marketing strategy and why it's necessary to have multiple streams of income. Meet Derek Collins Derek Collins is the founder and CEO of the Diversion Center where he provides court-mandated classes and counseling services to offenders who are trying to get their lives back on track. He owns and operates 5 outpatient treatment facilities surrounding the Atlanta Metro area and provides court-mandated classes that include: anger management, shoplifting and theft prevention, values clarification, ASAM Level I, family violence intervention program and more. Currently, he is transitioning into the consulting field, helping others around the country start their own court-mandated practice. You can find out more information about Derek Collins and the Diversion Center at www.thediversioncenter.com. How Derek Started His Practice Derek had to step out of faith. He started just teaching classes at first, and then he proceeded to add on anger management. Then, he moved to get registered with the state of Georgia for their DUI intervention program. Derek kept on adding services and taking his time. He started his practice with a laptop, a broken down printer, and co-op coworking space. Derek's space was only $99 a month, and he ran classes. Eventually, he had so many clients in there, so he had to get a second and third office. Private Practice Competition Georgia is highly competitive, and a lot of people want to do it out there. There are roadblocks and hoops you have to jump through. They make it hard for you to get into this industry in Georgia. However, if you jump through all those hoops, you should do what you need to do to be profitable. But at the same time, what a lot of therapists struggle with is marketing. It's not something that's taught in the schools and graduate schools, how to market your services. If your clients cannot find you on their phone, then you can forget about it. Marketing Strategy Derek's marketing strategy is to get number one on Google. You have to be number one or at the very least on the first page. So when someone types up alcohol and drug evaluation, his name pops up first. Derek has multiple websites. On the first page of Google, you will see three different websites that Derek has. So no matter what, you have to come to him. Derek tries to dominate the market. Derek's main website is a WordPress site because it's a more substantial website for SEO. You will also want to have a Google business page and several of those that can help. Derek says that about 90% of his business is through his website SEO, and the other part is just word of mouth. Being transparent… Some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you use the link to make a purchase, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Derek's Resources Derek's Website Derek's LinkedIn Diversion Center on Facebook The Ultimate 'On-Demand' Court Mandated Training Program CALL: 404-781-7468 [email protected] Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Teachable.com Financial Tips for Surviving The COVID-19 Crisis The Practice of Therapy Teachable Courses (use code SPRING2020) Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

Julie Herres from GreenOak Accounting joins the podcast again to speak about financial tips for surviving the COVID-19 crisis. We are going to be talking about thoughts that we're having about this whole crisis and what's going on for people financially. We speak about how we can get through the next couple of weeks and next few months if you don't have a considerable amount saved for a sudden downturn like this. We discuss how to budget for a crisis, creative ways to pay for expenses, and calling big-name companies and asking for assistance. Later, we speak about paying your team, applying for loans, and diversifying your income streams. Stay tuned as we take questions from Zoom! Meet Julie Herres Julie Herres is the owner of GreenOak Accounting. The firm provides bookkeeping, accounting, CFO and tax services to mental health private practice owners throughout the United States. When Julie founded GreenOak Accounting she started working with a few therapists. Over time, more and more therapist referrals came in and she started noticing trends across the practices that were thriving. Based on those trends she developed success ratios as a way to quickly determine the health of a practice. Today, GreenOak Accounting's focus on mental health private practice is intentional and geared towards helping business owners understand the story that their numbers are telling. Julie understands what's involved in managing and growing your practice and is uniquely positioned to be a trusted advisor to clients. How to Budget for a Crisis What does it look like if you don't have a big buffer, can you make it through? Make decisions based on data and not from fear. So it's always a great idea to know where you stand, right? Run the numbers and see how much is coming in. Also, know what it takes for you to keep your doors open. What's the minimum number of dollars that you need to bring in to pay for the rent and to pay for the minimal software expenses that you have? How much does it cost for your payroll and how many clients do you need to cover that? You'll find it's not as much as you think it is. So you may not be paying yourself as much as usual, and there may not be a lot left over. Figure out where you are. You want to make sure that you have enough money in your personal life to pay for your food, shelter, and necessary expenses. Paying Your Expenses Call your mortgage company, call your landlord, call your credit card company and ask them what they can do to help. There are a lot of different programs and it really depends on the company and the state. Some utility companies are not disconnecting anyone for lack of payment. Many companies are suspending all the payment fees. So if you reach out, you might be able to get a break. Always be proactive versus reactive. You can also reach out to your credit card company. Ask if they will waive your payment and not apply any fees. You can also reach out to your bank and say that you are going through a time of financial distress. A lot of banks are being very amicable because they know what a difficult time it is for someone. Start with the big companies that are going to be understanding. Cutting Subscriptions Look at how you can really streamline things. A lot of times we have subscriptions we pay for, that we don't need. Suspend the subscription for the months that we are in financial distress. Most people are going to be open to that; they realize money is tight for people. For instance, if you have been thinking about cutting cable, now would be a good time to suspend those payments. Now is the time, especially if we're having more downtime, is to look at your numbers and understand what it takes to stay open and what it takes to pay your people. It's a good time also to pull out your credit card bill and go down the list. What are the things that you're using, and what are you not using? It's an excellent opportunity to do that. If you are thinking about cutting your VA, be really careful. Your VA is a really small business, they're struggling too. If you really can't afford it, then you have to. But if there's a way for you to reduce maybe even your hours versus cutting them altogether, it's an excellent way to keep things moving along. Using Your Time Productively If you have a client that cancels on you, then there is an excellent opportunity to use that hour very productively. You can build on your email list, start making videos for Instagram, and reach out to clients who you haven't seen in a while. Lots of people are switching to telemental health space. If you haven't already done so, now is the time. Most insurance companies have dropped their restrictions on having online sessions. Check with your state and your insurance company to make sure they are embracing this change. Paying Your Team Profit first and Money Matters in Private Practice are both essential resources for running your practice. In the middle of a crisis, it's not time to implement profi

Gordon and a panel of private practice leaders and consultants discuss what we can do to navigate the uncertainties of the current COVID-19 crisis as private practice owners and clinicians. They discuss switching to online therapy and counseling. They also talk about the economic impact of people canceling sessions and the unknowns this places on practices. Plus, we learn creative ways to serve our clients like doing mini sessions, teaching meditation, and relationship-building. Also, start thinking about ways you can diversify your income and how to plan for future emergencies. Meet Alison Pidgeon Alison Pidgeon, MA, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Move Forward Counseling in Lancaster, PA. Her private practice, which focuses on women's issues, currently consists of six other therapists and two assistants. Alison has recently purchased an office building to house her private practice and will be expanding to a total of 12 therapists in the fall of 2018. In addition, for the past two years, Alison has been working as a business consultant along with Joe Sanok, from Practice of the Practice, for other private practice owners. She loves being an entrepreneur and helping others achieve their dream of being their own boss. Alison's specialty as a consultant is how to have an insurance-based practice, helping those who are just starting out and how to grow from a solo to a group practice. Meet Amanda Patterson Amanda Patterson is a private practice consultant who helps therapists create business and marketing plans. She's the owner of a group practice, Caring Therapists of Broward in South Florida. She's the founder of My Private Practice Tribe, an online community for therapists in private practice. Find out more about Amanda here: www.amandapattersonlmhc.com Meet David Hall Dr. Stephen "David" Hall heads up content and creative direction as the "Chief Maven" of PsychMaven. He began his work as a psychotherapist in 2005, and he currently holds clinical licenses in Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. He has built up multiple counseling practices in his years as a clinician, first in Georgia and then in his home state of Tennessee. In 2015, he led the start-up of an independent psychiatry clinic, Haven Family Psychiatry, in Knoxville, TN. Dr. Hall maintains a psychotherapy caseload and supervises postgraduate therapists in the practice he leads in the clinic, Haven Counseling Center at Haven Family Psychiatry. Meet Jane Carter Jane Carter, LPC is a counselor and business coach from Asheville, NC. Jane has spent the last several years in private practice as a counselor and has recently begun focusing more on business coaching, not only for therapists but other businesses as well. Her website is: JaneCarterCoaching.com Jane says, "As a therapist, business coach, and life coach, I love helping people navigate the path to achieving their goals for a meaningful life. I apply these principles in my own life in the mountains of Asheville, NC, where I'm an outdoorswoman, world-traveler, dog-mama, food-and-wine lover, reader, and coffee-shop connoisseur. Meet Jessica Tappana Jessica Tappana started her private practice on her maternity leave about 20 months ago. After filling up in only a matter of months, she decided to bring on other therapists as 1099s and transitioned Aspire Counseling into a group practice. Worried about how she would fill the caseloads of these new therapists, Jessica tried several different marketing strategies. Ultimately, she decided to focus on getting her website to the first page of Google and began teaching herself SEO at nights after her kids were in bed. Slowly after gathering a couple of tips here and there, she got her website to the first page for nearly every keyword she targets. Aspire Counseling has grown to now include five therapists and a virtual assistant! In fact, all of the therapists are nearly full, and Jessica hopes to find a few more quality team members in the months to come. Meet Joe Sanok Joe Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC is the person behind the #1podcast for therapists, The Practice of the Practice. Joe has helped hundreds of private practice owners in growing and scaling their private practices. Joe has also been a mentor and coach for Gordon in his journey and inspired him to start The Practice of Therapy. Joe says, "In 2012 I launched Practice of the Practice to blog about what I was learning about business, marketing, and private practice. Since then, my income has gone up over 2,000%. In the beginning, I was making around $1000 per month. In 2015, I grossed over $200k! In fact, every month I post exactly what I made and how I made it. It's important to me, because we don't usually talk about money and how to make it in an ethical way. I want to increase your influence and your income!" Meet John Clarke John Clarke is a licensed psychotherapist and a private practice expert at PrivatePracticeWorkshop. After learning a lot of things the

LaTonya Shelton joins the show to discuss the highs and lows of her first year in private practice. It's possible to do things your own way. LaTonya speaks about her self-care techniques and what has helped her get through the lows of running your own business. Plus, LaTonya explains the ways to ease the pain points of private practice and how mastermind groups can play a crucial role. Meet LaTonya Shelton LaTonya N. Shelton, LCSW, RYT, the owner of Red Jasper Counseling, PLLC, located in Nashville, TN. Her practice specializes in providing treatment for trauma, anxiety, and depression. She is a licensed clinical social worker and yoga instructor who integrates somatic (body-centered) psychotherapy practices and mindfulness in her work with clients. LaTonya embodies a deep passion for helping individuals learn, heal and grow. She believes that by helping others understand and navigate difficult emotions, clients can experience relief, improved health, and regain control of their lives. Doing Things Your Own Way LaTonya is a self-starter. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and inundated with all of the information that's out there. There are a lot of opportunities for mastermind groups and business coaching. With all the information, it's so easy to get overwhelmed. You need to start somewhere. Plus, you're not going to get it right and perfect in the beginning. However, that's the beauty of starting and moving forward on a journey. Make it your own! Self-Care For Private Practice Owners Self-care is such a buzzword these days. Some of the self-care that LaTonya engages in is very simple. She enjoys a cup of coffee most mornings with her dog walking in the park, and that works well for LaTonya. Do the things that get you out in nature. Reading, talking, and being around people that support you will also be essential. These things have been the crux of LaTonya's self-care. Take the Leap of Faith Throw your limiting beliefs out the window. Show up and do the work that you want to do. LaTonya is a dreamer, but also a planner. Being organized, balanced, and flexible will assist in your private practice journey. Are you wondering if you should take the leap into private practice? It's going to be scary, and there's going to be peaks and valleys, but start, and you'll find your way. You'll meet great people like Gordon. Plus, LaTonya met people in a mastermind and focus groups. Pain Points in Private Practice The most significant pain point for LaTonya is not knowing. A lot is riding on your business, so it can be scary, not knowing how it's going to turn out. The journey is unpredictable, and that cannot be very easy. Also, learning how to market has been a journey for LaTonya. We all want to scale and grow our practices. So that's been a pain point, not knowing and then deciding what marketing avenues to go down. Imposture syndrome is also a pain point. Sometimes you'll ask yourself if you really know what you're doing or if you know what you're talking about. Take a step back and breathe deeply. You can ease some of the anxiety of jumping into private practice by keeping your full-time job until you have enough finances saved up to feel comfortable. Mastermind Groups It's great to know other people are going through the same struggles. Plus, you'll see how well other private practice owners are doing, and yet they still have questions and need help. There is always room to grow. It's inspiring to see other people who are willing to learn continuously. Once you hit a peak, there is still an opportunity to find another peak. Having the support and the opportunity to problem solve is invaluable. Being transparent… Some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you use the link to make a purchase, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! LaTonya's Resources LaTonya's Website Email: [email protected] Phone: (615) 606-2964 Facebook Instagram Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Contractors vs. Employees? How To Hire and Add People To Your Practice Apply for the Focus Group The Faith in Practice Podcast G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

