The Practice of Therapy Podcast

In this episode, Gordon talks again with Joe Sanok about the importance of making connections and developing relationships in building your private practice. They also talk all about Killin'It Camp which is an upcoming conference that runs from October 20-23, 2019 in Estes Park, CO. Gordon and Joe discuss how attending the conferences are an investment in personal development as well as the future success of your private practice. Joe tells us all about why we should connect more with people in-person and connect less over social media. Meet Joe Sanok 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! Killin'It Camp This conference is for people starting and growing a practice, they are just getting some traction, and they are sick of boring conferences. Typical conferences have a couple of morsels of information after spending thousands of dollars. While on the other hand, Joe is into putting on unique meetings that people leave with tons of stuff done and have a feeling of great accomplishment. There is enough information out there that you can figure this out on your own. However, you will need to spend countless hours on Google, YouTube, and podcasts. Why not just be around people who have done it and rocked it out before? There is something about being in-person with people and making quick, intimate connections while being vulnerable to others. Connecting with Like-Minded People The importance of making connections with people who are successful and doing things that they know work is essential for a successful private practice. Being in a cohort of people will allow each other to help the group rise up. We want to surround ourselves with other people who are growing in the same direction. The authentic support will allow each other to stay grounded and not let your head get too big. Killin'It Camp Schedule The first night is to find your people that you want to go deeper with. Joe wants people to feel connected with others right away. Monday and Tuesday will be more extensive sessions and breakout sessions. TherapyNotes recently came on as a major sponsor that will allow them to put on some surprises for their guests. Joe does not have the corner of knowledge and innovation. Collectively, they will be able to put on something unique. How to "Kill It" in Private Practice Find a community of people you can go more in-depth with. It is essential to surround yourself with the right people. People that kill it have found ways to get information that they can act on quickly. Hire a coach or sign up for a program to find a shortcut for the process. Consuming information makes changes. The knowledge is only as helpful as the action you take. Schedule time to take action and evaluate how you are using your time. Having a virtual assistant and utilizing TherapyNotes are ways to scale your practice. YMCA of the Rockies Joe started out by doing low ropes and high ropes courses and initially thought he would be doing adventure-based therapy. His first year out of grad school, he applied to be the regional chair. For three years, he was the regional chair of the Midwest, and he would go to the YMCA of the Rockies, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains National Park. The YMCA has kept their prices really reasonable. The hotel rooms do not include TVs, no distractions! There are all sorts of free activities you can sign up for like guided hikes. It is secluded enough that you won't have an urge to get on your phone and check Facebook. Sign up for the conference now before prices go up! 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! Joe's Resources Practice of the Practice Killin'It Camp Other Resources Brighter Vision FREE Masterclass: Knowing Your Numbers 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 TherapyNotes 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 about what is needed to bring clients to your practice and the various "touch-points" and tipping points that make that possible. In many ways, this episode is about marketing but goes in a little deeper to discuss some of the concepts Gordon has learned from Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point; How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference. Maven, Connector, and Persuader According to The Tipping Point, there are three types of people: connectors, mavens, and persuaders. Connectors are people who can make connections with others. We are only separated from every other person on the earth by six degrees. Another type of person is a maven, someone who collects information and knows a lot about stuff. Lastly, a persuader is a person who has the gift of persuading others into things. Those of us who are therapists in many ways fit in the persuasion character. We are persuading our clients to find changes in themselves. Most of us have these three characteristics intrinsically by virtue because of the type of profession we are in. We have the ability to engage with people, we have the knowledge, and the persuasion. When we think about marketing our private practice, we should utilize these skills and make connections with the right people. Get More Clients in Your Practice We need clients to be sitting in front of us, so we can charge our fees and be paid for what we do. When Gordon first started in private practice, it seemed like the number of clients he was getting was hit or miss. He was doing all of this stuff, but he wasn't getting any clients. Keep doing what you are doing, it takes time! At some point you will reach a sticking point, something will resonate with someone. People need to know that you are providing services. It is essential to get out and do things – like making sure your website has SEO and blogging to get content out there. How Clients Find Therapy 1. There are people out there that recognize they need help, so they will search you out directly. It usually is because they have a particular problem they are dealing with. When these people search for you online, you need to have the right search terms embedded in your website. For example, if someone is depressed, they might search "I'm feeling depressed, how do I find help?" So you will want the word depressed to be linked to you in one way or another. 2. There are people out there that need help but do not realize they need the support yet. You can market to this. People may be experiencing anxiety or depression, but they don't have the label for it. Clients will describe their life to Gordon. For example, "I don't sleep well. I can't turn my brain off." Typically, Gordon will give it a label and the light bulb will go off in their head. Try and use this type of language in your social media so they can make the connection. 3. People who refer to you. In particular, relationships with doctors and other professionals who see people that are struggling but may not realize they need help. The professionals will give the referral for them to see you. 4. They are not experiencing any problems, but because they know about you, they remember who you are. They may not need help themselves, but they can recall you when something does come up. Keep Marketing There is no one foolproof way of getting clients through the door. You have to get your name out there and get yourself known. When you reach a certain critical mass in your practice, you will reach a tipping point of your practice. Keep doing all those things that you know are good marketing practices. There is no magic bullet with a particular method. You can do several different things. Be persistent and patient with the process. Gordon is consistently putting stuff out on the internet and persistently making a connection in the community. Many of Gordon's clients refer his practice to a friend. Also, because he is active in the community, he gets many referrals from doctors and other professionals. If you keep it up, it will pay off! 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 Brighter Vision- Website Design and Branding Being a Private Practice Maven FREE Masterclass: Knowing Your Numbers 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 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

Gordon's first ever guest on the Practice of Therapy Podcast is back! Dr. David Hall of PsychMaven discusses how he has felt unqualified in more than one business venture. One of the ways David has followed his passion is by starting a continuing education group called The Narrative Institute. Also, David touches on some ethical issues in private practice and gives a little sneak peek into what he and Gordon will be presenting on at the 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences. Later, David and Gordon discuss why you should diversify your income and how to start earning passive income. 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. Feeling Unqualified David started a continuing education group called The Narrative Institute. He had no idea how to start one of these groups, he figured it out as he went along. He also figured out how to run a private practice as he went along. A lot of people are hesitant to jump in, they do not feel qualified to do something. David has done lots of things that he hasn't felt qualified to do. Doing continuing education events has led David to create PsychMaven. He first became familiar with word maven in Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point. A maven is an enthusiast or a connoisseur who is interested in spreading the information they get and wish to be helpful. Ethics The first paid workshop David did for The Narrative Institutewas an ethics workshop. He did it because it was a topic that everyone needed to know. He was also determined to make ethics relevant and not boring. For the most part, ethics can be very relevant. The topic they will be touching on at the 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences is ethics in private practice. Doing things ethically and above the board is essential as a smart business move. It will keep your business sustainable. In addition, they will discuss fee disbursements and accurate advertising at the conferences. Passive Income and Diversifying Income Many entrepreneurs are interested in creating passive income. David creates on-demand continuing education to supply passive income. Some states require fifty percent of the workshops you do to be in-person. However, many states do not place any limits on doing continuing education online. Once you take out the barriers of geography and time for ongoing training, then the doors will open. Find something that feels exciting and natural to you. There is not just one way to diversify your income. Imitating someone else in a way that is not organic to yourself will eventually be a burden. Find something that you love to create an alternative source of income. 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 The Narrative Institute PsychMaven on Teachable: use coupon code: GORDON (ends 7/14/19) Life-Hacks for Caseload Building (Free Mini-Course) Psychotherapist Start-Up Kit PsychMaven PsychMaven on Facebook PsychMaven on Instagram PsychMaven on LinkedIn Haven Family Psychiatry Other Resources Brighter Vision Building a StoryBrand with Donald Miller 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course FREE Masterclass: Knowing Your Numbers in Private Practice. July 12th at 12 noon Eastern 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.

What if the real key to a more productive and fulfilling career was not to create and scale a new start-up, but rather, to be able to work for yourself, determine your own hours, and become a sustainable company of one? In this episode, Paul Jarvis explains why the smarter solution is to do just that. Gordon and Paul also discuss how to work toward simplicity and the importance of building relationships in business. Meet Paul Jarvis: Paul Jarvis is a writer and designer who's had his own company of one for the last two decades. His latest book, Company of One, explores why bigger isn't always better in business. He's worked with professional athletes like Steve Nash and Shaquille O'Neal, corporate giants like Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz, and entrepreneurs with online empires like Danielle LaPorte and Marie Forleo. Currently, he teaches popular online courses, hosts several podcasts and develops small but mighty software solutions. Bigger Isn't Always Better If people are working from home, then others think they do not have a legitimate business. Paul is a one-person business, he does work with contractors but has never hired an employee because he doesn't want to be a boss. We should reconsider the idea that bigger is always better. Paul's book isn't about anti-growth, it is thinking critically about growth. The key is to think about how the business works and runs. If we grew our businesses, we would have to hire people and then become a manager. Is that the position you want to put yourself in? Working Towards Simplicity Think about all the processes that are involved and see where they can be made more efficient or cost effective. People will pay for a lot of different software products and subscriptions. Bookkeeping software can be expensive, that's why Paul still uses a worksheet. The fewer expenses you have, the sooner you can reach profitability each month. Paying for a scheduling program makes total sense and is worth the investment. There are so many other things you can reconsider how much you are paying for and if it is necessary. In the beginning, working towards simplicity is hard work because it requires critical thinking and questioning. However, once you make your processes more straightforward, it will be worth it in the long run. Building Relationships Paul loves marketing, it is one of his favorite things. People who are not in sales feel a little queasy about it. Marketing is really just communicating with other people. When Paul has a new product, he makes an announcement that it could be of value to others. If someone hits reply to Paul's newsletter, he's going to see it and respond. A lot of businesses in tech focus on acquisition over retention. They want more new customers. That's an expensive, costly, and challenging way to do business. Think about the customers you already have, and how can you help them more? Make it so they don't want to leave or stop paying. For Paul, this is more interesting and more exciting because he already knows his customers. Paul's Resources Company of One, The Podcast Paul's Website Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Other Resources 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! Brighter Vision PsychMaven 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course FREE Masterclass: Knowing Your Numbers in Private Practice. July 12th at 12 noon Eastern 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 Instagram @TPOTpodcast, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon talks with Dr. Tara Vossenkemper about how to know what you are doing as a clinician is working. Tara recently started a group practice and looks at lots of different numbers to determine how the business is operating. Also, Tara and her clinicians use multiple different methods to determine if their clients have valuable experiences during therapy. Stay tuned to hear about anonymous feedback surveys, DAS screening, Outcome Rating Scales, and Session Rating Scales. Meet Tara Vossenkemper Tara Vossenkemper is the owner of The Counseling Hub, a group practice in Columbia Missouri, a clinician within her practice, and a burgeoning private practice consultant under her own name [www.taravossenkemper.com]. Clinically, she is heavily invested in working with couples and relationships, as well as existential crises. She's also really into the business logistics of running a group counseling practice and constantly strives for improvement. Tara takes very few things seriously in life, with the exception of her clinical work, the health of her practice, the growth of her clinicians, and helping other practices flourish. Measuring the Group Practice Tara has seven clinicians and uses the 1099 (contractor) model of hiring people, although she would like to switch to a W-2 (employee) model. She specializes in couples work, marriage counseling, and existential crises. Tara does not have KPI's (key performance indicators) in mind. Some things that she does pay attention to are conversion rates, number of sessions, number of cancellations, attendance rates, retention per clinician, gross revenue per clinician, and profit per clinician. Dashboard Tara started with an Excel spreadsheet and would track on her KPI's. Her Excel sheets automatically do the calculations on their own like averages, running totals, and quarterly totals, whereas initially, she was counting everything up. Now she is using Google Sheets because they allow you to import cells from other sheets. Tara can spend hours working on the dashboard, it's fun! Gordon says you can create a Google form that will automatically populate to a Google sheet. The Google sheet will then do the calculations for you. These are some of the favorite tools that come with Google G-Suite. Measuring Efficiency Tara assesses whether or not her clinical work is effective by doing check-ins with her clients. She asks questions such as: How is it working for you? How are we doing? Are we a good fit for each other? She has these obvious and essential conversations with her clients to ensure they are working well together. Anonymous Feedback Surveys Tara has also started implementing anonymous feedback surveys. They send out surveys after the intake sessions and after the termination of sessions. The first leg is focused on the clinician and asking questions like if they are safe and heard. The termination survey is about the clinician and also the effectiveness of the therapy. Did the client get what they came for? DAS Screening Giving clients a DAS (depression, anxiety, and stress) screening is part of their intake. It is not a diagnostic measure, it just a screening tool. Not only do they use the screening at intake, but they use it for follow-ups at three and six months. Ideally, in therapy, the depression, anxiety, and stress numbers should be decreasing. ORS and SRS In addition, Tara and her clinicians use an Outcome Rating Scale (ORS). It helps them determine how the client has been feeling and how well they have been doing in certain areas of their life. For instance, the client determines how they are doing individually, interpersonally, socially, and overall. They will also use a Session Rating Scale (SRS) that determines how well they related with the clinician. The sheets were created by Barry L. Duncan, Scott D. Miller, and Jacqueline A. Sparks. Low Scores Tara is pretty particular about what people they bring on as clinicians. Very rarely do they have concerns on session rating scales. If they get a low score, you can help that person develop as a clinician and deepen their interactions with clients. You also want to be thinking about if the person is working with the right clientele. Perhaps you are setting them up with someone who has other needs than what the clinician provides. Tara's Resources The Counseling Hub www.taravossenkemper.com Email: [email protected] Other Resources 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! Brighter Vision 2019 East & West TNAMFT Conferences Killin'It Camp G-Suite for Therapists >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course FREE Masterclass: Knowing Your Numbers in Private Practice. July 12th at 12 noon Eastern Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Ther

In this episode, Gordon answers questions he has received from multiple listeners concerning hiring employees or contractors, and how to pay them. First, Gordon explains the difference between hiring an employee versus hiring a contractor. Hiring a contractor is undoubtedly the more straightforward route and will mean less oversight and less paperwork for the business owner. Hiring an employee is more complicated for the business owner as they will have to withhold certain taxes and pay different insurances. Stay tuned to find out why Gordon switched all his contractors over to employees at the beginning of the year, and then Gordon explains the different ways to compensate your therapists. Independent Contractors Having independent contractors is a great model for having people on board. The advantages of having a contractor are less paperwork and less oversight on your part. You do not have to worry about withholding income tax, Medicare, and social security; the contractor will be responsible for doing this on their own. The contractor is operating as a separate business entity from your practice. You will be more hands-off with a contractor, the IRS is particular about that. One mistake a lot of people make is hiring people as contractors but treating them as employees. Be familiar with your state laws around contractors, some states do not allow you to hire contractors for your practice. Talk to someone who is an employment expert to make sure you are aware of these things. Employees Employees report to you directly, you have to do withholding taxes, pay for unemployment insurance, and provide some sort of workman's comp insurance. Hiring an employee is more complicated and requires a lot more paperwork. Because hiring a contractor is more straightforward, it does not mean it will be better for your practice. At the beginning of the year, Gordon switched all his contractors to employees. This switch happened because Gordon started to pay better attention to his numbers and what it costs him to keep them on. It was a better deal for the business to switch them over to employees from a profit perspective. Compensation The typical fee split for most places is 50/50. Some sites do a 60/40 split, therapists keep 60%, and the practice holds 40%. Another way to compensate is a flat rate per session. In other words, you agree to an amount you will pay per session. A more traditional method of compensation is by paying the therapist an hourly rate. Lastly, you can compensate by paying a salary. The way you choose to compensate people is going to depend on the size of your practice, understanding what the cost of labor is, and knowing your overhead. Ethics Gordon has heard from some people that they are discouraged from doing a fee split because of an ethical standpoint. Regardless of how you pay your employees, all of them are fee splits. In other words, you are collecting a certain amount from a client and then paying your employee with that money. For the practice to stay open, it has to make a profit. You have to keep part of the fee that is collected from your clients. All of these compensation plans are fee splits if you think about it that way. Percentage Fee Splits Usually, the percentage method works better for contractors. Typically a fee split is only paid out to your contractor after you have collected the money from the client. With insurance, there is a delay in getting paid, you have to wait for the claims to get filed before paying your therapist. Flat Rate Flat rates work well with both employees and contractors. Let's say you collect $100 per session, and you pay your therapist $50 per session. If you are on insurance panels, you might only get $85 per session or $60 per session. You still agree to pay your therapist $50 per session. You need to have some money in the reserve to do this. It a good idea to have a financial buffer to cover costs, expenses, and paying yourself. Two months minimum or more is best for your financial buffer. Do your numbers, and find out what you need to have on hand. Hourly and Salary Rates If someone works eight hours that day, you pay them at an hourly rate. It could be $15 – $20 an hour, and you pay them whether or not they are seeing clients. (The average salary for counselors and therapists in the U.S. , as of 2019, is around $43,000 a year.) Incentives and Benefits If you want to give somebody a raise, you have to know how to do that. Work out with each individual therapist what their rates are. Gordon has levels of therapists; he has interns, level-1 therapists, and level-2 therapists. Once a therapist has been with Gordon for 2 years, then they have the opportunity to move up to a level-2 therapist which will come with higher rates across the board. What sort of benefits are you going to offer in your practice? Gordon wanted to be able to offer health insurance and profit sharing plans to his therapists so that is a big reason he switched from contractors to

