A Day In The Life: Meet Relationship Expert Dr. Meredith Hansen

When I "met" Dr. Meredith Hansen on Facebook and Twitter recently I was struck by her cohesive online presence. Rarely have I come across such an impeccable private practice website and a therapist who has such clarity in her private practice message: "Helping individuals and couples find love, get love, and keep love."

If you want to see an example of a powerful practice website and clear practice message visit DrMeredithHansen.com. Dr. Hansen projects a nice blend of accessibility and professionalism that make me feel confident referring clients to her practice.

I'm not the only one who feels confident in Dr. Hansen's skills. Professional men and women in their late 20’s to early 40’s who are hoping to find love, coping with a relationship breakup, or want to improve their current love relationship are seeking her clinical services.

Dr. Hansen also offers pre-marital and newlywed counseling and enjoys helping couples adjust to married life. With a waiting list of new clients Dr. Hansen's plans to on bring on a psychological assistant to supervise who will see her overflow clients.  What does it take to build a relationship focused private practice? Look into "a day in the life" of relationship expert Dr. Hansen.

A Day In The Life

January 9, 2012

6:30AM – 8:00AM

Woke up early and headed out to the gym. I didn’t want to go today, my bed was warm and comfortable, but I knew it would make me feel energized and ready for the busy day ahead.

8:00AM – 8:30AM

Came home and made my favorite green smoothie for breakfast. Checked in with my husband before he left for work and responded to a few client emails requesting appointment changes during the week.

8:30AM – 9:30AM

Showered and got dressed.

9:45AM – 10:00AM

Drove to work and listened to my new website “opt-in” recording.

10:00AM – 11:00AM

Arrived at my office and reviewed my caseload for the day. Entered weekly sessions into www.officeally.com, entered billing information, paid a few private practice bills (Farmer’s office insurance and Sparkletts), completed unfinished progress notes, returned a phone call from a potential new patient requesting an appointment, updated my practice waiting list in Google Docs.

11:00AM – 12:00PM

Worked on new relationship improvement product that I will launch next month. Recorded 7 short audios and finalized the corresponding handouts. Sent an email to my friends who are “testing” the program in order to get their feedback on the content so far.

12:00PM – 1:00PM

Grabbed lunch from a little deli down the street and reviewed content from a business training program I am participating in. Ate my sandwich while listening to the training recordings and made a “To Do”/goal list for the week. Visited my Facebook Page to respond to any comments or posts by my followers and checked in on Twitter to build online relationships.

1:00PM – 7:00PM

Saw 6 therapy clients. Wrote progress notes between sessions in order to reduce my paperwork during the week. (This is always a goal. Some days I am better at this than others.)

7:00PM – 7:15PM

Drove home and listened to the rest of my new website opt-in recording.

7:15PM – 8:00PM

Arrived home and made dinner with my husband. Asked about his day, discussed our schedule for the month, and cleaned up the kitchen.

8:00PM – 9:15PM

Watched TV with my husband. Checked in on Facebook again to respond to any evening comments or posts. Reviewed schedule for tomorrow. Responded to a recent request for a guest blog post. Reviewed the website of the woman requesting the post in order to assess if it would be a good match. Brainstormed some ideas for this post and outlined my next blog post.

9:15PM – 10:15PM

Got ready for bed and read a book a psychology focused book (I can’t get away from them). Listened to a brief mediation by Melanie Roche (always relaxes me and helps clear my mind). Kissed my husband and went to sleep…

Find out more about Dr. Meredith Hansen visit her private practice website.

A Day In The Life: Meet Professional Counselor Stephanie Adams

I've never actually met Stephanie Adams, LPC  face to face, but I like her a lot. I've connected with her on Twitter, exchanged emails, and visited her website so I feel confident that I can say that she's a "go getter" and like me, Stephanie loves to reach out to clients and professionals through technology.

She founded Beginnings Counseling & Consulting, a boutique E-Therapy practice based in College Station, TX, where she uses video conferencing, email, phone and real-time chat to meet with clients and coach beginning counselors. She's co-authoring a book "The Beginning Counselor’s Survival Guide" aimed at supporting new therapists in building their practice.

