Perry: In this episode of The Therapist Experience, I’m speaking with Amy VanSlambrook from Amy VanSlambrook Psychotherapy Coaching and Consulting. This is The Therapist Experience episode number 28. Welcome to The Therapist Experience. The podcast where we interview successful therapists about what it’s really like starting and growing a private practice. I’m Perry Rosenbloom, the founder of Brighter Vision, and I’m so excited to introduce our guest today Amy VanSlambrook from Amy VanSlambrook Psychotherapy Coaching and Consulting. Amy, are you prepared to share your therapist experience?

Amy: I am Perry, thank you so much for the opportunity to do so.

Perry: I’m so glad to have you here, Amy. Just so everyone knows in the background, we’ve been trying to coordinate this for probably, I don’t know, two months now. We finally got it so we’re both really excited to get this interview. Let me tell our audience a little more about you and we’ll go from there.

Amy: Sounds good.

Perry: Amy loves living her calling as a licensed psychotherapist, certified life coach, consultant, and growing entrepreneur based in Naples, Florida after a 20-year career in healthcare. Having kept her foot in the counseling realm since college she provides both non-faith based and faith based services to her clients and is a life-long learner who’s also expanding her business to include writing and speaking both of which she has felt called to since childhood. Amy holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan, ‘GO BLUE!’, and a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Florida Golf Coast University. Personally she has lived all over the country and in Europe, professionally she also has an eclectic background that has taken her from genetics to consulting to healthcare finance and now helping others to find the power in their past. Outside of her office nothing brings her greater joy than time with her beloved family and friends. Travelling, running, working out, and generally passionately experiencing as much of life as possible all rooted in her faith. Amy, I gave a little overview of you there but why don’t you take a minute, fill in the gaps from that introduction and tell us a little bit more about you personally and about your practice.

Amy: Thank you so much Perry. First of all, thank you for connecting me to these podcasts because they’ve been incredibly helpful as people have been willing to be authentic because I think that’s all what we’re discovering people resonate most with. It’s just letting down our guards and being ourselves and so I just feel so blessed. As I said, I was in corporate house care and all kinds of different fields before coming into being able to do this full time. And it really has been an amazing adventure. I’m very driven and persistent obviously and getting this call evened together I was not going to give up, but you know, I’ve had a really amazing journey in life and I’ve had struggles, and challenges, and opportunities to grow from the time I was little. So that really has fed and inspired my work because none of it has been lost. So I really, really am so thankful for my clients and my family and friends who’ve been so supportive of me in this because it does never stop. You’re constantly learning it doesn’t stop with your master’s, you’re evolving and that’s just the starting point. And so it really has and continues to be an amazing journey.

Perry: So Amy, that journey is something that we love to explore, both your spiritual journey and your calling as a therapist, and also that entrepreneurial journey that got you into private practice and got you to start your own business. But before we get into that journey I’d like to explore the why. Just like you work to explore the why with your clients, we want to hear more about your story and to hear about why you moved from that career in healthcare of 20+ years and instead opened your own private practice. So if you can take a minute and share with our audience why you moved into private practice and a little bit more about the niche that you’re focusing and why you went down that path.

Amy: Sure, well I laugh because I say God really brooded me out of the corporate nest. I was a director of finance and I was doing that remotely from Florida to another state and they decided to change the structure and needed me to relocate. And I knew it just wasn’t the right move for me. And I knew that I wasn’t contributing to the company the way they needed someone to contribute to that role. So I took a vacation for the first time in two or three years, and I knew somehow during that week off that I would come back and they would have had this restructuring place and my prayer was to have a nice severance and some time to finish well after being with a company so long. And I was amazed because that’s exactly what my boss offered me, and they understood I couldn’t relocate and knew that wasn’t an option. And I think really could tell that my heart was not in it, even though I was really dedicated to this company. We all knew it was time and so I had six months to kind of prepare, and a wonderful farewell package, if you will, and it allowed me that cushion to really start my private practice. What I wasn’t prepared for, Perry, was that I had a complete case of burnout. I’ve been working 80 hours between graduate school, and seeing clients privately, and helping a couple of other friends with their businesses.