Alyssa Adams opens the show talking about adding coaching to her private practice. Therapists have a rich skillset, and we can utilize our knowledge in various ways. Alyssa dives deep into how she navigates the stigma of becoming a coach and what the difference between coaching and therapy are. Plus, Gordon and Alyssa talk about the reasons why you would even want to diversify your private practice. Meet Alyssa Adams Dr. Alyssa Adams is a clinical psychologist and certified coach who helps therapists and coaches to grow their practices and make even more money working for themselves so they can focus on serving clients they love. She specializes in helping therapists navigate the field of coaching by leveraging their incredible skills and ethically adding this service to their practice. She has been featured in media outlets, such as Brit + Co, Popsugar, Bustle, and has authored numerous scientific publications. She created a successful coaching practice and subsequently left her leadership position with the federal government, and she is passionate about supporting other therapists and coaches to find autonomy and financial freedom working for themselves. Adding Coaching to Your Private Practice Why coaching? As therapists, we have a rich skillset around creating transformation in people. We can support people differently than in a therapeutic relationship. Alyssa went back and got more training to learn how to coach. There are ways to help and support people as a coach vs. as a therapist. You can use your skillset differently. Therapists may feel a stigma when they become a coach. Navigating the Stigma of Becoming a Coach Coaching is a less regulated field. People can be a coach who may not have a lot of training or background. There are room and space for coaches to be well trained. Learn the areas of overlap between coaching and therapy. Always be open and curious about what you can bring to your coaching practice. However, always remember to keep the integrity of your therapy practice. How is Coaching Different From Therapy? Alyssa will have her diagnosis hat on when working as a therapist; she will be thinking of mental health concerns. Coaches will not be thinking of a diagnosis or mental health. A coach will be thinking about moving toward a specific goal. The topics on the lists are usually different from therapy to coaching. Alyssa's niche areas are pretty different, so it feels clean and clear in her head. The way she communicates will be changed, and her clients will be different. Coaching is helping people work on a specific problem, whereas therapy is assisting clients in working on a particular condition. Diversify Your Private Practice How do we think about building a business? Diversify your business to help increase your profit. Step into the entrepreneurial mindset and look at what will help you have more freedom and financial stability. Give yourself permission to think about private practice as a business. For the most part, people who can give themselves this permission, they will find their work more fulfilling and more rewarding. Being transparent… Some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you use the link to make a purchase, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Alyssa's Resources Alyssa's Website Facebook Instagram Email: [email protected] Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Contractors vs. Employees? How To Hire and Add People To Your Practice Apply for the Focus Group G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Cool Resources Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, YouTube sensation Kati Morton joins the show. Kati talks about thinking outside the box when it comes to creating content and diversifying your income in private practice. YouTube can be a lucrative side hustle for your private practice – Kati tells us the common ways to monetize your videos. Plus, Kati speaks about how she navigates imposture syndrome and some helpful tools to stay organized. Meet Kati Morton, LMFT Kati Morton, LMFT holds a Master's in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and is a licensed marriage and family therapist. In addition, she is a certified dialectical and behavior therapist and grief counselor and a member of The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. She runs a private practice in Santa Monica, CA. Over the past seven years, Kati has leveraged social media to share mental health information worldwide through video. Her specialties include working with individuals experiencing eating disorders and self-harming behaviors, although she addresses all things related to mental health. Kati is well known for her YouTube channel which now has over 820 thousand subscribers and over 50 million views. In addition to her YouTube channel and strong presence on social media, she has appeared on the CBS The Doctors, HLN/CNN "Dr. Drew On Call," E! News, KTLA, Fox News. She also has been featured in CNN, VICE, Glamour UK, Huffington Post, Yahoo, VOX, and many more. Kati released her first book, Are u ok?: A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health in December 2018. Kati's passion is to increase awareness about mental health. Her online community has expanded to all major internet platforms, allowing her to answer mental health questions from her followers around the world. She hopes by doing this, the global community can push for better services worldwide and remove the stigma associated with getting help. Thinking Outside the Box Kati's husband pushed her to take the leap into social media. Kati's colleagues have been supportive; however, they don't always understand it. Eight years ago, her peers didn't realize how confidentiality would work over social media. Other clinicians give her pushback on the way she thinks about things. The most significant pushback Kati got was when she said therapy should be working toward a goal. Kati says we should be learning new tools that we can utilize in life. We shouldn't be using our therapist as a crutch. Overcoming Imposture Syndrome Kati feels imposture syndrome to do this day. In the beginning, people would tell her she was an expert, and she was creative. Kati never thought of herself as either of those things. At a conference, Kati learned that everyone creates, which makes us creative. It has been something that she is trying to believe more. Kati is an expert at certain things; it's okay to accept it! In society, we look down on people who are too confident because they come off as egotistical. Kati never claims to be an expert on everything. She does her research and talks to experts to give her viewers the best information she can. Making Money on YouTube The easiest way to make money online is through YouTube AdSense. YouTube deems mental health content as sensitive – so they are not all monetizable. Only about half of Kati's videos are monetizable. People can make thousands of dollars a month from AdSense. Kati doesn't get viral hits on her channel, so it's not a sustainable source of income for her. Another way to monetize your videos is by making brand deals. Kati doesn't get a lot of brand deals because she is careful of who to introduce to her audience. She has had online therapy programs as a brand deal and Bumble BFF. Kati also does speaking engagements at schools and wrote a book to help diversify her income. Plus, Kati has a Patreon account. These are a few ways that she supports herself. Ethical Dilemmas as a Public Figure A therapeutic relationship should be something that is developed over time in therapy. You should feel a click with your therapist. If people come into therapy and feel like they already know their therapist, it changes the dynamic of the relationship. Therapists can't fix anything for people. You can work together with your therapist, but you'll have to integrate the tools into your life. Staying Organized and Maximizing Your Time Kati started scheduling self-care in her calendar – it cannot be rescheduled. Kati isn't afraid to outsource the things she can't do. Kati has a team of people behind the scenes which lets her do creative work in her free time. Initially, she was nervous to bring people on to her team. However, scheduling doesn't need to be done by herself. If you don't have time to clean your house, you should have someone come and clean it for you. Kati's Resources For more information about Kati, please click here. Are U OK? A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health YouTube Facebook Instagram Twitter Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Contractors

In this episode, Jonathan Van Viegen joins the show to talk about the time and effort it took to start his online coaching and therapy business. Jonathan gives tips on what you'll need to do to start your own online business – most importantly, know your message! Plus, Jonathan reveals his "do's" of online therapy and some common ways to get momentum online. Meet Jonathan Van Viegen Husband, Father of 2, Marriage and Family Therapist, Entrepreneur, and Coach, Jonathan Van Viegen, MA, MFT, CCC is the Founder and CEO of the Online Therapist Academy. Jonathan helps therapists all over the world attract new clients and build thriving online practices so they can do more of what they love to do while serving their clients with passion, integrity, and authenticity. Jonathan built a successful therapy practice in Canada before selling it all to travel full-time with my family. After transforming my struggling online practice into a 6-figure business, I decided to help other therapists do the same. His therapy website is: https://jonathanvanviegen.com/ Getting Online Clients Jonathan would blog regularly and make YouTube videos to get his name out in the open. It took a long time for him to figure out what was going to work. It started to take off and get traction when he was on Instagram. It's about adding value to people's lives and following up with them. Build relationships with your audience and send direct messages. The process is about authenticity and genuine relationships. Create a Message Create a message about what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for. Generalities die, and specificity thrives. Find your passion! What do you love to do, and what type of client do you like to help the most? Craft a message surrounding your nano-niche. You only need a couple of hundred clients per year. There's enough market demand out there that you can be really specific. You'll want to be known as a trusted advisor in your niche. The Do's of Online Therapy DO your research. Make sure you have the proper licenses to practice. DO have a goal in mind. You can be both a coach and a therapist if that's your plan! DO protect your license. Make sure you operate under the necessary authority. DO take action. Put one foot in front of the other. You can pay for mentorship – it will be a journey. DO be consistent. Regardless of how you build your practice, get your momentum. "Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill Getting Momentum Online It took about twelve months for Jonathan to get momentum. Jonathan learned everything himself using webinars and training. Today, Jonathan has three sales calls. People show up to book calls with Jonathan; he doesn't have to go out and find people. It took a lot of work and effort. If it were too easy, then everyone would do it. Coaching vs. Therapy With therapy, your client will come to you with the content. With coaching, we go to our clients with the content. We are teaching them skills that will help with their daily lives. We aren't supposed to label our clients – why are we labeling how we assist them? Psychotherapy isn't the be-all and end-all intervention for our clients. We can offer people coaching or therapy – you do not need to mix the two. There is no reason that we can't provide both. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Jonathan's Resources Jonathan's Website Jonathan's Facebook Schedule Your Strategy Session with Jonathan Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Contractors vs. Employees? How To Hire and Add People To Your Practice Apply for the Focus Group G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

Nicole Liloia joins the show and talks about building bigger practices the right way. The first step in attracting more clients is overcoming our limiting mindsets. The next step is building three key relationships – community, referrals, and transactional. Stay tuned to hear how to why these relationships are so important and how to create them. Meet Nicole Liloia Nicole Liloia is a business strategist who helps women entrepreneurs build bigger businesses and create consistent income growth. She loves helping them create multiple income streams that allow them the freedom to work less while still making more money. Nicole's first business was a counseling private practice but she quickly added in multiple income streams so that she could travel more while still running her business. She got her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and has contributed to Forbes, Huffington Post, Mind Body Green, and more. Nicole always says yes to tacos and loves Apothic wine. You can find her online at www.nicoleliloia.com and download her free tool, the Consistent Income Generator so that you can create a personalized plan to have consistent income growth in your own business at nicoleliloia.com/consistentincome. Freedom and Flexibility Nicole's business is online, when she goes on vacation, she can bring her work with her and stay extra long. Working online also allows for more time with kids or more time to dedicate to your hobbies. Look at what motivates you outside of work and think about how you can get more time doing what you love. Think about the lifestyle that you want for yourself and create or alter your practice so it will best fulfill your needs. Mindset Blocks Nicole always felt like there wasn't enough out there for her. There were still other people who had what she wanted. Therefore, Nicole wouldn't be able to do it herself. Nicole also thought that if she went on vacation, then her business would fail while she was gone. We are all subject to imposture syndrome – assuming we are not qualified enough for our dreams. The key to building a more prominent practice is building healthy relationships. However, if you have a scarcity mindset, then you will be unable to create healthy relationships. Be open to putting yourself out there and be open to the possibilities that come with being seen and building mutual relationships. In the mental health space, there is always room for more people. Just because someone has a successful practice, doesn't mean you can't do it as well – it just means there is a path for you to be successful too. Building Successful Relationships There are three key relationships you need to build to have a successful private practice. Community. Your ideal clients and the people that you want to work with. Make sure you are building a large community – you want to nurture a broad audience so when your clients leave you to have more people to pull from. Show up, create content, and get in front of an audience. Be active on Facebook, write blog content, and utilize mailing lists. Referral Relationships. Build a relationship 1:1 with someone who has a similar audience that you do. You can share each other's content and even refer to each other when necessary. Reach out to someone and ask about their needs – how can you help their audience? Develop long-term relationships that will benefit your business. Think about how you would want someone to approach you for that relationship. Transactional Relationships. A transactional relationship is someone that shares a complementary audience with you. Nicole pitched herself to The Practice of Therapy Podcast. She wanted to know if there was anything she can do for the podcast. Nicole wasn't asking for clients; she wanted to know how she could be helpful to Gordon's audience. This relationship is a community builder. To be successful in any business, you need to be known, liked, and trusted. Be genuine with what you do. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Nicole's Resources Nicole's Website Consistent Income Growth Nicole's Facebook Nicole's Instagram Nicole's Twitter Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Money Matters in Private Practice Apply for the Focus Group G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, Ryan and Emily Russ join the show. They speak about their niche working with sexual addiction patients and uncovering underlying traumas. Plus, Ryan talks about how lucrative intensives have been for his practice. Later, Ryan and Emily explain the importance of doing your own work as a therapist – invest your time in education, therapy, and informative readings. Meet Emily and Ryan Russ Our family lives in Little Rock, AR. We have 3 young children and 1 Goldendoodle puppy. When Ryan was finishing up grad school at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS 15 years ago, we knew one day we wanted to work together in private practice. After being on staff at Capstone Treatment Center, where Ryan received extensive training and certifications in Trauma, Sexual Addiction, Multiple Addiction, EMDR, Mindfulness, and Brainspotting, in 2019 we nervously took the plunge into opening our own group practice clinic. Ryan's main specialties are Sex Addiction, Trauma, Custom Intensives, and Custom Personal Growth Intensives for other therapists wanting to do their own therapy work. Emily's specialties include administration, client hospitality, and juggling all the clinic details while raising 3 children and potty training a puppy. Getting to work together as a married couple has its challenges, but it mostly has been so rewarding! Seeing how God has created our skill sets so oppositely and yet so complementary has been a really neat gift this past year. Client care and the "Art of Therapy" is at the core of our family-owned and operated clinic. Sexual Addiction Niche In 2012, Ryan stumbled upon the work of Patrick Carnes. Ryan loved how men could encounter each other and work through their issues. This inspired Ryan to do sexual addiction work with people who were out of control sexually in their lives. Trauma, attachment, and family systems are also underneath sex addiction; Ryan likes to help his clients uncover these issues. Intensives Half of Ryan's revenue comes from doing intensives. You can do so much more with uninterrupted time. Ryan does one, two, or three-day intensives with eight hours of therapy each day. The intensive will be customized to the issue at hand. Ryan utilizes brain spotting, trauma egg, and yoga. Plus, Ryan is a certified yoga therapist – they are also looking to start goat yoga. The Value of Doing Your Own Work Both Ryan and Emily have gone to therapy independently and as a couple. If it weren't for that, they wouldn't be as secure as a team. They want their clinicians who work for them to also have done their own work. It's hard to take a patient farther in the therapy process than you have gone yourself. Sometimes, Emily and Ryan disagree on business ideas. You have to learn how to work through the bumps in the road. Work-Life Balance When there is scarcity, there is a shame-based hustle. Be intentional. Ryan and Emily have the mindset to go slow and steady. Plus, they have learned not to say yes to everything. When Ryan and Emily are home for work, it's tempting to talk more about the business. However, they realized they needed to have more family time. They even hired a housekeeper to lessen the burden and increase their quality time together. Recommended Resources Ryan heard about G Suite on the Practice of Therapy. They recommend the G Suite E-Course because it helped them learn how to maximize their productivity using the G Suite tools. Emily says that the Practice of the Practice has also been beneficial because it is essential to have a community in private practice. Also, continual education will carry various dividends. Emily recommends doing your own work as a clinician so you can be a better clinician and serve your clients. They have a budget for each member of their staff to do their own work. Ryan even does intensives for other therapists. You can't sell therapy if you don't believe in doing it yourself. Investing Your Time Other people tend to value you more than you value yourself. If you are trapped in specific ways of thinking, then you are not going to be doing more in-depth and quality work. It's essential to have an intentional effort to do quality work. Utilize the tools around you to level up. It's a no-brainer for Ryan. Behind every risk, Ryan felt support. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Emily and Ryan's Resource The Finding Place Counseling [email protected] Instagram: @TheFindingPlaceCounseling Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Money Matters in Private Practice Take the 2-Minute Mastermind Survey Gordon's Mastermind Group Profitable Mental Health CE Starter-Kit (Use Code GORDON2020) G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practic