In this episode, Gordon discusses some things he has learned so far about private practice. Being in private practice is an ongoing process as you grow. It is important to be prepared to change things as time goes on. Ultimately you can do what you want to do in your way. Don't measure what you are doing by what others are doing. Always celebrate the small wins, and focus on one thing at a time. Know when to outsource and invest in things to make allow you the best use of your time. Ongoing Process Being in private practice is an ongoing process, you cannot set it and forget it. You cannot approach it in this way because there is constant change. Embrace the idea that you are going to be continually changing and updating things. One thing most people get stuck on is doing everything the right way. There is no one correct way, do it the way you want to do it and be happy with that. Find an EHR Another lesson about private practice is to find the electronic health record system that works best for you. Gordon loves TherapyNotes because it helps him stay organized and HIPAA compliant. If you want to have a paperless office, then you should find an EHR system that will allow for that. However, there are some people out there that prefer to be low-tech and do paper paperwork, which is perfectly fine! Don't Compare Remember not to compare your beginning point with somebody's middle. There are a lot of very successful private practice consultants out there that are good friends with Gordon. If he were to measure what he is doing with what someone else is doing, it would create a lot of anxiety. Some of the people out there have been doing it a lot longer than Gordon, so comparing the two would not make sense. Celebrate the Small Wins You do not have to always go for tremendous growth. There is a concept that bigger is better, and success is measured by some sort of magic number. One of the things Gordon has figured out and learned along the way is that your lifestyle is essential. How you live your life, and your comfort level is more important than going after the shiny objects. It is better for you to make your practice profitable rather than overgrowing. Break Things Down When we get overwhelmed, the best thing to do is to break things down into smaller pieces and do one thing at a time. If you could imagine having your garage crammed full of stuff all the way to the ceiling and you were tasked with reorganizing it, you would just do one item at a time. You would start in one corner, take everything out, and decide what to do with it one piece at a time. In your practice, just work on one thing at a time and make it work really well. Ultimately, being in private practice allows you the freedom and flexibility to do things your way. There are best practices that will help you succeed, but in the end, it is YOUR practice. You get to be the boss and decide what works best for you. Being transparent…Some of the resources listed below are affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using those links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Resources Mentioned Brighter Vision >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course TherapyNotes Cool Resources 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 Instagram @TPOTpodcast, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon and accountant Julie Herres discuss common mistakes private practice owners make in regard to accounting. The first mistake is not knowing your numbers. Some standard numbers every owner should know are how much you are bringing in, your overhead, variable costs, and how much you need to take home each month. Another common mistake private practice owners make is not spending enough money?! Julie explains how essential it is to start spending money in order to make more money. For instance, once you have a waiting list, it must be time to start a group practice. Another example of spending money to make more money is when you need to outsource things to become more productive. 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. Knowing Your Numbers GreenOak Accounting lets private practice owners take a chunk out of their day and allow them to focus on their business. Not knowing your numbers is the first mistake private practice owners make. You need to know high-level things like how much you are bringing in each much, your overhead, your variable costs, and how much you need to take home each month to take care of your family. Private practices owners tend to take money out of the business when they need it. This method can severely hurt business operations eventually when it catches up with you. One example of knowing your numbers is knowing how much your advertising costs. Then, you can calculate how much it costs you to bring in a new patient to your practice. Not Spending Enough Money Another big mistake private practice owners make is not spending enough money. At one point in your practice, it will make more sense to outsource some of your efforts. For instance, you can outsource answering the phone and working on your website. By paying someone twenty dollars an hour to do these things, you could be making fifty to one-hundred dollars an hour in the meantime. Most therapists outsource their bookkeeping and answering questions from their websites. Whenever something starts stressing you out, stop doing it! Renting Space Where do you want to be in six to twelve months? If you're going to start a group practice, set yourself up for success, so you have that room for growth. Cheaper is not always better when it comes to renting space. You could also get a shorter lease so that way, the commitment will not hold you back when your practice starts to grow. Paying Your First Hire Too Much You have gotten to a point where you are overwhelmed, you are seeing too many patients, and you have a waitlist. At this point, you know you need to hire someone to help out. Many private practice owners will make them an offer that is typically too much and is not scalable. If you were to scale it times ten, you would need a bigger space and admin. Gordon was very generous when he first hired therapists to work for him, and it really was not sustainable. If you know your numbers well, then you will know exactly what your payroll should be. Profit First Success ratios are when you split expenses into four main categories: 1. Overhead 2. Administrative Pay 3. Salaries 4. Owner's Pay For solo practitioners: 1. Overhead: 20% – 40% 2. Administrative Pay: 0% – 10% 3. Salaries: 0% 4. Owner's Pay: 50% For group practices: 1. Overhead: 15% – 25% 2. Administrative Pay: 5% – 10% 3. Salaries: 50% – 60% 4. Owner's Pay & Profit: 15% – 30% Resources Mentioned Being Transparent… Some of the resources below are affiliate links. This simply means that when you use the links to make a purchase, we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks fo using the links! Julie's Resources GreenOak Accounting Call GreenOak Accounting: (571) 208-2065 Julie's LinkedIn Other Resources Brighter Vision Killin'It Camp TNAMFT Conference Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course G-Suite for Therapists The Empathy Rising Podcast Mike Michalowicz | Using PROFIT FIRST in Your Private Practice Mike Michalowicz | Using PROFIT FIRST in Your Private Practice (part 2) Kasey Compton | Systems, Processes, & Growing a Million Dollar Private Practice Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President a

In this episode, Gordon talks with Marissa Lawton about thinking outside the box in regards to how you are going to run a private practice. Most people in graduate school tend to go through it with an idea of getting clinical training, then working for someone else. However, there are many different ways your career can lead you. One way to diversify income is by solving a particular problem and learning how to articulate precisely what you do. Later, Marissa discusses how to shift your mindset from therapy to entrepreneurship and explains the difference between coaching and therapy. Meet Marissa Lawton "I'm passionate about bringing my two loves together: strategy and therapy, to help my therapeutic community thrive in the online space. It is seriously one of the most important aspects of my life to help other therapists create on-brand messages that target their ideal clients and build the private practices they've always longed for." Marissa's mission is to help clinicians in various stages of private practice to create online marketing plans that attract clients with integrity and authenticity. Marissa says, "there is seriously no point in portraying yourself online in a way that contradicts who you are in session, no matter how many calls it brings you. When you invite me to help you with your online marketing, you're partnering with someone who takes your practice, your goals, and your dreams into consideration. You're getting a guide who promises to walk alongside you every step of the way." Income Streams The big choice Marissa helps people make is if they are going to create a practice of their own or are they going to be more self-reliant and create an income stream of their own. Marissa likes to help people with coming up with their individual income streams. People get stuck with the one-on-one business model, trading money for your time. However, you can start group coaching and serve people from all over the country or even the world. No longer does your income need to come from the business model that we are most familiar with. This is the reason Gordon was pushed to start his podcast in the first place! Mindset Shift The most significant mindset shift Marissa sees is that a lot of therapists still do not see themselves as entrepreneurs. Starting a private practice is very much starting a business. Whereas, other people have the entrepreneurial bug and are continually looking for the next thing. It takes a simple mindset reframing to understand that they are capable of running a successful business. Some people may not want to start a group practice, but they are still looking for ways to scale their business. Entrepreneurship Embrace the idea that you are an entrepreneur is the first step to increasing income streams. Entrepreneurs do not have to be someone like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, that is only one type of entrepreneur. There are different types of entrepreneurs: 1. Achievement – people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. 2. Social – people who are looking to make the world a better place. 3. Lifestyle – people who may choose entrepreneurship for the lifestyle that comes along with it. Coaching vs. Therapy What's the difference between coaching and therapy? Coaching solves a specific problem. One of Marissa's clients does a three-month coaching package, and all she is doing is addressing the issue of fighting couples. The first 30 days are figuring out what couples should do just to stop fighting. Day 30 – 60 they are working on some de-escalation strategies. From day 60 – 90, they are figuring out to stop the fight in the first place. Coaching is a great way to diversify your income and create another stream of revenue. Being transparent… some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use the links to purchase. Thanks for using the links! Resources Mentioned Therapy Notes Practice Solutions Money Matters in Private Practice Marissa Lawton's Resources Marissa's Website The Empathy Rising Podcast Side Hustle Support Group 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 Instagram @TPOTPodcast, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon talks with Vanessa Lech about her anger management and addiction niches. Vanessa reveals some unconventional private practice strategies and shares ways to diversify your income streams. Find out why Vanessa says the number one way to diversify your income is through your thought process. Then, Gordon and Vanessa discuss working with people in the criminal justice system and becoming a court mediator. Meet Vanessa Lech In one way or another, I have worked in the healthcare industry for most of my adult life. I previously served in the U.S. Army and now own and serve clients at Carolina Addiction and Anger Management PLLC,located in Raleigh, NC. I continuously channel my creative passions, love of design and art with my knowledge on various topics having written non-fiction books, created an anger management therapy game/tool for licensed clinicians and creating/hosting a podcast that I am VERY proud of entitled: "Unraveled: Addiction & Anger Management" where expert guests are featured. When I'm not working, I'm most likely spending time with my dogs and resting up for whatever the future may have for me. Diversifying Income Often therapists believe all their sessions need to have one-on-one attention. Individual therapy can be really draining for some, so doing only one-on-one sessions is an easy way to experience burnout. Some therapists end up doing eight to twelve of these sessions in one day. Many people try to look at diversifying income after they have reached the point of burnout; however, this is an awful time to start looking. Therapists should be looking to diversify their income as a preventative action rather than an afterthought. The number one way to diversify your income is your thought process, you have to be creative in your thinking. For Vanessa, it all started when she was still in school and she started writing her own books on health and wellness topics. These creative projects are a passion for Venessa and help her relieve stress while also diversifying her income; the books helped energize her and simply started as a hobby. Venessa has an online retail store that is entirely separate from her private practice. Anger Management Game Vanessa was working at a crisis center, and her peers did not want to work with clients in the criminal justice system. While working with these clients, she noticed a shortage of adult therapy tools; so, she created a gender-neutral therapy game. At first, Vanessa used glue and old business cards. After seeing how well it worked, she got it professionally made at a factory in the United States. This game was never about making money, she started it to assist with her work and realized other people could benefit from using it too. Unconventional Practices With a big move to Virginia on the horizon, Vanessa is thinking about doing DUI groups for court-ordered people after the transition. Currently, Vanessa does a lot of court-ordered type anger management groups. Her practice is unconventional in the sense that it will be virtual, groups, individuals, voluntary, and court-ordered. Having a variety will prevent burnout, people are moving toward virtual the world, and she enjoys working with people in the criminal justice system. There is also a need for people to work with the military community, most people are not familiar with the requirements of people in the military culture. Vanessa has seen firsthand a lot of clinicians run away from calls with lawyers. You cannot be scared of people in that world if you are going to work with clients in the criminal justice system. You will have to market your services and have your systems in place. However, a lot of lawyers wants to hire other lawyers to be mediators. Another thing to keep in mind is that some states have rules and may require you to do things at a specific rate. Resources Mentioned Being transparent… Some of the links below are affiliate links which simply means if you purchase using the links we get a commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Practice Solutions Money Matters in Private Practice Vanessa Lech's Resources Therapist Assets Carolina Addiction and Anger Management Instagram: @govanessalech Podcast: Unraveled 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 Instagram @TPOTpodcast, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon speaks with Brad Pliner, the CEO, and Founder of TherapyNotes. Brad discloses his background and what inspired him to start TherapyNotes. Then, we learn why clinicians who use TherapyNotes will pass an audit with flying colors. Brad explains the benefits of keeping notes in an electronic health record system and how security is the top priority of TherapyNotes. TherapyNotes even keeps backups for your records, so Brad suggests ditching the paper record keeping method altogether. Later, Brad and Gordon discuss using EHR with insurance panels and the way TherapyNotes has streamlined the process of submitting a claim. Meet Brad Pliner Brad Pliner is the CEO and co-founder of TherapyNotes, LLC. He graduated with his Master's Degree in Computer Science from Drexel University. Shortly after Drexel, Brad launched Pliner Solutions, Inc., which provided custom web application development and IT consulting services, including to several clients in the healthcare industry. Later, upon recognizing a market need for good practice management and electronic medical records solution for behavioral health, he started TherapyNotes with his wife, psychologist Debra Pliner, Ph.D. TherapyNotes quickly became the leading practice management software for behavioral health therapists, counselors, and psychologists. The Golden Thread When Brad did web development, he got to learn about lots of different types of industries. Now he knows all about what it means to be a therapist and run a practice. TherapyNotes caters to smaller private practices. Most psychologists and therapists do not like the business side of private practice. Gordon's favorite thing about TherapyNotes is the to-do list, it helps him to ensure his notes get completed. People get audited all the time; when they are using TherapyNotes, they pass with flying colors. What was on your claim will match exactly what is on your notes. You cannot submit a claim unless you write the notes first. Features like automatically copying information from prior notes make writing them a breeze. Clinicians can type up progress notes in about four or five minutes using this tool. Electronic Health Record Systems If you wait too long, it will be difficult to adjust to EHR. As you grow your practice, you can then utilize the additional features TherapyNotes has such as automatic calendar reminders. Brad suggests immediately starting with an electronic health record system. Documenting and storing your records in a HIPAA compliment matter is essential to keep your systems in place and ensure proper payments are being made. The sooner, the better! Insurance Panels & EHR You do not have to be in network with an insurance company to submit claims. Even if you are out of network and you want to help your clients get reimbursed sooner, Brad suggests using online claims. In TherapyNotes it will tell you whether or not enrollment is required, they will get you the forms you need at no additional charge. Many insurance companies do not require any enrollment and will accept claims immediately. TherapyNotes has billing partners they work with and they are very familiar with the platform. Do you need backup records? With every one of their clients, TherapyNotes makes sure the records are safe and will notify the client if there is a problem. Brad suggests that clinicians do not keep separate records because it will be another item on their plate that they will have to keep HIPAA compliant. TherapyNotes keeps their own backups in multiple locations to make sure if there is a significant disaster that all the records will still be safe. Appointment Reminders Patients can request appointments, cancellations, or adjustments for the clinician. Just because a patient requests an appointment, does not mean they are booked. The clinician will approve it or either call or work it out with the client. Appointment reminders are a feature of the platform that their clinicians love. A robotic voice will call their clients and remind them of their appointments. The cost of this is easily offset because you will be reducing your no-shows. Integrated credit card processing assists with no shows as well. No one wants to come in for therapy and then have to deal with the payment, that is another reason to get your client's credit card information on file. Being transparent... Some of the resources listed below are affiliate links. This simply means we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use the links to make a purchase. Thanks for using the links! Brad's Resources TherapyNotes TherapyNotes on Facebook Resources Mentioned G Suite For Therapists E-Course G Suite AWeber 191: How to Use G Suite As a Tool For Managing a Private 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. PLE

In this episode, Gordon speaks with Melvin Varghese of Selling the Couch Podcast. Melvin shares what inspired him to start the podcast and all the challenges he has faced along the way. Eventually, people reached out to Melvin and wanted to know exactly how to start a podcast. This led Marvin to create webinars and an online community to help others get started on their podcasting path. Meet Melvin Varghese Melvin Varghese, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Philadelphia, PA. In 2015, he launched Selling The Couch (sellingthecouch.com), a podcast and blog to help our field learn the business and marketing lessons we don't often learn in our training. On the podcast, he interviews successful practitioners about how they've built their businesses and shares lessons he's learning on his own business journey. The podcast was one of the top new podcasts when it launched and has since been downloaded over 700k and is heard in over 125 countries. Melvin also founded The Healthcasters (sellingthecouch.com/healthcasters), a community of over 200 health/wellness business owners using podcasting to share their message while growing their businesses. Selling the Couch Melvin loves the thought of doing an audio podcast because he doesn't have to be all dressed up. The second reason he started a podcast is to be part of a growing medium. He realized we are at the tip of the iceberg in terms of podcasting. It has grown now; fifty-one percent of the US population is listening to podcasts. Seven years ago if you asked someone what a podcast was, they would have no idea! At first, Melvin was terrified of starting a podcast. He is shy and had a bit of imposter syndrome. It took a lot of courage; ultimately he did not want to live a life of regret. Income in Private Practice If all you do is focus on income generation, you are eventually going to burn out. Time flexibility and creating a lifestyle that makes sense is far more critical than the money you will make. When a person reaches a net income of around $150,000 annually, then it just becomes unmanageable. Their quality of life will not increase with additional money. It is better to have a strong foundation that lasts long-term rather than something that takes off quickly and fizzles out. Podcasting Melvin figured out everything on his own and made just about every mistake in the book. After starting his podcast, people began reaching out for help with starting their podcast. He thought about creating a community for health and wellness business owners to start podcasts. Melvin has an e-course, an online community, and monthly phone calls. Podcasting is a service-based platform; you get to share your knowledge and expertise. People from all over the world can hear what you say. For example, Melvin's first episode had nine downloads (five from family members). Now it is approaching 700,000 downloads. He records his podcast from a home office in Philadelphia. Melvin's Resources Selling the Couch Selling the Couch Facebook Community The HealthCasters Email: [email protected] Resources Mentioned Being transparent… some of the resources below contain affiliate links. This simply means that if you make a purchase using the link, we get a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! 191: How to Use G Suite As a Tool For Managing a Private Practice Practice Solutions Money Matters in Private Practice >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Products from Amazon.com -46% Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Price: $14.15 Was: $26.00 -58% Rework Price: $10.98 Was: $26.00 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 Instagram @TPOTpodcat, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon talks about making the transition from part-time to full-time in private practice. It's a question Gordon gets pretty frequently. First, ask yourself what is your "why"… why do you want to be in private practice, to begin with? Gordon started his private practice to focus more of his attention on his family and pursue his passion of helping people, being a practice owner and entrepreneur. The most significant factor to consider when moving to full-time is having a financial buffer. Later, Gordon discusses how to adopt the right mindset and to give yourself permission to not have a sense of urgency about it. Give yourself whatever time you may need to make the transition into private practice. Be meticulous and methodical about it. Ask Yourself Why Working for someone else limits the time you want to spend in your own life. One of the places to start when thinking of going into private practice is to really ask yourself why. For Gordon, his why was because his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition, his daughter was entering high school, and he wanted to spend time on band trips. Gordon started his private practice while working for an agency to bring in some extra income. In the back of his mind, he knew it was something he would eventually do full-time. Moving to Full-Time Make sure it is financially viable to make a move into full-time private practice. Do not quit your day job until you know there is a buffer in place. In other words, you have money saved away to help you make the transition. In Gordon's journey, he saw people on the weekends and during evenings. As word started to spread, things began to pick up, and he built a website. Once he had his site up things really started to pick up. People were finding him online and through his website. Once a part-time job surfaced at his ministry, he knew the salary would be a big enough buffer to assist with the transition to private practice. Then, he reached the point where he needed to quit his part-time job and pursue private practice full-time. Financial Buffers First, Gordon realized he would need to support himself solely on his part-time job and use all the money from his private practice to put into savings. He opened a money market account which is an interest-bearing account to save away enough money to transition into full-time private practice. Another way to have financial stability is by starting a group practice. It will allow you to rely not only on your income but the income of others. Make plans in advance for retirement and health insurance, you do not want to consider these things when it is too late down the road. At a very minimum, two months of your salary will be a decent buffer to get you going. Also, look at how you can diversify your income streams. Gordon started a group practice to diversify his income and reap the benefits of another person's work. Resources Mentioned Being Transparent… some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means we get a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use the links to make a purchase. Thanks for using the links! Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice G-Suite For Therapists Products from Amazon.com -46% Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Price: $14.15 Was: $26.00 Million Dollar Practice: Five Steps to Make Sure Your Group is on Track Price: Check on Amazon -32% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $18.36 Was: $27.00 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 Instagram @TPOTpodcast, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon discusses some life adjustments he has made lately and some of the things to consider when starting a group practice. Once you start having more clients than your capacity allows, it may be time to start a group practice. Starting a group practice means hiring people to work for and there are two options, employees or contractors. Employees are people who work directly for you; however, there are lots of different expenses to consider. While on the other hand, contractors can have fewer expenses, but you will have little control over how they see their clients. Group Practice When Gordon thinks about group practices, usually he sees it done when people reach some growing pains. Typically a practice will be full, and they have maxed out the number of clients they can see in a week as a solo practitioner. Then, they start a waitlist. Once you have more clients than you can actually see that is when you can begin thinking about starting a group practice. Bringing on other counselors is a viable option when you have an overflow of clients. Instead of extending the hours of your day, adding people to your practice will allow you to relieve some of the logistical pressures of running a business. Contractors In the contractor model, you have less oversight over what that person does. You can maybe give them a parameter of what to do, but you cannot oversee entirely how they are doing their job. An example and comparison of this is when a person might hire a contractor to do some home improvements. You can explain what you want to be done, but you don't tell the contractor how they needed to get it done or provide any tools. The upside of having contractors that you do not have as much paperwork to worry about or the different overhead costs. Compensation Contractors typically get paid per session they hold. This can be a flat rate that is agreed upon by both parties. For instance, you can charge the client one-hundred dollars per session but agree to pay your contractor fifty dollars for each session completed. Another way to compensate is a fee split. This works particularly well for people on insurance panels. You would pay the person based on the percentage you collect. For example, you can use a fifty/fifty split. However, in different states, there are laws against fee splitting. Remember, you still have to cover your costs as the owner, so it is essential to understand the amount of money needed to keep the business running. Employees Check with employment experts in your area about local laws for paying people. Obviously, you will need to meet the minimum wage or paying something close to that with a salary. The other thing to consider around the payment of employees is exempt employees. Exempt employees are professionals and more leeway around how you compensate them. An exempt employee is a salaried employee or paid on a per-case basis. There will be more costs associated with employees in terms of taxes. The employer is expected to pay half of the Medicare and Social Security portion of FICA. Whereas self-employed people pay all of it themselves. Another expense is unemployment insurance. The federal government requires you to pay this cost to have an employee. Because you are helping in other ways besides straight compensation, you can justify paying a lower salary and may save money in the long run. Resources Mentioned Download the Private Practice Business Model InfoGraphic for FREE! Maureen Werrbach – TPOT Episode Practice Solutions Money Matters in Private Practice G Suite For Therapists Products from Amazon.com Know the Difference: Employee versus Independent Contractor Price: Check on Amazon 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 InstagramTwitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon talks again with Jeff Geunther, LPC about how client's experience finding a therapist and going to counseling. Jeff talks about his new podcast, "Say More About That", in which he interviews people that have gone to therapy and what they were looking for in a therapist. He also asks his guests if they have advice for therapists to help them be better or more effective counselors. Jeff and Gordon also discuss the importance of self-disclosure and why a clear and simple website is essential for getting clients. Meet Jeff Geunther 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. Jeff is the creator and owner of Portland Therapy Center, a highly ranked therapist directory. Jeff has just launched a new progressive therapist directory for at TherapyDen. Subscribe to Jeff's newsletter at therapyden.com to get weekly tips on how to grow your business and attract more clients. Self-Disclosure Gordon figured out by accident when you start to self-disclose, you give your clients a way to be vulnerable. Modeling this vulnerability helps the client connect therapeutically and it becomes more expected by the clients. All therapists are thinking about self-disclosing and are struggling with it in some way. Jeff gently encourages therapists to be more open with their values because it will get more people in the door. Marketing + Trust All clients are looking for something specific with a therapist. They want someone authentic and open. In Jeff's podcast, he asks clients what advice they would give a therapist who is trying to market their practice. The clients said to have the therapists write their websites with no jargon and simple language. Another client said he wants his therapist to have a good style and think about what their office looks like. Gordon always asks his clients if they have seen a therapist before and how the experience was. One client said they had been to a therapist before, but their office was so messy it was hard to concentrate and threw people off. Another person suggested a therapist should have every little detail about getting to their office on their website. For instance, they wanted to know where to park, how much it costs, how many staircases, and so on. Clients are always testing us, but the therapist does not know when they are checking them. One client wanted her therapist to be okay with saying she was fat. If a therapist would not agree, she knew she needed to find a new therapist. Say More About That Say More About That is a podcast that explores the 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. Everything from marketing their services to meeting for the first time to talking about the hard stuff. Say More About That is a podcast for therapists to hear the perspective of the client journey and also for non-therapists who want to hear what therapy is like. Resources Mentioned Killin'it Camp Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice G Suite For Therapists Jeff Geunther's Resources TherapyDen Getting Your Private Practice Directory Listings Noticed How Therapists can Attract More Clients from Psychology Today, GoodTherapy and TherapyDen Say More About That Email: [email protected] Products from Amazon.com -28% Common Factors in Couple and Family Therapy: The Overlooked Foundation for Effective Practice Price: $24.65 Was: $34.00 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 Instagram @TPOTpodcast, Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest. "Like" us on Facebook.

In this episode, Gordon speaks with Lindsey Davis about tapping into niches and how therapists can utilize the help of a dietitian. Lindsey explains in what situations would a therapist want to refer to a dietitian and how the two can work together to assist their clients. We also learn the steps a dietician would take to help their clients and then we hear Lindsey's thoughts on fad diets. Later, Gordon gives Lindsey some advice on her web presence and suggests blogging as frequently as possible to assist with search engine optimization. Meet Lindsey Davis Lindsey Davis is a Registered Dietitian and owner of Restorative Health, a nutritional counseling business aimed at transforming a client's diet and lifestyle by helping them embrace a BALANCED view of health and eliminate any weight-related fear, guilt or shame. Lindsey believes that all foods can fit into your meal plan and health-related goals are met by setting a series of small, measurable, realistic goals. She has worked clinically for 6 years and is well versed in chronic disease treatment as well as weight management. She loves the counseling environment as it allows her to develop a relationship with her clients and walk through a season of life with them. She strives to help her clients develop a positive body image while providing education and support to meet their personal, individualized goals. Dietitian Referrals Lindsey reached out to Gordon to educate others on when the therapy community should refer to a dietitian. For instance, people with eating disorders and disordered eating will benefit from having a registered dietitian. The dietitian can walk through with the client how to have a balanced lifestyle with their food choices. Therapists have clients with eating disorders and do not know how to address the food aspect without a dietitian. Lindsey would refer a client immediately the second you know they have an eating disorder so the dietitian and therapist can start working together. Normal Eating Lindsey's work is very individualized because eating disorders are not universal. Typically, Lindsey tries and nail down the negative thought that is running through her client's head. The dietitian would then challenge the thinking and find one that would reflect the truth. Many clients suggest they want to eat like a reasonable person, so Lindsey uses a resource from the Ellen Satter Institute as to what constitutes normal eating. Then, the client will pick which aspects of normal consumption to challenge them the most and Lindsey will work them one at a time with her clients. Fad Diets The reason Lindsey is so passionate about starting her private practice is because of her personal philosophy. Her philosophy is that all foods fit; she does not believe in excluding or restricting entire food groups unless a medical diagnosis requires it. Eating is about moderation and portion size; Lindsey wants to teach others to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle. People go out to eat, go on road trips, and come into contact with fast food. It is essential to learn how to navigate these situations without any fear or guilt. Specialty Pages Specialty pages are useful for SEO and online marketing. For instance, a specialty page will have one page devoted to binge eating and having one page dedicated to weight loss. These pages do not need to be lengthy, but it can be a subset of the services page. The reason for separate pages is that when people search the web for a particular problem, they will type their specific need. If you have addressed this particular need on your webpage, you will be the site that comes up first on Google. Gordon also suggests stepping blogging up to a few times a month if not once a week. Relevant content is essential for search engine optimization. Resources Mentioned Killin'it Camp Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice The Group Practice Exchange Podcast Lindsey's Resources What is normal eating? By Ellen Satter https://www.restorativehealthrd.com Lindsey's Blog Email: [email protected] Call Lindsey: (479) 226-1286 Products from Amazon.com -46% Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Price: $14.15 Was: $26.00 -34% The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues Price: $16.59 Was: $25.00 -15% Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family: How to Eat, How to Raise Good Eaters, How to Cook Price: $16.95 Was: $19.95 ‹› 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 discusses gratitude and growing on supports. He also dives deep and explains some personal struggles going on in his life recently. Rolling with the punches is critical for growth and reminds Gordon why his independence by being private practice has been such a blessing. Later, Gordon explains how essential safety nets are, how to practice gratitude, and planning for the day. Taking ten to fifteen minutes to prepare for the day will make life much less overwhelming. Independence Being able to work when you want to and being your own boss is a big reason many people move to private practice. Gordon started private practice part-time while working for an agency and the turns of life helped motivate him to move more fully into full-time private practice. His daughter started high school, and Gordon wanted to participate in her extra-curricular activities. If he continued working for the agency he would not be able to do this. Also, Gordon's wife developed breast cancer, and that is when life got complicated for their family. Safety Net When you work for someone else, you build up sick time or paid time off that you can use for medical appointments or even emergencies. When you go into private practice, you will not have this luxury which is why it is critical to have financial reserves built up when becoming self-employed. Also, diversifying your income will assist with your safety net. Find ways to make money without using a lot of your time. For instance, Gordon uses his podcast and financial courses to diversify his income. Practicing Gratitude Therapists are so busy taking care of others but all too often, they forget their self-care. Practicing gratitude is a big part of self-care to navigate the ups and downs of life. Gordon has been guilty of trying to do too much on his own. Honestly, we cannot do it all, and we have to draw on supports. Gordon is grateful for his staff, close friends, and neighbors who support his family in this time of need. Building relationships in your practice will allow us to rely on the community to deal with life's surprises. Lastly, recharging batteries are needed for self-care, especially exercising. Resources Mentioned Michael Hyatt's Full Focus Planner Killin'it Camp Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Products from Amazon.com -26% Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead Price: $12.54 Was: $17.00 -28% Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt - The #1 Daily Planner to Set Annual Goals, Increase Focus, Eliminate Overwhelm, and Achieve Your Biggest Goals - Appointment & Agenda Organizer - Hardcover Price: $42.99 Was: $59.99 -15% Good Days Start With Gratitude: A 52 Week Guide To Cultivate An Attitude Of Gratitude: Gratitude Journal Price: $5.95 Was: $6.99 ‹› 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 Geoff Simons from The Private Practice Hub, an online platform that provides private practice resources in the United Kingdom. Geoff discusses how many therapists get into therapy first before figuring out how to run a business. The business side of their practice seems to be an afterthought. Then, the two discuss UK licensing and some differences between practicing in the United States and overseas. Later, Geoff tells us about his website and the new chatbot technology he is working on for therapist's websites and explains some issues with online therapy. Meet Geoff Simmons Geoff is the founder of the Private Practice Hub and has worked as a consultant, with a thriving psychotherapy practice for over five years. One of his interests is in helping private practitioners torun and grow their businesses more effectively so he developed the Private Practice Hub, a free resource for Private Practitioners which supports and helps the therapist run a successful private practice. When he finds time to relax, he enjoys a good game of tennis and watching the greatest football team ever – c'mon you Spurs! Running a Business Starting a private practice means you are running a business. It starts with writing a marketing plan or a business plan. So many therapists do not do this. Geoff provides a "what if" calculator to evaluate all the costs involved that many people starting a business do not consider. At the end of it, if you charge ten dollars, it will tell you how much you will earn. If you charge one hundred dollars, the calculator will show you how much you will receive. The question Geoff gets the most is how much should a therapist charge for a session? Therapists go into therapy first, then learn how to run a business. Geoff's wife was in finance first then went into therapy. By using Geoff's resources, you can take some of the financial questions off of your plate. UK Licensing In the USA, each state has different licensing laws, while the UK does not have these issues because the law is the law. Geoff has been asked if he can license his platform out to other countries; he is considering this for the future. Once you have your "accreditation" that says you're a clinical psychologist, or another type of clinical discipline, and pay your money, you can now practice as a therapist. Also, you will need to get insurance. Geoff has three different insurance companies that will give special offers to his members. It is interesting how coverage can range with price depending on which company it is. There will be differences when Brexit, happens if it ever happens. Issues will come up with insurance companies after the split. Private Practice Hub The Private Practice Hub has been around for four years and has built up a considerable amount of information. The five pillars of private practice are finance, marketing, administration, human resources, and professional issues. Literally if one goes into marketing, you will see everything one needs to know under the marketing tab, it is all there for someone to read. You can keep clicking through all the hyperlinks. The free resources include lots of downloads, sometimes people have difficulty finding everything with all the resources we provide. Geoff has built a chatbot; artificial intelligence will be on the new website. The bot is still being trained but will know all the resources and where they are. Geoff is building a bot to sit on any therapist's website; there are a lot of ethical issues to work out before it ready to go. Online Therapy Gordon and Geoff talk about the differences in laws for online therapy. In the UK, is where the therapist is required to be licensed, not the location of the client, as it is here in the States. Until there is a legal case proving it one way or the other, that is how the rules are applied. One of the drawbacks with online therapy is the problem of at a person on the screen but cannot see their eyes because they are not looking at the camera. And sometimes it is difficult to understand body language while video conferencing. Also, you are reliant on the bandwidth, whereas when video conference just started, they used something called ISDM. Wireless internet is not as straight forward. Resources Mentioned Being transparent… Some of the resources below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you purchase using the links, we recieve a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links! Killin'it Camp Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice Geoff Simon's Resources Private Practice Hub Become a Member Free Resources [email protected] Products from Amazon.com -41% The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues Price: $14.78 Was: $25.00 -32% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $18.36 Was: $27.00 -31% The One Page Business Plan fo

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast Gordon chats with Laura Poynter who is the HR Director at Mindsight Behavioral Group about creating a workplace culture that has the best work environment possible. Laura and Gordon talk about finding the right people for your organization and then what it takes to create a culture that is warm, nurturing and helps people find success in what they do as clinicians. They also talk about marketing your practice to help maintain the growth and making sure clients are placed with the best clinician for them. Mindsight Behavioral Group is a large group practice located in Eastern Kentucky, with 6 locations and over 80 therapist. It was started and is owned by Kasey Compton, LPC who is also a private practice consultant. Check out episodes, #47, #49 & #50 for more with Kasey. Meet Laura Poynter Laura S. Poynter, BSBA, HRM serves as the Director of Human Resources at Mindsight Behavioral Group. In this role, Laura has the responsibility for the onboarding of new employees, employee benefits, talent management, employee relations, recruiting and retaining employees. She specializes in employee motivation and team management. Laura also provides HR Consulting services for KC Consulting. Prior to joining Mindsight Behavioral Group and KC Consulting, Laura spent 26 years as the Training and Development Coordinator at Kentucky's largest IDD facility where she was responsible for ensuring the training and compliance of over 1300 employees. Laura graduated from Campbellsville University with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resource Management. Ideal Team Player One of the inspirations for Mindsight and the culture they have created comes from the book The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni. Laura talks about how that book inspired them to hire people that are humble, hungry and smart. And for them, the most important characteristic is "hungry". They spend a lot of time with people on the front end to make sure they fit with the culture they have created and live into the company mission, "Mindsight, where people feel cared for". It is a fairly intensive interview process and they outline for people the importance of the culture at Mindsight. They make sure too, that the people they hire are a good fit for the personalities that are already there. The expectations of the staff are very clear and they absolutely keep and maintain a "drama free" workplace. Culture is Everything The key to having a workplace culture that people look forward to coming to every day is making sure there is a lot of fun. It is a "fun-oriented" culture. Laura talks about how the people working at MIndsight are very involved in the community and marketing their own individual practices. Giving people a purpose beyond their job Much of the reason that Mindsight has the culture that they do is people feel that they have a purpose beyond their job. As was mentioned, they are very involved in the community and do a lot to help people outside the therapy room. Helping people be part of the solution The culture lends itself to helping people build on their strengths and be part of the solutions they are trying to find. For example, one clinician was trying to figure out how to optimize her schedule to see more clients. The intake coordinator and she sat down to look at how this could be done in a very collaborative way. The other thing that Laura emphasized was that the culture of Mindsight encourages people to be creative and innovative. One problem the staff conquered was the problem of no-shows. They created a Client Care Coordinator position that put emphasis on giving potential clients a warm and welcoming experience from the very beginning. The person in that position is Brittany, but everyone refers to her as "Bubbly Brittany". This person's job is to not only make the practice welcoming and warm, but make sure clients are getting in with the best clinician for them, based on the issues they are having the personality of the therapist. Logistics of scaling Laura and Gordon switch gears and talk about the logistics of scaling. One of the most important parts of this is making sure you have the systems and processes in place to scale. For example, having a marketing plan that will increase referrals and support added staff. They also talk about the importance of community involvement and how this has very much been a key ingredient for Mindsight's success. They have a network of referral sources that absolutely keeps a steady stream of referrals coming in for their counselors. Culture is also important in scaling in that they have a high retention rate for their staff. People come and they stay which makes it all more appealing to potential clients. And the reason for this is that clients are placed with therapists that are a good fit for them. Which, in turn, makes it possible for clinicians to work with their ideal clients. Another component of scaling that La

In this episode, Gordon speaks with Lisa Wozniak about leaving her corporate job to start her own marketing business. As a marketer, Lisa knows you need to have a niche. After falling in love with the mental health industry, Lisa knew she was exactly where she belonged. Later, Gordon and Lisa discuss sales pitches, connecting with people, and partnering with your competition. Meet Lisa Wozniak Lisa is a Marketing Consultant and owner of Woz Marketing; a marketing company dedicated to helping private practice owner enroll more clients through online marketing strategies. Lisa is driven by her passion for assisting practitioners to overcome different marketing challenges private practice owners face. Lisa has been in the marketing arena for over 25 years. Having worked with several big business clients in a corporate setting, she has realigned her niche to focus on private practice owners by helping them develop and implement creative marketing strategies designed to grow their client base. Lisa's Niche Lisa got to the point where she knew she wanted to go out on her own. Leaving a corporate setting is pretty scary and takes a lot of courage to say enough is enough. Lisa wanted to know if she really did have the chops to make it on her own. To do so, Lisa needed to figure out what her niche is going to be. A niche is what is going to attract people; she needed to find out what space was going to make her special. A family member came down with depression, and she was exposed to the mental health community. After doing some research, Lisa was surprised to find the mental health community had a severe lack of marketing. Sales Pitches When we think about giving a sales pitch, we tend to think about ourselves and our role in the scenario. We need to flip that mindset and focus our attention on the other person. What can you find out about this person that will allow you to assist this person without expecting anything in return? With no expectations, it will take all the pressure off of you. For example, Lisa went in for a physical; the doctor started asking a bunch of mental health type questions. Lisa was handed a sheet about mental health questions. At the bottom of the sheet was a local therapist's information. Partner With Your Competition Collaborating with your competition might feel strange and like a weird concept at first. However, there is more than enough business to go around for all of us. When you meet another therapist, there is always the opportunity to collaborate even if you are a therapist in the same community. There are also opportunities where you are different enough, making it a great partnership for both parties. A partner doesn't have to be someone you go into practice with. It is a partnership in collaboration and marketing techniques. Look out for someone who has that scarcity mindset because they will not be a good partner. Find someone who has a genuine interest in helping you grow your practice and someone who is interested in a long-term relationship with you. Lastly, find a business partner who is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and work right alongside you. Social Media Lisa says clients say they try social media, but it doesn't work. Her clients post once every few weeks, and of course, people are not responding well to inconsistency. As a business owner, you need to give the perception that you are everywhere all the time. This means posting all day every day. The bottom line is, if you are consistent with your marketing over time, it will yield great results for you. Watch Lisa's Interview with Gordon on Youtube Resources Mentioned Being transparent… some of the links below are affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use the links. Thanks for using the links! Email [email protected] to get involved in the mastermind group! Killin'it Camp Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice Lisa Wozniak's Resources [email protected] https://wozmarketing.com LinkedIn YouTube – Woz Marketing Products from Amazon.com Million Dollar Practice: Five Steps to Make Sure Your Group is on Track Price: Check on Amazon -41% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $15.94 Was: $27.00 -33% Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen Price: $16.84 Was: $24.99 ‹› 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 is with Dr. Joanne Royer and they talk about her years as a psychotherapist and her new life chapter as an online coach. In her coaching role, her credentials were essential in helping to fix broken teams in the corporate setting. Currently, Dr. Royer focuses on helping her clients succeed, especially female professionals over the age of fifty. Joanne explains why we should all identify our wins for the day. Gordon and Joanne discuss thought habits, the connection between the mind and heart, and how doubting is hurting your progress. Meet Dr. Joanne Royer Dr. Joanne Royer is the founder and owner of Change Agent & Associates. After 25+ years as a psychotherapist, today in a new career chapter, Dr. Joanne provides online coaching to female career professionals approaching 50 and beyond who are finally ready to create a different relationship with their self-doubt, and the overthinking, overanalyzing and never-ending quest to be perfect, that's been holding them back. A graduate of Coach U in 2006 and member of the International Coaching Federation. Executive Coaching Joanne's coaching background included a two-year program and a certification. She worked in mental health agencies and was hired to fix broken systems from a team perspective. Joanne's coaching fundamentals came handy with her corporate executive approach. She could see the reverberations of this coaching style. It came down to the therapist's doubts about their capabilities. Change is small; we have to learn how to identify the small steps of successes that our clients are taking. Therapists also need to determine the wins of their days while working with clients. Thought Habits Thought habits are almost similar to how we make choices in our eating. It becomes habitual, in a new restaurant we are bound and determined to have something we have never had before. However, when the waiter comes, we order something we usually eat. People tend to eat the same things. Our thoughts also become habitual; we are not even aware of what we are thinking. Ideas are connected to feelings and feelings are related to our actions. First, be mindful of what you are feeling. Second-guessing your competencies and doubting your abilities will not allow you to help your client recognize their strengths. The Mind The mind is just an organ as the heart is. We need to work hard at helping connect the mind with the heart. The mind doesn't give us an answer; it gives us many obstacles. Our mind wants to keep us safe and stay in the familiar and the predictable. Our brains do not like change and want to pull us back in familiar ways of thinking. We want to be three steps ahead of our minds. Write down thoughts that you want to think instead of going with your critical voice. Connecting the heart and soul is the ultimate relationship because our heart gives us the answers. Doubt Doubting your capabilities, doubting your lovability, thinking you are too old to go for a promotion. Your passion might be to create a business out of what you love doing. However, many women think they are too old to start a business and take on something new. They doubt they have the skills and abilities to carry out the task. If you can decide without expectation, how would you show up then? Second-guessing and perfectionism are considerable contributors to our negative thought-processes. If you mess up a recipe, it just means you know how to improve the next time. We are always going to have a do-over. Getting out of our comfort zones will push our limits. Resources Mentioned Being transparent… Some of the links below are affiliate links, which simply means we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use the links. Thanks for using the links! Killin'it Camp Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D. Dr. Joanne Royer's Resources https://www.joanneroyerphd.com Phone: 978.308.9330 [email protected] Thoughts keeping you up at night? Grab my free eBook to learn how to manage your thinking and put those thoughts to bed! https://app.monstercampaigns.com/c/yvm84xpqdbgkjc1dp4f3/ Products from Amazon.com -1% Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis Price: $59.51 -20% Breaking the Patterns of Depression Price: $13.52 Was: $17.00 -34% Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Price: $17.10 Was: $26.00 ‹› 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 speaks with Laura Long about her "badass" coaching business, YouTube channel, and private practice. Laura explains how her private practice started as a side gig while working at an assessment center for foster care parents. Then, Laura analyzes how her practice became lucrative and why she started her own coaching business. Later, Gordon and Laura discuss being your authentic self, why you should not be afraid to fail, and how to create the private practice you want to have. Meet Laura Long Laura Long is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the owner of YourBadAssTherapyPractice.com, where she helps ambitious, Type-A therapists push through their fears and unleash their inner badass in private practice. Laura offers free practice-building tools through her email list and her brand new Youtube channel. Her signature 8-week online course has successfully graduated over 200 therapists, and she also runs small mastermind groups and a private online community reserved for her students. Laura is best known for her off-the-cuff coaching style that includes colorful language, a witty sense of humor, and an uncanny ability to keep it real. Her unique approach to marketing and customer service challenges the status quo and helps therapists to become better business owners. She shows therapists how to grow and scale their practices without losing their minds – because building your private practice should be fun! You can read Laura's blog at www.YourBadAssTherapyPractice.com and follow her antics at www.Facebook.com/YourBadAssTherapyPractice. Private Practice as a Side Gig Laura took a break from therapy for and worked at an assessment center for foster care parents. To make some extra money on the side, Laura started a private practice; it gave her permission not to take it very seriously. She treated her private practice as a hobby and only got a few clients. The foster care agency became a toxic environment and Laura decided to grow her private practice instead. With no plan, Laura felt she had made a rash decision by quitting her steady paycheck for the unknown world of private practice. Becoming Lucrative Private practice was no longer a hobby and Laura needed to make her private practice something lucrative. Nose to the grindstone, Laura figured it out. Now, Laura gets to help other people start their private practice, and she wants everyone to know her journey was not as easy as it sounds. There is no best way to get to your result as everyone's journeys are different. For instance, Laura hired a coach to assist her with a YouTube channel. Her coach answered the tiny little questions that would come up. Her coach told her there was not one right way but gave her suggestions on things to try. Coaching Laura started coaching others when there were no Facebook pages or websites to help aspiring therapists. In 2016, Laura began to her actual business to help therapists. It's an eight-week course giving advice and tips for starting your practice. Also, coaching on YouTube has allowed her to grow her practice and help others to begin their practices. A common question asked from her viewers are how to get more clients. Lately, her fans have been asking how to get more clients while still being themselves. Therapists want to be more authentic in their marketing and be more selective in the type of clients they take. Resources Mentioned Being transparent… Some of the resources below are affiliate links. this just simply means we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you use the links to purchase. Thanks for using the links! Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice Jump – Steve Harvey >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Laura's Resources Throw away your business cards and join Laura Long for her 8-week program, "Your Badass Therapy Practice," where she distills the secrets of top-performing private practice clinicians and helps you unleash your inner badass! Laura's Course YouTube Channel www.Facebook.com/YourBadAssTherapyPractice. www.YourBadAssTherapyPractice.com Products from Amazon.com -20% Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance Price: $12.78 Was: $15.99 -33% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $18.01 Was: $27.00 -34% Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself Price: $17.70 Was: $27.00 -34% Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Price: $17.10 Was: $26.00 ‹› 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 discusses the ethics of money management in clinical practice. Gordon's favorite course in graduate school was legal and ethical issues in counseling. First, Gordon discusses documentation and some ethical considerations when taking payment for a session. One suggestion is to keep the client's specific finances separate from the bigger picture business finances. Later, Gordon informs us on how to turn a profit and some tips on setting a sliding-scale fee. Stay tuned to hear Gordon's thoughts on ethically keeping accurate records for tax information and what to do when a client does not show. Implementing Ethics Clients see the clinician with an expectation of paying; most people do not expect free services. The deciding factor for many clients is whether or not the clinician accepts insurance. Insurance panels are bound legally by a contract to provide services to people with this insurance at the rate that was agreed to. When receiving payments, the clinicians need to have systems in place to track the financial side of the business. Documentation If you are in private practice and someone pays you for your services; how do you document that payment? Larger practices probably are using an electronic health record system in place to file claims. In that system, there is also a financial component to it; a patient billing system. You can look and see what a patient owes for a session if the claims have been filed, what you can expect to receive, and what the patient might owe for copays. These systems will significantly alleviate any stress concerning the business side of private practice. If you are just getting to start your practice, you can do something simple with a spreadsheet. Business Finances You receive a payment from the client, it is documented, but then you need to know what to do with the money next. Obviously, you are going to want to put it in the bank. There should be a whole separate system for the business side of your finances. Using a system like QuickBooks or FreshBookswill help you keep your books and track your income. It is a good practice, when using these systems, that as money comes in, that you leave out the names of clients in those transactions. Instead just make a notation that came from a client, but no client name. It is a great way to track the income and expenses for your business. Ethically, keep track of your money with client records and have another system for your business finances. Profiting and Fees To have a profit, the amount of income you have need to exceed the number of expenses you have. Tracking your earnings over time is really important to the expansion of your business. Knowing your profit and loss statement each month will allow you to see where you stand financially. You might want to consider using a sliding-scale fee for people who do not have insurance or who choose not to use their insurance for counseling services. This fee is based on the person's income and is typically found at non-profit organizations. Do not set your prices too low. Gordon's lowest fee used to be thirty dollars, this was too low to maintain Gordon's practice. Ensure your scale range is viable for you and fair for your clients. One suggestion Gordon has is to set your lowest fee at what your average per-session rate is. No-Show Expectations If you have many no-shows, that is something you need to address. You have an ethical responsibility to discuss this with your clients. Many times, clients not showing up for sessions is a clinical issue. This was ingrained in Gordon from graduate school. As the clinician, you need to be able to ask what is wrong with them that they are avoiding sessions. Make sure in your intake paperwork that it is noted they will get charged if they no-show you for a session. Keep clients credit cards electronically, so you have access to their information in case of a no-show. Gordon does give them the option to not provide their credit card information; a surcharge will be added however if they need to take a payment. All of this gets discussed at an intake session and in their intake paperwork. Resources Mentioned Disclaimer: some of the resources mentioned are affiliate links. This simply means we receive a commission if you purchase the service or product mentioned, at no extra cost to you, if you use those links. Thanks for using the links! Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Money Matters in Private Practice QuickBooks FreshBooks >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Products from Amazon.com -41% Clinical Ethics, 8th Edition: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine, 8E Price: $31.17 Was: $53.00 Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach Price: Check on Amazon -32% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $18.36 Was: $27.00 -50% QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2019 [PC Disc] Price: $149.00 Was: $299.99 ‹› Meet Gordon Brewer

In this episode, Gordon goes solo and kicks off the show discussing his DNA results and how it is that time of the year again. You guessed it, taxes! We learn about self-employment taxes and how to withhold things from your check. Then, Gordon explains Social Security and Medicare taxes and why you may need to consider sales and franchise taxes. Later, Gordon reveals when starting his business he invested in QuickBooks to assist with his payroll, taxes, and expenses. How Income Tax Is Different For The Self-Employed Most people are aware that they need to pay income tax. However, in addition to income tax, we also have to pay Social Security tax and Medicare Tax. If you get a pay stub, you will notice that it is broken down for you. It's usually 3-line items plus other deductions from your pay, such health insurance, and retirement benefits. What most people are unaware of though is that employers are required to pay half of your Social Security and Medicare Tax that is due. This part is not deducted from your paycheck. It is an expense for the employer; regular employment is taxed very different from self-employment. 15.3% of what you earned is automatically taxed across the board. As an employee, your employer pays half of that. Social Security Currently, the Social Security tax is 12.4% of your earnings. If you are employed you are only deducted half of that, 6.2% and the employer pays the other half. When you are self-employed, you have to pay the full 12.4% on your net profit. (I'll explain this later) Medicare Currently, the Medicare tax is 2.9% of your earnings. Like Social Security, you are only deducted half of that; 1.45% and the employer pays the other half. For those that are self-employed, you pay the full 2.9% of your net profit. (Again, more on that later.) So for people that are self-employed, they are required to pay a minimum of 15.3% of the net profit their business each year just for Social Security and Medicare Taxes. In addition to this, you are required to pay income tax based on your tax bracket and withholding allowances. The Good News and Bad News Of It So the good news about being self-employed is you only pay taxes on your profit as a business. You have probably heard from many people that you can "deduct" business expenses. This means that any legitimate business expenses (rent, telephones, office supplies, travel for continuing ed, utilities, etc.) can be "deducted" from your total income. Then you only pay tax on the amount after those deductions have been subtracted (aka, profit). Remember Gross Income – Expenses = Profit (or Net Income)? You only pay taxes on the profit. Here's an example. Total practice income for the year = $50,000.00 Total practice expensed for the year = $25,000.00 Net Income is then = $25,000.00 Social Security & Medicare Tax would be $25,000.00 x 15.3% = $3825.00 Then, you would also owe income tax on whatever your tax bracket and standard allowances are. So in this example, for a married person filing the tax jointly is 10% (based on 2019 tax table). $25,000 x 10% = $2,500.00 So total tax owed for the year would be $2500 + $3825 = $6325.00 Of course, everyone's tax situation is going vary based on tax credits and allowances given for things like child care, college tuition, student loans, etc. Those are other things you can deduct for depending on your situation. So even in this example, your total tax could (and probably will be less. AGAIN, CONSULT WITH A TAX EXPERT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR SITUATION WOULD BE! Resources Mentioned Full disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links. This simply means that if you use these links to purchase the product or service we receive a commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using these links! Practice Solutions Money Matters in Private Practice FreshBooks QuickBooks Accounting Templates for Google Sheets Take advantage of the pre-launch of the Money Matters in Private Practice Course! Get the entire course for 50% off during the pre-launch. >>Enroll Here Products from Amazon.com -50% QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2019 [PC Disc] Price: $149.00 Was: $299.99 -53% Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Gig Workers of All Types Price: $18.80 Was: $39.99 -34% J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2019: Your Complete Guide to a Better Bottom Line Price: $15.15 Was: $22.95 ‹› 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 speaks with Dr. Megan Warner about her online community, Practibytes. Megan intends on bridging the gap between clinicians and academia. Often, clinicians want more knowledge about recent science and academic expertise but do not have access to this research. Megan wants to bring information to clinicians and help therapists help their clients. Later, Megan tells us about some recent research on personality disorders and her big plans for the online community she built. Meet Dr. Megan Warner Dr. Megan Warner is a clinical psychologist, private practice owner, and most recently the founder of Practibytes, an online communitywhere therapists have access to the most relevant and practical research findings from the academic world. Megan designed Practibytes to meet therapists needs to feel great about their clinical work without costing them a lot of time. Practibytes provides quick and practical tidbits of clinically relevant research. Practibytes is bridging the gap between science and practice. Academic researchers share their most important and relevant findings directly with the therapists that need them, and in utilizing these findings therapists elevate their work, their reputation, their confidence, and their impact on clients. Practibytes Just like Megan's private practice, she wants to bridge clinical and academia. As clinicians, we are spending much time worrying and thinking about how to market and build our practices. Megan realized there was a lack of educational research available for their clinicians. In graduate school, research is continuously being thrown at you, and the ability to find new information is always near. Well-intentioned clinicians get imposter syndrome because they feel as though they do not have the latest science. Academics deeply know the research, but cannot always get it to the clinicians. Practibytes changes all of this and bridges the gap between clinicians and academia. Megan views Practibytes as her journey to be a macro of what her practice is. She utilizes a W2 model because she enjoys the control, having a shared mission, and feels less lonely. Community The Practibyte Facebook page will be the home base for our community. Megan shares some recent academic research that was revealed to her by a colleague. Many therapists believe how daunting it is to work with clients who have personality disorders. However, these disorders are not as stable as many people are trained to think. Actually, these people tend to get better over time with or without treatment. Megan leans on her academic community to provide this type of content for her and her community. The Facebook group will serve as a platform to reach those clinicians who are interested in this type of research. Later, Megan will make this a membership subscription with YouTube interviews or podcast snippets. Resources Mentioned Therapy Notes Money Matters Course >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Megan's Resources Email: [email protected] Invite to Join Practibytes Products from Amazon.com -34% Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business Price: $17.10 Was: $26.00 -32% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $18.36 Was: $27.00 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 speaks with Jessica Tappana about her superpower, search engine optimization. She highly suggests using Yoast to boost your SEO and advises how to improve your Google ranking. Jessica also explains the importance of flexibility, keywords, and blogging. She recently had a client struggle with their ranking and found how their competitors had hundreds and hundreds of bank links. Backlinks can be something that needs your entire attention to improve Google rankings. 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. Meanwhile, Jessica has discovered a passion for teaching other private practice owners what she has learned about website Search Engine Optimization. As a private practice SEO Consultant, she has had the opportunity to work with therapists from around the country sharing her SEO secrets. She's both optimized websites for private practices AND has taught therapists how to do the SEO work themselves through Zoom meetings and enjoyed watching their sites begin to climb to the first page of Google even in larger metropolitan areas like Atlanta or Houston. Recently Jessica released a FREE 7-day e-mail series that teaches therapists all the necessary information they need to know and has received positive feedback across the board from other practice owners who are raving about the vast amount of information covered in only seven e-mails. Flexibility Jessica's dream was only to work three days a week to stay at home with her children. Her office was low cost, and she did not even have a website. Her hours filled up, and she kept adding hours and clients. Eventually, this turned into a full-time gig, so she needed to add more people to her business. By marketing herself, Jessica's favorite activity is going to coffee with others. Coffee hour took up a lot of time, so it is no longer her primary marketing tool. Jessica learned how to use search engine optimization to utilize her website. Search Engine Optimization Should you try to do your SEO or hire someone else to do it? If you have a competitive area or need to get to the first page and rank quickly, then you may want to pay someone. If you have limited funds, are a DIY type, or have more time then you may want to learn how to do it yourself. Where do you even start if you're going to improve the SEO yourself? One great place to start is by changing the meta descriptions on your site. Keywords A keyword is something you would type into Google to find what you are looking for. Jessica asked her friends what they would type into Google if they were looking for a therapist. You can also try simply typing in your search. At the bottom, Google will offer similar searches that other people have used. How do you choose what keywords to target? Is it worth it to target more general "short tail" keywords like "counseling near me"? The answer is it depends on location but frequently yes. Blogging Blogging is one of Jessica's favorite things to talk about; it is essential for SEO. New content will alert Google that this website has fresh and relevant information. With updated content, Google will bump you up on the rankings. For someone who doesn't like writing, Jessica says there are ways around it. If you're thinking of your ideal content, start considering the type of things your clients would want to read. Jessica even pays people to write blog content. It is essential to ensure the blogs posts are unique and not copied from other websites. Resources Mentioned Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Mastermind Group Yoast >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Jessica's Resources www.SimplifiedSEOConsulting.com www.AspireCounselingMO.com Products from Amazon.com -24% SEO For Dummies Price: $22.91 Was: $29.99 SEO 2019: Learn search engine optimization with smart internet marketing strategies Price: Check on Amazon 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 has a conversation with Ellie Vargas about her private pay psychotherapy practice and why there is no quick path to building this kind of business. Ellie's journey took her to start the Bay Area Center for Immigration Evaluations and this venture assists with diversifying her income because she shares a fee with the clinicians in her business. Later, Ellie explains why she wouldn't change the way she started her business and gives tips on expanding your practice. Meet Ellie Vargas Ellie Vargas, LCSW is a trauma-informed psychotherapist in Berkeley, CA (www.EllieVargasTherapy.com) where she specializes in helping individuals become more present, authentic, and connected in their relationships – even after childhood relational trauma. Ellie also founded and runs the Bay Area Center for Immigration Evaluations (www.bacie.org). She and her team conduct psychological evaluations and write reports for legal immigration cases. Diversifying Income The Bay Area Center for Immigration Evaluations allows Ellie to have other therapists take referrals under her business. This unique niche group practice creates passive income for Ellie, and she describes the fascinating journey to get there. The group practice is remote with a virtual assistant. As demand grew, more clinicians hopped on. Her practice is a training institute, and Ellie provides a lot of materials and oversight to ensure her clinicians are up-to-date. They are sharing the fee with Ellie, but those clinicians do not have to hustle for the business. Lessons Learned Ellie left her salaried position to start a group practice because she felt like she had a good idea. In hindsight, Ellie believes everything she struggled with to get here is all part of her journey and helped evolve her business to where it needed to go. Therefore, Ellie would not do anything differently if she could because those mistakes built her business. Tips for Expansion Think about the skills you already have. For example, Ellie knew how to give a thorough psychotherapy evaluation. She used these skills to offer them in a similar but slightly different way. Ideally, use these skills to fill a demand. Ellie saw a market for immigration evaluations, and so she started a business. The more diversified you can be, the better. Diversifying Outside Your Usual Services As any practice grows, clinicians can reach a place where they need to increase income without having to increase their workload. It's important to be able to think outside the box and find ways to bring in additional income without having to add to your workload in the long run. This is where providing services as Ellie has mentioned becomes important. You want to be able to structure things so that you get the maximum amount of return of your time and efforts. In other words, learn to work smarter, not harder. Resources Mentioned Brighter Vision Therapy Notes >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Ellie's Resources www.EllieVargasTherapy.com www.bacie.org FREE WEBINAR SERIES Products from Amazon.com -22% Forensic Psychological Assessment in Immigration Court Price: $35.26 Was: $44.95 -28% Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt - The #1 Daily Planner to Set Annual Goals, Increase Focus, Eliminate Overwhelm, and Achieve Your Biggest Goals - Appointment & Agenda Organizer - Hardcover Price: $42.99 Was: $59.99 -34% Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals Price: $16.50 Was: $24.99 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 the first podcast episode of 2019, Gordon has a conversation with Amanda Patterson about her private practice in Pembroke Pines and how she utilizes social media to gain clients. Then, Amanda gives some advice on keeping private information private, using professional pictures, and social media reviews. Then, Amanda and Gordon discuss the benefits and possible issues with Facebook groups and Amanda explains some ethical dilemmas that come about. 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 Social Media Amanda has been a therapist for over ten years and never imagined herself going into private practice. Her group practice is in Pembroke Pines, Florida and she utilizes social media to gain clients. In the beginning, she would private message people online to try and increase her clientele. Facebook and Instagram allow you to create business pages and keep personal information private from the public eye. Amanda wants everyone to ensure their webpage looks pretty and suggests using Canva to perfect headers and posts. Also, use a professional picture to appeal to your audience and capture their attention. On Instagram, it is essential to have a consistent color scheme to keep an audience on your page for as long as possible. Amanda points out that social media is a long-term marketing plan. She gets most of her clients from being on the first page of Google. However, those clients will look at social media reviews and make their decision based on that. Thirty hashtags on Instagram will target an audience and create follower growth. Facebook Groups Facebook groups are a great way to attract clients and become an essential part of your community. Amanda even joins Facebook groups with other therapists to network and gain potential referrals. Throwback Thursdays are a creative way to engage a Facebook group and a way to advertise your niche therapy. For example, you can share your services in a Facebook group free of charge, and those people will think of you first when looking for a therapist. Amanda did a thirty-day marketing challenge on a Facebook group and engaged many people. The group was left open and is now a support system for over seven-thousand therapists. Amanda recommends not breaking HIPAA because people can screenshot and it could break potential laws. Ethics Amanda recommends not breaking HIPAA on social media because people can screenshot and it could break potential laws. A social media policy should be involved in your informed consent paperwork. For example, Amanda will not answer messages on social media from her clients to ensure she is following all ethical practices. Do not ask your clients for Facebook reviews, ask your colleagues to review on social media instead. Resources Mentioned >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Amanda's Resources Facebook Twitter Instagram My Private Practice Tribe Podcast Sponsors For 2019 Practice Solutions Brighter Vision Therapy Notes Products from Amazon.com -28% Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt - The #1 Daily Planner to Set Annual Goals, Increase Focus, Eliminate Overwhelm, and Achieve Your Biggest Goals - Appointment & Agenda Organizer - Hardcover Price: $42.99 Was: $59.99 -20% Social Media Marketing Workbook: How to Use Social Media for Business (2019 Updated Edition) Price: $31.80 Was: $39.99 Social Media Marketing 2019: Step by Step Instructions For Advertising Your Business on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin and Various Other Platforms [2nd Edition] Price: Check on Amazon 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 podcast episode, Gordon has a conversation with Cecilia Briseno, LCSW and her unique niche of working with clients who are navigating the immigration process. First, Cecilia explains her background and what initially inspired her to create a niche. The two then go in-depth discussing the most common evaluation for clinicians to utilize, the hardship evaluation. Later, Cecilia explains the other types of evaluations, the training she provides for clinicians, and tips for anyone wanting to get into this type of work. Meet Cecilia Briseno, LCSW Cecilia Briseno is a bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a private practice, Bright Side Family Therapy, in Arlington, TX. Cecilia has a total of 17 years of experience in social work in a variety of settings and roles. Cecilia received her BSW and MSSW from the University of Texas at Arlington. It was during her graduate internship that she studied the model of therapy that she still uses today, Solution Focused Therapy (SFT). Following the completion of her master's program, Cecilia went on to study Marriage and Family Therapy in a doctoral program at Texas Woman's University, which helped her to broaden her knowledge of SFT and family systems. Cecilia has found her niche in working with couples primarily while also working with families navigating through the immigration process. When appropriate, Cecilia provides evaluations explaining the hardships they face when separated from their loved ones. She is now also providing training for clinicians interested in working with immigrants. By first having her client's paint a detailed picture of their desired future, Cecilia is then able to help them explore past and present successes, no matter how small, to start attaining the future they wish. The beauty of the approach Cecilia uses is that this process frequently helps the client to see that they are closer to their desired future than they realized, increasing hope and motivation. Hardship Evaluation The primary evaluation is an extreme hardship waiver. This evaluation is necessary when a resident is married to someone that is undocumented. In most cases, if the undocumented spouse returned to their country, it would cause financial hardship. For example, if the spouse took care of their children, then the partner would have to start paying for childcare. Typically the man is undocumented, and the wife is a citizen with young kids. Parents can request on behalf of their children and vice versa. Depending on the attorney, Cecilia has to adjust the evaluation accordingly. Immigration Evaluation Boot Camp Anywhere that hits the border; there is an increasing number of people that need these evaluations. Cecilia provides a four-hour long course on the extreme hardship waiver. Also, she provides a boot camp that is two full days covering five different types of assessments. It would be best if you were individually licensed, interested in working with this population, and hopefully bilingual. The course goes over intake calls, forms you'll need to use, the formation of the evaluations, building relationships with the attorneys, and any follow-ups. Everything you would need is included in this boot camp. The next day after the boot camp, you can start offering the service. Tips For Clinicians Flexibility and compassion are essential for a clinician to work with this demographic. With so many unknowns and the clients often do not get much support from the community. Clinicians who work with families do well with this group. Very quickly you learn the entire family is useful for the evaluation. Cecilia often interviews the whole family to complete her evaluations. Cecilia is strictly private pay. Most clients that come to her do not have insurance. Also, Cecilia tends to charge on the lower end because she wants her clients to be able to afford her services. Your clients know if you have the best intentions in mind or not because you'll be welcoming and understanding to their needs. If a client sees your passion, they will work with you for the price and timing. Five Types of Evaluations Hardship: When a resident is married to someone that is undocumented. U Visa: An undocumented person was a victim of a crime here in the United States. They need to stay to deal with the trauma and assist with the criminal investigation. VAWA: Victims of domestic violence. The abuser is not willing to help the undocumented person to fix their papers. Asylum: Fleeing their country for reasons of persecution. Cancellation of Removal: Already have orders to leave the country and it's a time-sensitive situation. The client has to explain the repercussions that would happen if they were forced to leave the country. Political Climate With the current political climate, there are more hoops to jump through, and things are changing quickly. Information needs to be altered on evaluations, and Cecilia has to see her clients more often. There was a decrease of people coming for the e

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon opens up the show thinking about the New Year coming up and points out how everyone is in a celebration mode, planning for 2019, and making resolutions. The web conference Gordon recently took part in highlighted how to be productive in your private practice and how to improve your processes and systems. First, Gordon reveals how he went from being unorganized and even missing a client appointment to writing everything down in his planner. Then, we find out how to put the proper systems in place, tips on staying organized, and some important things to remember about goal setting. Productivity Gordon reveals he was not an organized person when he started his private practice he was working for an agency. With so much on his plate, Gordon felt like he was juggling many things and letting essential items slip through the cracks. One day, Gordon completely missed an appointment with a client and he was mortified this happened. Without the proper calendar and systems in place, he realized he would not be able to keep track of everything he needed to do. Systems in Place Getting Things Done by David Allen inspired Gordon to put the proper systems in place. Gordon has a paper planner because it causes him to slow down enough to think about his day. He recommends spending at least ten or fifteen minutes to plan your day. This planning has gone far in helping Gordon to stay on track throughout the day. Then, Gordon reveals he suffers from shiny object syndrome – continually getting distracted from something shiny. Instead of keeping things in your head, make sure they get written down somewhere you are going to look. Stay Organized If you were to organize your house or garage, get a big huge box and throw everything into it. The best way to capture things in your head is to have a pen and paper. Gordon uses a moleskin notebook, and his planner has a place for notes. Also, if something comes up during the day, Gordon jots it down on a list. There is no order on the list; it is just a way to capture thoughts throughout the day. David Allen says there are five things to do with the list of your random thoughts: Act Immediately: If it is something that can be accomplished in two minutes or less, go ahead and do it then and there. Delegate: Get yourself in the habit of delegation. For example, Gordon has learned to hand things off to his office assistant. Save for Later: These can be things related to a project or a bigger picture. Gordon gets requests to pull up medical records, and this may take a little more time to accomplish. Gordon schedules it in his calendar, so he does not forget about it later. Reference Materials: Save something if you want to read later, file it away, so you remember to go back and look at it. Delete: This is something Gordon trained himself to do. Delete things you do not need to hold onto any longer. Clean out that email inbox, ditch the clutter! Gordon gets Pinterest notifications on his personal email, and he needs to remember to unsubscribe to those Pinterest notifications. Automate Most of us have repeated tasks we do day in and day out. To assist with productivity, you should create a template to streamline things. Gordon uses templates for his session notes. Also, document your workflow. Creating step-by-step training for staff will simplify the workday. Screen captures and videos of the workflow process will save you time and money on training each new staff member. Once you document your workflow once, it is so much easier to delegate to others. Goal Setting The rule of threes. Only work on three things at a time. The process Gordon uses is starting with his yearly goals. If you write out your goals, you are sixty-one percent more likely to accomplish your goals. Keep your annual goals to no more than twelve. When writing goals for yourself, make sure you put a timestamp on it. For example, setting a goal for getting your debt down, have a specific month in mind. If you cannot do the whole goal in a single year, think about completing half of the goal in a year. Treatment plan goals need to be measurable, so should your personal goals. Don't just say "get healthier." Instead say, exercise four times a week. Weekly goals should have several different steps: three goals per week and three goals per day. If you get distracted like Gordon, commit yourself to finish what you start. Finally, Gordon explains what batching your tasks means. You need to cut out your phone and all other distractions to complete one particular task. This is also referred to as sprints, getting things done in twenty-minute intervals. Resources Mentioned Practikat FREEBIE: Organize Your Private Practice From A-Z Full Focus Planner Session Note Helper Practice Solutions Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast Products from Amazon.com -32% Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity Price: $11.55 Was: $17.00 -28% Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with BrighterVision CEO and Founder, Perry Rosenbloom. Perry and Gordon chat about Brighter Vision and what inspired Perry to start his business. Also, Perry reveals the tools Brighter Vision uses to enhance and build an active webpage. For example, Brighter Vision has an SEO specialist that will audit your SEO, with other companies the cost of an SEO audit is astronomical. However, Brighter Vision builds this cost into their services. Later, Perry gives his tips on getting a better website ranking. Blogging is a useful tool and showcasing your specialties will ensure a high ranking on a specific Google search. 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 Perry started Brighter Vision four years ago to help therapists' brand themselves more effectively, so they can get the types of clients they love working with. The company focuses on building brands and websites. This upcoming year, they are offering marketing automation solutions designed exclusively for therapists. Perry started this business because he wanted to create websites for exclusively one industry. Focusing on one industry saves money for his company and his clients. Website Help The process is as streamlined and straightforward as possible. When signing up for Brighter Vision, you will receive a design team and gain the help of two developers. Fill out a brief online questionnaire, pick a theme, and a week later the team will have a website specifically designed for your needs. Once you're ready for the site to go live, the team makes the switch, and you will be able to get technical advice and guidance whenever needed. Using Brighter Vision, you will not need to learn SEO or learn how to change the color of a sentence. Also, the SEO specialist will audit your SEO; usually this would cost a couple of hundred dollars. However, with Brighter Vision, you can get this SEO audit with the cost of your membership. Lastly, Brighter Insights will rank your brand online from Google Analytics in a readable and straightforward way. Website Ranking Blogging can be useful in positioning yourself as an expert. Brighter Vision has a tool that allows their customers to blog easily. The growth platform will enable you to access blog posts and have automatic sharing services to social media accounts. The biggest mistake Perry sees therapists make is not having specific service pages to market their specialties. Most therapists have a particular services page; however, Google ranks websites as accurate as possible to a consumer's search request. When someone is doing a basic therapist search, he or she is doing initial research. You want to focus on someone who is searching for a specific therapist. If you do not have pages listing your specific searches, then your page won't get any Google hits. >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Resources Mentioned: Brighter Vision Brighter Vision's Blog SEO Sherpa Money Matters in Private 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, 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 goes solo and discusses his Thanksgiving traditions and how he tries to practice gratitude. Then, Gordon tells us about the recent conference he attended and his nomination for Best Therapist Blog from 2018 Best of Therapist Resources Awards. Later, we learn how networking can have a positive impact on ourselves and the lives of others in the community. Gordon then discusses the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why and what some students in Michigan did to address teen suicide with a program called 13 Reason Why Not. Lastly, Gordon sends thoughts and prayers to Paradise, CA and everyone affected by the shootings plaguing our country. Practicing Gratitude, Kindness, and Compassion Gordon reveals how he is grateful for all the therapists out there because of the hardships they carry. Also, Gordon reminds us to practice compassion and kindness toward yourself and others. Solo practicing can be a lonely time, so it is essential to practice gratitude toward your relationships with others. During the conference, Gordon reveals how he was able to form bonds with other therapists and get affirmation that his work is recognized. Then, Gordon encourages us to rally around each other and be grateful for the work everyone does to help others. Networking Gordon discusses how networking with like-minded colleagues and doing advocacy work will have a positive impact on your life and the lives of the others. Recently, in Texas, there was a push to do away with licenses to limit the ability of therapists to give diagnoses. Mental health provider associations did away with this push. Networking with others help make changes to policies and prevent ones that could do damage to the community. Staying involved is another way to show gratitude, by understanding the city and showing a genuine interest in your community. Resources Mentioned: 2018 Best of Therapist Resources Awards BrighterVision Therapist Experience Podcast Products from Amazon.com -40% Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead Price: $10.16 Was: $17.00 -26% Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy Price: $11.08 Was: $14.99 Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks Price: Check on Amazon 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 Tina talk about how intensives are a game changer for private practice because it allows you to increase profits for less time worked. Tina explains what inspired her to get her certification as a sex addiction therapist and how it lead to other intensives she now offers. Next, the two discuss niches and some things that may be preventing therapists from creating one. Tina reveals some external and internal blocks that could be the culprit of your hesitancy. Later, Gordon and Tina talk about passive income, planning long-term, and collaborating with others. Meet Tina Wehner Tina Wehner is the Founder and Executive Director of Livingwell Counseling and Associates, established in 2012. She is a counselor, a supervisor, and a consultant. Tina earned her BA in Human Services from Elon University and later received her Master's degree in Counseling from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte. Tina is a North Carolina Licensed Professional Counselor and supervisor (LPCS), a Certified Sex Addictions Therapist and supervisor (CSAT-S) and educational Supervisor (CSAT-S), and of the only Certified Hope and Freedom Practitioners (CHFP) in the country. In addition to treating individuals and couples with traditional therapy, Tina's advanced training and certification by Hope and Freedom founder, Dr. Milton Magness, brings the groundbreaking sex addiction treatment model to her practice. Over the years Tina has developed various other "3 Day Intensive" programs for individuals, couples, families, and groups. She now offers a wide variety of Intensive therapy through LivingWell and LivingWell Recovery and over six years have facilitated nearly 100 Intensives during that time. Intensive therapy includes many different modalities of treatments, comes packaged in several options related to timeframe and is an excellent option for most situations that clients would seek traditional therapy. We often say using an Intensive approach is like getting 3 to 6 months of traditional therapy in 3 days! Not only is Tina a "go-getter," she a gifted motivator. She is acutely aware of the emotional struggles her clients and supervised clinicians face on a daily basis. Her life experiences along with her comprehensive education and experience shine through with unparalleled compassion and understanding. Because of her mission to come alongside others in need, she has recently launched her consulting business, The Confident Clinician to support clinicians in powerful ways, finding their confidence as practitioners and exponentially impacting more people as a result. Tina grew up in Durham and currently lives with her family in Concord, NC. She is the mom of twin teenage daughters and a younger son. Three-Day Intensives Tina tells a story about how her clients needed intensive therapy for sex addiction, and she kept referring couples to see a specialist. After referring multiple couples, Tina knew she wanted to get her sex addiction license to serve her clients better. Now, Tina can charge well over her average session rate to give her clients crisis intervention. Also, she feels more like a coach and a guide instead of just a therapist. In addition to the sex addiction intensives, Tina also offers marriage intensives, family of origin intensives, and family intensives. Gordon points out that intensives give more bang for your buck because you can increase your profits for less time worked. Niches Tina points out that therapists have external and internal blocks that prevent them from pursuing a niche. External blocks are the client demographics in your area might not need niche therapy, or there may not be any training programs in your area. Some internal blocks include doubting your ability to pull off niche therapy. Tina points out that when someone becomes an expert, people will find you because they are searching for the best. To overcome your blocks, Tina suggests finding scalable ways to reach your goals to become certified and successful in your niche work. Also, Make a calculated decision around your niche, do something that you love. Think about what you are good at how you can market yourself as a niche therapist. Communicate to people that you are capable of solving their problem and make sure you can back it up. Passive Income Tina has spent quite a bit of time in the past year on passive income and loves helping other clinicians figure it out. For example, Tina wants clinicians to figure out a long-term strategic plan to think about doing something they love and earn money without sitting in their chair. Gordon wishes he knew about passive income earlier and then talks about his Financial Analysis Guide that will help others think long-term and alleviate negative pitfalls. The two then discuss how you should never compare your start to someone else's middle and the reason people succeed is their persistence, grit, and tenacity. >>Get the FREE Financial An

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon goes solo and discusses the things he has learned in his practice over the past twelve years. He reveals how he started his practice in the realm of his church life to see what would happen and it took off. Gordon wanted the freedom and flexibility that having his own practice allowed him. Then, Gordon reveals the lessons he has learned. The first lessons are the importance of making small steps, putting the right systems in place, and learning how to outsource. Later, Gordon talks the value of understanding ROI, planning things out, and setting goals. After, we learn some essential networking and marketing skills. The big one Gordon brings up is using the coordination of care form to let doctors know you are seeking new clients. Lastly, Gordon explains diversifying income, managing money, and creating niches. Importance of Making Small Steps Gordon says if you bite off more than you can chew, it can really put you into crisis. Make sure you are financially prepared to start a practice. If you jump in without the finances, it may slowly put you under. Once you have at least ten sessions per week, then a snowball effect should take place. Gordon says it takes about two years of work to really get the practice to a sustainable place with a steady source of referrals. Putting the Right Systems in Place Know how to have the clinical systems in place. For example, know your intake procedures, financial management, and how you plan on doing client follow ups. These systems should be pretty well automated, and you do not want to spend a lot of time on them. Systems are a crucial piece to make sure the practice runs smoothly. Gordon wishes he spent more time on this to grow his business faster. Do More Outsourcing & Return on Investment Gordon was concerned about spending too much money or thinking he did not have enough money. He wishes he would have outsourced more. With the insurance panels, Gordon should have outsourced all of those processes earlier. He then spent a year learning to navigate all the credentialing aspects and billing procedures. Gordon feels like he wasted a lot of time doing this instead of outsourcing. If something is going to take you a long time to learn, Gordon says to outsource. Understand the return of investment on your time and on your money. Therapists sell their time and expertise. Time is precious, so it would have been a much better return on investment to outsource technical business aspects and spend more time seeing patients. Gordon says to pay attention and have the right mindset to ensure you are seeing a return on your investment. Planning Things Out & Set Goals Gordon learned to map things out by writing everything down and prioritizing each item. In the past, Gordon has had a bad habit of jumping into things without writing anything down. For example, during this podcast, Gordon listed everything he wanted to say as not to ramble. Have an understanding of ways to measure what you are doing so you know if it is working or not. Particularly around the financial side. Really look at the numbers. It inspired Gordon to put together his Money Mindset course. Lesson learned, Gordon's fee split was not working, and he was subsidizing to pay his therapist. Financially supporting his therapist was a generous thing to do, but it was not sustainable. Value of Seeking Help & Networking Gordon reveals one of his friends was very generous with his time and give him pointers on what to do to start his own practice. His friend told him to get on insurance panels; however, it might not be the right decision for everyone. You do not need to be on insurance panels to be successful. Private pay is easier to do and fewer headaches. Insurance panels should depend on your client base and demographics. Gordon does not want anyone to be afraid of seeking help from others. Anyone looking to start a practice can find so much assistance and resources that are available online and in-person. For example, Gordon wants to help people start their own practice. Networking is all about building relationships. Get out and let people know who you are and what you do. Gordon wishes he spent time making himself known to doctors and other people who give frequent referrals. Coordination of care is when clients come to see Gordon, and they sign a release to let their doctor know they are being seen by him. Also, he sent a flyer alerting the doctor that he was accepting new patients. One particular doctor's office was struggling to find a therapist to refer to, so he ended up getting many new clients from this one little marketing strategy. Create a Niche One of Gordon's niches is marriage and family therapy. Gordon advertised the fact that he does marriage therapy and counseling because he loves working with couples and helping them navigate through relationships. Also, he works with people who struggle with sex and pornography addictions. Gordon gets a lo

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon goes solo and talks how to set fees and ways to diversify your private practice. Gordon also discusses how his private practice started as a counseling ministry within his church. Later, Gordon dispels the common myth that experience equals value. We also learn how Gordon sets his fees and some common things to look out for when doing your calculations. Keep in mind how many clients you want to see per week, how much time you want to spend per session, and how long it will take you to do the administrative tasks involved. Lastly, Gordon explains what diversifying your income means and some common ways to generate passive income. Gordon's First Practice Gordon reveals his private practice actually started as a counseling ministry within his church. Part of his profits would go to the church in exchange for having a place to practice. Gordon says his biggest mistake with this model was not charging enough to the clients. Experience Doesn't Equal Value Gordon wants to dispel a widespread myth. Many people believe if they have no experience than they are not considered valuable. Gordon wants to point out that people with a master's degree or higher are less than ten percent of the population. College degrees add a great deal of value to your resume. Also, imposter syndrome can weigh heavy on a person, but it is essential never to discount yourself. Setting Fees Gordon suggests thinking about what sort of lifestyle you want. How much time do you want to spend on the job and how much time do you want off? Also, think about what you want to gain out of being self-employed and having your practice. When people work at agencies, they gain a great deal of experience but typically burnout because of high caseloads and little time off. Start with how many clients you want to see per week. Gordon's ideal caseload is anywhere from fifteen to twenty clients a week. It would be best if you also considered how much time you want to spend per session and how long it will take you to do the administrative tasks involved. Take what you want to make annually and divide that by 48 weeks (four weeks of time off) to discover how much you need to make per week. You will also need to know what your monthly expenses are (phone, electricity, internet, etc.) and multiply by twelve months. Add this to your desired annual income to discover what you need to make overall. Finally, divide this number by how many sessions per week you want to have to find out what you need to charge per session. Your fees will also depend on where you are in the country. Gordon points out that his fees in Tennessee will be much lower than someone who is practicing in San Francisco. Also, you can check what other therapists are making in your area by using Psychology Todayto ensure you are charging similar fees to your competition. Also, it is essential to find out what your session fee is if you are working with insurance panels. This number can range from fifty dollars to two-hundred dollars depending on your location and contract. Put your full rate on your insurance claim to reap the benefits of any changes that may be made. >>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide Diversify Your Income It is so important to diversify your income and create streams of passive income. Passive income is doing things that will generate revenue for yourself after doing the work upfront. Some examples are writing a book, affiliate marketing, and adding clinicians. Hiring clinicians will allow you to benefit from sharing office space financially. Your expenses will go down and therefore you will be able to keep more of your profits. Gordon also points out that groups give you more bang for your buck because you have more than one client in the same sessions. Also, Gordon says you can look into having intensives to diversify your income. You can do a day-long session and get a lot more money for your time. Lastly, courses will also allow you to create passive income. Gordon points out that he uses courses to diversify his income. Resources Mentioned: Insurance Credentialing and Billing for Mental Health Clinicians The Practice of Therapy Facebook Page The Practice of Therapy Community Practikat Practice Solutions Psychology Today Settings Fees and Session Rates in Private Practice Smart Passive Income How to Diversify Your Income for Private Practice Success Products from Amazon.com People Processes: How Your People Can Be Your Organization's Competitive Advantage Price: $14.99 -36% Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself Price: $17.27 Was: $27.00 -40% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $16.20 Was: $27.00 -37% QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2018 [PC Online Code] [OLD VERSION] Price: $189.99 Was: $299.99 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 Associ

Knowing Your Numbers In Private Practice | TPOT Podcast 055" data-medium-file= "https://i2.wp.com/practiceoftherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TPOT-PODCAST-055-GORDON-BREWER-KNOWING-YOUR-NUMBERS-IN-PRIVATE-PRACTICE.png?fit=300%2C150&ssl=1" data-large-file= "https://i2.wp.com/practiceoftherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TPOT-PODCAST-055-GORDON-BREWER-KNOWING-YOUR-NUMBERS-IN-PRIVATE-PRACTICE.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1" /> In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon goes solo and talks about his recent invite to Joe Sanok's Killin' It Camp. Then, we find out why Gordon wants to assist others with their finances and the number one reason most private practices fail. Later, Gordon helps with analyzing current finances, and we discover why Gordon is on an insurance panel. Lastly, we learn how to break down our expenses, profit, and taxes. >>Get the FREE Finance Analysis Guide Gordon's "Why" Gordon reveals his "why" for wanting to assist others with their finances. Then, Gordon divulges the number one reason most private practices fail because the owners have not prepared themselves financially for owning a business. Also, owners do not put the proper systems in place to fully understand how businesses work. Most private practices go under because the owners are worried about money, paying the bills, and financial stability. Analyzing Current Finances Every private practice needs clients to see. Without clients, you will not be able to make money. The marketing aspect of finance depends on the number of referrals you acquire. Most private practices will make money from their referrals. Especially if your business is in the beginning stages, often owners will overload themselves with clients and be overworked. The other side of your finances is the expense side, or what it costs to maintain your practice. Gordon says there is not much overhead in a service-based business. Some common expenses for private practice include internet, furniture, electricity, and phone bills. The other aspect of operating your business is maintaining a website so people can find you and make appointments. Also, if you are in a group practice, you will need to keep your labor expenses in mind. Gordon reveals he is insurance based because of the demographics in his neighborhood. The area he lives in pretty much demands insurance panels. Without insurance, Gordon says it would be an uphill battle to get the clients he needs. Many of his clients depend on insurance, so it was a no-brainer for Gordon to be on an insurance panel. Your pay will depend on which insurance company you use. Usually, private practices that use insurance panels will have to see more clients than private paid practices. Break It Down Gordon suggests breaking down what it costs you to run your business per client and also find out what your average per session rate is. Gordon says you can do a lot of analysis just knowing these two figures. These figures will help you predict your cash flow and assist you in making future plans. Also, Gordon thinks it is a good idea to raise your rates periodically. For instance, Gordon plans on raising his prices on the first of the year. With insurance companies, contract rates are fairly well fixed. Side tip, just because an insurance company gives you a specific rate, doesn't mean you have to accept it. Those rates are negotiable! Keep this in mind when you are thinking about renewing your insurance contracts. Make sure you know what your gross net profit is. You can find it using this equation; gross net profit is income minus your expenses. As an example, Gordon says he gets 100 dollars of profit and it costs him 25 dollars per client, so he keeps 75 dollars per client. Another mistake people make in private practice is covering their expenses rather than paying themselves. Gordon says always to pay yourself first, then pay expenses and taxes. Profit First All of the money you receive should be allocated based on a percentage. Ideally, a percentage of your money off the top will be designated to profit. Second, it would be best if you allocated a portion to yourself. You are your number one employee, so you should pay yourself well. Another allocation goes to your operating expense. Most people focus on their operating expenses first. However, operating expenses need to stay low. The Parkinson effect says that people will spend the resources they have. Gordon says this is the wrong way to think about it. Instead, spend based on percentages. The percentages are 50 percent to owner's pay, 15 percent to taxes, and 30 percent to operating expenses. Taxes Self-employment tax is different from having taxes as an employee. Depending on your tax bracket, 18 to 20 percent goes to your income taxes. These taxes should be paid quarterly based on your net income after expenses. Gordon says to set aside money every week to pay these taxes. Also, talk to an accountant, so you are getting the correct information for your a

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Katie Englert about the transition to private practice. The two reminisce about starting out their careers working in closets and how moving to private practice was a natural transition. There is, however, a lot you need to learn about the business side of things. With no business degree, Katie had to search far and wide for the resources she needed. Eventually, she decided enough was enough and that is how her business Practikat came to fruition. Katie discusses how Practikat makes business so much easier for private practice and all the different things you can find on her website. Later, we learn to do less bootstrapping and why being vulnerable can be beneficial for business. >>Take the finance course survey here Meet Katie Englert Katie Englert, LPCC, NCC, BC-TMH is an experienced entrepreneur who works with therapists to help them pioneer new ways to practice. She believes that helping therapists find their purpose as a therapist is how the mental health field will prosper. Katie has started and grown six-figure group private practices and co-created Practikat, the first online marketplace exclusive for therapists. She loves helping therapist discover products they have already created! Outside of work, she enjoys spending time at the soccer field with her kids, travel, hanging out with her family and learning about her family history. Transitioning to Private Practice When Katie started therapy, she rented a closet out of a practice and paid every time she needed to "bum" an exam room. Gordon reminisces about a similar situation when he started practicing therapy. He ended up being stuck in the back of a storage closet with cheap furniture and the paper-thin walls. Not exactly ideal conditions to see patients. Katie says the process of transitioning to private practice was pretty natural but she had to search a lot for the support she needed. With no business degree, there are a lot of things you have to learn about starting a private practice. Katie suggests finding people you have a good connection with to help with the process. Consulting Resource Katie's business Practikat was born from the struggle of her transition to private practice and not knowing the business side. She spent hours over the course of years learning and testing things out on her own. A couple of years ago, Katie realized she was done searching for things and was ready to solve the problem. Practikat is an easy platform to use. You can buy a variety of things like intake forms, tracking spreadsheets, premade letters, checklists, presentations, bundles of paperwork, tools for the administrative side, agreement templates, and credentialing tools. The presentations are premade with slides and handouts for things like self-harm and forgiveness. These presentations can be customized and presented in your community. Katie says the things people are mostly looking for are marketing items, administrative forms, and hiring tools. Do Less Bootstrapping Delegation is a learned skill. You need to get to a place of growth where you can master the art of letting things go. Find support in areas where you may have weaknesses. Katie looks for assistance with systems because she is not the most detail-oriented person. Figure out the strengths of your team to make things easier. Katie says to have a drive on Google in order to share operational things with your team. Also, Katie suggests using strength assessments to find out her team's strengths and weaknesses. This helps her know how to delegate smarter amongst her team. Be Vulnerable and Reach Out Katie reminds us to be vulnerable. Transitioning to private practice has been another opportunity for Katie to learn more about herself. When you are spearheading something, it can't just be you, it has to be more than one person. Also, Gordon reminds us to reach out to others for coaching along the way. Even if it someone who is outside of the private practice business. For example, Gordon reached out to small business coach to gain clarity about the direction he wanted to go. Private Practice Finances Having a smooth intake process will help you out a lot. Gordon reveals how he used to return the phone calls of potential customers who were inquiring about his work. This took up so much of his time that Gordon decided to come up with an email template to expedite the process. This is just one example of how Gordon is saving time and money on the daily. In addition, in order to help others out, Gordon is putting together a private practice financial management course. Resources Mentioned: Practikat – www.practikat.com Facebook – www.facebook.com/Practikat/ G-Suite for Therapists Course Products from Amazon.com People Processes: How Your People Can Be Your Organization's Competitive Advantage Price: Check on Amazon -34% Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself Price: $17.70 Was: $27.00 -40% Profit First: Transform Your Busine

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Billy Robinson, CPA about some essential things to remember when starting a business. Billy suggests seeking out a trusted CPA and an attorney in order to outsource some of the complicated aspects of running a business. We also learn why it is important to decide on your choice of business entity. Next, we discover how making profits and doing taxes are different when being the business owner as opposed to an employee. Lastly, Billy and Gordon discuss keeping overhead expenses low and some examples of key performance indicators. Overall, self-employment can be very rewarding, yet it is critical to making sure you are spending time ON the business rather than IN the business. Meet Billy Robinson Billy is a director based in the Kingsport office of Brown Edwards and focuses his area of practice on construction and real estate related companies, family-owned businesses and governmental agencies. Billy has twice been named a "Super CPA" by Virginia Business magazine and has been named one of the "Top 10 Business People – Under 40" by the Shenandoah Valley Business Journal. Billy graduated from the University of Virginia's College at Wise with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Minor in Criminal Justice. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Construction Financial Management Association, the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, the Shenandoah Valley Builder's Association, and the Associated General Contractors of Virginia. Billy suggests seeking out a CPA and a reliable attorney to be your trusted advisors. Familiarize yourself with how owning and operating a business is different from being an employee. Owning a business includes a whole different set of responsibilities. For example, you will need to know how to set up payroll taxes and be familiar with filing requirements. I need your feedback… Take just 3 minutes and fill out the Practice of Therapy Financial Course Survey >> Take the Survey Now Starting a Business The most important decision is to establish your choice of entity in order to file your income tax return. For a lot of small businesses, the owner does not set up their business as a separate corporation and end up filing as Schedule C. Keep in mind you will not have much legal liability protection when filing a Schedule C. With a single-member LLC (limited liability corporation) the IRS will disregard that entity for taxation purposes and it will be reported on your personal return. Filing as a single-member LLC will earn legal liability protection. Keep Business Finances and Personal Finances Separate Owners need to have a type of accounting system for business expenses. Keep separate business credit cards and banking accounts from your personal ones. If being audited, the first thing the IRS will look for is personal expenses that have been charged with your business account. In order for something to be an expense, it has to be considered a necessary and ordinary expense for the business itself. QuickBooks is the best system out there for small businesses. Startup expenses can be accumulated and written off in the first year. A car can also be written off as a business expense. However, it is important to keep your personal use of the car separate from business use. Keeping a travel log of mileage is a critical way to ensure this. You can even write off the mileage from your personal car at fifty-three cents a mile. Advertising expenses, certifications, training, conferences, and membership fees are all examples of necessary and ordinary business expenses. Making Profits The most important thing people do not pay attention to is cash flow. Owners need to maintain a reserve or an emergency fund. If anything happens you will need funds to keep the business running. Are you spending your time ON the business or IN the business? Billing and accounting can be outsourced because you will need to focus on revenue generation. Time management is critical to a service orientated business. Taxes Another mistake Billy sees in new business owners is not understanding how taxes change for them. Businesses have to pay quarterly estimates. If you do not do this, you will end up with hefty penalties at the end of the year. Quarterly taxes are due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. An example of taxes business owners often forget about are the self-employment taxes of 15.2%. Billy suggests setting aside about 30 percent of your revenues to cover sales tax, income tax, and self-employment tax. Overhead Expenses Overhead erodes profit quickly. Figure out how much you are able to bill per chargeable hour. Assess how many hours of billable time you have and then set a budget. What kind of overhead can you afford? Keeping your overhead low at first is very important. This means not spending a lot on office space and labor.

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Jeremy Zug fromPractice Solutions about his medical billing in private practice. The two discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using insurance panels versus private pay. Jeremy also brings up the fact that most providers disregard the option to do out-of-network billing and goes into detail on how to provide this service. Later they talk about insurance credentialing and Jeremey gives some helpful tips and tricks to make the process easier. Lastly, we find out why using Practice Solutions can make being on insurance panels easier and how you will never have to deal with an insurance claim again. 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 of helping helpers maintain sustainable and compliant billing practices. In his free time, Jeremy loves reading, fishing, biking, hiking, and camping Insurance Panels vs. Private Pay Jeremy and Gordon start the podcast by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of insurance panels versus private pay. Jeremy asserts that private pay is definitely easier. However, the bigger the business gets, the more expenses it will generate. This will, in turn, shrink your profit margin. While on the other hand, the benefits of being on an insurance panel include marketing and keeping the cost of therapy affordable for patients. Jeremey then touches on the fact that some insurance panels are just hard to work with. He suggests looking at the number of patient referrals for each insurance company, the ease of interaction, and their reimbursements in order to decide which company to continue working with. Out-of-Network Billing Out-of-network billing is an option most people forget about. It lets the payment go directly to the patient and you still submit the claim, allowing the practice to still make your cash rate. Jeremy suggests collecting your cash rate up front and determining the out-of-network benefits for that patient. Chances are, their out of network benefits are pretty decent. Jeremy reveals in certain instances, patients only paid a few dollars more than they normally would and his practice made their full rate. Gordon's practice offers a sliding scale for patients who do not have insurance or do not wish to use their insurance. His practice still makes the money it would if they went through the insurance company. Credentialing Gordon brings up the fact that credentialing can seem like an intimidating process. Jeremy suggests being organized with your license documentation, resume, previous work experience, and certifications. Credentialing boils down to being who you say you are. The only way to prove this is with your documentation, so it needs to be organized! It is very important to create a filing system that makes sense and keeps all documentation in a row. Next, you need to ensure there is a consistent follow-up with the insurance companies. Lastly, you need to prove your modalities of treatment work. Practice Solutions Jeremey discusses opening Practice Solutions and how it was only meant for five therapists in Montana. With his business, they were able to save therapists eight to ten hours a week. Therapists no longer have to waste their time calling insurance companies and dealing with the billing. With this time saved, therapists are able to see more patients and essentially pay for the cost of this outsourcing. Another solution to getting this work done would be to hire an admin. As long as the expense is covered, it will be worth the price. Insurance Claims Insurance claims can be time-consuming and overwhelming when in a solo practice. Practice Solutions takes all of this off their plates. Practice Solutions will post payments, follow-up with the insurance company on rejected claims, send out patient statements, and do the credentialing. All of these items are now 100% the responsibility of Practice Solutions. Resources Mentioned: Practice Solutions- practicesol.com/gordon Session Note Helper 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, Dr. Kate Campbell and Katie Lemieux from the Private Practice Startup Podcast join Gordon to talk about getting clarity with your marketing, diversifying and the importance of creating a niche in your private practice. They also talk about the importance of doing the "middle part" of marketing rather than focusing solely on strategies. In other words, knowing why and who you are marketing too and who is your ideal client. Kate & Katie share what they have learned in their journeys and how they got interested in their niche of helping clinicians brand and market their practices. Meet Kate & Katie The Private Practice Startup is co-owned by Kate Campbell, Ph.D., LMFT and Katie Lemieux, LMFT. They're two therapists with entrepreneurial spirits who are crazy about business. They live, work and play in South Florida. Kate and Katie both built their 6-Figure private practices in less than 2 years from the ground up and love inspiring ambitious mental health professionals to brand themselves and grow their dream private practices! They have a hunger for business, branding, and marketing. They love sharing their expertise and inspiring private practitioners across the globe from startup to mastery. They have helped therapists increase working with the clients they love the most, profit more, increase their rates, have more time off and enjoy a true lifestyle business. Together, they have been featured as guest experts on GoodTherapy.org, Therapy Sites, Your Badass Therapy Practice, Abundance Practice Building podcast, Selling the Couch podcast, Practice of the Practice podcast, Brighter Vision's podcast, John Clarke's Cast, Private Practice University, Love Your Practice podcast, Become a Group Guru and more. They provide free podcasts, webinars, online courses, private practice coaching, INSPIRE Networking, and customizable Attorney Approved Private Practice Paperwork for therapists. Visit PrivatePracticeStartup.com for more info! Join our Startup Nation Superheroes in Facebook. Not Missing "the Middle" One of the mistakes a lot of people make when it comes to marketing their private practices is that they jump too quickly to strategies. As Katie said, "they leave out the middle". In other words, they do not clearly define what and why they are marketing. Why Niche Is So Important In order to truly do a good job with marketing your practice, you need to have a clear understanding of who you are marketing to. That's why defining a niche is so important. Having a niche helps on many different levels. First of all, it helps you identify your ideal client. Which people you enjoy working with the most. Secondly, when you are working with your ideal client, you will just do better work and be more energized by what you do. Kate mentions having those sessions where we come out of the session feeling really good about what we did with the client and the breakthroughs they might have had. This is a good indicator of knowing what kinds of clients are your ideal clients. Thirdly, by having a niche you can better identify the kinds of problems your ideal clients are having. This is where your "marketing message" comes from. You are able to speak their language and they are able to connect with you as a therapist on the front end. Target Market, Niche and Ideal Client A lot of times people confuse the concepts of a target market, niche, and their ideal client. Kate talks about those differences. The examples she gives is in the context of how she thinks about her own practice as a couples therapist. Target market = couples Ideal client = couples who have experienced an affair Niche = the services you create to best meet their needs (ex., Gottman Method, intensives, etc.) If you don't know who you are marketing to it is going to be very difficult to know how to market… You Are Your Brand The number one "product" we have to offer people in our practices is you. We trade our time and expertise for the money people pay us. A brand is simply the image or personality you project to the public. It's what people use to identify you. The more you can project and get that out there, the more successful your marketing will be. But it needs to be genuine and reflect who are as a person and clinician. Remember, YOU are your brand. Being able to project a true picture of yourself through your website, photos and copy go a long way in knowing how to market well. Using video to help convey your personality to potential clients. Many people feel intimidated by video. But practicing and doing it more makes it easier. Think about the times you first started seeing clients and how you developed confidence over time. A good way to do this is by using videos. Videos help convey your personality to potential clients. Many people feel intimidated by video. But by practicing and doing it more makes it easier. Think about the times you first started seeing clients and how you developed confidence over

This episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast is the second of a two-part series interviewing Mike Michalowicz, the author of Profit First and Clockwork. Gordon is also joined by Kasey Compton and they both interview Mike about the Profit First concept and how it can help clinicians in their private practices and make them more financially secure. They also talk about honing your systems and processes to make your practice run itself rather than having it "run you". Listen in to this fun interview and Mike's knowledge about entrepreneurship and being a small business owner. In part two of this interview, Mike focuses on some of the concepts behind his newest book, Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself. Enter the book giveaway here! Meet Mike Michalowicz Mike mi-KAL-o-wits is the author of Profit First, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan, and his newest release Clockwork. By his 35th birthday, Mike had founded and sold two companies – one to private equity and another to a Fortune 500. Today he is running his third multi-million dollar venture, Profit First Professionals. Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the former business makeover specialist on MSNBC. Over the years, Mike has traveled the globe speaking with thousands of entrepreneurs and is here today to share the best of what he has learned. Mike's Websites Clockwork.life – Get the free clockwork kit! Website – www.mikemichalowicz.com Mike's Books Full Disclosure: these links are affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission at no extra cost to you when you buy using these links. Mike and I thank you for purchasing his books! You won't regret it! Products from Amazon.com -32% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $18.36 Was: $27.00 -40% Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself Price: $16.20 Was: $27.00 -24% Surge: Time the Marketplace, Ride the Wave of Consumer Demand, and Become Your Industry's Big Kahuna Price: $20.53 Was: $26.95 -38% The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field Price: $16.61 Was: $26.95 -23% The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur: The tell-it-like-it-is guide to cleaning up in business, even if you are at the end of your roll. Price: $19.20 Was: $24.95 Delegating and Taking Time Off In order for any business to scale or grow, a business owner HAS to be able to delegate and take things off their plate. The problem for most of us is we think we are the only ones that can do a particular thing or "it's just easier for us to do it ourselves" than teach someone else how to do it. Also, Mike challenges us to commit to a 4-week vacation. Number one it will give us a chance to rejuvenate and "recharge the batteries". And it will also force us to set up the systems and processes needed for the business to run itself. Empowering Others It's very easy to get trapped in a role of trying to feed our own egos and micromanage people. A better way is to empower others within our organizations to do the jobs that are not the best use of our time as practice owners. What we have to be willing to give up is this idea that the people we delegate to "won't do it as well as I can do it". They probably won't. But it empowers them AND strengthens your practice when you let them do it their way. Business Growth Practice and business growth are usually a "step process". In other words, they reach a plateau and they need to change something in order to reach the next plateau. There is a concept called "pivoting" that Mike talks about. Pivoting is figuring out what your clients want the most and then doing that with your clients. The problem is that it might not line up with what the practice owner wants. Being Clear On Your Purpose and Passion- Your "Why" The solution to pivoting to what the customer wants when it doesn't align with our own wants is to get in touch with your purpose and passion. Then, deliver that service to people that are also wanting that same purpose and passion. The Importance of Your Niche In essence, by identifying our passions and knowing which clients also share those same passions, we have defined our niche. It is the place where you will do your best clinical work and be much more profitable for you in the long run. Finding Congregation Points – Marketing to Them Once we identify our ideal clients and define our niche, we need to then figure out where they congregate and what they are most into. Then, we make sure we are in front of them in those places. We let them know our expertise in those areas and how we can help them; AKA marketing… Giving Preference to Your Best Clients The other point that Mike makes about this is that we should give our ideal clients preference over other clients. (Despite the value of treating all people equally…) We need to give our ideal clients the better appointment slots and work with them at our optimal times. Abundance Mentality One of the pushback points for

This episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast is the first of a two-part series interviewing Mike Michalowicz, the author of Profit First and Clockwork. Gordon is also joined by Kasey Compton and they both interview Mike about the Profit First concept and how it can help clinicians in their private practices and make them more financially secure. They also talk about honing your systems and processes to make your practice run itself rather than having it "run you". Listen in to this fun interview and Mike's knowledge about entrepreneurship and being a small business owner. In part one of this interview, Mike focuses on how he came up with the Profit First system and some other ways of thinking about business finance to help us pay ourselves first AND make a profit. Enter the book giveaway here! Meet Mike Michalowicz Mike mi-KAL-o-wits is the author of Profit First, Surge, The Pumpkin Plan, and his newest release Clockwork. By his 35th birthday, Mike had founded and sold two companies – one to private equity and another to a Fortune 500. Today he is running his third multi-million dollar venture, Profit First Professionals. Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and the former business makeover specialist on MSNBC. Over the years, Mike has traveled the globe speaking with thousands of entrepreneurs and is here today to share the best of what he has learned. Mike's Websites Clockwork.life – Get the free clockwork kit! Website – www.mikemichalowicz.com Mike's Books Full Disclosure: these links are affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission at no extra cost to you when you buy using these links. Mike and I thank you for purchasing his books! You won't regret it! Products from Amazon.com -41% Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Price: $16.00 Was: $27.00 -34% Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself Price: $17.70 Was: $27.00 -24% Surge: Time the Marketplace, Ride the Wave of Consumer Demand, and Become Your Industry's Big Kahuna Price: $20.53 Was: $26.95 -38% The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field Price: $16.62 Was: $26.95 -23% The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur: The tell-it-like-it-is guide to cleaning up in business, even if you are at the end of your roll. Price: $19.24 Was: $24.95 Understanding the Financial State of Your Practice Mike was able to create a system of looking at and tracking your business finances in a way that is simpler and a more intuitive for those of us that are non-accountants. Most people in small business, unless they are an accountant or have had some other financial training, find all of this very intimidating or confusing. For most people, we tend to look at our bank balance as a measure of our practice's financial health. And most accountants will tell you that is NOT the way to measure things. Instead, we need to be looking at our profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets. Mike said his accountant "implored him" he should also learn about the KPI (key performance indicators) and OCR (operating cash ratio metric); all of which seem terribly intimidating for the average business owner. The other thing most practice owners and small business operators do, is take what is left, after all the bills are paid, to pay themselves and make a profit. They are living on the leftovers, rather than paying themselves first and/or making a profit in their business. But in order for any business or private practice to survive and be sustainable, it HAS to make a profit. 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 allocate a percentage of the income on the front end for profit. It looks like this: Income – Profit = Expenses This of course seems like unconventional wisdom. Mike goes on to explain that by taking our profit first we are better able to take control of our business' health and operate at a level that is more sustainable and realistic. AC/DC Concept (Not talking about the rock band this time…) One of the things any business or private practice needs to do in order to scale and grow is put the systems in place that allows the business to run itself. Mike talks about the four phases of business flow that mos

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Alison Pidgeon, LPC about growing your private practice by diversifying your income. Alison and Gordon talk about what they have learned about growing private practices and then getting to the place where they both bought their own buildings. They also talk about some of the ways in which group practices can be formed and why they have chosen the business models they are using in their practices. Alison and Gordon talk about some of the things they have learned "the hard way" and what how they might have done differently in those beginning stages of their private practices. Meet Alison Pidgeon Alison Pidgeon, MA, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Move Forward Counseling (www.moveforwardlancaster.com) 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, (http://www.practiceofthepractice.com/our-services/consulting-with-alison/) 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. Alison has garnered local media attention for her private practice on TV, radio and in print. She has been a featured guest on the Practice of the Practice podcast, Selling the Couch podcast, and The Therapist Experience podcast. In 2017 Move Forward Counseling won the "Emerging Business of the Year" Award from the Central Penn Business Journal. Buying a Building One of the big steps that Alison and Gordon talked about was the step they both took in buying an office space. For many therapists and counselors, this step seems very intimidating. But if you think about it, it is really not that much different from buying a house and there are usually more financing options for commercial property. Especially if you are willing to work with private investors. It's all a matter of doing the research and looking at options. Owning your private practice space, many times actually ends up being much more cost effective when you run the numbers. Alison gave the example of a non-profit she is involved with. When they ran the numbers, they realized they had paid double what the building was worth through leasing it. Passive Income and Diversifying Income Streams One of the things that helps solidify growth in your practice comes from diversifying your streams of income. There are a lot of ways to do this. One is to create other less traditional products or services to offer clients. Groups, workbooks, seminars, and supervision are just a few. Another great way to create "passive income" is to add other counselors and therapists to form a group practice. What this does, of course, is allow the practice owner to reap the benefits and income from the efforts of others in exchange for providing a place for them to practice. Thinking Long-Term One of the "wish I had known…" issues that Alison mentioned, was she wish she had thought more long-term when she first started her private practice. She would have spent more time thinking about growth and what that would look like. Especially in terms of adding other counselors. She also realized that she should have thought about what her practice would look like 3-5 years down the road. Insurance vs. Self-Pay One of the ongoing debates in the private practice space is if a practice should get on insurance panels or be strictly private pay. For Alison and Gordon, they do a combination of the two. Alison talked about really understanding your "break even" point in terms of how much you need to be reimbursed to cover your practice's overhead and expenses. She only stays on the panels that meet or exceed this criteria. The other factor to consider when thinking about being on insurance panels or not, is knowing the demographics of your area and what people can generally afford. Typically, rural areas are more insurance dependent and a clinician needs to accept insurance in order to get the volume of clients they need to sustain their practice. Group Practices and Their Structure Alison and Gordon talk about some of the ongoing discussions they have had in their mastermind groups around having group practices. In particular, whether to follow a "1099 Contractor" model or a "W2 Employee" model. Ultimately, it is an individual decision based on the practice owner's preferences and how much oversight they want to have with their therapists. Other factors around this issue depend on state laws and what sort of corpo

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy podcast, Gordon talks with Kasey Compton, LPCC who is the President/CEO of Mindsight Behavioral Group. Kasey was able to build a large group practice (80 staff members!) in 3 years time. Kasey and Gordon talk about the systems and processes she put in place in order to sustain that kind of growth successfully. Kasey also talks about money mindset and what is needed in order to feel confident about growth and building a practice to that level. Meet Kasey Compton Kasey 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 Groupwith multiple offices located in Kentucy. Kasey says, "it definitely wasn't easy but I learned a lot scaling a practice". She is now in year three and her business with basically running itself; largely due to the systems and processes we put into place. Now, Kasey is a behavioral group consultant(www.consultwithkc.com) and author that helps practices avoid mistakes by cleaning up their systems, implementing better processes, and understanding what to do with their money. Kasey says, " I take so much pride in my own practice and now I feel honored to help others grow too." Residual Income One of the things that Kasey realized early in her private practice career was the need for "residual income". As a solo practitioner, your income is based solely on what you can produce. You have to see clients in order to make money. But as Kasey said, "life happens" and you have to take time away… getting sick, having babies, or other family stuff. Kasey started her group practice out of a desire to not have to worry about having income stop when she was not working. It just made sense to be able to duplicate her efforts and be able to provide employment for other clinicians. Processes and Systems Kasey's phenomenal growth (80 staff members and a million dollar practice in just 3 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 where well defined. She also said that she made some mistakes and learn from them rather than let them be defeating. Group Practice Culture Another important piece of Kasey's success in having a practice the size of her's was in developing a culture that was positive to work in. Kasey said she wanted to promote people's strengths and creativity. She also recognized that not everyone was as driven as she was but they could thrive better if she did not force that way of being on them. Kasey also has put in place a lot of incentives for her employees that help motivate them use their strengths and promote the culture she has establish within her practice. Delegating and Outsourcing Another area that Kasey and Gordon talked about was learning how to delegate and outsource things. As a practice grows, the owner needs to be able to just focus on those things that help the company grow and be profitable. When a practice is just starting, you have the time to "do it all" and you really need to keep costs down. But as growth occurs, it really becomes less efficient and even more costly to do all the bootstrapping yourself. It's better to delegate and outsource so you can spend your time on tasks that actually bring in income. Following Your Purpose and Vision Being in private practice and owning your own business can be hard. It requires a lot of hard work and time to make it successful. But without purpose or vision things can quickly become disorganized and burdensome. Understanding Your Numbers and Metrics As a practice grows the logistics can become cumbersome and even intimidating. But when practice owners truly understand their numbers and metrics, it is much easier to know how to handle the logistics of growth. For example, Kasey knows, because she had studied her metrics and numbers, that for every 5-8 clinicians she adds, she needs to also add an admin person. She also knows that is when it becomes cost effective to do that. Using "Profit First" Kasey and Gordon also talked about their excitement about the Profit First book by Mike Michalowicz. They both said it was a game changer and helped them immensely with their money mindset and how to make their practices profitable. The key with the "Profit First" system goes back to understanding and having a handle on your financials and then knowing how to allocate money in the right way. So many times people will either ignore their financials or be afraid to look at them. But to be truly profitable, you HAVE TO understand the financial side of running a private practice. Knowing The Lifestyle You Want A big part of understanding the financial side of private practice is understanding cash flows and what you personally need to maintain your lifestyle. A person's lifestyle desires can vary, but most of us want just so

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks about creating a sustainable practice that supports the lifestyle you want to have. He talks to about how he would have done some things differently, knowing what he knows now about being in private practice. In particular, Gordon talks about what he has learned about why private practices fail and the financial side of owning a small business. Apply for a Mastermind Group! *Some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means that I get a commission, at no extra cost to you, when you purchase the books mentioned using those links… Thanks in advance for using the links! Private Practice Isn't Always What You Think… A book that has caught my attention here lately and I have been reading is The E-Myth Revisited; Why Small Businesses Fail and What To Do About It by Michael E. Gerber. The premise of the book is that most people that go into small business are excellent technicians but lack the skill for management and being an entrepreneur. If you think about, that is so true for most all of us in helping professions. We are trained to help people and provide services. We have excellent clinical knowledge and know how to apply it in the therapy room. That is also where our passion lies. We do this kind of work because we truly want to help people. What most of us never learned was how to manage a business or how to be entrepreneurs… The primary reason practices fail is because of clinicians not knowing how to manage the financial and business sides of private practice. They also fail because they get overwhelmed with growth and not knowing how to navigate the increasing demands of a growing business. Always Start With "WHY" You know the biggest question that anyone should ask themselves before jumping into private practice is "why"? You hear that from me a lot. It's more than just a rhetorical question. It's about understanding what you need for yourself in life to help you feel happy and content. It's something most of us in this field ask our clients all the time…what do you need to make you happy? Of course, there are no simple answers to that question. But if you were to peel away all the layers of this question, what would be at the core of what you need to make your truly happy? What Has Motivated You To Go Into Private Practice? The simple answer to this question, for most of us is simply "freedom". Freedom to set your own schedule to have the time off we need with our families. Freedom to do therapy in the way we want to do therapy. Freedom to have the kinds of clients we best work with. And finally some financial freedom with possibly greater earning potential. I think too, that for most of us, money is important, but it is NOT what motivates us. What motivates us is knowing that we have helped someone in a genuine way. Also what motivates us is having a lifestyle that is relatively stress-free and surrounded by those people and things that bring us comfort and contentment. Family, friends, home… Second, but not necessarily in the order, we are motivated by feeling like we matter. We want our work to make a difference and to be valued by others. We want what we do to get noticed and truly inspire change in the world. If You Had A Million Dollars… So, if you had a million dollars what would really change for you? For most of us, it is an idea that we associate with winning the lottery or coming into some big windfall of cash. It's a pipe dream. We think or have the fantasy that somehow our lives would get easier and that we could live a different lifestyle. The truth of the matter is that having an exorbitant amount of money does not equate to having more happiness or even a greater quality of life. How many times have we heard of people that win the lottery and their lives quickly go down the tubes because it is too much to handle? What We Really Want For most of us, what we really want is when it comes to money is to be able to buy and do the things that contribute to a standard of living and quality of life. We want to be able to eat out, go on vacations, have a decent car, good healthcare and not have to worry about bills and debt. We also want to have enough money in reserve for any unforeseen problems that might crop up. We want money to be off our worry list… If we are totally honest, having a big pile of money would maybe give us a sense of security, but would we really change our lifestyle that much? Maybe get a bigger house or a new TV or maybe get yourself out of debt. But I think for most of us, we would just want to have more time leisure time with our families and be able to work when and how we wanted to. Understanding How Money Really Works When it comes down to it all money really is, is something that has a universal value that we exchange for something that is more valuable to us personally. And unless you are totally self-sufficient and living totally off the grid, you have to have money to live. You have to b

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Jarrod Justice about caring for caregivers and the importance of self-care in this field. They also talk about spirituality how that can be an influence for people in their lives. Gordon and Jarrod have a conversation about how they both have what that consider "faith informed" practices. Both are clergy people and they talk about how this influences the way they do therapy and the ethical considerations they both take in their practices. Meet Jarrod Justice Jarrod Justice, MAMFT, is a post-master's counselor in Knoxville specializing in marriage and family therapy. He currently works at Haven Family Psychiatry with clients who are experiencing: anxiety, depression, sexual health issues, relationship concerns, and challenging family dynamics. Jarrod has worked as a Christian minister for over a decade in Knoxville—serving in various roles as a college pastor, worship leader, and lead pastor. He also has experience working for a local non-profit called With Inc., where he provided mentorship and soul care to individuals, couples, and ministers in need. Jarrod graduated from Baylor University in 2003 with a B.A. in International Studies, and recently graduated from Richmont Graduate University with a M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy. Jarrod loves people and wants to offer his clients hope and courage on life's journey. He is a current member of the (AAMFT) American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and is an active member of the (CLC) Christian Leadership Concepts in Knoxville. Originally from Texas, he has called East Tennessee home for nearly 14 years. In his personal time, other than good coffee and great music—he enjoys meaningful dates with his wife, peanut butter, and watching his three boys play baseball. "Faith Informed" vs. "Faith-Based" One designation or niche that many therapists and counselors identify with is around spirituality. For some, this very much informs who they are as people. For others, not so much. Gordon and Jarrod discuss how they have both landed in what they refer to as "faith informed" practices. A "faith-based" practice differs from a "faith informed" practice in that a "faith-based" practice usually has some sort of direct affiliation with a religious organization (church, synagogue, mosque, etc.). Whereas a "faith informed" practice really has to do with the therapist and how they might approach their work with people. Both Gordon and Jarrod are clinically trained in the traditional sense and use evidence-based approaches with clients. And when religion comes up, if it comes up, they are both very comfortable discussing those things with clients. Caring for Caregivers One of the things that Jarrod has noted in his own journey is that clergy or pastors can find themselves very isolated at times. Jarrod talks about how pastors and religious leaders can have a lot of external pressure from their "flock". Pastors and clergy are very much in the business of caregiving, not unlike therapists and counselors. And over-time if the caregiver is not being cared for, it can quickly lead to "compassion fatigue". An important part of this whole thing is also learning self-care and learning how to manage your own emotions well. Clergy and counselors alike, get handed a lot of heavy stuff from our clients and parishioners. It is so important to know how to process that "stuff" well and seek the support you need in handling that. Knowing Yourself Well Jarrod and Gordon also talk about the importance of knowing yourself well and knowing how to not only process other people's emotions but knowing how to process our own well. In many ways, we need to develop our own emotional intelligence just like we do in helping our clients. They talk about the importance of seeking therapy and/or pastoral care for ourselves as caregivers. We all need a safe place to process our issues and be vulnerable. We all need a place to process and be heard. Making Genuine Connections Jarrod talked about the need we all have to make genuine connections and connect with people on more than a superficial level. With all the social media we are exposed to, Jarrod makes the analogy of eating fast food vs. eating healthy food. In many ways, the connections we make through social media is like eating fast food. It fills us up and stops the hunger temporarily, but in the long run is not as healthy for us. What we really need and want are those relationships that are more meaningful and help us connect at a deeper level. People Want to Know Their Therapist One interesting thing about how people choose therapists has a lot to do with the commonalities they see themselves having with a potential therapist. (See the previous podcast with Jeff Geunther, Episode 044). Depending on your client demographics and where you are located, religion might be an important cultural factor. For some, religious affiliation is an important piece. Gordon and Jar

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Jeff Geunther, LPC about his private practice journey and how he has built his private practice and other business ventures. Jeff is an expert in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how to grow counseling and therapy practice using their digital assets. Jeff talks about several of the things he has learned about optimizing private practice websites based on his research into how people search for therapists. Jeff tells too how he has used this information to develop The Practice Academy and The Therapy Den, an online directory for therapist. Meet Jeff Geunther 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. Jeff is the creator and owner of Portland Therapy Center, a highly ranked therapist directory. Jeff has just launched a new progressive therapist directory for at TherapyDen. Subscribe to Jeff's newsletter at therapyden.com to get weekly tips on how to grow your business and attract more clients. Beginnings Jeff began his private practice journey, like many of us, not knowing exactly what direction to go or how to get people interested in using his services as a therapist. Jeff said he really charged too little for his services thinking it would make his practice grow faster. But what he found was that was not sustainable and began to slowly raise his prices. The other thing that Jeff did was to begin diversifying his practice by renting out office space for part-time therapists. He mainly catered to therapists that were just starting out in their private practices. He became known in his community as somewhat of an expert and as the go-to person for starting practices. Diversifying Over time, Jeff was able to acquire several office spaces around town that he provided for therapists. This lead him to then start a local online therapist directory (The Portland Therapy Center) and begin helping other therapists in marketing their practices. This, in turn, leads to him developing The Practice Academy which teaches healthcare workers how to ethically and effectively build and grow their private practices or small businesses. Jeff also said his interest in technology and how to integrate it with therapy very much drove his interest to develop the directories and learning tools. Jeff said, when he first went into the therapy/counseling field, he also was interested in computer animation and design. Ultimately he decided becoming a therapist was the way to go. But he continues to be interested in and learn about technology as an ongoing hobby. Knowing How To Attract Clients Through Jeff's different ventures, he has learned a lot about what the public is searching for when seeking the help of therapists. Jeff learned specifically what people tend to click on when visiting a website and what images and copy are more appealing. Jeff has been able to collect a lot of data through his directories about search terms that people use and what is most appealing to people seeking therapists. He came up with a list of "top 10" search terms that people will use in searching for services on Google and the internet. Top 10 Search Terms For Therapists Anxiety Relationship and Marriage Issues Depression Child or adolescent issues PTSD (people actually use this term, but also use trauma) LGBTQ Issues Personal Growth Gender Identity Issues Family Conflicts Loss or Grief In addition to these terms, it is important to get more specific around these various issues by using qualifiers. For example, social anxiety or fear of public speaking, vs. just anxiety. This will help with SEO and help you stand out when people are searching for your services. Connecting With Clients Through Website Copy Another thing that Jeff and Gordon discussed was being able to connect with clients on your website by writing in a way to connects with them. In particular, your "About" page really needs to show that you understand the problems potential clients might be having. People will connect with you when they know you truly "get" what they are going through right now. This is all the more reason to develop a niche in your practice. By identifying specific issues you want to work with people on, will only make you more attractive to potential clients. This is especially true when these issues align with some of these top 10 search terms. Therapy Den Directory Jeff developed the Therapy Den Directory based on his research and what he learned from developing his local directory in Portland. But more importantly, Jeff wanted to create a directory that had more of a mission. In particular helping people connect with therapists that were progressive and understand issues like racism, homophobia, and other forms of hate. Jeff admits that Therapy Den is up against a lot of competition in terms of some the larger therapist directories

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon interviews Kristen Breese, LCPC about making the transition from being a solo practitioner to owning a group practice. They also talk about business growth and how taking it slow is sometimes a better option for people. Kristen talks about the importance of just doing one thing at a time; "you have to walk before you can run…". Kristen also talks about some of the mindset changes and the things that she needed to learn when she made the switch from solo practice to group practice. Kristen and Gordon also talk about the various tasks that come with being a group practice owner and some of the challenges they had to overcome as they grew. Meet Kristen Breese Kristen Breese, LCPC is CEO and founder of Counseling Works and multi-disciplinary group practice in Naperville, IL. Kristen is a psychotherapist, business consultant, coach, entrepreneur and speaker. She specializes in treating co-dependency, boundaries, and generalized anxiety. Her goal is to help others overcome obstacles personally and professionally to achieve their goals. Kristen's website is www.counselingworks.com Knowing How To Grow Kristen and Gordon both started in similar ways in that they both were working in agency settings and began part-time private practice. Kristen tells how she focused on filling her schedule just one day at a time. In other words, she had just one day a week that she saw clients and filled that day before she added another to her schedule. One of the challenges for many counselors and therapists is making the decision to take their practice to a new level. In particular, going from being a solo practitioner to having a group practice. Although there is no clear formula for doing this, most will make that move once they feel their own practice is full and they are losing clients because they have no appointment openings. Having A Vision One thing that is so very important in making that transition to having a group practice, is having a clear vision of what you want your practice to be. Do you envision a large multi-location practice or do you want to have small group of 3-4 clinicians? Know your vision then commit to it. Success comes from having a clear picture of where you want to be. Think about it in terms of where you see your practice 5 to 10 years down the road. Then focus on the small steps it will take to get you to that place. Slow But Deliberate Growth One of the things that many counselors and therapists going into private practice face is trying to do too much. Growth occurs best when you build things one part at a time. For example, Kristen mentioned moving from part-time to full time practice. She did it by filling one day at a time. Another mindset change that seems to help, is to not be so concerned about the speed of growth, but be more focused on the consistency of growth. The most lasting result, as it is with most anything, comes from deliberate and thoughtful planning. By taking the time to set small attainable goals, growth tends to be sustainable. Having Systems in Place As a practice grows, it is important to have systems in place that will handle to growth. Spending time to make sure that you have a clearly defined onboarding process for new clinicians along with having client processes well defined will go a long way in helping things go smoothly. One tip is to start documenting and writing down the steps to your current systems and processes. That way, as you bring on new people, you will have a clearly defined plan. This goes a long way in projecting professionalism and helping people feel good about coming to work with you. Hiring The Right People One of the big learning curves for many private practice owners moving from solo to group practice is the whole hiring and interviewing process. It is so important to spend time on this. A person might have an outstanding resume and clinical background. But this does not always translate into them being a great person to work with. Kristen talks about her process and how it is a fairly slow and deliberate onboarding. Not only does she look for people who will bring diversity to her practice in terms of treatment approach, but she also tries to make sure they have the same work ethic and is enjoyable to work with. In addition to a good work ethic, she makes sure they are bought into her vision for the practice. Offering More To The People You Hire Another part of hiring the right people is being able to find people who will benefit from what you have to offer as an organization. Whether you are using a 1099 contractor model or W2 employee model, making sure that is a good fit and in the best interest of the people you hire. For 1099 contractors you will need to hire people that very much self starters and have a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit about them. They need less oversight and you would be more "hands off" with them. W2 employees do need more oversight and you would be able to prov

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks about having a sustainable and profitable private practice and some of the mindset changes he has made around all this. Gordon shares how the book, Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, has changed some of his thinking around the financial side of private practice. In particular, Gordon talks about getting away from some of the traditional ways in which we think about money and how to use it. It's a mindset shift of not letting what you gain financially from your practice being just the "leftovers". It's about maintaining a lifestyle that is comfortable and sustainable over the long haul. >>Enter the Sustaining Your Practice Giveaway Beating All The Money Angst This past month we had to buy a new car. My daughter was in an accident (No one was hurt thank God!) and so it was a "have to" kind of situation; the car was totaled. And whenever you have to make a big money decision like that, it really causes you to think about your money. Like most of us average people, making a big purchase like that comes with an "ouch factor". Could we afford it? What kind of car could we get with money we had budgeted? So needless to say I started thinking about how I was managing my money, not only at home but in my private practice as well. I had heard a lot of "buzz" about the "Profit First" system, but quite frankly, had not looked into it much. So last week, I was taking some time away from the office to spend a week doing some volunteer work and decided to take the book, "Profit First" by Mike Michalowicz along. When I started reading it, I couldn't put it down! What is "Profit First"? For the most part, the concept of "profit" is just common sense. Very simply put, it's the money you get to keep from your business after people pay you for your services. The traditional formula is simply: INCOME – EXPENSES = PROFIT. The traditional way of thinking about profit is what money is left over after you pay your expenses. So the idea is you keep your expenses low and increase your income to make a profit. And it does work mathematically. But what if your income goes down and/or your expenses go up. It can create A LOT of anxiety. "Profit First" is a term coined by Mike Michalowicz that turns our traditional way of thinking about profit on its head. Instead of taking your profit from what is left over, Mike says take your profit off the top, then pay your expenses. INCOME – PROFIT = EXPENSES Sounds crazy, doesn't it! Taking Control Of Your Money The truth of the matter is that most people tend to live paycheck to paycheck. And unfortunately, many of us in private practice tend to run the business side of the practice that way too. We'll wait to pay ourselves after we have paid all the expenses. What this does is have us biting our nails at the end of each month to see what we can take home. Hopefully, we will have enough to pay ourselves AND put some in savings to use as a buffer. Unfortunately, very few people get ahead doing it this way. A better way to do this is to take what you pay yourself AND your profit on the front end, then use the what is left for your expenses. Again… sounds crazy and a bit risky. But the truth of the matter is that when we get control of our money, rather than it controlling us, it can be very easily done. Doing Finances Differently First of all, do take time to read "Profit First" by Mike Michalowicz to get more details. Also, consult financial experts on this. But find one that is more progressive and maybe has knowledge of this "profit first system" Essentially, the "system" is all about assigning percentages and doing small but consistent allocations to different accounts that you set up to hold your money as it comes in. The other thing that it is important to do with this system is to make slow and intentional changes over time. This is NOT a "get rich quick" way of doing things. It's all calculated and based on your actual numbers. Getting A True And Accurate Picture The starting place for adopting the profit first system is to first get an accurate picture of your current financial situation over the past year or 6 months. It means getting a picture of your trends and history with your practice. In other words, getting accurate data on how much money is coming into the practice and how much is going out. You also need to know what you have in reserve if any. Once you have gathered your data, break it all down into percentages based on 5 categories: Revenue (Income) Profit Owner's Comp (what you pay yourself) Taxes Operating Costs Mike Michalowicz has resources on his website that go into more detail about all this and how to calculate it. You can check those out here: http://www.mikemichalowicz.com/resources/ Making The Shift The standard way of thinking for most people is that they can increase their profit by increasing their revenue. But, what typically happens with that is that as you increase your revenue, your operating cost

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon does a "reverse interview" with Joe Sanok about why using G-Suite in your private practice might be a good idea. The original interview was first released as Episode 309 of the Practice of the Practice podcast with Joe Sanok. Gordon and Joe talk about why they started using G-Suite and some of the hacks and tips therapists and counselors can use in their practices to work more efficiently and make it HIPAA compliant. Meet Joe Sanok Joe is no stranger to the Practice of Therapy. Joe is the person behind the Practice Of The Practice Podcast which is the #1 podcast for counselors and therapists learning about private practice and what to do to grow and scale. It is one of the top resources out there in this private practice building space. Joe has been a previous guest on the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Episode 011, How To Level Up And Grow Your Private Practice. Joe, his wife Christina and their two daughters live in Traverse City, MI where Joe owns Mental Wellness Counseling, a private group practice. Joe is nationally known and has been a guest on numerous podcasts and most recently a TEDx talk in Traverse City. Joe a true entrepreneur with big heart and genuineness for helping people. Why Use G-Suite? Google G-Suite is the set of applications and tools that comes with every Google account. Most of the tools, like GMail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Sheets are familiar to most. But the big game changer for most clinicians is being able to use the paid version of G-Suite in order to make it HIPAA secure. In particular, by using the paid version of G-Suite, you can get the BAA (business associate agreement) from Google which is a HIPAA requirement. GMail Using Your Own Domain One of the big game changers in using G-Suite, is that it allows you to use your own domain name for your email. So for example, if you can have you email address be @yourdomainname.com vs. @gmail.com or yahoo.com, etc. Also, when using the paid version of G-Suite, you get the functionality of GMail that is HIPAA secure. G-Suite Tools Can Boost Your Productivity Another, "selling point" of the tools of G-Suite, is that you can customize them and make use of templates to streamline repeated tasks. For example, using the "canned responses" feature of GMail for those emails that you respond to repeatedly; like requests for information, etc. You can also use the tools of G-Suite to automate a lot of administrative functions. For example, setting up a Google Form that can be embedded on your website for people to request services or do intakes. Another automated task is to set up a Google Calendar to use for people to self-schedule appointments using the appointments feature that is built in. The calendar then can be embedded on your website. G-Suite Is A Great Choice For Bootstrapping Because G-Suite is so adaptable and cost-effective, it's a great choice for counselors and therapists during those "bootstrapping" phases of private practice growth. The applications and tools have pretty much everything you need to do all of your administrative functions. To Learn More: G-Suite for Therapists Course G-Suite Hacks and Tips Cheat Sheet Session Note Helper™ Other resources mentioned: Join a Mastermind Group 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 Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest "Like" us on Facebook.