 

Perry: So you had a private practice on the side while you were working your corporate job?

 

Amy: When I was a registered intern I practiced under the license of another therapist. So I had three or four clients just so that I was gaining hours and things like that, so that I wasn’t– I haven’t finished my masters and then was doing no work. I actually was logging hours but trying to do that while also doing this full-time corporate job and it’s not a formula for success, let me tell you. But as it’s true for me, I learned the hard way and so I left just kind of exhausted and really had to take some time to regroup and recover.

Perry: How long ago was that Amy?

Amy: That was in 2013. And so the first year out it was amazing. That was totally divine intervention because I belong to a really great church and had some contacts in the community. And literally I did no marketing and had all of these clients coming to me and I claimed no credit for that because I was just so new and had no idea.

Perry: How did those clients hear about you? Did you ask them like, hey, how did you hear about me?

Amy: I did, it was through the church and through word of mouth, and through other clients. And it was really amazing to me and I met with the pastors in my church and they were really wonderful about referring people to me. I did a seminar at the church, kind of a weekend retreat on marriage.

Perry: Yeah, tell us about that weekend retreat?

Amy: So that was really awesome because I had gone to a conference and read this book called Soul Healing Love and the author gave an outstanding thought on trauma and how that influences our relationships. And I had a background that had a lot of trauma in it and it healed from that, still working through those things but it was a paradigm shift for me because it really linked that to what happens neurologically and how that plays out in relationships, and how we’re triggering all of our buttons with the people that we love the most. And so I wanted to meet them. So I introduced myself after the talk and kind of wove my way through the crowd and we kept in touch. And I said, I would love to bring you down to Naples. And I felt like they could help so many people. And I helped with that personally, I sponsored part of that personally financially so that they could be there at the church and the church didn’t bear the burden completely.

Perry: So was this a free weekend seminar that you offered to members of the church on marriage? Is that accurate?

Amy: Well, it was low cost. So it was accessible to everyone, it wasn’t completely free but yes, it was offered to the whole church. Single, married, it was all about relationships. I said I don’t want there to be barriers to that. So it was really neat and that allowed me a chance to kind of speak to a group and let people know that I was there and in practice. And Naples is a small town in a sense that it really is a word of mouth town and who you know, and I had some great friends and connections and really tried to get involved in the community. And so that’s how things grew that first year but it was again like that cliche analogy of building a plane while you’re in flight, because I had no clue, no clue. I was like, okay, I don’t know how to do this, this is not organized, where is my structure?

Perry: But that weekend retreat, I mean, even though you might have no clue that’s a really effective marketing strategy. Creating some sort of– I know you said you didn’t do any marketing but right there that’s marketing. It’s benefiting people, you’re creating an event that’s going to help people and serve your community. But at the same time it’s putting your name out there, just letting people know, hey, I’m Amy VanSlambrook and I put on this weekend retreat. And you know, if you are dealing with issues in a relationship or trauma and you need to see professional help, hey, here I am. Obviously you didn’t say that exactly like that but that’s a really effective way. And how many people were at that weekend retreat, do you remember?

Amy: We had a little over, I think we had like 100 or 150. And I actually need to give credit because there’s a great group in Naples called Score and they’re retired executives who offer free coaching. And they’ll help you setup your business and kind of help you know the ropes. So I had score mentors. I said I’m going to take advantage of this, it’s free, what do I have to lose? So they were a great help, and then my clinical supervisor was also a great adviser because he had both a private practice in the Philadelphia area and kind of knew how it was done. It just wasn’t all that organized systematic on my end.

Perry: So did these advisers help promote that idea and give you that idea or did you come to them and said, hey, I have this idea about this weekend retreat. And did they provide guidance on how to make that a success?