In this episode, Daniel Fava talks about five things you can do with your website to attract more clients to your private practice. You can take bits and pieces from each tip and dive deep into your site content. Daniel says the first thing you will want to do is to be specific with your goals. Have you been able to identify your ideal client? Stay tuned to hear Daniel dive deep into each of his five tips. Meet Daniel Fava Daniel Fava is a father, husband, podcaster, website consultant and founder of Create My Therapist Website and Private Practice Elevation. He helps therapists create websites and attract more clients online. After building a website for his wife's private practice and seeing the impact it had on her business, he became passionate about helping others achieve the same. Daniel offers web design services, SEO services, consultations, and online training to help therapists grow their business through online marketing. You can get free access to his library of PDFs, cheatsheets, and ebooks by clicking here. 1. Be Specific With Your Goals Everybody has goals for their practice, but how does it pertain to your ideal client? If you want to attract ten new clients, what would those clients look like? Find out who the people are that you enjoy working with. After identifying your ideal client, you can look at your website through the eyes of your client. Are the images, words, and content speaking to that type of client? Once you do this, you can finally get specific with your content. 2. Ask Your Website Visitors to Take an Action You need a call to action on your website. Therapists are great at filling their websites with a lot of information. However, they may never tell their visitors actually to do anything. Daniel says you need to ask your visitors for their information. Daniel likes a specific and engaging call to action on each page. What is the next step that someone can take in order to work with you? For instance, you can have a free fifteen-minute phone consultation. On every page, there should be something that explains that step. Conversion rates are usually low on popups, be patient with your rates. 3. Make Sure Your Website is on Google Is your website indexed on Google? Put quality stuff on your website; Google will pick up on it. Think about your audience and who you are trying to attract to your site. Daniel says to think about the keywords that you want to rank for. Check out the first few websites that are listed on Google for those keywords and find out what kind of content they are putting out. 4. Get Your Content Shared When you create a blog post, you want to make it high-quality and give people a reason to share your content and come back to your website. Think about your ideal clients and the challenges they face. What are some ways you can help them out and create a win for their life? Blogging is also an essential way to get your ranking up. 5. Measure What You're Doing It's hard to grow something that you're not measuring. What does your Google Analytics say? If you're not tracking how many people are going to your website, how will you know what the problem is? Google Analytics is free to set up with your website. Even if you're not planning on looking at it, have it going, so it's collecting that information. Eventually, it will come in handy. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Daniel's Resources Create My Therapist Website Private Practice Elevation Get the Free PDF E-Book, 5 Ways To Improve Your Website. Daniel Fava on Effective Private Practice Website Design Resources TherapyNotes.com Take the 2-Minute Mastermind Survey Gordon's Mastermind Group Profitable Mental Health CE Starter-Kit (Use Code GORDON2020) Money Matters in Private Practice Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, David Hall joins the show to talk about continuing education events. At first, David had significant "impostor syndrome". However, he has come to realize that you do not need to be an expert to lead a training; you simply need to be an enthusiast of your topic. David explains some essential steps you need to take while planning your CE training, plus he describes some different ways you can profit from the event. Later, Gordon and David talk about the pros and cons of online courses. Meet David Hall Dr. Stephen "David" Hall heads up content and creative direction as the "Chief Maven" of PsychMaven. He began his work as a psychotherapist in 2005, and he currently holds clinical licenses in Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. He has built up multiple counseling practices in his years as a clinician, first in Georgia and then in his home state of Tennessee. In 2015, he led the start-up of an independent psychiatry clinic, Haven Family Psychiatry, in Knoxville, TN. Dr. Hall maintains a psychotherapy caseload and supervises postgraduate therapists in the practice he leads in the clinic, Haven Counseling Center at Haven Family Psychiatry. Impostor Syndrome David says he would have started doing continuing education events earlier in his career. In David's mind, he needed enough credentials to do CE. David thought he needed to be an expert to lead a training. However, David now knows that you do not need to be an expert to train other people. The first paid CE event David put on was about ethics. He isn't an ethics expert, but he knew it would be a high-demand topic, so he was going to figure it out. David doesn't like to present himself as an expert; he wants to present himself as an enthusiast. Starting a CE Event There are a lot of different steps to holding a CE event. Figure out what the CE requirements are for your state. Some states are easier than others to get approval. David's first event involved getting his event approved for a pretty broad audience. The next step is figuring out where you are going to hold your event. Keep your costs as minimal as possible – it's effortless to overspend when putting events together. Remember that it does not have to be a significant event. You can do a ten-person event and still make money. David does a lot of direct mailings; there is a lot of expense in this. The reason David picked ethics because he knew it would have a big draw. What do people want to learn about? In the CE State Guide, there is a list of required topics. Making Money from CE Events There are lots of ways you can make money from CE events. The most obvious way is to charge for the event. The best place to start is by looking at the mailings you get. You will price the event based on how many CE hours it includes. Between $15 and $20 an hour is a good starting point. Plus, you can also lower the price for an early-bird special, then charge more once the event gets closer. Sponsorship is another way to make money from CE events. Affiliate marketing is another way to make money. You can recommend a subscription service or another course and become an affiliate with them. The rate can be up to 30%, and the revenue can even be reoccurring. If you do a CE event at cost, because of that, you deepen your reputation and get an extra five clients. Presentation Space When David travels, he likes to do talks in hotels. However, the cost can be high with hotel space and catering. In a church space, David can do way cheaper catering. Managing your expenses is the biggest thing you will have to worry about when holding a CE event. David thought he needed to "go big or go home." Nobody told him that he could "go big and go home." Start lean by keeping your expenses low, and you can always add to your events later on when you know what your audience responds to. Online Courses There's a lot of benefits to in-person events; the audience will have a significant commitment. Online, people are signing up and not attending. If you want CE events to be a steady source of income for you, then you should be doing both online and in-person events. The best way to build up your email list is by doing online events. If someone knows you, it's easier for them to buy your online product. However, if there is no relationship there, people will start to question if the product is legitimate. Plus, many states have limitations on how many online credits you can do. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! David's Resources CE Requirements Free PDF The Narrative Institute Psychotherapist Start-Up Kit PsychMaven PsychMaven on Facebook PsychMaven on Instagram PsychMaven on LinkedIn Haven Family Psychiatry Resources TherapyNotes.com Brighter Vision Gordon's Mastermind Group How To Be Financially Successful For 2020 Business Models for Private Counseling Pr

In this episode, Aaron Potratz and Nathan Hawkins join the podcast to discuss starting a partnership in private practice. They reveal some vital things you will need to know before committing to a partnership; you especially need to know the identity of your practice and where you see your business going. Later, the two explain why there is no competition between them and the importance of trust in a partnership. Meet Nathan Hawkins Nathan Hawkins is a Licensed Professional Counselor and has been working in the field for almost 17 years. He is a certified trauma professional and performs EMDR and also utilizes Hypnosis at times as well. He is an approved clinical supervisor in the state of Oregon. He is the owner of Life Encounter Counseling which he established in 2004. While maintaining his own client load he supervises the clinical and administrative work of 4 employees and a clinical intern program. The success of Life Encounter Counseling birthed a passion to multiply the work of counseling in different ways. One of those directions leads to him co-founding another private group counseling practice, Life Discovery Counseling Services with Aaron Potratz in 2016. Life Discovery Counseling Services has grown from 1 location to 2 successful locations that serve opposite sides of the Portland Metro. He supervises and manages the counselors and staff in both of those locations with Aaron. Nathan loves to teach and also intermittently fills in at Multnomah University as an Adjunct Clinical Supervision Professor. Meet Aaron Potratz Aaron is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon, the owner of Discover Counseling, and co-owner of Life Discovery Counseling Services – two private group counseling practices. Aaron maintains his own client caseload while also managing and supervising his counseling staff. He started out as a solo practitioner in 2007, expanded to a group practice in 2015, and started his second practice with his business partner, Nathan Hawkins, in 2016. Between the two businesses, he has 10 clinicians and one support staff. Aaron also does consulting for small businesses, helping them become more efficient and productive. He especially enjoys helping other therapist business owners grow their practices and focus in on the areas they are most passionate about. Building Trust Nathan and Aaron get along really well. There went through a honeymoon phase; however, there wasn't much depth at first. As time went on, they had to lean on each other and give each other additional information. Plus, they were vulnerable when speaking about their businesses and gave honest feedback about the direction of their companies. They play up each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses. Integrating Practices When Nathan and Aaron first started with the shared space, they had a lot to think about, like rent, square footage, and office space. It is easy to make assumptions when you find a partner – even small things need to be discussed. Nathan and Aaron have separate businesses. However, the way they treat their employees is identical. These people are in the same space, so they need to be treated equally. When you are dreaming about combining practices, this may not be something you think about upfront. Competition You know what you're good at, and you stick with those things. Aaron and Nathan have niched down and found what they do well. They both know what clients they work best with. If a client doesn't fit one practice, then they will refer them to the other practice. Getting competitive with other therapists doesn't make sense; there are more than enough clients out there for everyone. We will be doing a disservice if we are not giving our clients the right therapist. Tips for Starting a Partnership Both Aaron and Nathan have their own identities for their businesses. One reason they got together is because of how isolating private practice can be. However, it would be best if you spent some time understanding what you like to do on your own. Do not be in a big hurry to get together with another practice. You have to know who you are on your own before starting a partnership. Plus, Aaron and Nathan say how essential, to be honest, and open with your partner. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Resources for Nathan & Aaron Life Discovery Counseling Life Encounter Counseling Life Encounter Counseling on Facebook Life Encounter Counseling on Instagram Call Nathan: (503) 446-2135 Email Nathan: [email protected] Discover Counseling Discover Counseling on Facebook Discover Counseling on Instagram Call Aaron: (971) 222-8166 Email Aaron: [email protected] Resources TherapyNotes.com BrighterVision.com How To Be Financially Successful For 2020 Business Models for Private Counseling Practices Money Matters in Private Practice

In this episode, Gordon reveals nine unique ways to diversify income in private practice typically, we trade our time and expertise for money. We have a session, and our clients pay us for that. Trading time for money can be limiting. There are lots of other ways we can generate income for our practice. Gordon identified nine different ways to diversify revenue. The list goes in order from most practice related to less practice related. Nine Ways to Diversify Income in Private Practice 1. Group Sessions Most groups are between four to six people. You can have a group around a particular topic or niche. This way, you are maximizing the amount of money you get for the time spent. 2. Start a Group Practice Partner with other therapists and create a small group. Gordon collects a small portion of their rates to pay for overhead. However, a small piece of that is also the profit margin. This additional income allows Gordon to see fewer clients himself and gives his other therapists more clients. You can bring on therapists for your group practice as independent contractors or employees. 3. Affiliate Marketing Find products and services that other people are producing. When you offer that product or service, then you will get a commission from that. A lot of the links Gordon uses are affiliate links. If a person clicks through the link, then Gordon will get a commission. A big affiliate is Amazon. Gordon says to sign up for an Amazon Associate account. Through the account, you can offer anything from Amazon, link it on your website, and then you will receive a commission. For instance, Gordon recommends The Full Focus Planner. Whenever you click on his site, Gordon will earn money from Amazon. Here are some other resources Gordon recommends: AWeber: Email Marketing Teachable Brighter Vision Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income 4. Selling Online Products Gordon offers a Paperwork Packet as one of his online products. A lot of therapists create handouts and worksheets for clients. You can generate income from providing these resources online. Check out Practikat; they help therapists sell resources through their platform. Another platform is Gumroad – you can sell digital products on this site. With Gumroad, they take a percentage of what you sell. However, it can still be a lucrative way to create income. 5. Online Courses Gordon uses Teachable for his online courses. There is a lot of stuff that you as a therapist and a private practice owner are knowledgeable about. It doesn't necessarily have to be courses for other therapists. It can be courses that you offer to your clients. If you do a lot of anger management counseling, think about putting it into a course format and provide it to your clients. 6. Writing a Book Gordon offers a Private Practice Start-Up Guide. When people sign up to get it, they use their email address. Then, Gordon will use the email address to market. An eBook will get your name out there and establish you as an expert. EBooks can be used as a lead magnet, or you can sell the eBook online. Make sure the eBook is quality. Do not do it just to make people spend money. 7. Public or Live Events By offering continuing education events, you can create more income. Dr. David Hall of PsychMaven has a whole course on how to create one of these events: A How-To Guide to Build Your Own Continuing Education Events for Income. Several organizations also offer continuing education credits online and as live events. 8. Starting a Podcast or YouTube Channel Gordon's podcast has grown, now advertisers are interested in sponsoring the podcast. For example, TherapyNotes pays to be a sponsor of the podcast. Gordon does not take any old advertiser. He only uses people that he trusts and businesses that offer a relevant service for his audience. People on YouTube will also create income via advertising. 9. Consulting and Coaching If you have been in practice for a while, and have business-related skills, think about consulting others. Generally, you can charge more for consulting than you can counseling because it comes with a level of expertise. Gordon charges two or three times higher for consulting than he does for counseling. Plus, counseling is more of a long-term commitment, whereas coaching may be more of a short-term commitment. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! TherapyNotes.com AWeber: Email Marketing Teachable Brighter Vision Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income Gumroad Practikat PsychMaven A How-To Guide to Build Your Own Continuing Education Events for Income Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor,

