How do you continue to stay informed and have a support network to help answer questions and navigate private practice after you are up and running?
Megan: You have gotten through the whole process of figuring out how to launch your business, how to get clients, all that good stuff. Your work’s not done because everything’s always changing all the time, as we’ve seen in the last four years and tech is changing constantly. What is the best way to stay on top of things and make sure that you’re supported and you’re not going to burn out and everything’s sustainable? Macy, could you talk a little bit about that?
Macy: Yes. I personally lean heavily on my peer network of therapists in the area with questions I have about private practice or just being a therapist in general. Even though I am completely telehealth in my services, I still network in the community and meet with therapists and learn about what they do and they learn about what I do. So I find that really helpful.
In addition to that, I’ve joined a monthly consultation group for therapists, just to talk about cases and getting ideas for how to work with different clients and different presentations. Because what I’ve found personally is that private practice can be kind of isolating, especially if you’re telehealth, because you’re not in an office with people. So having these networks and these people to be in community with has been really helpful and keeps me sharp, I guess, with what’s going on and different ways of approaching cases.
A third thing that I did is, surprisingly, I joined some Facebook groups. At first I was skeptical because people have different opinions on these Facebook groups, but I found them actually really helpful for getting and giving referrals. Then there’s a few out there, there’s a lot out there actually that just talk about the logistics of private practice, with taxes, just running a business, EHRs, stuff like that.
Megan: Yes. Your mileage may vary about Facebook groups, but there are definitely some great resources. This is my chance to plug my Facebook group again, The Fit Check for Therapists, which is mostly just about asking and answering questions about companies. If you want to ask questions there, have at it. Hey, Denise, could you share a little bit about, you’re a little bit further into the journey, how do you stay plugged in?
Denise: Yes, so absolutely. As I had mentioned earlier, I started a peer-to-peer referral network. My grad school colleague and I did that together when we both crossed over to the New Jersey side from New York City and we realized, “Hey, we’re so close to where we began. We are sort of starting over.” She and I just started something from scratch. We created a little Google form and it spread around word of mouth. Now we have a nice little, it’s called the New York City Metro, New Jersey Metro referral network.
Again, if something isn’t already in existence, then you create it. I feel like staying close to your graduate school colleagues has been everything for me, too. You still get so much validation. You can talk about cases with them or you can just get sort of the, “Hey, I’ve had quite the day today.” There’s this unspoken knowingness of, I get you. I know what you experienced today without even hearing all the details.
I also stay connected to just my state professional organizations. I’m also a member of APA, American Psychological Association. Always having those larger resources that feel like they can back you up with experiences, any questions you can always go to them as well.
Read more about the panelists and where to follow them here: Power to the Private Practice: Finding Your Best Path to Private Practice.
Read Part 6 and more below:
- Part 1: What are three things you wish you could tell yourself in the year before you started your private practice?
- Part 2: Let’s talk about insurance vs. private pay — how did you decide, and what tools or information helped you make that decision?
- Part 3: How did you decide between using platforms like Alma and Headway vs. going completely independent? What are the trade-offs?
- Part 4: How do you…pay taxes? Do market research? Brand yourself? Stay on top of bookkeeping?
- Part 6: Webinar Attendee Submitted Questions, and General Q&A
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