A Day In The Life

Thursday, November 17, 2011

6:15AM

Wake up and make coffee. Spend time with my husband before he leaves for medical school.

8AM

Check email and plan out the day.

9AM

Consult via email with representative from online therapy platform I will soon be working with. I had a question about the nature of their existing informed consent documents. Since they obtain contact information for emergencies and provide a detailed informed consent statement on the nature of online therapy, I decide I do not need to add my own informed consent forms when I work with clients on their site.

9:15-9:45AM

Attempt to resolve issues with a recent product I’ve listed on clickbank, called the Premarital Power Seminar. A representative from the site tells me my product cannot be approved unless the target URL shows my domain name, www.stephanieadamslpc.com. Since my website was originally a free site before I upgraded to hosting, it still shows an old URL using the free domain name. Email my website support to ask for help changing it.

9:45AM

Send email to affiliate who is planning on representing my product and update her on the progress…or lack therof.

9:45-10:30 AM

Shower and get ready for the day!

10:30AM

Return client email.

10:45AM

Submit interior material for my upcoming book, The Beginning Counselor’s Survival Guide and check for errors. Find 5 formatting errors, correct 4 and email co-author Dr. Carol Doss about getting a high-resolution photograph for her author bio for the last error resolution. Try to figure out whether I have a high-resolution photograph for my own picture! Decide to shelve that problem for late. Check pre-order form on my web store to see if it will allow a person to order the book successfully, as I am announcing the pre-order at the free webinar I am giving later tonight.

11:30AM

Consult with private practice mentor on recent claim payment received. Can it really pay so little?

12:30 PM

Return new client consultation email that just came in regarding carinig for an ADHD child. Inform client that while I cannot treat a child client over online therapy, I do have experience working with ADHD children and would be happy to provide her with consultation and behavioral strategies to help her work successfully with her child.

12:35 PM

Inform another new client via email that since she is of legal age, I cannot call her mother to ask about her insurance information, as it would be a breach of privacy. Provide form to be e-signed by client to allow me to call client’s insurance company about mental health benefits.

12:41PM

Finalize time for phone conference tomorrow morning with a different potential new online counseling platform. Jot down notes: Will this site allow me to restrict clients to only clients in Texas, where I am licensed? Will it be a concern for this site’s owner if I provide services through more than one platform?

1:00PM

Attend free webinar from TeleMental Health Institute, “How To Build A Thriving Mental Health Practice From Your Home.” During the presentation, write answers for the pre-submitted questions for my webinar and make last-minute changes to the Powerpoint presentation I have created. Update my business accounts, typing in and filing receipts and client payments for the appointments I’ve had this week.

2:30PM

Return voicemail from local student applying to counseling master’s programs. Set up a time to meet with her after Thanksgiving week, and invite her to tonight’s webinar.

3-4 PM

Rehearse for presentation of my first webinar tonight, “Developing Your Counselor Mission: The One Idea That Changes Everything.”

4:18PM

Assure several recipients of my webinar invitation that if they cannot attend the seminar tonight, the recording will be emailed to them.

5:00PM

Tell my husband I’m nervous about giving the webinar. He reassures me that I will do fine.

5:30PM

Discuss Thanksgiving travel plans with my husband.

6:13PM

Receive new subscriber to email list for Beginning Counselors. Yay!

6:30-7:00PM

Open AnyMeeting and “start” the webinar before anyone gets there so I can play with sound and turn off the webcam – not having a good enough hair day for that. Discover to my horror that if I am to share my Powerpoint presentation with attendees, I will not be able to see their chat box, because as I have a Mac I can only share my entire screen. They will be able to see the chat box, but I can’t. Scramble through potential options to correct this situation, including turning on my husband’s old desktop (does not have a working microphone) and playing the Powerpoint from within program itself. It doesn’t look as good outside of presentation mode, so finally decide to bite the bullet, and share the situation with participants signing in. Let them know that when Powerpoint poses a question I want them to answer, I will have to minimize the program in order to see their answers.

7:00PM

Give webinar. I enjoy getting to talk to new counselors and get excited about the topic all over again.