Amy: Exactly. Because I had grown up in the church. My dad was a minister so I kind of knew this was something had happened in churches. And I just wanted a message to be heard because I thought it was so helpful and transformative. The secondary issue was saying, hey, and by the way this is work that we can do here. I can help do this. And that was a secondary interest but it certainly helped. I’ve continued to stay in touch with them and focus to really use that resource.

Perry: Absolutely, and you see that all across the board with marketing. Especially in this day and age it’s about providing value and this sort of soft-marketing. That’s essentially what the Therapist Experience podcast is. We’re creating value here through this podcast to our clients and to potential clients, and to people who want to enter private practice. So we’re getting our message out and here you and I are chatting and hopefully people listening to this podcast are like, oh wow, that’s a great idea. I need to work with my church on creating some sort of retreat that we can sort of co-sponsor and provide a lot of value for. And then the people who go there, they’re going to start knowing, liking, and trusting you. It’s going to get your name in front of them and just like, people who are listening to this podcast, they’re trying to know, like, and trust me. Hopefully they are at least.

Amy: Absolutely. How could they not?

Perry: It’s like, obviously the goal is first and foremost to help people, but from there by helping them when they need professional help, they’re going to go out and they’re going to seek the expert. So you positioned yourself as the expert in this field and the expert in relationships. And even though you weren’t the primary focus of the event you put it all together and you were the cohesive glue to it. So when they are seeking professional help they’re going to go to you and do you know Amy how many clients you got out of that event?

Amy: Oh gosh, you know, I don’t directly but I know that from my clients who attended they continued work and it gave us a deeper battle of work because one of the things with trauma is, A, most people think, well, my stuff isn’t trauma. That’s really bad. My issues, my challenges are not bad enough. And that’s so not true. So this kind of normalizes it and if you break through that barrier and say, look, it doesn’t have to be as bad as some people’s is. Their experiences are, everyone’s are valid. So that also I think helped create a freedom for them to go deeper and it certainly did for me as a therapist and I think for them just as individuals and in their work. So I know that it allowed that kind of freedom. And then people will call and just say, oh, so and so gave me your number and I’m never sure if it’s exactly because of that retreat or because they saw me at the grocery store. It’s sort of that you just trust that, okay, well, we’ll trust that this is a good match. So it really was powerful and it challenged me as a therapist too because you really have to think about what needs are these meeting, what niche is this targeting, is this who I want to be impacting, and is this any that’s effective to them?

Perry: And was this promoted solely within the church or did you do any promotions outside the church to gain traction with this weekend retreat?

Amy: The church did promotions outside of the church so it was advertised within the community and that helped as well. So if I were to do it again I definitely would do more systematic tracking of that and a little more targeted advertising and promoting. But it really did help.

Perry: I bet Facebook would be fantastic for advertising with that. Drilling based on relationship status, based on zip code, you can really narrow that down there. Combine Facebook with like a nice registration page on your website, you’re made. So Amy, why haven’t you done another one of these events?

Amy: Well, that’s kind of the next phase in my journey because as I was leaving the corporate world in burnout, kind of continuing to run because I’ve been really paused, I did hit a point about a year and a half after that was that I’ve got to slow down. I was having some health issues and it just wasn’t a sustainable pace. And I really had not hit the pause button and I thought, either I can keep going like this and really burn out even more really quickly or I can take some time off.

Perry: So this was a year and a half or so after leaving your corporate job, is that correct?

Amy: Right.

Perry: So would you say it’s accurate that you never fully managed to address the burnout post-corporate life?

Amy: Absolutely. It was actually closer to two years, yeah. It was two years after and yes, I failed to address it.

Perry: How did you overcome that?

Amy: How did I overcome the burnout?

Perry: The burnout and the stress because I would imagine one of my next questions was going to be going back to a point in your career where you were as low as you could be in your journey of private practice. So I would imagine this probably was one of the lowest points. How did you overcome the burnout and the struggle, and the feelings of just getting too burned out and exhausted in private practice?