In this episode, Gordon reveals nine unique ways to diversify income in private practice typically, we trade our time and expertise for money. We have a session, and our clients pay us for that. Trading time for money can be limiting. There are lots of other ways we can generate income for our practice. Gordon identified nine different ways to diversify revenue. The list goes in order from most practice related to less practice related. Nine Ways to Diversify Income in Private Practice 1. Group Sessions Most groups are between four to six people. You can have a group around a particular topic or niche. This way, you are maximizing the amount of money you get for the time spent. 2. Start a Group Practice Partner with other therapists and create a small group. Gordon collects a small portion of their rates to pay for overhead. However, a small piece of that is also the profit margin. This additional income allows Gordon to see fewer clients himself and gives his other therapists more clients. You can bring on therapists for your group practice as independent contractors or employees. 3. Affiliate Marketing Find products and services that other people are producing. When you offer that product or service, then you will get a commission from that. A lot of the links Gordon uses are affiliate links. If a person clicks through the link, then Gordon will get a commission. A big affiliate is Amazon. Gordon says to sign up for an Amazon Associate account. Through the account, you can offer anything from Amazon, link it on your website, and then you will receive a commission. For instance, Gordon recommends The Full Focus Planner. Whenever you click on his site, Gordon will earn money from Amazon. Here are some other resources Gordon recommends: AWeber: Email Marketing Teachable Brighter Vision Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income 4. Selling Online Products Gordon offers a Paperwork Packet as one of his online products. A lot of therapists create handouts and worksheets for clients. You can generate income from providing these resources online. Check out Practikat; they help therapists sell resources through their platform. Another platform is Gumroad – you can sell digital products on this site. With Gumroad, they take a percentage of what you sell. However, it can still be a lucrative way to create income. 5. Online Courses Gordon uses Teachable for his online courses. There is a lot of stuff that you as a therapist and a private practice owner are knowledgeable about. It doesn't necessarily have to be courses for other therapists. It can be courses that you offer to your clients. If you do a lot of anger management counseling, think about putting it into a course format and provide it to your clients. 6. Writing a Book Gordon offers a Private Practice Start-Up Guide. When people sign up to get it, they use their email address. Then, Gordon will use the email address to market. An eBook will get your name out there and establish you as an expert. EBooks can be used as a lead magnet, or you can sell the eBook online. Make sure the eBook is quality. Do not do it just to make people spend money. 7. Public or Live Events By offering continuing education events, you can create more income. Dr. David Hall of PsychMaven has a whole course on how to create one of these events: A How-To Guide to Build Your Own Continuing Education Events for Income. Several organizations also offer continuing education credits online and as live events. 8. Starting a Podcast or YouTube Channel Gordon's podcast has grown, now advertisers are interested in sponsoring the podcast. For example, TherapyNotes pays to be a sponsor of the podcast. Gordon does not take any old advertiser. He only uses people that he trusts and businesses that offer a relevant service for his audience. People on YouTube will also create income via advertising. 9. Consulting and Coaching If you have been in practice for a while, and have business-related skills, think about consulting others. Generally, you can charge more for consulting than you can counseling because it comes with a level of expertise. Gordon charges two or three times higher for consulting than he does for counseling. Plus, counseling is more of a long-term commitment, whereas coaching may be more of a short-term commitment. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! TherapyNotes.com AWeber: Email Marketing Teachable Brighter Vision Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income Gumroad Practikat PsychMaven A How-To Guide to Build Your Own Continuing Education Events for Income Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor,

Happy New Year! In this episode, Gordon talks about setting goals, specifically SMART goals. Plus, Gordon reveals some useful tips when thinking about your annual goals. For instance, make sure to write down your goals, look at them often, and reassess your goals each quarter. In order to accomplish your goals, ensure you have the most helpful resources and tools to set yourself up for success. Writing Down Goals Currently, Gordon writes down his goals using the Full Focus Planner. You do not necessarily need a planner to write down your annual goals. Gordon started thinking about his goal-setting by writing them down in a blank journal. We have a 40% greater chance of reaching our goals just by writing them down. Think about your goals for the year and write some things out. Gordon says even to write them out using longhand. It causes us to think about things differently. Once you write down your goals, you will need to look back at them throughout the year. SMART Goals SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-specific. The goal must state what is to be achieved. When you are setting a goal, make sure it's not too ambiguous. For instance, if you wanted to lose weight, the goal needs to be a specific number. In private practice, owners wish to achieve the goal of getting more clients. Again, you need a particular number of clients you are hoping to bring in. For instance, you can say you want to get ten new clients each month. When we set goals, they need to be realistic and attainable. A goal is much better if you give yourself a deadline. Think about why you are in private practice. Are your goals going to help produce the lifestyle you want to have for yourself? Get the SMART Goals Worksheet. Accomplishing Goals What tools are you going to need to reach your goals? Gordon uses a planner to help him reach his goals. Other tools could be software, automation, or people. Draw on your resources. Gordon switched from contractors to employees – he was able to make that switch by consulting with people. Get feedback from others about your goals. Telling others about your goals will also help keep you accountable. Keep Yourself On Track Gordon uses a planner and Google G-Suite to keep him organized. He tracks the number of phone calls and conversions in G-Suite. The more data you have, the better you can measure your goals. Also, we have the ability to change our goals if we need to. Look at your annual goals once a quarter and think about what needs to be replaced. Have a way to track your goals and hold yourself accountable. Another way to stay on track is by taking small steps. Think about the individual actions that you need to take to reach your goals. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Resources TherapyNotes.com SMART Goals Worksheet Session Note Helper Be a Podcast Guest Cool Resources Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, Janeen Herskovitz joins the show. Janeen speaks about working with autism spectrum families. No additional education is required for private practice owners who wish to niche down to this specialty. Janeen also talks about the importance of self-care for parents with autistic children and where parents can seek support. Later, Janeen describes the inspiration behind her podcast, Autism Blueprint, and how she utilizes self-disclosure in her practice. Meet Janeen Herskovitz Janeen Herskovitz is a licensed mental health counselor in the state of Florida and owner of Puzzle Peace Counseling, LLC. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Special Education from Rowan University in New Jersey (1995) and her Masters of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from Webster University (2010). She has been married to her husband, Joe, since 1995, and together, they have two young-adult children. Janeen's private practice, Puzzle Peace Counseling, is located in Ponte Vedra, Florida, and helps autism families live more peaceful lives. Her podcast, Autism Blueprint, covers a variety of topics surrounding autism in the home. Working with Autism Spectrum Families You don't need a lot of experience in autism to work with parents who have autistic children. You will need the qualities that you most likely already have like empathy, listening skills, and the understanding that the parent's journey is unique to them. As therapists, we are good at having unconditional positive regard. Clinical things Janeen does are screening for post-traumatic stress disorder because the research shows that PTSD is very prevalent among autism spectrum parents. The diagnosis itself is a traumatic event, and people come into it with their childhood trauma. Self-Care It's so necessary for autism parents to practice self-care. They need to have healthy boundaries in place for themselves, live with intention and practice mindfulness. Autism parents need to lean into their lives and create a new normal. Parents also need to grieve – however, it's a cycle. There never is any closure to their grief. It's difficult nowadays because there are a lot of autistic adults speaking up and saying they don't want anyone feeling bad for them. While this is true, parents still need space to breathe. Seeking Support Janeen always tells parents to ask their child's school first if they have any support groups. Not every school district has this, but they can point the parents in the right direction. Online groups can be beneficial for parents. Especially when the parents are unable to get out of the house or find a sitter. The idea that parents aren't alone and there are lots of people going through this will be very relieving and therapeutic. Self-Disclosure Janeen uses self-disclosure to add a level of trust and let others know they are not alone. Sometimes parents can be embarrassed and not want to tell people about their experiences. One time Janeen lost her child in a Target. When they found him, he was completely naked. She laughs about it now, but at the time, it was traumatic, and she never wanted to talk about it. Autism Blueprint Janeen's podcast, Autism Blueprint is a real passion of hers. It is something she can talk about every day. Her child is an escape artist; he needs 24/7 attention. There are things in Janeen's home that you don't find in a typical house. Many doors inside the house have locks and keys. Plus, the glass doors are now plexiglass because when her child has a meltdown, things can get broken. Meltdowns can be almost catastrophic when your child is twenty-two and nearly six feet tall. Janeen's home is designed for him. During the podcast, Janeen talks about her home and also interviews experts. When Janeen added her podcast to her website, her SEO went through the roof. Now, SEO is one less thing she has to worry about. The podcast is helping people go and find her. Plus, it's another resource for Janeen to help people who may otherwise not be able to go to her practice. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Janeen's Links Autism Blueprint Podcast Puzzle Peace Counseling Click here to be added to the Puzzle Peace Counseling Newsletter Like us on Facebook | Follow on Twitter 5 Best Practices for Working with Autism Spectrum Parents Facebook Group Other Resources GreenOak Accounting Therapy Notes Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season Be a Podcast Guest Killin'It Camp Cool Resources Session Note Helper Private Practice Start-Up Guide Money Matters in Private Practice G-Suite For Therapists Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer,

In this episode, Gordon and Julie Herres from GreenOak Accounting talk about taxes. Being a private practice owner comes with a unique set of financial advantages and disadvantages. Self-employment is a whole lot different than being an employee – many private practice owners are not prepared for the change. Stay tuned to hear Julie discuss why you may want an accounting firm managing your money monthly and the importance of knowing your numbers. Don't forget to reserve your spot for the upcoming FREE webinar: Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season. Meet Julie Herres Julie Herres is the owner of GreenOak Accounting. The firm provides bookkeeping, accounting, CFO and tax services to mental health private practice owners throughout the United States. When Julie founded GreenOak Accounting she started working with a few therapists. Over time, more and more therapist referrals came in and she started noticing trends across the practices that were thriving. Based on those trends she developed success ratios as a way to quickly determine the health of a practice. Today, GreenOak Accounting's focus on mental health private practice is intentional and geared towards helping business owners understand the story that their numbers are telling. Julie understands what's involved in managing and growing a practice and is uniquely positioned to be a trusted advisor to clients. Self-Employed Being a business owner is one of the most significant opportunities, income-wise and tax-wise. There's a big difference between being an employee and being a business owner. When you're an employee, you'll get a W-2 or 1099, a lot of the tax work is already done for you. As a business owner, there are many items you can deduct and savings opportunities out there. You need to keep track of what is going on in your business to prepare for taxes or a potential audit. DIY Taxes You may want to do your taxes if you just started your business, and you have minimal income. Another reason you should do your own taxes is if you are very comfortable with your numbers and know your finances like the back of your hand. For most business owners, doing your taxes may not be worth it – there are risks involved in doing your taxes incorrectly. If you have a more complex business structure, typically, you will want to outsource your taxes. Find an Accounting Professional Now is the perfect time to find someone you want to work with. Accountants are going to start getting very busy. You should find someone that is the right fit for you. Dave Ramsey says to find someone who has the heart of a teacher. Most therapists do not have an accounting background; there is a lot of stress that comes around finances. Find an accountant who isn't going to make you feel like you asked the wrong question and find someone who will be patient with you. Make sure they are trustworthy and are capable of making you feel comfortable. Monthly Accounting Some accountants will help you with your monthly accounting. Julie says it helps them advise the business owner year-round. When you see your accountant once a year, there are a lot of missed opportunities. Monthly accounting doesn't work for everyone – many people are happy to do the yearly tax accounting. Money Shame People hold back because they are embarrassed by their financial situation. Business owners might be worried that they are being compared to other people who may have more financial means than they do. When someone works with Julie, there is no judgment. Julie and her team know what habits are successful for private practice owners – she can offer different perspectives and useful information based on their experiences. Understanding Your Numbers You shouldn't be making less money as a group practice owner than as a solo practice owner. You need to know where the money is coming from and where it is going. At one point, Gordon paid his therapists out of his pocket, whereas his therapists should be making enough to cover their costs and then some. The end of the year is a great time to analyze your data and find places to decrease expenses and increase profitability. Should you get rid of the insurance panels that may not be producing for you? It's essential to be knowledgeable about your numbers. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Julie's Resources GreenOakAccounting.com Call GreenOak Accounting: (571) 208-2065 Julie's LinkedIn Other Resources TherapyNotes.com Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season Private Practice Start-Up Guide Money Matters in Private Practice Cool Resources Session Note Helper G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President

