Boost Social Media Engagement Through Content Curation

I recently wrote a blog post encouraging therapists to start start creating content as a way to boost website SEO, create value, to create backlinks through social media sharing, and to develop your online practice presence. In my consultation and in online forums I've heard private practice therapists express feeling overwhelmed by creating content like blogging or producing videos on a regular basis. That's where content curation comes in.

Content curation means sharing (tweeting, posting, etc.) the very best resources that other people have produced. I suggest that you share 40% your own content posted on your practice website and share 60% curated content through your social networks. Curating adds value to your social media followers, solidifies your practice presence, builds credibility in your practice specialty area, and creates networks with other professionals through sharing their content with your social media followers.

Are you a content creator or content curator? Hopefully, you're doing both.

Naming Your Practice Is Like Naming A Child

I have four children. Luckily, I still like the names my husband and I gave them. Their names fit them. Their names aren't too common or too weird. Like naming a child, choosing a practice name that fits can be a difficult process that brings up anxiety for therapists. You want your practice name to be an accurate reflection of you, as a therapist, and also appeal to your ideal clients.  You don't want to regret your decision down the road, right?

Ten years ago I wrestled with the question of what to name my practice. Funny enough, it was just one month after my 3rd child was born and we  didn't name him for a couple of days because my husband and I couldn't agree on his name. The name he'd picked for our son, Joshua, was a fine name but it just wasn't him. He was Owen, not Joshua. I don't regret taking a couple of days and "going to bat" for the name that fit my son.

I don't regret the name I picked for my private practice either. I wrestled with a few different practice options and settled on Wasatch Family Therapy. Here are some common questions about naming your practice and some insight into how I made my decision.

Should I use my name or come up with a separate practice name?

• I wanted the name to sound bigger than a solo practice because that was my long-term vision for my practice: to grow it to a clinic with several therapists, so I chose a name that sounded established and respectable.
• I was advised by my attorney not to use my name as my practice in case I was involved in a lawsuit. He said that my practice name would be out in the media and would provide an added layer of protection of my personal name.

Should my practice name be tied to my specific geographical location?

• I decided to tie my practice name loosely to my location. The Wasatch Front and the Wasatch Mountains refer to a regional area, not a specific city or town. Because my vision was to grow the practice and possibly have multiple office locations, I didn't want it to be limited to a narrow location. Last October, we opened up a second location in Provo, UT, which is still considered the Wasatch Front.

Should I try to be clever or straightforward in naming my practice?

• Don't worry about being clever or deep with your practice name. Since most people are finding their mental health information and providers online, consider including searchable terms in your practice name.  I included "Family Therapy" in my practice name because it's something that my ideal clients would type in a search. Ask yourself, "What will my ideal clients type in Google if they're seeking my services?" If you're a child therapist you might want to use the term "child counselor" or "child therapy" in your name. If you work with couples you may want to use "couples counseling" or "marriage therapy" in your name.

I'd love to hear your process of naming your practice?

Do you have moments of regret about your practice name or are you happy with it?

Share your thoughts in the comment box below!

5 Self-Care Tips For Therapists

You take good care of you clients but are you taking good care of you? Being a therapist in private practice is incredibly fulfilling and very emotionally draining. While it's an honor to be trusted with client's deepest fears, pain, and vulnerabilities, it can take an emotional toll. Therapists seem to be particularly vulnerable to putting our own needs on the back burner to attend to others. It's why we're good at what we do. It's also why prioritizing self-care is crucial to professional and personal success, and to avoiding burnout.

At work and at home (I'm a wife and mother of 4 children) I emotionally and physically nurture others, so I've had to work hard to figure out what I need and how to prioritize self-care. Here are some ways that I've learned to take good care of myself as a private practitioner.

1) Start and end sessions on time

Build in 10-15 minutes in between clients to take a bathroom break, do some deep breathing, have a snack, clear your head, or consult with another therapist. Don't give away your time to clients at your own expense or you'll end up resenting them because your needs aren't being met.

2) Remember to eat and drink

This sounds so basic, but I've had times when hours would go by before I realized that I was parched and famished! I used to book  8-10 clients a day without scheduling a break assuming that someone would cancel or no-show. On the days where no one did I'd work straight through. Exhausted and starving I usually grabbed junk food and a sip of water. I've learned to build in time to eat and drink so I can maintain my energy level.

