The Therapist Experience Podcast

TTE 29: Should You Start a Therapist Collective or a Group Practice With Amanda Patterson

Amanda Patterson started a group practice… Well, she THOUGHT she started a group practice. Instead, what she ended up forming was a Therapist Collective without even knowing it. Amanda shares her Therapist Experience of starting and growing a Therapist Collective and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of both Collectives and Group Practices so that you can understand which is best for your private practice.

TTE 28: Knowing Your Cost of Acquiring a Client Per Marketing Channel

SPECIAL FOR THIS EPISODE — Melissa and I talked a great deal about the importance of knowing your Costs of Acquiring a client per channel. I created a very basic spreadsheet on Google Drive that you can download and use in your own private practice.

Click here to get the spreadsheet.

Once you see the spreadsheet, just click File > Download As and you can edit it on your computer then.

Be sure to add the channels that best reflect your business. And I strongly recommend using at least 6 months of data to ensure it is statistically relevant.

OK… On with the show…

TTE 27: Taking a Leap of Faith From Corporate Life Into Private Practice

The first year in private practice for Amy Van Slambrook was a slammin’ success thanks to her running a low-cost weekend retreat through her church.

After that, her practice had its natural ups and downs, but ended up getting on the fast track to success again after she hired Julie Hanks, a business coach for therapists.

TTE 26: The Importance of Having Mentors & Being Yourself as a Therapist

Imagine being in grad school and listening to a taped session of yourself. You think you’re doing well, and then your teacher says, “That you, John Wayne?”

And what he was getting at is that your tone was just so bland and so impersonal, the exact opposite of how you want to portray yourself as a therapist.

And that lesson has stuck with Dr. Robert Pate. The lesson of being himself as a therapist.

In addition to learning about the importance of being yourself, Dr. Pate shares his Therapist Experience and why having a mentor has been so crucial to helping him learn and grow his private practice.

TTE 25: Growing a Private Practice Through Workshops, Online Advertising & Networking with Local Non-Profits

Jason Polk started seeing his first clients on the weekend while working full-time at an agency. 13 months ago he left his full-time job to focus full-time on his private practice.

This is his Therapist Experience about how he grew his private practice through workshops, online advertising, and networking with local non-profits.

We also how he has used Kudzu for online advertising, and drill down into his real business metrics for his Cost of Acquisition, Lifetime Value of couples, and how to determine how much he needs to (or can) pay to acquire a couple for counseling.

TTE 24: Using Health & Wellness Programs to Generate New Revenue Streams in Private Practice

Jayme Yodice uses creativity in private practice to generate new revenue streams that can help her scale her private practice & help more people.

She recently took Dr. Sears’ Wellness Curriculum and became a certified health coach. From there, she was able to create & sell health and wellness programs through the umbrella of her private practice.

Here’s how she did it!

TTE 23: Lessons From 3 Months Into Private Practice with Sara Dungan

Sara has over 25 years of experience working with children and families. So, what did she do after opening her private practice only 3 months ago? She niched down into working with families and children through the pain of divorce, applying her years of experience to helping her grow her private practice quickly.

In this episode, we go over the important lessons Sara has learned from only 3 months in private practice and provide guidance to all new private practice therapists out there to help them gain traction quickly with their business.

If you’re new to private practice, this is one episode you don’t want to miss!

TTE 22: Networking with Religious Leaders to Grow a Private Practice

Networking with religious & spiritual leaders can be an overlooked way of growing a successful private practice. For Douglas Shoaff, it was the most natural way. Here is Doug’s advice on how he uses technology to help grow his practice, and grow his referral source network through his connections to church leaders in his community.

TTE 21: Overcoming the Fear of What if it Doesn’t Work with Elizabeth Magro

Elizabeth Magro opened a part-time private practice in 2010. And over the next 5 years, she slowly dipped her toes more and more in the entrepreneurial water until it became a full-time business for her.

Along the way, even though the practice was becoming more and more successful by the day, she constantly struggled with common entrepreneur fears: What if it doesn’t work? What if everything goes away overnight?

But it didn’t. She continued getting referrals from clients she worked with. And those referrals generated more referrals, and generated more referrals. Elizabeth was clearly doing something (a LOT of things) right. You’ll have to listen to her story to learn more!

TTE 20: Leveraging Relationships With College Counseling Centers to Build a Thriving Private Practice

Traci Lowenthal made one phone call to market her private practice when she opened: To schedule lunch with the director of a local college counseling center.

And that one phone call formed the foundation of a thriving, 2 location, private practice serving the LGBTQIA community.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

– The importance of location when choosing your internship and opening your private practice
– How to form referral sources that will last a lifetime
– Why college counseling centers WANT to refer to you