Amy: I gave myself permission to slow down and realize that that would really serve the greater good in my vision and I trusted. I mean, it was sort of at the end of your rope. You either are going to trust that when you dive off there’s going to be something there and in my world that’s God taking care of all the pieces. Or you don’t. And I knew what I was doing wasn’t sustainable. The end of that was very, very clear to me that it would be completely exhausting and you’re not effective as a therapist so what’s the point? And so I talked with my family, I talked with other clinicians, talked with friends, I prayed a lot, and just felt that same piece that I felt when I was anticipating the news that my position would be eliminated. And I literally sold my single family home and knew that that would all get taken care of. And it was a good time in the market to do that. And I took some time off while I was house scenting I scaled back my practice to part time, did a lot of film sessions and spend a lot of time in risk and dealing with some medical issues very intensely. And the really important piece was I knew that every piece of that would be a learning opportunity and there would be a book out of it, or there would be a connection out of it where I could say, yes, I’ve gone through that and this is by effective means or not so effective means. And it was really about digging into some of my trauma on a deeper level. Some of my physical health issues. And having graced for the limitations that we all have, and sometimes I say God likes– I have to be grounded completely. No chance of any flight or mobility and then I started to listen because I’m very driven and I want to accomplish, and I want to make an impact.

Perry: Amy, thank you so much for sharing that and that journey. So where are you today? Is your private practice ramped back up, are you in the process of doing that?

Amy: Yes. I mean it’s always evolving but I started in January of this year really and began working with Julie Hanks who’s just an amazing fabulous business coach. And she got me started off on a right foot and I knew it would have been a year which was much longer than I anticipated but had a new place purchased and ready, and waiting for me here in Naples. And just again, for me it’s a very spiritual thing, knew that it was time to start again and to have no holds barred, we were going for it. And that’s really when Julie entered the picture and has helped transform my business. And it’s continuing to evolve, it’s nowhere near where I want it to be.

Perry: Absolutely, as all businesses are, right?

Amy: Yes. And that’s such an important thing to learn, it’s like it’s never going to be perfect. Just let go of that. So that’s really– Now it’s at full time and I got my beautiful website up thanks to you guys. So it’s really, really an exciting time.

Perry: So Amy, a few years ago you used the score program in Naples to help you as sort of essentially free business coaching and consulting and allowed you to get your practice up off the ground and really hit the ground running with that weekend retreat. And this time around you also turned to a business coach, this time Julie Hanks, who was absolutely phenomenal, great business coach for private practice out there. And of course, we’ll have the links to both of those in this week’s show notes at Brightervision.com/session27. But I’d love to chat more about the work that Julie did for you this time around, and how she as a business coach helped you formulate your private practice and got you to the position that you’re at today.

Amy: She is amazing and I was really looking for someone who had the blend that I really had in my vision for eventually what I want my practice and business to look like, and that was doing therapy, doing coaching, consulting. And then she has this whole writing, speaking side to her business. So you have this real blend of things that all play off of one another and she’s a media contributor as well. So it’s not easy to find somebody with that kind of blend of things who also incorporates her faith. And she’s a singer, and she’s a mom, and a wife. And I really– I interviewed several different coaching options because there are more than you can count who are ready and willing to help you out for a price, of course. I asked them things like, what is the ROI that your clients end up seeing? Their return on investment. And how soon are they recouping that, and what is your process for support? And what is your real focus? Because when you start to ask these hard questions I realized a lot of people don’t have those numbers and they don’t have the evidence which in a corporate world I just thought that was a given. I wasn’t trying to ask hard questions but the fact that Julie could answer that, and I really sensed personally we really, really clicked. And I resonated with what she wrote on her website. So from a minute we started meeting she got me, she challenged me, I was scared and I knew I was scared in a good way because it was where I needed to step out in faith and show up more authentically, like in my hourly rate that I charged. And she has really kept me motivated and also been very patient with my process and continuing health challenges and moves, and all kinds of things. So she helped get me connected to Brighter Vision, she helped me raise my rate structure, she’s helping me really in the way that I interact with my clients to take things to the next level, and develop some boundaries professionally so that I can have a personal life and I don’t burn out again. Very important. I know how to burn myself out really, really well. That’s the other side that I’m still learning about.