In this episode, Perry Rosenbloom, Founder of Brighter Vision, joins the show. Perry and Gordon discuss Brighter Vision's most recent project, Social Genie. Is keeping up with social media challenging for your busy schedule? Perry and his team make social media a breeze with Social Genie. Later, Perry and Gordon talk about how to get your website the best search engine optimization. Meet Perry Rosenbloom Perry has always had a connection to the field of therapy and therapists, having family both working in the field and benefiting from it. He founded Brighter Vision in March 2014 with a passion to use business savvy and web development know-how to help therapists both fully realize their career ambitions and help the most people possible. Since then, Brighter Vision has grown to be the world's best therapist website design company, as well as one of the most trusted names in our industry, helping thousands of therapists throughout the world. Brighter Vision Brighter Vision makes marketing simple for therapists. They have over 5,000 therapists on their platform who trust them with their websites. The website will look like you've spent thousands of dollars when, in reality, you only pay a few dollars a day. They have been at this for about five years now. After working with his mother-in-law, Perry knew he needed to help her with her digital presence. After some research, he realized how much he could assist the therapist market. He learned more about therapy and behavioral health – now, he focuses exclusively on therapists. They can build websites at an agency-like caliber at a fraction of the cost. It was a long strange journey to get where they are now, but they have 27 employees and have a lot of fun working with their clients. Social Genie One of the advantages Brighter Vision has is working with thousands of therapists. Because they work just in behavioral health, they understand the needs of the community from a marketing standpoint. They spent about six months talking to therapists about their pain points of social media. With Social Genie, after fifteen minutes of work, you can set up your social media or the next few months. You can edit and customize posts that are already premade. If you work with couples, you can use the couple's campaign, the divorce campaign, and the infidelity campaign. Each campaign can have nearly 90 posts – you can schedule them however you wish. Then, you can upload your logo and have it embedded in all of your images. Some therapists spend hours working on social media to customize it. However, you can easily spend fifteen minutes working with Social Genie and be done with social media for months. Clients can request content and what sort of campaigns they are looking for. Then, Perry and his team will create the content. "Position yourself as an authority and start conversations." Search Engine Optimization When you do SEO, it's about providing content to Google that is relevant for what people are searching for. What services or specialties do you have? Then, write a specific page for your website on each of those individual specialties and services. Brighter Vision can easily add these pages to help with your SEO; they take a lot of the work from the client. Otherwise, there are lots of resources online about what Google needs for SEO. The better you rank on Google, the more people will see your website and the more clients that will join your private practice. Design Team When you sign up for Brighter Vision, you get your very own design team. The team will build you a first draft of your website in about two weeks. Then, you can talk to the team and edit the site how you want. Plus, there is a sticky note function on your website, so the design team can see exactly how you want to change the site. This takes out the hassle of having to email the design team back and forth. Once you are happy with your website, you can get unlimited support from the tech team. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Perry's Resources Brighter Vision Social Genie Making Your Private Practice Website Work For You The Therapist Experience Podcast Resources TherapyNotes.com GreenOakAccounting.com Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season Private Practice Start-Up Guide Session Note Helper G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, Gordon and James Marland talk all about virtual assistants. Hiring a virtual assistant for your private practice has so many benefits. Virtual assistants can save you both valuable time and money. Plus, James gives tips on how to find the right VA for your practice and ways to make the hiring process as smooth as possible. Meet James Marland James Marland is Chief Operations Officer at Move Forward Virtual Assistants with over 18 years of experience in social service and non-profit organizations. James loves the power of learning and holds a Master's degree in Ministry and Business Administration. He started his career in the mental health field working in a shelter for children and has held positions in Family Based, Day Hospital, Crisis, Intake to Inpatient, Youth Minister, and Manager of a Mental Health Triage program. Along the way, James has learned people are resilient, inspiring, and capable of so much if we offer them hope and give them a vision and a path for success. James loves cooperative games of all kinds and can be found organizing a board game night with friends or playing a casual game online. He has lived in Lancaster County, PA for the last 11 years with his wife of 21 years and his active 14-year old son. He is currently writing a few times a month in his new blog "Two Steps Forward." Finding a Virtual Assistant A job description is your first filter. Once you know what you want your virtual assistant to do, write down a description of who you want them to be. Understand why and what you are trying to accomplish. Most therapists didn't go to school to answer the phone, schedule appointments, and fight with insurance companies. A VA frees up the therapist to do the things they love to do. James says experience is one of the best things to look for. Have they been successful in using technology? They should be able to bring the same experience over to your business. James' first failure was hiring an event manager. They had a lot of the same skills a virtual assistant uses but didn't have the office background. They lasted one day with James. Check and make sure they have the right skills to manage an office. Plus, your virtual assistant should have the right personality. They need to build rapport quickly, but not take it too far and cross boundaries. Getting along with others virtually is also an essential trait for a competent virtual assistant. Another thing James looks for is someone who is a problem-solver – they need to be able to take the resources the private practice owner gives them and solve any problems that arise. Manager Economics If two people can do the same task and the quality is pretty much the same, always have the lower-cost employee do the job. When you are thinking about how much a VA will cost or if you feel their work won't be the same quality – at first, it probably won't be the same quality. Over time, they will develop the skills to do the task at the same quality. For example, you can hire someone for $1,000 to paint the house, or you can hire someone for $500 to paint a house. All around, the quality will stay the same. Who do you hire? Manager economics says to hire the person who will cost less. A manager's time is worth $100 to $200 an hour, whereas a VA is worth $20 to $30 an hour. Sure, you could save $30 by doing the task yourself; however, you could be losing out on $200 by doing it. Protecting Time We all have the same amount of time – how do you protect it? If water is valuable to you, then you don't waste it. Time should be the same rule. We have all sorts of tools to manage our time, like calendars, alarm clocks, and reminders. A virtual assistant is just a tool to manage our scarce resource of time. Hiring Process Have useful inputs for your hiring pool. James likes to hire people he already knows or a referral from someone else. One of his best employees is someone who was referred to by someone else. A good job description will also help with the hiring process. If they don't fit the job description, then they won't be a good fit for the job. Also, map out the interview process. Do a 15-minute phone-screen to check for skills. Then, conduct the interview and give scores for each of their answers. That way, you can compare their answers to other people you are interviewing. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! James' Resources Move Forward Virtual Assistants Schedule with James Manager Economics 101 Video Time Saved by Outsourcing Interview Questions Progressive Delegation Board Resources TherapyNotes.com GreenOakAccounting.com Gordon's Black Friday Sale! Use Code: Cyber19 Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season AP 1094: How Do I Pitch My Product Better? Private Practice Start-Up Guide Session Note Helper G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast G

In this episode, Gordon explains how private practice owners can embrace change. Change is going to happen; the sooner we can embrace the change, the easier it will be to handle it. Some ways to ease the potential pain of change will be preparing ahead of time. Have systems in place, capture everything, and break things up into smaller pieces. Later, Gordon speaks about the importance of having a professional will and the significance of being uncomfortable. Prepare Ahead of Time Gordon had no way of predicting his wife's fall. However, he does have a network of friends in town that could help out. One of his good friends went to be with his wife in the hospital. Your network is important to remember when we think about being prepared for the unexpected. All Gordon had to do was send one text to his intake coordinator to cancel all of his appointments. The systems and people were in place for him to be prepared for the unexpected. Change is always going to happen. Capture Everything It is so essential to have a way to capture everything. Throughout the days and weeks, we get a lot of stuff handed to us. You need a way to capture all of these things. Gordon knows he needs some low-tech stuff – he uses a planner as a capture device. As things come up, Gordon starts writing it down and making a note of it. Writing everything down will help us look at our goals and bring it from inside of our brains and into the physical world. Another exercise is to brainstorm everything that you want to accomplish and throw it all on a whiteboard. It doesn't matter how it's organized – dump your brain! If you are pelted with unexpected changes, then do a brain dump. Break Everything Into Smaller Pieces Write everything down into individual steps, so you know how to accomplish something big you are faced with. Writing things down not only works in a situation where we are overwhelmed, but it works for running our practice in general. We all have a dream about how big we want our practice to be – take those dreams and write them down. Looking at those goals will make it less overwhelming. Write down three things you want to accomplish each day. If you start thinking about too many things, it will become overwhelming. Tackle one thing at a time, because this method is how we will get anything done. Multi-tasking doesn't exist – we are not capable of handling matters in this way. Embrace Change The more we can embrace change, the better we can handle the change. When a toilet overfills, the only choice we have is to get into a mess. Embrace the fact that it's going to be messy for awhile. After it's fixed and cleaned, you will be back on the road of life. Anxiety has a way of tricking us into thinking we can't handle things sometimes. Most of us are equipped to handle the things that are handed to us in life. It might be painful and uncomfortable; however, we can always work our way through it. Professional Wills If you were to die tomorrow, what would happen to your private practice? What would happen to your clients? It's not something we need to dwell on, but we do need to have some things in place. For example, you need a plan for someone to get into your computers and log in to your accounts. How To Prepare A Professional Will For Your Practice Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Resources Therapy Notes - TherapyNotes.com GreenOak Accounting Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season AP 1094: How Do I Pitch My Product Better? Private Practice Start-Up Guide Cool Resources Session Note Helper G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon and Brent Sweitzer, LPC, RPT dive deep into the book, Getting Things Done by David Allen. Brent describes how the methods of GTD changed his life and some of his favorite tools from David Allen. Plus, Brent explains his recent jump into full-time private practice, despite not thinking he was 100% ready for the change. Brent Sweitzer Brent Sweitzer, LPC, RPT specializes in helping distant couples reconnect and in helping children play their way through difficult emotions through play therapy. He is a Registered Play Therapist, which means he has received special training and supervision in using the medium of play to work with children of all ages. He is also extensively trained in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, a well-researched approach that helps couples overcome long-standing conflicts in order to feel closer and communicate better. He runs his own private practice, Sweitzer Counseling, that serves the communities of Cumming, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and the surrounding communities in Atlanta, GA. He is married and has two young children of his own. When he's not connecting with clients or his family, he's often exploring the great outdoors or strumming his guitar. Getting Things Done Brent found the book Getting Things Done, and it spoke to him so clearly. There are so many distractions and challenges with work now as therapists and entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur, we have to define a lot of our work. Brent knew the book was the answer – he went all in and applied the methodology to his life since January. Gordon was also blown away by the book. David Allen breaks it down into manageable pieces. Getting Things Done for Teens Since Brent works with children, he is always looking for things that simplify the concepts from Getting Things Done. That why he is a big fan of Getting Things Done for Teens. There are these things called transformer tools – decide if you care about something and then decide if you are committed to doing it. It's so simple but an unconscious choice. We can learn how to do it and respond to these challenges consciously. What Are Contexts? How much time do you have available? Imagine having a list of things you can do with a spare ten or fifteen minutes. Have a list of items already decided that would be possible to do in between clients or in line at the DMV. This method has been a real change for Brent. GTD is about efficiency – not in a cold kind of way. We only have 24 hours in a day, and we only have so much energy. GTD helps us to list the things that we can do that are mindless. Keep your life moving! Channel Your Inner CEO Brent loves being with people. He has a left side of his brain, but he wasn't able to pull it up when he needed it. GTD has helped Brent think that way. Being a private practice owner means you are an entrepreneur and a CEO. You need to be thinking like an executive at least some of the time. OmniFocus OmniFocus is designed to align with GTD – Brent tried to use it with Trello. So far, it's going well. For those people who are digitally oriented, Brent says it works well with Apple Reminders. It's a great way to capture all your ideas while you are out and about or even exercising. However, it is essential to remember to go back and look at the ideas you captured. Full-Time Private Practice Marketing your private practice is a part-time job in itself. Brent didn't know when he would be able to leap into full-time private practice. He wanted to start next year when his son joined Kindergarten. His leap into private practice happened a little sooner than he planned for. Brent needed time and focus on putting all of his knowledge into place. He put his foot on the accelerator to market his practice and himself to the community. He is actually going to be speaking at a mental health symposium at a high school about communication between parents and children. After Killin'It Camp, Brent was inspired to create the next step for people after his speeches. He is in the process of developing an email series – allowing himself to stay in contact with potential clients. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Brent's Resources Sweitzer Counseling 678-701-7545 [email protected] Brent's LinkedIn Resources TherapyNotes.com Ethical Business Practice for Psychotherapists Killin'It Camp Session Note Helper G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast Guest Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram OmniFocus Business School Bootcamp Practice of the Practice Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitc

In this episode, Gordon describes the inspiration behind his Session Note Helper – it was created to quickly write session and progress notes while using standard phrasing menu items and checkboxes. Gordon also explains the tools on G-Suite and how therapists can use G-mail and still be HIPAA compliant. Later, Gordon discusses the importance of connecting with people and some of his favorite highlights from Killin'It Camp. HIPAA HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Most of us forget what this actually means. Typically, we think of it as a big brother force that is always ready to slap us on the wrist. Gordon was looking for a way to send an email that was HIPAA secure. HIPAA requires a BAA (Business Associate Agreement). After doing some research, Gordon realized you could get a BAA from Google. However, you have to get the paid version of Google. At that time, it was called Google for Work – now it's titled G-Suite for Business. The price point is very economical. G-Suite Gordon got the BAA from Google and was able to use the URL for his business as his email address. It costs $6 a month for the basic version and $12 a month for the more advanced version. >>Sign Up Here When you get a Google account, you will also get a whole suite of tools: Google docs, sheets, drive, and forms. Gordon's e-course, G-Suite for Therapists, teaches us how to maximize our productivity using these tools. Session Note Helper Playing around with the tools, Gordon started to make templates. A lot of the stuff therapists do require writing the same things over and over again. Progress notes and sessions notes usually have the same type of phrasing. Gordon had a template he was using, and he thought there had to be a way to create a note for each client. Now, Gordon has come up with a Session Note Helper. At first, Gordon started to use Form Publisher, and it worked to produce a narrative in a Google Doc format. However, using Form Publisher was not HIPAA secure because they did not provide a BAA. Gordon's Helper allows us to quickly write session and progress notes using standard phrasing menu items and checkboxes. Connecting with People At Killin'It Camp, Gordon was able to get to catch up with a lot of other private practice consultants. Despite being an introvert, Gordon was excited to talk to other consultants, network, learn from others, and teach about G-Suite. Now, The Practice of Therapy Podcast has loads of new guests to be in the show from people who were at the conference. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Resources TherapyNotes.com Free Webinar: Business Entities For Private Practice Killin'It Camp Session Note Helper G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast Guest >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? In this episode, Gordon and Sarah Leitschuh, LMFT discuss the progression of practicing therapy to consulting people on the business side of private practice. Often, private practice owners crave the flexibility of being an entrepreneur. However, flexibility isn't always a good thing as Sarah can attest to. Stay tuned to hear all the ways owners can navigate the overwhelm of private practice. Meet Sarah Leitschuh Are you ready to reduce the overwhelm that has overtaken your life as a result of trying to balance your work and personal life? Schedule a complimentary 20-minute Vibrant Therapist Clarity call and walk away with a strategy that you can implement today in order to find yourself feeling more energized and less depleted. You can access my schedule HERE. Flexibility in Private Practice Sarah quickly realized that flexibility could be a bad thing. She found herself overwhelmed – it was hard for her not to have enough time or energy for anything she wanted to do. Sarah was working all the time and not seeing the results she wanted to see. Plus, she was supervising others – her supervisees were saying the same things that she was thinking. Sarah knew there was something she wasn't doing. There needed to be a way to show up to private practice and still have a life in the outside world. Taking Inventory We can find the path to doing things more easily – but we don't necessarily have the big picture of what is contributing to our overwhelm. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself: what is contributing to your overwhelm? Where do you feel like you are wasting a lot of your time? Also, find out where you are leaking time, energy, and money. Once you fix these leaks, you will have more time to devote to things that could fill your bucket. Feeling Overwhelmed Private practice owners feel overwhelmed because of the constant need to document. Sometimes, their caseload is full of clients that they are not passionate about working with. Or, the schedule can be overwhelming. Your schedule may not be working out – are you scheduling too many things outside of therapy? These extra activities could be stressing you out. Gordon says therapists need to stick to their schedule. Do not let your clients run your schedule for you. Solid Boundaries Sarah says having boundaries is one of the ways to beat the overwhelm in private practice. Have limits as to which clients you can take into your practice. Have a solid list of referrals to give to your clients if you cannot take them in. Plus, have your set hours. If clients ask to see you outside of your hours – set your boundaries and let them know what is possible. Gordon says it was overwhelming when he started taking clients that were not his ideal clients. He is not a drug and alcohol addiction specialist – he gets a lot of calls about this, but his practice is not equipped to do this kind of therapy. Constant Evaluation Sarah recommends that quarterly or monthly therapists take a look at the state of their practice. Are you taking action to get you closer to vision? Or are you taking steps that are pulling you away from your vision? Evaluating regularly will keep your practice on track of meeting your goals and fulfilling your vision. Tabling For Later We do not have time for everything! It is beneficial to table things intentionally. At the end of 2019, some of the items on your brain dump list are not able to happen this year. Write this list down for 2020 to free up energy on things you can get done this year. It will no longer be hanging over your head for the rest of 2019. Find a blank spot on your calendar and make it sacred. Prioritize your well-being – it is just as important as seeing a client. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Sarah's Resources Counseling Website Vibrant Therapist & Professional Development Website The Overwhelm Assessment for Stressed Out Therapists Sarah's Facebook Other Resources Therapy Notes Free Webinar: Business Entities For Private Practice Killin'It Camp The Practice of Therapy Resources G-Suite For Therapists Be a Podcast Guest How To Make Money In Private Practice >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, Gordon talks with Michelle Hardman, LPC from The Primed Practice. They discuss the importance of understanding how to run a business when starting a private practice. Therapists do not get training on how to run a business, so starting a private practice can be tricky. However, Michelle wants to bridge that gap of knowledge and coach therapists through the intricacies of running a business. Plus, Michelle tells us about her Primed Planner, the perfect tool to remind private practice owners to practice self-care, network, and follow-up with clients. Meet Michelle Hardman Even though she knew at 15 years old she wanted to be a therapist, life always has some interesting detours! After nearly 16 years in corporate human resources leadership, Michelle decided to follow her dream to counsel people in the context of their whole life rather than just their career life. Now, as a Licensed Professional Counselor and owner of a successful private practice, Michelle enjoys working with adults who have anxiety and/or trauma histories. Michelle is also a Certified Daring Way Facilitator, teaching curricula based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown. While Michelle is honored to be in this clinical space, she still loves all things "business!" By leveraging her unique combination of corporate and clinical experience, as well as her MBA in strategic management, she is an exceptional business coach to fellow clinicians in private practice. By teaching clinicians about critical business elements such as marketing, branding, networking and business planning, as well as creating invaluable tools such as The Primed Planner™, Michelle is committed to helping amazing clinicians become confident business owners! Business Coach When Michelle grew her private practice, people kept asking how she did it. Michelle took for granted the things she knew from her MBA; she applied all her business knowledge without even knowing it. The idea of coaching on the business side of private practice grew organically. Michelle doesn't have a secret sauce; she loves talking with clinicians and breaking down business for them. Clinicians will have an epiphany that the business side of practice doesn't have to be so scary. Brené Brown Workshops Brené Brown's work is so relatable and easy to break down into digestible bits. Her research and the way she presents it fascinates Michelle. Brené's work is part of the human experience, so that is why it is easy to relate with. Michelle works with people who have anxiety and trauma, so shame almost always presents itself in those situations. Clinicians also feel guilt when they go into private practice because they feel like they are supposed to know how to run a business even though the courses were never taught in graduate school. Even though Michelle has an MBA, she still thinks it's still scary. Therapist Shame It's easy for self-care to fall off the radar; sometimes, therapists are the worst ones to stay on top of it. Michelle felt like an outsider coming into the world of private practice. In graduate school, we are taught to feel shame about running a profitable business. We are told that therapists shouldn't be working to make money; they should be working to make a change. There's a stigma that marketing and business do not help people; that is not true. We got into this business to help people; however, we deserve to have thriving lives of our own. Private Practice Sales Michelle says you don't have to be a salesperson; you need to showcase your strengths and skills. Marketing is about relationships and cultivating those relationships; it's not about selling. We should never be making a sale. Instead, we should be putting ourselves out there. If you repel people, then they are not the right fit for your practice. The small things matter most. We can only do so many things in a day, so think about the little things you can do today to move the needle forward. The Primed Planner If we are not trained in business, and it feels overwhelming and scary – having a tool that has those prompts along the way to keep us engaged will help our practices flourish. Michelle wanted to put an engaging structure around the business of private practice. The Primed Planner is published and available! It was developed in the spirit and love of Michelle's company. The planner creates prompts for self-care, networking, and follow-up items. Yes, it's a monthly and weekly calendar, but there is also an annual roadmap. Michelle's planner allows us to take the time to think about our goals and the things that energize us. Goal Setting Michelle is a big believer in knowing what your core values are. When building a house, you want a strong foundation for it to sit on. In your business, if you do not have a strong message, your marketing will come off as inauthentic. We deserve a solid foundation. Think about your core values and how you align your business to build on those values. Then, we can start thinking

In this episode, The Practice of Therapy celebrates its 100th EPISODE! Gordon plays clips from some of his favorite episodes, including guests like Jeff Guenther, Allison Puryear, Joe Sanok, Kasey Compton, Mike Michalowicz, Paul Jarvis, Melvin Varghese, and David Hall. The clips cover a variety of private practice topics like marketing, return on investment, processes, systems, and how to find support. Jeff Guenther: Say More About That In this clip, Jeff Guenther talks about why some therapists get "ghosted" by their clients and he also gives specific examples. His podcast, Say More About That, dives deep into the client's personal journey of finding a therapist and going to counseling. Jeff talks to people about why they wanted to go to therapy, what kind of therapist they were looking for, and why. He covers why some mental health counselors were excellent matches and why others didn't work and also touches on what they thought therapy was going to be like and if it met their expectations. Say More About That asks their guests if they have advice for therapists to help them be better or more effective counselors. Jeff Guenther, LPC, is a therapist in Portland, OR. He has been in private practice since 2005 and currently leads workshops on how therapists can build their digital brand and attract more clients online. TherapyDen Say More About That Jeff Guenther | What Clients Are Saying About Their Therapists | TPOT Podcast 075 Allison Puryear: Marketing Isn't Scary The most common struggle for private practice owners is being afraid to market and being uncomfortable with the idea of marketing. Some people think marketing is something a businessperson does, not a clinician. Allison says every client has their ideal therapist out there. It is up to the therapist, as an act of service, to help our clients find us and overcome their struggles. Know that it is about showing up and continuing to try and build your practice. If someone has a phone call during their first two weeks of private practice, then that's an anomaly. If you build it, they will not come; you have to tell people about your practice to build it. Allison Puryear, LCSW is the person behind Abundance Practice Building, Abundance Party, and is a private practice coach and consultant. TPOT 006 |Allison Puryear, LCSW | Marketing Your Private Practice Without Fear Joe Sanok: Return on Investment (ROI) Depending on which phase of growth you are in, it will determine where and how a clinician in private practice should spend their time and money resources to get the best ROI. When you start your private practice, your greatest asset is the time you spend. In this phase, attention should be spent on bootstrapping and marketing your practice. Spend time making those community contacts and developing relationships with other professionals in your business. Plus, Joe explains the benefits of outsourcing as much as possible so you can continue running your practice and seeing clients. Joe Sanok is the person behind The Practice of the Practice Podcast and Blog. Joe is a speaker, mental health counselor, business consultant, and podcaster. Joe Sanok | How to Level-Up and Grow Your Private Practice | TPOT Podcast 11 Kasey Compton: Processes and Systems Kasey's phenomenal growth (80 staff members and a million-dollar practice in just three years) came primarily out of her ability to create processes and systems to make the growth as seamless as possible. She put most of her effort on the front end into mapping things out so that the processes and systems were well defined. Kasey also said that she made some mistakes and learned from them rather than let them ultimately defeat her. For instance, her partner was high-strung, which made their workplace culture toxic. Three years later, the people who quit her practice are back and notice the immense changes. Kasey Compton built a million-dollar practice with over seventy-five staff members in less than two years from the ground up. She is the President/CEO of Mindsight Behavioral Group with multiple offices located in Kentucky. Kasey Compton | Systems, Processes & Growing a Million-Dollar Private Practice | TPOT Podcast 047 Mike Michalowicz: Profit First With Mike's "Profit First" system, he turns conventional wisdom on its head and gives us another way of thinking about how we manage our finances and look at profit. The traditional way of thinking about making a profit is this: Income – Expenses = Profit It's what we get to keep after everything else is paid for; operating expenses, salaries, and taxes. The problem is that the bigger we grow, the more our expenses grow too. It becomes a never-ending cycle that keeps our profitability at bay and keeps our businesses unhealthy. Mike says this line of thinking is kind of like saying, "my health comes last." Mike says that a better way is to allocate our profit first rather than let our expenses and operating costs determine what we get. The premise is to allocat

In this episode, Jill Barnett Kaufman tells us all about the courses she provides for continuing education. Her latest course is on how parents can redirect children's behavior. Jill describes the four reasons a child may be misbehaving and the ways we can identify these behaviors. Plus, Jill explains all the different niches she has been part of including parenting classes, court-ordered co-parenting classes, and her upcoming course on thriving through a divorce. Meet Jill Barnett Kaufman Jill Barnett Kaufman is an experienced therapist, a certified Parent Educator, and a Certified Divorce Mediator. She provides divorce counseling, couples counseling, co-parenting counseling, family counseling, and divorce mediation. She recently co-authored an online training for therapists entitled "Redirecting Children's Behavior Training for Therapists" which has been approved for 6 CEUs through NASW. She is the mother of three adult children and is committed to helping raise a generation of children who have high self-esteem and a well-developed sense of responsibility for themselves and their community. Jill's Course Jill researched her course, Redirecting Children's Behavior Training for Therapists, and the specifics on getting approval from the Continuing Education Unit (CEU). Everything we do as therapists requires a lot of steps, and you need to jump through numerous hoops to accomplish it. It's a fifteen-hour course, not all of it is necessary for therapists. Jill took the parts that she thinks therapists would need to know. Currently, it is six hours of classroom time and is available for people to take. Jill uses Teachable, it's a straightforward platform with an excellent sales page, and everything is automated. Teaching Clients About Parents look at a child when they misbehave as being bad. Jill's course, Redirecting Children's Behavior Training for Therapists, will teach you how to look at a child as being discouraged instead of bad. Jill teaches therapists on the varying ways to encourage the child, so you're not disciplining or punishing. Instead, you're looking for positive ways to discipline so they are learning while understanding what they did was unacceptable. Goals of a Misbehaving Child There are four goals of a misbehaving child: Attention Power Revenge Avoidance You discipline the child differently depending on the intention of the child. You find out the goal of the child by analyzing the way you are feeling. If you are feeling irritated, their goal is attention. If you are feeling angry, their goal is power. If you're feeling hurt their goal is revenge. If you are feeling pity for the child, then their goal is an avoidance. Parenting Expert Niche You need to involve the parents to give them the proper skills to parent their child. Therapists can develop a niche working with children and will want to have a session or two with their parents. You can also go to schools – Jill has done training for teachers and parents at schools. This helped Jill get her name out into the community. Now, Jill has people contacting her consistently because her name is out there as a parenting expert. Court-Ordered Parenting Classes There's a course in Jill's state that she would have to take to be approved for court-ordered parenting classes. With this course, Jill knows people who have developed a curriculum based on this work to teach the course to parents. However, Jill's niche is divorce and co-parenting. Judges have ordered parents to take co-parenting classes with Jill. There is no special certification you need to do these sessions with parents. Thriving Through Divorce Jill is working on an online course about thriving through a divorce. The course is for people who are struggling with their separation. The reason Jill came up with this idea is that there are not enough things out there to support people who are going through a divorce. Also, Jill likes the idea of having something out there that she can share with people without having to do the one-on-one sessions. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Jill's Resources Jill's Website Jill's LinkedIn Redirecting Children's Behavior Training for Therapists use code: GORDON Other Resources GreenOak Accounting Free Webinar: Business Entities For Private Practice The Practice of Therapy Resources Be a Podcast Guest How To Make Money In Private Practice >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Smart Passive Income Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and G