8:30PM

Sign off from webinar. Share with my husband that it was a success. Make a to-do list for tomorrow: Meeting with owner of online counseling site. Research licensure laws to see if any other states will allow me provisional licensure to practice online in their jurisdiction. Finish homemade baby blankets for family baby shower over Thanksgiving break. Confirm appointments for the next Monday and Tuesday before we leave for home.

9:00PM

Call my mom.

9:30PM

Relax.

For more information visit www.stephanieadamslpc.com

Mobile App For Your Private Practice? It's Easier Than You Think

By now you know that I love technology, especially when it comes to practice building. I recently blogged about how shrinks can prepare for the mobile marketing revolution. Well, here's another cool way to make sure that your private practice website is "mobile friendly." You can now build your own private practice app! Seriously. Last weekend I stumbled on this blog http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57336404-94/how-to-build-your-own-app-for-free/ and thought I'd give it a try.

My clinic website, Wasatch Family Therapy, has an active blog, newsletter, YouTube account, Twitter, and Facebook page and we pride ourselves in being fairly tech-savvy, so an app is the next step, right? In addition to providing clinical services, we highly value outreach and community education and technology and the Internet allow us to reach far beyond our own community in Utah.

In less than an hour, through the tools available on conduit.com I created a custom mobile "Wasatch Family Therapy" app, complete with it's own QR code (the code you can scan with a bar code scanner on your mobile phone). I was also able to set up a notification to my website visitors using a mobile device to select the app or open the full-version. Cool huh?

If you want to check out our app scan the QR code or click http://mob.conduit.com/wasatchfamilytherapyon your mobile device. It'll open the app and give you the option to save to home screen.

I also created another app for my website JulieHanks.com so visitors can access my blog and ask questions from their mobile phone. Did I mention that I love technology? It allows a little therapist in Utah to reach around the globe.

Now get busy creating an app for your private practice. If you do, post the link below. I'd love to see it.

Adventures in Private Practice: Psychotherapist Diane Spear, LCSW

Get to know New York City licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist Diane Spear, LCSW-R.

Tell us a little about your practice...

I’m a licensed clinical social worker in private practice over sixteen years. I treat people from older adolescents to senior citizens, in individual and couples sessions.  My practice approach can be described as psychodynamic, interactive, and reality-based, so I’m dealing with how a patient’s formative years affect his/her current conscious and unconscious attitudes about love, work, and play, so that they can build on what works and rethink what doesn’t in order to have a more satisfying life going forward.

Why did you decide to open a private practice?

I decided to open a private practice because I like the flexibility and autonomy of working when I want, setting my own fees, working with a theoretical orientation I find helpful, and choosing a supervisor whose way of working is compatible with mine.

What have you learned from your toughest clients?

What I’ve learned from my toughest patients—and my wonderful supervisor, Dr. Ed Campbell—is that they get to be crazy till they’re ready to listen, and that my responsibility is to “put it out there” consistently and to work hard at doing that, but that I’m not responsible for whether or not they are willing to take it in and use it consistently or at all.  That was enormously freeing!  And a great way to avoid burnout.

Some of my toughest patients are what my supervisor calls “help-rejecting complainers.”  Realizing that they have every right to reject my help, and learning to not take that personally—“You’re not listening to the great Diane Spear????!!!!”—has been really important!

What's your biggest pet peeve about private practice?

My biggest pet peeve (and it’s not very big at all, frankly) about private practice is that I don’t get paid sick days and vacation days.  But it’s a small trade-off for the autonomy I value.  Actually the worst deal is having to pay for my own health insurance.

How did you discover or develop your practice "niche"?

In terms of a niche, I originally worked with a lot of actors, artists, and writers, probably because I had an arts background.  Now I have patients from all walks of life, and I enjoy that variety.  My practice is a general one, and I enjoy that.

What resource (book, website, person) helped you the most when setting up your private practice?

The resources that have helped me the most in setting up my private practice have been my wonderful therapist, Nancy Becker, LCSW-R, and my tough-love supervisor, Ed Campbell, Ph.D., because they told me and modeled for me that if you want to have a successful practice, you have to treat it like a business and market it, and set it up in a way that’s fair to me.  This was a very different approach than what I learned in social work school, where it was politically incorrect to mention aspirations for a private practice.

What has surprised you most about being in private practice?

What has surprised me most about being in private practice was that my therapist and supervisor were right:  with hard work, a business attitude, and a commitment to learning theory and technique I could have a successful business, as they do.  In other words, their success wasn’t based on luck; if I wanted their results, I needed to put in the hard work they did and I could have a great business that I enjoy.

Has your private practice helped you grow professionally? How so?

My private practice has helped me grow professionally because there can be room for laziness at some agencies, without too many repercussions.   But if I’m lazy about learning theory and/or technique, or marketing, I will see the results in a failing practice, so having to be responsible to myself has forced me to have a better work ethic.

Has it helped you grow personally, too? How so?

Private practice has helped me grow personally, too, because I’m forced to confront my own narcissism on a daily basis with my patients, to know the limits of what I can do—I can’t change anyone except myself, though I can work with someone and help them change if they want to change.  And let’s face it:  anything that makes us confront our narcissism on a daily basis is going to help in every aspect of our lives!

Being a therapist can be emotionally exhausting. What do you do to care for your own emotional and psychological health?

I avoid burnout by getting lots of treatment from my long-time therapist, and participating in a weekly supervision/study group.  What also helps is, once again, knowing that I can’t change anyone—all I can do is put it out there, and the patient is responsible for using it or not.

How do you cope with the inevitable stressors involved with being your own boss?

I cope with the stresses of being my own boss by setting up my business in a way that is fair to me, so that I don’t resent my patients.  When I started out, I paid $12 an hour for office space and my first patient paid me $20 per session.  I built from there, but had not learned to set it up yet in a way that was fair to me.  So when a patient cancelled on me, I rescheduled sessions, which meant that I had to pay $24 for office rent ($12 for the cancelled session and $12 for the make-up session), but just get paid $20 for the session.  No small surprise that I wound up resenting my patients!  My supervisor helped me set it up to be fair to myself with time and money.

What personal strengths have helped you succeed in private practice?

Creativity and a good sense of humor have worked well for me in private practice.  I enjoy coming up with analogies that will fit a particular patient’s situation or to explain a complex concept.  I’ve also found that humor can be a great way past a patient’s defenses.

To learn more about Diane Spear, LCSW-R visit her website

Adventures In Private Practice: Healthy Eating Expert Karen R. Koenig, LCSW

When I launched this blog in July I had no idea that one of the perks would be connecting with so many amazing therapists who've created successful practices. I've been inspired by shrinks around the globe who demonstrate the varied ways to make a living, and make a difference with their clients and I thought you'd be too.

I'm thrilled to interview Karen R. Koenig, LCSW for the first in an ongoing series "Adventures In Private Practice" so you can learn from her experiences to improve your practice. I first learned of Karen's work when I bought her  "Food and Feelings" workbook that I used with several of my eating disordered clients.

I've been impressed by Karen's passion for helping clients struggling with food issues, while writing to raise public awareness of how to relate with food in a healthy way, and maintaining excellent self-care.

Tell us a little about your practice...

Although I have been doing general psychotherapy for 30+ years, my expertise is in the psychology of eating--the why and how, not the what of it.  I teach troubled eaters the life and appetite skills they need to eat "normally" and attain and maintain a healthy weight for life without dieting.  I also do Skype and telephone coaching on eating and weight concerns.

Why did you decide to open a private practice?

After graduating social work school and working at a methadone clinic for six years in MA, I decided I wanted more time to try my hand at writing fiction, which meant working for myself.  I applied to be a provider on insurance plans, joined the MA social work chapter’s private practice support group (and learned a lot), and was fortunate to find a peer consultation group that fit my needs.

Clients that therapists find to be the most "difficult" are sometimes the ones who can teach them the most. What have you learned from your toughest clients?

I learned to, as my second year internship supervisor advised, “get my wind out of their sails.”  I think we try to control our most difficult clients more than easier ones which only creates more of a backlash.  Through them I’ve learned patience and to expect as much work from them as other clients.  My biggest shock has been working with clients who in many ways aren’t awfully functional, only to find they’re way ahead of me on a thorny issue.  I always get a kick out of that.

