The holidays are approaching, and maybe you’re thinking of gifts to get yourself or your small business.
While I found I didn’t need much to get my practice up and running, these are some things that I have found invaluable for keeping my business running smoothly and efficiently :
Line2 – When I was setting up my practice, I was going to buy a completely separate phone, and didn’t want the a huge expense. When asked a few other clinicians how they handled their business line, a trusted mentor told me about the Line2 app. It costs 9.99 a month (10.81 with tax), and completely interfaces with my iPhone. It has the calling and texting features I need, and when it rings it comes through the app so I know it’s a work-related call. The only drawback is that sometimes it “acts up” and there is a delay in texts. Other than that, it’s easy to use and I love love love it. So I have one phone but it functions as two.
Bluehost – My website is hosted there. They are reasonable for hosting fees ($12.00 per month) and customer support is available 24/7 if there are problems.
Gmail – It’s just the best email system out there. Nothing else to say here.
Google Calendar – I keep all appointments in a Google calendar. It took a little time for me to get used to using it, but now I – and my business – couldn’t survive without it. I also sublease my office for a few hours a week, and my calendar is shared so my officemate and I can book appointments around each other’s schedule.
Quickbooks – My CPA will be so happy with me at tax time! I love the ease of Quickbooks for tracking all of my income and expenses. They have a cool mileage feature as well as an easy way to upload any business-related receipts.
Square – I use this for my credit card )processing. There are admittedly a lot of features I don’t use (like appointment reminders but the reports are awesome and it’s really user-friendly. I did have to order another chip reader this year (mine conked out , of course, just after the 1-year warranty) and since I’m cash-pay, most of my transactions are done through credit card.
Vsee – This is a HIPPA-compliant platform that I use for distance counseling. It can be used for both calls or for video conferencing. I currently am utilizing this more frequently with clients that don’t live in San Antonio. It’s a great option for people that have transportation issues, or feel more comfortable in their own home. Best of all….it’s free!!!
I’m always seeking ways to improve and be more efficient at work. What are your Favorite Business things? I’d love to hear.
When I officially opened the doors to my private practice on August 1, 2016 I didn’t have one paying client.
Yes, you read that right. Not. One. Paying. Client.
You might be reading this and saying “Is she out of her naive mind, she opened a practice without one client on board?” Believe me, I agree with you! But here is what I did have: a shared office space in a central location (so I was only responsible for 1/2 the rent), a website and presence on four social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn), a marketing plan, great experience and a whole lot of hope, fear and determination. My eyes were completely focused on the prize, and for me, that prize was having a successful practice. I was going to make it happen.
I set a goal right away to have at least one meeting a week (it was usually more) with people in my industry because, as a former marketing executive, I know the power of network marketing. And let’s face it, I obviously had way more time on my hands than I did clients!
So began my meetings. I met with fellow students from grad school at their private practices. I toured substance use and abuse facilities and hospital behavioral health departments. I attended local (free) CEUs at agency venues and handed out my cards. I called former colleagues that I worked with at various agencies to meet up for coffee, and invited them to see my office space. I joined a network marketing group of local business women. I met with doctors, physical therapists and other health-care providers. I partnered up with other people and developed some education and training courses. I volunteered to run groups at a treatment facility. I cold-called and emailed other counselors that I knew in the area, and met with them over pizza, salads and sandwiches to pick their brains about their private or group practices, and to let them know I was ready for referrals.
My very first client came from one of those meetings. And then my next. And then my next. And while I do rely on paid advertising to market my business, some of my best and long-term clients have come, and continue to come, from these word-of-mouth referrals.
I have also received other gigs from these meetings to diversify my practice, including writing and training opportunities, contracting positions (I currently have three outside contracts) and have been offered a position to sit on the board of a large local agency.
As my client base and practice grows, I still make time for at least one meeting a week. Again, it’s usually more, but as my clinic hours fill (and that’s how I pay myself), I stick to my rule of at least one. These weekly meetings have benefitted me in many ways, and not only business-wise. It gets me out in the community and keeps me on top of new resources for my clients, as well as gets me in touch with other people in the business – something that is crucial for this sole practitioner. In fact, I’m writing this after reaching out and meeting a counselor for coffee that I sat next to at a networking event this past summer. Next week I’m touring a substance-use treatment center in the Texas Hill Country and being hosted as a guest for a paid CEU course. The week after that I’m speaking at a middle school on the South Side of San Antonio for their Career Day. My meetings will continue into 2018 and beyond.
When and where is your next meeting?
So you’re thinking about therapy. For most people, that’s a really huge step forward….and a great one, in my opinion. (‘Cause obviously any therapist would be totally stupid to say anything else otherwise.) No, but all jokes aside. I think therapy is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself and your mental well-being.