In this episode, Gordon speaks with Juan Santos about what it was like for Juan to open a private practice straight out of graduate school. Plus, Juan gives valuable tips on how to market a private practice. He says the essential factor is to be your most genuine and authentic self when spreading the word about your practice. Later, Gordon and Juan discuss a unique niche – immigration evaluations. Meet Juan Santos Juan Santos is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina. He is married to his wife, Elizabeth Livingston Santos, together they operate Santos Counseling PLLC a family-owned private practice. Mr. Santos is a father to his 5-year-old daughter Nola and 3-year-old son Alexander. Mr. Santos and his family enjoy traveling, outdoor activities, and spending time with family and friends. Mr. Santos specializes in helping couples build healthy sustainable relationships and supporting individuals with their immigration case by writing immigration evaluations. He utilizes his experience in working with immigration attorneys and writing hardship evaluations to guide clinicians interested in the specialty. Juan is currently a doctorate student at the University of the Cumberland's where he is a pursuing a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. Mr. Santos hopes to utilize his doctorate studies to strengthen his clinical skills. Mr. Santos has attained recognition in publishing courses and self-help books aimed to address issues ranging from anxiety to relationship, he was the recipient Winston Salem State University Alumni Achiever 2015, the Winston Salem Under 40 Leadership Achiever, and the 2015 Notable Latino of the Triad Award. Juan has presented his work in immigration hardship evaluations with GoodTherapy, the LPCANC fall conference 2018, and on a notable podcast. Marketing Juan started his private practice journey with support; he was so fortunate to have someone that put him under his wing. Juan wasn't taught how to run a private practice or how to utilize marketing in graduate school, so this assistance was essential. Juan stays genuine in his marketing practices; he is true to himself. At first, he struggled with being himself because, at school, they were taught about professionalism. His first professional videos did not go well because people could tell it was not his authentic self. Private Practice Post Graduate School Juan is the type of person to jump into the pool before learning how to swim. After getting his degree, Juan knew he wanted to start a private practice right away. Juan utilized his mentor to help him with things that Juan would need to learn to succeed. Plus, he read books and listened to podcasts to push himself. Immigration Evaluations Juan helps his clients who are working with attorneys on their immigration status. Depending on the type of case will depend on the type of evaluation needed. For instance, an example of a hardship case is when a citizen of the United States has an undocumented partner. The clinician is going to work with the citizen about documenting would it be like to be without their partner. This will lead to potential diagnoses and recommendations. The attorney will then use this information in court when they are presenting their client's case. Marketing Your Niche Primarily, Juan partners with immigration attorneys, clinics, and churches to get his name out in the community. More than likely, these are places his ideal client is going to visit. Next, Juan explains how to market a private practice using social media. The first thing to do is look for a platform. Where do you think your clients spend most of their time on? For instance, Instagram is getting more younger folks than Facebook is. Social media should be to support those out there who will navigate towards their goals, whether it's with Juan or without Juan. Marketing doesn't have to be looking for the sale; be genuine above all else. Being Bilingual in Private Practice If you are not bilingual, some services will bring a translator to your meetings. When Juan works with couples, he shares his experiences with having a wife who is not bilingual. Differences in languages and culture can massively affect our relationships at home and work. As clinicians, we all go through some culture class. However, one consistent problem in relationships is communicating through the lenses of our cultures. Our society has a significant diversity overlap, so understanding these barriers will go a long way. Juan's Resources Juan's Website Call Juan: 336-707-1723 Email: [email protected] Other Resources GreenOak Accounting Be a Podcast Guest How To Make Money In Private Practice G-Suite for Therapists >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram The Power of Vulnerability Building a Storybrand Jump – Steve Harvey Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He

In this episode, Gordon speaks with Mio Yokoi, a registered psychotherapist, podcaster and Supporter of Growth. First, Mio explains why mental health needs to be an ongoing discussion rather than something people only are concerned about when in distress. Then, Mio describes how she was fortunate enough to get her private practice website up and running over ten years ago; age is helpful when Google is ranking websites. Stay tuned to hear some ways Mio has diversified her income, and Mio explains the ways she has overcome the obstacles that come along with starting a podcast. Meet Mio Yokoi Mio Yokoi is a registered psychotherapist, podcaster and Supporter of Growth, based out of Toronto, Canada. Her main goal is to serve meaningfully, through working with clients in her private practice and by consulting with other helping professionals to help them be of service in the most ideal way possible for them. Her podcast, Life Stuff 101, is devoted to sharing stories and insights to inspire as many people as possible to make their mental and emotional wellness a top priority. Her website is Solidwellness.org. Mental Health Should be an Ongoing Concern Mio has been in private practice for ten years now. She wants people to think of their mental and emotional wellness as an ongoing need versus only when they are in severe distress. Mio developed the idea that we should be thinking about our mental and emotional health just as much as we think about our physical health. We think about our physical health on an ongoing basis to ward off illness and other physical distress. When Mio first started her practice ten years ago, she wanted to provide more accessible therapy services. At the time, Google searches were not a big thing. So, with her marketing background, Mio was able to put up her website in a short period, and it gained a lot of traffic. Marketing a Niche The ways to market online have expanded since Mio first started. One thing Google looks for with SEO is the age of the website. Mio has had her website up for ten years. It gets a lot of traffic and ranks well on Google. Depending on the day, she may still come up on the first page results. For people starting now, Mio says SEO is going to be tough; there are so many more people online these days. However, you need a website because it's a 24/7 business card. Diversifying Income When Mio first started her practice, she immediately wanted to think of ways to diversify her income sources because Google can be unreliable. At any given time, Google can decide not to rank your website well. A few months ago, Google changed their algorithms, so Mio's website dropped. Plus, Mio didn't want to rely solely on client work. Think of it as a table; you want to have four solid legs that provide you with a solid foundation. Mio has done consulting work and workshops to help diversify her income. Currently, Mio is working on establishing an online business, that's one of the reasons why she contacted Pat Flynn. Starting a Podcast People are surprised to hear Mio has challenges with verbal fluency. It takes a lot of internal work for Mio to speak and get her ideas across. Inside there is a lot of action happening. Pat Flynn offered Mio access to his Power-Up Podcasting® course, which helped out immensely. Figuring out podcasting on your own can be challenging, so having the steps laid out is extremely helpful. If Mio didn't get the push from Pat and the resources he provided, she would be overwhelmed and still trying to figure it all out. You can listen to Mio's podcast HERE. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Mio's Resources Be on Mio's Podcast: [email protected] Solid Wellness Life Stuff 101 AP 1081: Where Do I Start to Build an Audience and Community Online? Other Resources GreenOak Accounting Power-Up Podcasting® Killin'It Camp G-Suite for Therapists Fall Into Cash >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

Have you ever been so overwhelmed in your private practice that it completely took over your day? In this episode, Gordon gives helpful tools and resources to beat the overwhelm and take control of your day. In particular, Gordon utilizes self-care, his daily planner, and the getting things done philosophies. Self-Care Focus on the things that matter most in your life, and don't lose sight of that. Self-care is essential for therapists and counselors because it allows us to recharge and be fully present for our clients. If we have not been taking advantage of self-care for the week, we may face the dangers of burnout. Gordon mentions how he practices self-care by finding time to help out his family and taking hikes. Breaking Things Down Gordon has to remind himself to focus on his time management skills continually. He is not a naturally organized person, and he has to regroup now and then. By regrouping daily instead of weekly it makes it easier to find things. Have a system in place, so you know what is most important and what is least important. In some cases, you may have to stop what you are doing entirely and tend to those things, like family emergencies. Gordon points out sometimes we assign jobs as "urgent" even if they are not urgent, just important. Marking everything as urgent will lead to severe burnout. The other quadrants are urgent but not important and not important, not urgent. Gordon points out that social media can be a time waster and often results in doing mindless stuff. Take Time To Plan Your Day Gordon currently uses a planner each morning to figure out how he will spend his day. He recommends using a pencil and pen planner because it forces us to slow down and focus on our day. Gordon uses the full-focus planner, spending that type of money on a planner encourages him to use it. Plus, it has time management and productivity tools built into the planner. The goals you write down should be tied down to the weekly goals, which in turn are tied into your big-picture goals. This concept made sense to Gordon. Focus on a few things at a time daily; the whole purpose of the planner is to track what we are doing. Navigating Our Inboxes If you can do something in 2 minutes or less, and it is not going to take a lot of energy, then do it as soon as possible. Once you have done that, trash it or archive it. Another thing you can do with your inbox is delegating it to someone else. For instance, Gordon forwards things to his administrative assistant all the time – she handles all of his appointment requests. Whereas, projects are things that are going to take more time, put them in your calendar. A lot of times, we do not schedule tasks that take some time to do. With this podcast, Gordon delegates Friday morning to send it to his virtual assistant. Another thing that comes into our inbox are things that may be a reference for later. Gordon stores those using Evernote. Overall, the getting things done inbox philosophy includes these five steps: 1. If it can be done in 2 minutes or less, do it immediately. 2. Trash it or delete it. 3. Delegate things by handing it off to somebody else. 4. Assign it to a project by using your calendar. 5. References are things you want to save for later. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! GreenOak Accounting Fall Into Cash How To Make Your Practice Financially Secure Introducing the Eisenhower Matrix Evernote FREE Webinar: How To Make Money In Private Practice >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, Rob Reinhardt and Gordon discuss some tips on creating products to diversify income for your private practice. Rob explains how his first product Describe cards, came to be. Describe is a deck of cards that supports over three dozen games for people of all ages. Then, Rob explains how he came up with the second deck and the activity board. Later, Rob gives tips on things you need think about before starting your product line and the two wrap up by talking about private practice websites and the occasional need to outsource. Meet Rob Reinhardt Rob Reinhardt, LPCS, M.Ed., NCC has his own successful counseling practice and is CEO of Tame Your Practice. Known for his expertise in reviewing and recommending EHRs for therapists, Rob previously worked in Information Technology for over ten years and has lived around technology his entire life. Describe Cards The words that Rob is regularly trying to get from is clients are adjectives. Emotions are adjectives. Rob started to tinker with cards that had adjectives on them; it's easier to pull out words when they are on the cards. Rob asks his patients to pick out five cards that describe themselves and five cards that represent somebody else. Over the years, he has refined and developed into a deck of cards with over three dozen activities. Plus, he has launched a second deck and an activity board. Rob doesn't want the only market Describe products to counselors and therapist, loads of other people buy the products too. For instance, teachers, families, and coaches are all fans of the products. However, will people outside of counseling and therapy be buying the activity board? Activity Boards When Rob is at conferences promoting his describe cards, he wanted something interactive for the people attending. He made selfie boards, laminated adjectives, and had people come into the booth and take a selfie with the adjectives. It helped people be social and understand how the describe cards worked. People started asking him how much it costs to buy the boards; he didn't see this coming. He probably would not have thought of this if people hadn't asked him for it first. Diversify Your Income Take time and prioritize, make sure the idea is viable before starting down the path. We only have so many hours in the day, figure out which ideas you are going to focus on to be successful. If Rob followed every idea, none of them would have been successful executions. Here are some helpful tips Rob follows when creating a product: 1. Conceive – Come up with the idea, and what does it look like? 2. Assess – Talk to other people and ask how they see it. What are the needs associated with this product? 3. Evaluate – Can you do this? If you do research and you find out it's $30 to produce, how much are people going to pay for the product? 4. Logistics – Now you need to create the product or service and maintain it. Product Pricing Pricing will depend on what you are producing, what your market looks like, and what your goals are. A lot of people will create an eBook and give it away for free because they can use the eBook to draw in people, so they end up on your website. How many people will you end up gaining from it and does it pay for itself? If you are looking for a self-sustaining product and revenue-generating, then you have to look at it what it costs for you to produce and how much people will buy it for. Also, you need to consider if it will be worth your time and effort in the long run. If it only generates $20,000 a year, it may take up too much of your time to be worth it. Think of the long-term, is it a one and done thing, or will it continue to evolve? Websites Even though Rob's website is not the product, he wants to appear to be a tech expert, so Rob knew he needed an excellent website. Plus, he needed a mobile-friendly and clean site. Pieces of it were outsourced. For instance, he is not a graphic designer, so he had the artwork done for him. The website itself was crafted by Rob using WordPress. Sit down and crunch the numbers, will it be cost-effective to hand off your website to someone else? Gordon changed servers recently, so he hired someone to do it for him. It was well worth the money that he spent. WordPress has so many moving parts, not knowing certain aspects will indicate you may need to outsource. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Rob's Resources Electronic Health Records in Private Practice "Tame Your Practice" Therapy Tech with Rob & Roy Describe Cards Other Resources GreenOak Accounting The Paperwork Packet Join the Mastermind Group FREE Webinar: How To Make Money In Private Practice >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Th