What's your biggest pet peeve about private practice?

Working with numbers.  I’m pretty pathetic when forced to do math and have anxiety about even filling out forms for my accountant at tax time.  I just know I’m putting in the wrong figures.  Also keeping up with my license fee, social work dues, malpractice and commercial insurance payments.

How did you discover or develop your practice "niche"?

After recovering from my own binge-eating problems, I taught in a training program for troubled eaters.  After class, students would ask to meet with me privately and I soon had a small practice.  That’s when I realized that if I was going to do therapy, I needed more training and returned to pursue an MSW.  Shortly after that, I started writing books about eating and weight and teaching my own workshops.  After many decades and books and clients, I became an expert.

What resource (book, website, person) helped you the most when setting up your private practice?

I can’t say there was one thing.  To start a practice in MA, I took a class on opening/running a private practice and that was useful for the basics, and also talked with other practitioners.  One in particular was very generous with her time and let me call her when I had questions.  I think the NASW private practice group was enormously helpful with financial and ethical concerns.  When I moved to FL six years ago, I started all over again.  I decided to take only self-pay clients, which meant lots of marketing work was ahead.  I joined the local social work chapter (unimpressed, I dropped out fairly quickly), but networked with therapists I met here and there, especially in the field of eating disorders.  I volunteered to do talks on eating and did as many book signings as possible.  Slowly my practice grew and continues to flourish.

What has surprised you most about being in private practice?

I've been surprised at how my client load stays fairly steady. I do a tremendous amount of marketing—such as answering requests like this one, hiring someone to manage my social media and pr, doing talks, running a message board, blogging twice weekly, expanding my therapy practice to worldwide eating coach via Skype and the telephone, writing online articles.

Has your private practice helped you grow professionally? How so…

My books, articles, and talks on eating and weight feed (pardon the pun) my practice and my practice boosts my book sales.

Has it helped you grow personally, too? How so…

Well, it’s made me face this I’m-bad-with-numbers perception I have.  I still do get anxious, but I’m pretty on top of things.  When I’m really in a panic, I ask my husband (the math guy) for help.  I love being responsible for my own schedule. I’ve learned to manage time well and to balance work and play.

Being a therapist can be emotionally exhausting. What do you do to care for your own emotional and psychological health?

I now don’t treat clients on Fridays.  At 65, though, I can’t imagine retiring any time soon.  I get energized from my work and rarely feel emotionally exhausted because I no longer see back-to-back clients every day.  Instead, I teach occasionally, write articles, am in the middle of writing two eating manuscripts, and am working with an agency to develop a Facebook eating app.  Switching gears and not having only a private practice keeps me feeling creative.

How do you cope with the inevitable stressors involved with being your own boss?

I don’t feel that stressed except if I have more than three clients in a row.  As I said, I’m fortunate that I don’t need to have a large caseload because I make money other ways.  But I set up my life this way because I didn’t want to be drained and there were other things I wanted to do.  I’m very good about managing my time, though I work many hours and often through the weekend on projects I enjoy (I’m starting to write songs suddenly—lyrics and melody!).  I only wish I could clone myself to do all I want to do which would include a bit more down time.

What personal strengths have helped you succeed in private practice?

I had two neurotically organized parents so I inherited that strength.  I am good at starting and ending sessions on time, maintaining email contact with clients between sessions at a pace I can tolerate and which meets their needs.  I like things easy and accessible so I work at home and have a separate wing of my house for my office and a client bathroom.  Every day I follow a routine of blog writing, checking emails and my message board, then exercising, and getting ready for the day.  I work during the hours I have the most energy 12:15-7:15p, turning away morning clients or those who need appointments at night.  Because I get to meet my needs, I don’t feel resentful.  My biggest strength is taking excellent care of myself and picking a husband who is extremely supportive of all I do.

To learn more about Karen's work and practice visit EatingNormal.com.

If you'd like to be interviewed and featured in "Adventures In Private Practice" contact me here.