Perry: So to the therapists out there listening who are maybe just getting started in private practice or have sort of hit a wall or a plateau in their business, would you encourage them to seek out a private practice business coach to help them take their business to that next level and accomplish some of those goals?

Amy: Without hesitation. It has been worth the investment tenfold. And often times I think it’s even in graduate school there’s sort of this mentality and I always challenged it that well as therapists or even if we’re in a community mental health situation, we’re going to have to suffer financially or it’s us and them. We’re choosing this to help people versus choosing this because we want to be financially solvent and successful. And the two, I don’t believe are mutually exclusive, and Julie believes that as well. So even though that upfront investment may seem big and painful, and, oh, I could find a free resource. Yup, you could. You could find 15,000 free resources but until it’s somebody who’s going to help you apply them, it’s completely worthless.

Perry: You know what we often say about free here?

Amy: What?

Perry: Free is expensive.

Amy: Oh, that’s great. I love that.

Perry: Because yeah, like you said, you’re going to be spending a time you might not be held accountable. You definitely won’t be held accountable. You get what you pay for in life and getting a coach to help bring your business to the next level, we’ve heard time and time again on this show about how effective a business coach can be whether it’s Julie Hanks with you, whether it’s Zynnime. Some people have hired Joe Sanok from Practice of the Practice. Business coaches work. Of course, you have to do work too but if you put the dedication it works.

Amy: And it motivates you. When there’s that sacrifice just like in therapy, part of what’s motivating our clients is that they pay us money and they found that free therapy does not lead to people showing up more or doing more work. In fact, just the opposite. And so I think– Joe, I connected with Joe, I connected with Zynnime, all of them are amazing. And it was really hard to lead my way through all of the people willing to help because you don’t realize when you’re coming out of graduate school they’re everywhere. People with businesses that want to help you build your business. And they may or may not have any idea what they’re doing, but to vet them is so important and to not be afraid to vet them.

Perry: Do you feel like your experience in corporate America helped you vet Julie better and vet the other?

Amy: Yes.

Perry: What are some questions? I know you mentioned what kind of ROI do you clients need. What are some other questions that you would recommend to therapists listening to this podcast, that they ask when vetting a potential private practice consultant?

Amy: I think in addition to the return on investment is just understanding their own experience and how they got to where they are in terms of their business advising. You may encounter somebody who really, really has a great marketing bland and they’re six months into their licensure and they think this is a great product because everybody else has it, but they don’t have the experience and they don’t really have that depth to have learned. I think for me it was also this sort of intangible stare their authenticity in their own process and how they learned and how they got to where they were. I want somebody who’s known enough failure to know what success is.

Perry: So maybe a question such as, what’s a time that you failed with a client? Maybe, what kind of ROI do your clients see? What other kind of specific questions you think would be really helpful?

Amy: I think what their niche is. Who do they think they really help the most and making sure that aligns with where you are.

Perry: And perhaps also piggybacking on that, why do you think that niche you work so well in?

Amy: Yes, because the why, like you said, is so critical. And then I think asking about their credentials. Are they contributing writers, are they even published? For me seeing that evidence that they are recognized and approved by other organizations is really important. And like Joe put out there reports of his income, which was a direct ROI and then you know they’re having successful practices outside of their work advising other practices, because you don’t want somebody who’s not implementing their own tools for their own business. So really understanding their success was important to me. So asking about the financial health and otherwise of their own business is really important.

Perry: Absolutely.

Amy: So I think you’re just interviewing them rather than the other way around.