But here’s the thing. Therapy isn’t the answer to all your problems. It’s part of the solution to your problems, but it’s not the be-all-end-all answer to everything.
I can’t tell you how many people walk into my office for their first appointment and expect to have life’s answers figured out and solved in a 60-minute timeframe. When they realize this is simply not the case, I can tell by the look on their face that they are not coming back. And they don’t. And that’s really too bad, because mostly these are the people that need therapy and would benefit greatly from it.
Or, I’ve had clients tell me they were in therapy previously but nothing was changing so they stopped going. One client recently told me this and I asked him how long he had seen the therapist. His answer? Two appointments.
Sorry people. Therapy is not a magic-bullet, quick-fix solution. It just doesn’t work like that. I wish it didn’t, but it doesn’t. Therapy is a process. Sometimes, issues can be resolved in a few appointments. Other times, longer-term, regular and consistent therapy is needed for a few months. It all depends on one thing: how much work a person is willing to put in. And how dedicated they are to making changes.
And here’s another thing. As a client, it’s your job to apply the techniques and work on the goals mutually agreed upon in session; the work is not all on the therapist. Oftentimes I assign clients “homework” of sorts. The ones who do it seem to have the most success and make progress. Others stay stagnant and frustrated. I tell them it’s because they have to be willing to put in the work outside of session. Behaviors don’t change because we want them to change. We have to constantly work to change them.
The other day a woman called me around 10 in the morning. She asked if I had an appointment at noon…that same day….on her work lunch break. I’m always leery of people that need an appointment RIGHT AWAY. Why? Because I know they expect it to solve something and have an instantaneous result. Of course, I assessed for crisis and suicide risk due to her sense of immediacy and quickly got to the root of the problem: her boyfriend had told her she needed to see a therapist or he would leave her. I knew if that was her motivation for coming in, she most likely would think that one therapy session would change everything.
Changes aren’t going to happen in one therapy appointment. Changes and progress can be made with steady, consistent attendance of therapy…and applying the techniques and suggestions that are worked on in session – out of session. I tell all of my clients this: therapy is the foundation. But it’s also work. The real work is done in between appointments. I’ve seen people make positive changes, get out of ruts, recommit to failing relationships, stop using substances and get out of jobs they hated – all due to self-discovery and changes they were willing to make in their lives. It wasn’t the therapy alone: it was the combination of them willing to show up, do the work and make the changes they wanted to make.
Therapy is a commitment and one that is worth it. It’s just not a quick and easy answer. It’s one piece of a puzzle that you have to work – with your therapist – to solve.
I met Sarah McClelland when we were graduate students in San Antonio. She was personable, funny, and gosh, was she always in amazing physical shape!!! After grad school, she moved to Chicago, has been working as a clinician at a group practice. We’ve kept in touch through the years, and I was super-excited to see that she took the plunge and opened up her own shop in May.
Her innovative practice, Chicago Mind & Body, is a psychotherapy practice providing clinical counseling services with an integrated focus on exercise and nutrition habits to promote overall balance.
I recently interviewed Sarah to hear more about her new practice, which is located in the West Loop in Chicago.
Q: Congrats on your new practice! It’s truly integrative behavioral health, which we need more of in our country. What was your inspiration for Chicago Mind & Body?
A: I’ve always noticed in my personal life the benefits of eating well and working out. I love the feeling when I work out – I love when I do it, and I love how I feel after. And of course, I believe in the value of clinical and mental health counseling. Good nutrition and exercise, along with therapy, is also proven to help fight depression and anxiety, so it made sense to me to use this approach.
Q: Tell me about your own fitness routine.
A: Ever since I was a little girl, I was obsessed with riding horses. I started when I was 8 years old, and I still ride whenever I get the chance. In college, I always ran or hit the gym. Now I lift weights several days a week – working out is my “coffee” for the day!! But I’d say I work out typically, 5-6 days a week.
Q: How do you integrate exercise with your clients’ treatment plans? How do you deal with those that are resistant?
A: I base everything on my clinical modality, which is a lot of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness work, and I am very client-centered. Of course, no two clients are alike so I customize everything. I always go into a session assuming my clients are their own experts.
If a person says to me, “I don’t exercise, I don’t have time” then I go right to self-care and how important it is to our whole state of being. I am never going to force someone to do something they don’t want to do. But I explore it. I will talk to them about things they might want to try, or things they used to do. But the bottom line is that I’m not going to tell someone to run if they hate running.
Q: Sleeping and eating patterns are always important areas to address with clients.
A: Yes, I see a lot of clients with many different concerns about their eating. Maybe they are a binge-eater or maybe their relationship with food is bad – like, they will restrict themselves for a week after they indulged at a party. I try to shift the focus with my clients to look at food at nourishment for their bodies – not “good” or “bad” and for them to not use food as punishment.
Q: Do you find that people want to see changes right away?
A: A lot of our clients want the quick fix and as we all know, there is none. But people can change and shift their thinking over time. There are so many fads right now. I use my sessions for educations purposes with regards to their own eating patterns and help guide them on a different path.
Q: What has been your proudest moment as a therapist?
A: Seeing people get better! I love seeing when they have improved and we terminate services because they don’t need me anymore. It makes me really happy seeing people do well. It’s such a privilege for people to share their lives and stories with me and to trust me to be a part of that.
Q: What is your vision for the future of Chicago Mind & Body, say, five years down the road?
A: I envision one day having my practice be a place where people can come for not only mental health counseling, but also having a workout room with weights and cardio, and rooms where myself and other clinicians can run groups. I’m also interested in starting some therapeutic walking groups around the city.
Q: I have no doubt you’ll make that happen!!
A: That’s the goal.
Q: I’m definately coming to see your place next time I’m in town.
A: I’m holding you to that!
Chicago Mind & Body is located at 25 E. Washington Street in the loop. They serve adults and couples 18 years and upup. Visit their website at www.chicagomindandbody.com for more information. Contact Sarah via email at sfarris@chicagomindandbody.com.
It’s a question I’m asked often. How, praytell, did a 40-something former marketing and journalism gal become a therapist?
It was a gradual move. In my previous career, I was in marketing and content writing. When my kids were small and I was moving around the country as a military spouse, I shifted to freelance writing. I wrote mostly for military publications and websites and it was great having the flexibility and ability to work from home (wherever home happened to be at the time) and around my kid’s schedules.
Then a funny thing happened. My kids started getting older and the pull to go back to work became stronger. In my writing world, though, I realized something: I was writing features and interviewing tons of people around the country on different topics. And they’d all tell me lots of stuff. Private stuff. The article topic wasn’t even discussed and people I’d talk to, mostly strangers, and usually on the phone, are telling me about their affairs, abortions, family problems. I remember distinctly one phone conversation where an enlisted soldier in Virginia, who had gone well over our 30-minute allotted phone interview time, said to me, ‘Gosh, you are just so easy to talk to. You really listened to me.”
Something clicked for me. I knew that I was easy to talk to – I’d been told that all my life. Moving around the country as a military spouse kinda forces you to talk with different people from many walks of life – in my case, Upstate New York, the Pacific Northwest and finally the Texas Hill Country.
But obviously there’s more to it than that.
I knew a fellow military spouse, an RN who also was pursuing her LPC that was in my book club at Ft. Hood. I spoke with her and asked her a ton of questions. How is the program? What do you have to do? She was completely encouraging and I’ll never forget her telling me this: “Girl, you have to do it. You’ll be great.”
So one year later, I find myself at 6:00 p.m. a Monday night in a classroom in downtown San Antonio, sitting in my first (of many) 3 hour graduate night-school classes for my Master’s in Counseling at UTSA. I had applied for and received a $4,000 grant from the Army (thanks, Uncle Sugah) towards my studies. For the next two and a-half years, I spent a minimum of two nights a week and two summers in class, pulled many late-nights writing papers, completed 400 closely-supervised clinical counseling hours, took two big national certification exams and graduated.
And I loved it. I counseled groups of teens at a Juvenille Justice Academy in downtown San Antonio. I did in-home case-management with at-risk youth and their families on the west and east sides. I worked at a crisis center, detox, and IOP. I visited clients in jail and detention centers. And now, 7 years after starting this journey, I have my own private practice.
I’m finally able to say, at age 46, that I love what I do – and that journalism degree? Well, I get to use my marketing and writing skills on a daily basis, just in a different way – to promote myself and market my own business, and of course, write this blog.
At the end of the day….even the most challenging of days (and believe me, there are many) here is what I know, and the answer(s) to why I became a therapist:
I became a therapist to help others.
I became a therapist to listen to others.
I became a therapist to learn from others.
I became a therapist because I know, from personal experience, that therapy works.
I became a therapist because I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Every time someone walks through my door and sits down in my office, I know what a privilege it is that they’ve chosen me to help them. That is never lost on me. My job, while demanding at times, is fulfilling in a way that no other job has been for me.
There is no better feeling than when a person tells me that I’ve changed their life, or helped them stop using, or made their relationship with their spouse/parent/child better.
So that’s why this former marketing girl is now a therapist. I plan to continue working in this field until I retire. And as long as people want to tell me their stories, I’ll continue to listen.
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