3) Schedule transition time after work

Take a few minutes to clear your head so you don't bring the emotions of work into your personal time. If you have a commute you may want to listen to relaxing music on your drive home. There was a period of time where I'd work out at the end of my work day to help release the stress of the work day before heading home and that worked well. Take a few minutes to "shift gears" after work.

4) Get consultation and supervision

It's crucial to build in support for your emotional and professional needs in order to prevent burnout. Meet with colleagues to process countertransference and consult on difficult cases so you don't internalize your client's issues. This is particularly important for solo private practitioners to prevent isolation.

5) Solve recurring complaints quickly

If you have chronic complaints about your practice, act quickly to resolve them.  If you hate your office space, start looking for a new one. If you are overwhelmed by paperwork, reports, and managed care authorizations, consider hiring office help. Take action when something is bothering you so it doesn't drain your emotional energy.

One of the benefits of being in private practice is that you are in charge of your own schedule. Be sure to build your self-care into your schedule. We are modeling self-care for our clients so let's make sure we're practicing what we preach.

What do you do to "fill your own bucket" during your work day so you can continue to feel energized, to be effective with clients, to manage your practice, and maintain a personal life? I'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Feel free to comment below.

photo credit: rofanator

Who’s Your Ideal Client?

“Who do you want to work with?” was the question I asked workshop participants in a recent private practice workshop at a local university. For many workshop participants, this was the first time they’d ever even considered asking themselves which clients they wanted to see in their clinical practice. Shrinking funding, crowded managed care panels, and a saturation of therapists have  left private practitioners feeling desperate to fill their schedules with anyone who is willing to see them.  However, based on my personal experience of nearly a decade in private practice, “Who do I want to work with?” is one of the most important questions a clinician can ask themselves.

This question, “Who do I want to work with?” has informed every other aspect of my practice: from my marketing and networking efforts, office location & decor, payment policies, website design, and more.

I was first introduced to this concept of an “ideal client” about 7 years ago when I picked up a practice book, Building Your Ideal Private Practice by Lynn Grodzki. I was hoping to find some guidance and direction for my solo private practice, and like most of you, I had no clue how to build a successful business and had never taken a business course.  I thought to myself, “What? I get to decide who I want to work with? It’s not just who wants to see me or who finds me on managed care panels?”  Ms. Grodzky taught me that the ideal client concept includes more than just a preferable diagnosis or demographic, but also includes identifying characteristics, values and traits.

Getting clear about which clients I want to bring to my practice has allowed me to build a joyful and thriving private practice that has grown from a solo practice to a flourishing clinic employing several therapist. Now, I am passionate about helping my clinical team at Wasatch Family Therapy, as well as the therapists who come to me for consultations, to identify their ideal clients and build profitable private practices.  This, in turn, provides excellent services to clients and allows the therapist to feel fulfilled.

Ask yourself these questions:

Which clients energizes you?

Which clients do you look forward to seeing?

What personal experiences drew you to this field?

Which clients have you had the most success with?

What social issues, population, diagnoses are you passionate about?

In Ms Grodzki's book she suggests completing these phrases to help you define your ideal client:

My ideal client appreciates…

My ideal client values…

My ideal client understands…

My ideal client agrees to…

When I first read Ms. Grodzki's book I identified my ideal client as working with educated, motivated, young adult women who were individuating from their family of origin, and trying to solidify their individual identities. They often presented with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and relationship distress. Here's how I filled out Ms. Grodzki's ideal client inventory years ago:

My ideal client appreciates... my education. my expertise and life experience. that change is a process. that we are in a collaborative relationship.

My ideal client values... personal responsibility and accountability. professional office space. self-exploration. excellent clinical services. technology and uses it regularly.

My ideal client understands... the importance of their past experiences on their present issues. that they are responsible for their own growth. my professional boundaries and office policies. that I won't give them answers, but I will guide them in the process.

My ideal client agrees to... pay my full fee at the beginning of every session. arrive on time to sessions. attend therapy on a regular basis. emotionally invest in the therapy process.

Several months after reading Ms. Grodzki's book I looked at my schedule one morning and realized that I had an entire day filled with my ideal clients! Though my "ideal client" has evolved through the years, I've found the question, "Who is my ideal client?" to be the most important question and foundation on which to build a successful private practice.

Now it's your turn. Who is your ideal client?