Perry: And again everybody listening, we’re going to have these questions listed out on this week’s show notes at Brightervision.com/session27. Alright Amy, now we’re going to move into the final part of our interview. The part we like to refer to as Brighter Insights. And what I love about this part is that we just had such a great conversation and detailed chat about very strategic ideas that you can implement. And here we want to just dial in and get the motivation and inspiration so that therapists listening to this show can assign to motivate and inspire them throughout their week in growing their private practice. Are you ready?

Amy: I’m ready.

Perry: What or who inspired you to become a mental health professional?

Amy: Three people really, my parents, my dad was a minister– He and my mom did a lot of counseling for people in the church so I kind of grew up in that atmosphere and it was never taboo. It was always seen as something that was helpful and they were supportive of it from the beginning. And I kind of joked that I grew up kind of like in a therapy office because we were so comfortable talking about feelings and other things and helping people, and that’s really what life was all about. And I was a peer counselor in high school even because that was just such a part of my life. And then when I really kind of locked in to wanting to do that professionally years after my undergrad was finished, it was an outstanding therapist, Holly Finley who I did work with personally and she showed me how therapy was done well. That it’s hard and it’s challenging and it’s about digging into yourself and really, really having hoped that every single piece of your journey is going to put to use. If you choose it to be put to good use and learning and a tool and a strength it will be. And she was just incredible filling private practice to this day.

Perry: And we’ll definitely have a link to her in this week’s show notes so that everyone else can check out her website.

Amy: She is awesome. She was at an eating disorder clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is the president of IADP which is the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals.

Perry: What do you do to clear your head and get a fresh start in your day?

Amy: A hard run and a hard workout, and I also just have to get away in quiet. I’m an eye and Myers-Briggs profile and so time alone is really to journal, and for me it’s praying and meditating and really reading some inspirational things. And when I walk or run beach being outside just totally, totally resets things for me.

Perry: What are some tools that you’ve used to leverage the power of technology in your private practice so that technology is no longer a hurdle but instead an asset for you?

Amy: Well, I have to say you guys are teaching me this and I’m getting more and more– I worked in IT but I am a slow adopter, shall we say? So the first one was Google Voice which is a great tool because it gives you a business number that is free and goes right to my iPhone. And you can text and track messages and it gives you some privacy that way. So I’ve used that from the very beginning. And then it really has been getting my website up and running, and learning because I’m still learning how to incorporate social media and really using that to be present and get my name out there and my message out there, and being of help to people. And the latest tool I’m using is called Hours because I really wanted to understand how my time was being spent and was that really the way I wanted to be spending all my hours. So it’s on your iPhone, very cool tool that sets little timers and allows you to prioritize. And you can see at the end of the week, it will give you a report like, oh my gosh, did you realize you spent this much following up and texting and scheduling the clients and is that where you want to spend your time? So I’m hoping that it will point me in the direction of do I need to hire some help with this? Short-term long-term? How do I need to adjust my days? And so I’m getting there.

Perry: What’s a quote that you hold near and dear, something that has has helped formulate your perspective on life or has inspired, motivated, or provided guidance for you?

Amy: I love quotes so I had a tough time choosing one, like, I have ton. But the one that really, really hit home for me is, “You are all together beautiful my darling, in you there is no flaw.” And it’s from the Song of Solomon 4/7 and it really is the message I want my clients and everyone to know that every part of you is amazing and not something to be ashamed of and something that can be put to good and is there to teach you. So it really is about that kind of grace and acceptance. And just when I heard it really, really spoke to my heart.

Perry: Amy, if you could recommend one book to our audience what would that book be?

Amy: This is a hard one because I love to read. So there’s so many that I just think, oh that’s just shifted my world. As a therapist I think anything by Yalom is great. I just love his work. As far as business is concerned Darren Hardy wrote The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster which is a great book.

Perry: And boy, oh boy, is it a roller coaster?