In this episode, Litsa Williams and Gordon discuss helping people with an issue that affects all of us at one point or another in our life, grief. Litsa and her partner, Eleanor Haley, have created an endless supply of resources for people who are in the grieving process. Plus, they have resources for professionals who help others that require grief support. Later, they discuss creative coping and the idea that re-grieving is entirely normal. Meet Litsa Williams I have taken a winding road, from England and a Master's in Philosophy, to Baltimore and a Master's in Social Work, to working with homeless adults, troubled kids, and grieving families. It is those individuals who have taught more than I could ever have hoped to learn in my 20 years of schooling. Though I never imagined myself here I am confident it is where I am supposed to be. I live in Charm City, with my husband and my rescue pit bull. And I believe that 5 minute late is absolutely on time. Grief Support Grief is a natural part of life. It's an adjustment people are going to have to cope with at some point. About 85% of people can cope with grief without getting formal grief counseling as long as they receive normalization, validation, and social support. Unfortunately, when we look at this space where people do not need extra support, where does it come naturally? Litsa and Eleanor asked if there was something that they could create in the online space that would offer so many new ways to share information and build community. Creative Coping Both Litsa and her partner, Eleanor Haley, used photography as a real tool for self-expression and coping with their grief. They started talking about this and wanted to find other people who would be interested in it. As soon as they started talking about it, people were immediately online and wanted to know more about how to connect photography with grief. They ended up creating webinars, online courses, blog posts, and podcast episodes. People are excited about getting this information in a convenient format. Print Materials Litsa and Eleanor also create print materials for funeral directors, hospitals, grief centers, and hospices. They were often given brochures and booklets to hand out to patients during grieving times. The leaflets were outdated because they have not been updated for 30 years. Litsa loves seeing how her new materials are used as the first step to the introduction of grief for so many people. What's Your Grief Blog At this point, Litsa and Eleanor have nearly 600 articles. They try and cast an extensive net and still publish every week. There has long been a disconnect between academia and the regular people out there for grieving materials. Sometimes the resources for people struggling are underestimated; their blog translates their knowledge into understandable terms for everyone. Plus, they cover topics like talking to kids about suicide, miscarriage loss, and creative expression. Also, they offer hands-on ideas for professionals to help their grieving groups. Re-grief We re-grieve experiences, and that is a normal part of life. For kids, this is especially important because they re-grieve at every developmental stage. When kids get older, they revisit those losses through new lenses they now have. We as adults do that as well. When we hit life milestones, we suddenly re-grieve losses even if it happened thirty years ago. It doesn't mean we did not grieve right; it just means it is part of our journey. When we see things in the media, we will feel empathy for other humans, and our losses will wrap into those thoughts as well. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Litsa's Resources What's Your Grief? Grief 101: A Primer For Helping-Professionals What's Your Grief on Facebook What's Your Grief on Instagram What's Your Grief on Twitter Photographing Grief Email: [email protected] Other Resources Practice Solutions GreenOak Accounting The Paperwork Packet Join the Mastermind Group FREE Webinar: How To Make Money In Private Practice >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Dr. Alan Wolfelt The Five Stages of Grief Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog.He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Holly Chantal about how she helps therapist, counselors and other service providers package and present what they have to offer in a way that attracts your ideal clients. Holly and Gordon discuss what should go on your "about page" and how it should make people connect with you. Then, Holly explains why narrowing down your client base will help you get more clients. Plus, she describes how a therapist can start their online messaging and the benefits of packaging. Meet Holly Chantal For the last decade, Holly Chantal has been helping visionary service professionals bring their brand, business model, and marketing systems into alignment with their next stage of growth. If you're looking for someone that can quickly grasp your vision and what you do in all of its complexity then help you decide the best path forward then Holly is the woman to call. Holly's clients call her an integrator because she helps them take their big-picture vision or idea and reverse engineer how to bring it to life in a way that feels right for them. About Pages What Holly likes to do on about pages is sharing core philosophies. If you have particular quirks or niches share them here. Maybe you have a unique scheduling tool, or there is something unusual that you do – put that on the about page. People will decide if they like your approach instead of the more functional reasons they would become your client. It is more about connecting with people and being able to represent who you are as a therapist. If people connect with you, you are probably going to enjoy working with those clients more than people who may not be a good fit for you. Client Attraction For therapists, especially, it is challenging to limit your client base because you want to serve everyone. Holly helps her therapists work through mindset things and how they attract clients. Think about which clients you want to attract. Some people love working with people who have identity disorders. While others like working with people who have anxiety or depression. When you are looking for help, you want someone who is jazzed about the problem they have, not someone who is a generalist. What are your passions, callings, and the magic that you have working with clients? Once you uncover this, you can start to attract more clients to your practice through messaging. Messaging When coming up with your messaging, it is important to compare yourself to your competition. Once you know how you differ, you can talk about yourself and your beliefs. This will give you three to five topics to discuss in Facebook live, on a blog, or in a newsletter to clients. Share little tidbits about your modalities and why they work. Therapists do not want to come across as "salesy," but you can create a message that does that for you. Packaging The typical norm is open-ended engagement on a session to session basis. Many people are coming to you that have had bad experiences in the past with therapy, so there's a stigma they have. When you can create packages, you are giving them a roadmap for what the experience will be like, and they can see how their progress is measured. It will provide them with something more tangible to hold on to, and it will be easier to sell long-term engagements. You might be able to create higher-end packages and start getting out of the time for money model. Specializing is helpful if you have decided what kind of work you want to do, and you know the modalities you are bringing into your practice then you can lay this out in a big-picture way for your clients. You can give an estimate of how long the therapy will take, topics covered, homework to work on, and other things that will come in the package. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Holly's Resources Website Facebook Email: [email protected] Overcome Your Business Blindspot Other Resources The Paperwork Packet (coupon code: podcast93) Software Pundit's Best Mental Health Blogs and Podcasts of 2019 Join the Mastermind Group >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Killin'It Camp Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog.He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook

In this episode, Gordon talks with David Sturgess, LPC about making the transition from working in a hospital setting to full-time private practice. David was able to make that transition over time by starting part-time with his private practice working just a few evenings a week. David shares how he was able to decide when to go full-time with his practice. Also, Gordon and David discuss understanding the financial leap into private practice. Start part-time before completely committing to quitting your day job. Then, they talk about why outsourcing your website may save you money in the long run. Meet David Sturgess David Sturgess is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Marietta, Georgia. He owns Foundry Counseling, LLC just off the Marietta Square. He is a National Board Certified Counselor (NCC) and holds the Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS) credentials in Georgia. For the last decade, he has been a clinician in Georgia's short- to long-term Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs). During the last two years of working in the hospital settings, he operated his private practice part-time. In the Spring of 2019, he left the treatment facility environment to do private practice full-time. His experience and focus have been with adolescents and their families learning how to cope and heal from trauma, self-harm, and life-threatening behaviors, as well as psychosis. He is intensively trained in TF-CBT, Trauma-Informed Care and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. He facilitates training in these areas for different agencies and churches in Georgia, to empower people to identify when someone close to them needs a more personal level of care and connect with mental health professionals. In private practice, he works with individuals and families to build peace and confidence in their lives as they cope with the daily challenges of their needs, as well as the caregivers supporting the client. Aside from adolescents and families, he works with 20-30-year-olds in learning how to manage the stressors of leaving college and creating their new lifestyles; as well as helping men learn strategies to manage the unique needs they carry and often do not find a confidential place to work. Understanding the Financial Leap David and Gordon spent a few mastermind sessions talking about this topic. Handle your personal finances as well as setting up business finances. Minimize the debt risk to your home, not in terms of your mortgage, but all of the monthly payments that you need to make. The transition will take your income from a guaranteed paycheck to a variable income, where one month can be significant and the next month not so much – you will still have those payments you need to make. Get rid of as much debt as possible on the personal side. There are a lot of great therapists out there, but they don't know how to run a business, so their private practices have failed. While on the other hand, there are a lot of great business owners, but they are not therapists. Starting Private Practice Part-Time To limit financial liability, David suggests starting a private practice part-time so you can begin building a financial buffer while still having a guaranteed paycheck. Make sure you are still in good standing with your employer. David was not prepared to be full-time in private practice financially; he did it on the side to pay down student loan debt. He recognized that his employer would not give him the raise to help him do that. As David's first night filled up, he moved into doing his private practice two nights a week. It is one of those things you have to weigh in the beginning stages of private practice. If you are working a full-time job, and you depend on that income, don't quit your day job too quickly. Be prepared financially to make the transition. Outsourcing Websites David's website broke the other day; it's a thorn in his side. When people start a business, they often cannot afford to pay someone to run their website, so they decide to bootstrap it. There are pros and cons to this method. You will find yourself in a situation where you cannot financially afford it. The amount of time that David has wasted trying to do it himself and it not working, probably would have been better off paying someone to run it for him. When you outsource things that are sucking your time, that's the time you can turn into seeing a client and gaining revenue. Skills Groups David brought on another therapist to his practice; they worked together at his old employer. They have a similar skill set and experience in a hospital setting, so it was a good fit. Having the opportunity to do the skills groups are a great way to increase revenue. Multiple people in the same room are paying an individual price to participate in the group. David is not losing the hour just because there are two therapists in the same place. By the time they split the revenue, they are making the same they would in an hour. Plus,

In this episode, Gordon talks again with Whitney Owens, LPC and they discuss the difference between hiring independent contractors versus employees. Overall, hiring an independent contractor is less paperwork, but you will also have less control over their supervision. Then, Whitney explains how she uses promotion groups to bring clients to her practice and how she plans to help private practice owners incorporate faith into their businesses. Plus, the two talk about their upcoming trip to Killin'It Camp! Meet Whitney Owens I enjoy working with both adults and adolescents on an individual basis. I have experience working with those suffering from depression, anxiety, self-harming behaviors, identity formation, relational issues, and other mood disorders. I use a variety of therapeutic models such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Interpersonal Therapy. I have been seeing clients since 2009 in a variety of settings. While earning my Master in Professional Counseling from Richmont Graduate University, I saw young adults at a residential treatment facility. In 2010 I moved to Colorado where I spent four years working at an inpatient and day treatment facility. Also while in Colorado, I joined a group practice and saw teenagers and adults. In 2014 I moved back to Savannah and started Water's Edge Counseling. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia and a member of the American Counseling Association and the Licensed Professional Counseling Association of Georgia. In addition to counseling, I also offer a number of other services including training and speaking engagements. I have been invited to local organizations such as churches and schools to educate on leadership, adolescent issues, parenting, family concerns, and mental health. As well, I have spoken at retreats focused on helping women heal and find themselves. I have also spoken at youth meetings to adolescents. Please let me know about your next event and how I can help. Contractors vs. Employees Working with an independent contractor, you cannot tell the therapist what they can and cannot say. Whitney wanted to provide more supervision to her counselors. The same day her last contractor put in her two weeks was the first day she had an interview for a W-2 employee. Having a contractor is less paperwork, but you will not have as much control. There is way more teamwork with her employees vs. when she had contractors. Plus, morale is a lot better because everyone feels part of the business; they have team meetings, discuss the work they do together and participate in more events. At Christmas, they went out together, and Whitney can pay for continuing education. Run your numbers to understand which one will be more profitable depending on your structure. Promotion Groups One of the ways Whitney has been able to market her practice is through community promotion groups. Whitney has several connections within a group called Southern Mamas; you pay every six months, and you get to put up something once a week. They add it to their electronic newsletter, and you get to showcase your banner. Whitney says to try new things and see what sticks. Also, make sure to know your numbers when trying out new promotions. For instance, Whitney knows she needs to book three sessions to make up the cost for Southern Mamas. Faith in Private Practice Whitney had a big idea to help consult other practice owners on how they want to make faith a part of what they do. She also helps with the therapist's verbiage on their website to attract the right type of clients. Some people want to make faith part of everything they do in their practice, including their name and branding. Whereas others do not want it incorporated with their advertising or branding, but their practice is faith-informed. Gordon tells his clients that he is a clergy person, but he does not have a religious agenda with his counseling. If you are thinking about a faith-based practice, slow down, and think about what kind of practice you want to have and what type of clients you are looking to attract. The most exciting part should be creating your branding and clients, slow down, and consider what you are building. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Whitney's Resources Waters Edge Counseling Whitney Owens | Starting Fresh & Growing Fast in Private Practice | TPOT Podcast 036 Email: [email protected] Call: 912-319-5553 Other Resources Practice Solutions Faith as a Niche in Private Practice 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Cool Resources G-Suite For Therapists Killin'It Camp Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog.He

In this episode, Gordon and Stacey Lanier, LPC-MHSP discuss their time working together and Stacey's new business ventures. Stacey describes her transition to private practice and also her tipping point. Then, we learn all about Stacey's latest business venture – The Atelier, a wellness co-working space for people to have a community of other professionals. Plus, Stacey reveals some of her most significant barriers when it comes to starting this next phase of her professional career. Meet Stacey Lanier Stacey is a Licensed Professional Counselor, therapreneur, in Nashville where she has been in private practice for twelve years. She is a trauma specialist, a therapist to therapists who also provides supervision to counselors seeking licensure. With her business partner, Dr. Ila Foster, Stacey recently co-founded The Atelier, a co-working wellness space. Stacey has two boys; a college sophomore and a rising high school senior. The Transition to Private Practice Stacey would advise people to have a plan. Give much forethought and find a mentor, a support person, and a community of people who will set you up for success. Do not just jump in with no safety net. When things get complicated, you should know that you are moving in the right direction. Don't act impulsively; be intentional about what you are doing. Stacey's Tipping Point Stacey already had a network of colleagues – she reached out to them to let them know what she was doing and asked them directly for referrals. Also, she got involved in the community and became part of some professional associations. Stacey was anxious about her practice and getting enough clients. So, her friend told her a metaphor that has stuck with Stacey to this day: when you're growing something you have to consider that it sleeps, it creeps, and then it leaps. Stacey's tipping point was when she could not answer the phone because she was seeing clients. Not being able to answer the phones was the "aha" moment that her practice was working. She started to reach out for help to get her website built and found a virtual assistant. The Atelier The Atelier is everything Stacey needed when she first started her practice. She did not get a lot of guidance or direction early on. Twelve years ago, there were no podcasts or private practice coaches. She created this wellness co-working space for people to have a community of other professionals who understand what it is like to build a practice from the ground up. Also, clinicians will have a robust community to receive referrals and ask questions. Private practice can be isolating; this community makes people feel like they are not by themselves when becoming successful practitioners. Plus, they can utilize the space to grow their businesses and see clients! Barriers for The Atelier It is taking a tremendous effort to get the word out so they can reach their target market. Stacey hired a marketing firm to help them to do just that. Another barrier is trying to help other practitioners understand that this is possible for them. Yes, it is a scary step and a leap of faith. However, you can still do it and experience success with help from others that will make you feel comfortable. Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Stacey's Resources Lanier Counseling and Consulting Stacey's LinkedIn The Atelier The Atelier on Facebook The Atelier on Instagram Other Resources BrighterVision 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course Follow @TPOTpodcast on Instagram Cool Resources G-Suite For Therapists Practikat Greenoak Accounting TherapyNotes Killin'It Camp Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog.He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook