my journey to building a private...

My Journey to Building a Private Practice

BY: CAMILLE MCDANIEL, LPC, NCC, CPCS

©2012 Healing Psychotherapy Practices of Georgia, LLC

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Developed in the United States of America

HPPGA, LLC1301 Shiloh Road, suite 710Kennesaw, GA 30144www.healingpsychotherapyga.comwww.thecounselorentrepreneur.com

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http://www.healingpsychotherapyga.com


http://www.thecounselorentrpreneur.com

http://www.thecounselorentrpreneur.com

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, since 2007. I am also a National Certified Counselor and a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor.

I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at Georgia State University. Next, I completed my Master of Arts degree in Professional Counseling at Argosy University.

In 2010 I started my own counseling practice, Healing Psychotherapy of Georgia, LLC (www.healingpsychotherapyga.com.)

Since the beginning of my business building journey, I have spent countless hours researching, meeting with other mental health clinicians, and investing in getting business consulta-tion needed to build my private practice. I began noticing three themes developing during almost all conversations with other professionals and students:

1. Many mental health clinicians are not informed about the preparation it takes to run their own busi-ness.

2. Many mental health clinicians do not have a clear vision for the type of services they want to offer.

3. Many mental health clinicians are tired of trading their hours for dollars (e.g., working longer hours in an attempt to maintain a prior 40 hour weekly salary level) because they do not know how to diversify their skills and service offerings.

Helping professionals build their vision for a business gives me great pleasure. I obtain enormous satisfaction from seeing people fulfill their dreams and using their gifts to help others.

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www.thecounselorentrepreneur.com



http://www.thecounselorentrepreneur.com


What to Consider Before You Start a Private Practice JourneyI'm writing this e-book while wondering if I have the time to make the commitment to yet another activity but I forge ahead! Why do I forge ahead? Well maybe this will speak to alot of therapists out there who are thinking about building a private practice or feel stuck in their current practice. I want to help them get started or unstuck. That is what I'm here to do.

This e-book is a compilation of lessons I have taught others and had the opportunity to learn along the way. Some lessons are very basic and others more in depth. However, I am a per-son who appreciates the opportunity to learn from others and possibly avoid pitfalls whenever possible.

I generally like learning lessons without having to experience the difficult life phase that teaches the lesson. Although, there are many benefits to learning through experience.

So here's to your future path of either being unstuck or starting your new private practice. CHEERS!

Camille McDaniel, LPC, NCC, CPCS




The Foundation: Building a Counseling Practice Starts with Having a Plan

There are so many different things that hap-

pened on the road to building my private practice. I will break the beginning stages down and the lessons learned into sev-eral different posts, within this e-book.

My private practice journey is like the picture above. Many areas were unknown like the darker spots of this path but there was always a light to lead me if I stayed focused, calm, and persistent.

See how we are coming along and check out our website. I finally created a website I love. Whoever said WordPress was easy did not have me in mind! (When possible, this counselor entrepreneur is a DIYer) Check it out! www.healingpsychotherapyga.com

The key to starting a private practice is to have a business plan or just a plan period. Having a passion for counseling is very important but it’s not enough when going into business for yourself.

Some questions to ask yourself before you start:

1. How much can I afford to start out on my own. Rent, office supplies, business cards, brochures, and web presence cost money.

2. Do I have savings or another job? It may take 2-3 years to start seeing the kind of profit I've always dreamed of. (This is based entirely on your ability to network and market)

3. Am I a fighter or do I start having self defeating thoughts the minute things don't go according to plan? Starting your own private practice takes perseverance and a calling on your life to be an entrepreneur!

4. Where do I want to be located? Is this area "saturated" with other therapists?

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The Foundation...5. How much do I know about this location and the needs of the community?

6. Do I want to rent from someone already in practice, get an al-ready furnished office, or get an office I have to furnish?

7. Which populations am I passionate about? Now which ones fit my area of expertise?

8. Which people might be able to refer clients to me based on who I see? (Ex. Divorce Attorneys may refer couples to you who decide not to divorce. School counselors and social work-ers may refer children and adolescents.)

9. Will I want to accept insurance? **It could be very beneficial to take insurance to get clients in initially. There are many peo-ple paying into their insurance and cannot afford to not use it when needed. However, there might be times that a person doesn't have insurance or doesn't want to have a diagnosis re-corded on their medical record and will choose to pay out of pocket.

Congratulations!! If you have already answered the prior ques-tions and you are ready to work for yourself.

Now it’s time to develop a plan of action before taking another step...

Have you considered investing in yourself? Getting consultation from a mentor can be very beneficial on your journey. Consultation can provide great help with finding direction, goal planning, and accountability. The more you learn from them the better your journey can be!

Helpful Resources:

Small Business Administration- http://www.sba.gov/

SCORE, small business advice - http://www.score.org/

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/

Camille McDaniel, LPC, NCC, CPCS, business planning and marketing for mental health professionals - www.thecounselorentrpreneur.com

Find Your Calling Love Your Life: Paths to Your Truest Self in Life and Work by Deborah Dasch and Marth I. Finney


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http://www.sba.gov

http://www.sba.gov

http://www.score.org

http://www.score.org

http://www.linkedin.com

http://www.linkedin.com



How My Enemies Helped Me

At the time, 2009, I probably wouldn't have welcomed these strug-gles but in hind sight I have to say THANK YOU! to all the situations and people who created struggle for me.

While working for a state agency, I got the opportunity to move into a new therapist position that allowed me to see an increase in my income. This coupled with the fact that I was still teaching at a university meant I was feeling pretty com-fortable.

You know there is something very interesting with getting "comfortable" in life. I mean for me it can be a place of little growth and productivity because I like the peace that comes with living in a comfort bubble, away from all the stressors of the world. I don't know why it even comes as a surprise to me

anymore that the comfort won't always stay and shouldn't if I am meant to grow in life. Somehow, I am allowed to stay com-fortable for a short time and then it's as if God said "Break time is over. We've got work to do!" and with a push I'm thrown into another reality. Much like being thrown into the pool when you're not ready.

I could see the winds of change blowing. It started while on my new job position. I started experiencing a “hostile” work environment. This lasted for a few months. One day, while rid-ing home from a never ending day at work, I said OUT LOUD, "That's it! I am working for myself!" I can remember that day clearly. It was the day I stopped straddling the fence and took a step toward entrepreneurship.

PAUSE STORY HERE

Side note: See what you don't understand is that I was riding this comfort bubble longer than I am admitting. Actually, the promotion in 2009 only made it worse by making me even more comfortable. The desire to start my own practice was laid on my heart in 2008! It just seemed like a pretty big endeavor so I kicked back and didn't do anything that year ex-cept come up with a name for my practice, a mission state-ment, and the vision.

BACK TO REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM

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In the following weeks, after the drive home, I started wonder-ing how stable my job position was, given the ever changing policies and poor management. I wondered if I would be able to get paid my current salary working for myself. Well guess what? The job didn't last and, approximately 6 months after my out loud moment in the car, I was transferred to another department.

Now you might be saying 6 months passed and you were trans-ferred?? I thought you wanted to work for yourself? You sure move slow!

Sure I wanted to work for myself! However, you must have a plan. I couldn't go all willy nilly just quitting because people were being unkind and unfair. I had to make sure it was the right time and I was kind of still hoping my comfort bubble would come back and save me and that things would return to "normal". I was in denial at times. I also needed to eat and pay my bills :-)

Well as my 4 year anniversary with that job approached, I real-ized I could no longer take being on call 24/ 7 and get calls from management at all times of the day. In addition I still had the job at the university and I saw clients 1 day a week at my collegues counseling private practice.

So I resigned and my last day was about 3 weeks after my 4 year anniversary.

So, THANK YOU to all the instigators, ring leaders, and situa-tions that made my struggles possible! You were instrumental in pushing me to make my passive dream a reality.

Lesson: Darkness and strife don't always have to be dream killers. Look for the mes-sage in the storm. Maybe it's telling you to start building your dream!

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CHAPTER 2

Priceless Learning Lessons

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”

Don Williams, Jr




Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Lane!

I started my practice because I knew I wanted to help people! I love helping with information, education, and emotional support. Helping people to look at life in ways that produce better results for their mental and emotional health.

There was just one little problem -- too many voices in my head. No, not hallucinations, but the voices of other people and their vision for how they wanted to run and were currently running their own private practices. It seemed that so many therapists wanted the same thing for their practice. I felt a bit lost because I wanted to do something different.

"So what was the big problem Camille?! Isn’t it okay to be different?"---> CONFIDENCE

My dream seemed so big I just didn't see how I could do it. However, I got back on track in 5 steps.

5 STEPS:

1. I wrote the vision and goals that I had for my practice:

• Have a group of clinicians that offer various counseling services.

• Cater to various economic needs which for me meant a sliding scale fee based on annual income.

• Have free and paying groups for the community.

• Offer supervision to associate level counselors, etc...

2. Put my goals in a realistic time frame:

• I tend to want things NOW and having a business is a building process that takes dedication and patience.

3. I went to a quiet place:

• Here I could be alone with only my vision.

4. Trust that the desire God gave me to start my own practice was exactly what He would help me accomplish. I would meet the right people, go to the right places, acquire the right tools, and I didn't need to be overwhelmed with doing it on my own.

5. BREATHE-- Inhale, Exhale and Repeat! :-)

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Once I started doing these things repeatedly, I stopped worry-ing about everyone else's progress and what they were doing.

After talking with several other therapists, I also realized that seeing is not always believing. Just because a person has a website with a million therapists in their practice does not mean they are overwhelmed with clients. Seeing a therapy practice that offers several groups and services, does not mean that the groups are active or that all services are cur-rently being provided.

WOW, who knew, and here I was looking into the lane of other people and I almost missed my exit.

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How NOT to Choose a Private Practice Location

First line of business? Find a location to start seeing clients in and learn what it takes to have your own practice.

I always liked the environment around Perimeter Mall. It's like a little pseudo-city to me. I figured it would be awesome to set up a practice in a place you really like which is not a two hour drive from home. So without considering anything else, I started looking for places to rent. On Jan 1, 2010, I opened my practice and I was located in a building close to the Glen-ridge Connector! It was the location I wanted, the building was nice, and it came with a receptionist. Additionally, it was close to hospitals which I figured could be a source of referrals and it was not a two hour drive from my house.

I got settled into my new counseling office. Now, I wait for the phone to ring...

Lesson: When choosing where to set up a business, how much you like the location is a very small part of the equation. You should be asking yourself:

• What are rental or property prices in this area?

• How much competition is in this area?

• Do I have any connections in this area?

• If I do not have connections, do I have the marketing budget and ideas needed to break into this area?

• Is it close to the people I want to offer coun-seling to? For example, if you work with alot of children, a location close to schools and family neighborhoods is ideal.

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The Phone is Ringing (a little bit)

At this point, it is February 2010...

I am a one woman show at this point. I bought a cell phone to be used as a business phone and when-ever it rang I answered. I got all the paperwork needed to do intakes, notes, and billing. I was using a free system to do my billing and I found a way to ac-cept credit card payments online. Now all I needed were clients!

That was the catch! After three months at the location, I had only seen two clients! This would never work. At that rate, I would have a total of eight clients in one year!

Lesson: Had I done my research I would have realized that the Glenridge Connector area is FILLED a.k.a “saturated” with psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals. While I liked the area

alot, I didn't have the marketing budget needed to break into this area and I didn’t realize the time needed to network in an area when you don’t have any connec-tions.

I was still seeing clients at my colleagues practice in Marietta and things were going great. I only had four client slots per week available but they were always full and usually filled with clients not looking to use insurance. Hmmm, maybe I need to move my practice to Marietta...

Well this is where I will stop with my story. I sure have come a long way since my 2010 start. The number of clients I now see is in the double digits, the services I offer are diversified, and it keeps getting better!

Now I have a few questions for YOU. Are you ready to start this journey? Do you need direction, goal planning, and accountability? Are your dreams important enough to invest in good quality consultation or coaching services?

Take action, keep reading...

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