Amy: Yes. And he is so action oriented and helps you know that your crazy experience is not an anomaly. And then one really transformative spiritual book is Becoming Myself by Stasi Eldredge. That really talks about embracing that bigger vision of who you are and some of the fears that get in the way of that. So I’m sure that I’ve missed something and reading Julie’s latest book was just awesome and I know that’s four rather than one but hopefully you can indulge me in that.

Perry: Of course, and we’ll have links to all of those in this week’s show notes of course at Brightervision.com/session27. Alright Amy, last question for you. If you moved to a new city tomorrow, knew nobody and all that you had with you was your computer and 100 dollars to start a new private practice, what is it that you would do on your very first day?

Amy: Pray hard. No, that’s serious but in addition to that I think getting out in the community, getting out from behind the computer screen, connecting with community organizations, churches, doctors, those places where people really let down their guard and ask for help. And introducing yourself, helping them to know you and have a personal connection, whether it’s taking 100 dollars and buying little goodies for putting together some brochures or business cards on Vistaprint, which is just about free. Just something so that they connect with you as a person and because that’s really– In this industry people need to feel your presence and having that personal connection I think is really important and then following up with the, making sure all your Facebook content and social media is something that will connect with them. And helping them to get those free resources and get that connection that comes with receiving newsletters and updates, and all those sorts of things that come through social media.

Perry: Amy, any parting advice for our listeners?

Amy: I’ll part with a quote that my dad used with me often, which is Winston Churchill saying, “Never, never, never give up!” I think if you feel this is your calling, if you would feel like you lived less a life if you don’t do this and if you don’t really go after your dreams. Then it will happen. And every part of your journey, the healing, putting yourself through the tough work of counseling, facing those things within ourselves, those blocks are only going to serve to give you greater impact and value to your clients. So it is worth every struggle that has come and that will come. And you don’t have to live marginally at all. You can live very fully and have fun and enjoy and have really amazing impact on those around you.

Perry: Fantastic Amy, this was so much fun and you provide so much great information. Where can our listeners find you to connect and learn more about you?

Amy: Well, thanks to Brighter Vision it’s www.amyvanslambrook.com and they can find me out on Twitter and eventually on Facebook, but right now my website is really the best way to find out about me and just would love to connect, would love to hear from you and have questions. We really need to be supportive of each other in this industry.

Perry: Absolutely, and again everyone, we’ll have links to Amy’s website and all the great resources she has shared here at this week’s show notes at Brightervision.com/session27. Amy, thank you so much for being so generous with your time, your expertise, and your knowledge. We appreciate all this great advice that you provided and the therapist experience that you have shared.

Amy: Thank you, Perry. You are just outstanding. Thank you so much.

Perry: Thanks Amy, if you could see my face right now it’s beet red. And before we get going I do want to mention, I’m a Wolverine as well.

Amy: You are?

Perry: I am. I never knew that you were–

Amy: See? I knew, I knew in my heart. My whole family, yes.

Perry: Even crazier, I’m having a reunion with all the kids I lived with and I’m going tomorrow actually. I’m leaving the office after today, going up tomorrow up to the mountains and we’re all– Everyone’s flying up to Colorado and we’ll have a nice little reunion for the first time in like a decade.

Amy: Fantastic, well when you said ‘GO BLUE!’ I thought, man, that’s the passion. I like that.

Perry: I didn’t want to get too much passion. I was scared of too much passion because of this microphone, I don’t know if it would like be a little too loud and grading to everyone on their ears but anyways, go blue for sure!

Amy: Absolutely, go blue!

Perry: And everyone who’s still indulging us here, thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have a question for us please email it to us at [email protected] and, of course, if you’re ever interested in launching a website please don’t hesitate to contact Brighter Vision. We are the worldwide leader in custom therapist website design. For just 59 dollars a month you’ll get a website that’s as unique as your practice, unlimited tech support, and complementary SEO so people will find you online. That does it for today, thanks again for listening and we will see you next week.