PracticesMadePerfect

The Changing Face of Professional Practice

Ten years ago most of us may have been interested in, but probably weren't doing, therapy on the computer, yet today there are training programs in that field. In fact the United States military sponsors online therapy for servicemen, vets and their families. These days fewer and fewer people have the discretionary income to pay out of pocket for weekly therapy. Many therapists have found their full fee clients are dropping away, and if they do take insurance the reimbursement rates are dropping off and higher copays become the norm. 

So what's a psychotherapist who loves to do "the work" to do in this brave new world?

Get creative!!!!!

Rather than be-moane your plight, use economic, scientific, and technological obstacles as jumping off points to revitalize your practice and move comfortably into the future. There certainly is not a shortage of people with mental/emotional/relational problems these days, in fact there are probably more. So, your job becomes how to weave these new ideas into your current professional work.

Now let me ask you, do you believe people will be doing therapy using their i.pad. I'm guessing many, or maybe some, of you believe this actually might become a reality. Can't you just see someone on their cruise with the family, having a meltdown, contacting their therapist via satellite, and paying with their credit card for a 30 minute check-in?

I invite those of you who follow this newsletter to send in your ideas and solutions to the world we live in today's mental health needs, and ways to fill those needs.

Warmly

Linda

What's Your Story?

As I was reading about safety concerns at a State Hospital in Napa California where I used to work, I reflected on my initiation into the field of mental health, working with the mentally disabled. Many of us have interesting stories about how we came to our profession. I find that these fascinating stories are often the foundation of the professionals passion, that translates into motivation, that helps them persevere to find professional success.

Here's an example of a story based on my initiation into the field:

What feels like many lifetimes ago I stepped in the door of Unit 30 at Fairview State Hospital as a Psychiatric Technician trainee. I was a single, young mother looking for a better life through education using the CA State educational program for welfare mothers. The first evening I was there, yes they assigned me to the PM shift, I was put in C-Group, alone, during the dinner meal. I was in a room of 15 mentally and developmentally challenged adult women who were in the lowest performing group at a state hospital, and then they rolled in the dinner cart. These women were not allowed in the dining room because they were too disruptive. I’ll let your imagination roam a bit before I continue...... 

 

The door to the room was always kept locked, and luckily I had a key but was told I could not leave the room unattended by at least one nursing staff person. It was not OK to leave it attended with one of the housekeeping staff. The group room was a large cement walled room with plastic chairs and one bathroom and a nursing room to keep my purse in. The nursing room, which was really a closet, was supplied with towels, self-care supplies, and any medications or first aid supplies that were required.

 

First the dinner bell rang. I didn’t know what the sound meant, but the clients clearly knew something was up. Many had been wandering around the room lost in ritual behavior, some were sitting in chairs with their knees under their arms. When the buzzer went off they ALL looked at the door, and of course, so did I. We heard the sound of A and B groups running and lining up at the door to the dining room, being told to calm down and get in a straight line, and finally led into the dining hall to eat. There was a few minutes of silence and then we heard something approaching our door. Two kitchen staff rolled in a 5 foot cart that was loaded with metal containers of things like pudding, mashed potatoes, gravy, beets, thin slices of dried out beef and of course bread and butter or some kind of yellow stuff that was a metaphor for butter. The metal tubs were all sealed with a thin sheet of tinfoil and were surrounded by plastic plates that you could drive over with a car without breaking. There were also napkins (a nice touch), and spoons, milk and plastic cups. There were probably other things on the cart but it’s a bit of a blur. 

 

The kitchen staff rolled the cart in the door, gave it a shove, closed the door and locked it. You ALWAYS lock the door behind you at a State Hospital. The aroma of food rolled off the cart and before I could think, the more aggressive of the 15 women ran to the cart, punched through the tinfoil sheaths, grabbed a handful of food, and shoved it into their mouths. I knew in minutes others would follow and I opened the door and called for help, none came, I figured they were all in the dining room and no one could hear me. Instantly I realized I would have to handle this frenzy and the testing of my ability to manage this group of mentally disabled women without anyone getting hurt. What to do?

I'll continue this story when I hear from you about what you think about how important our own healer story is. What brought you to the field and what were your first experiences?

You can look forward to more of this story about chocolate pudding, choking, wearing dinner and of course clean-up in the future unfolding of one healer's story and how it informs her current practice.

Warmly

Linda

NewsFlash 9-09 Summer Fun & More

Greetings All,

I finally finished my taxes (yep, it’s true), survived a Summer virus cold, took my Grandson to his first week of Kindergarten, adopted a rescue dog, almost finished my most recent book LifeDancing, managed my practice, and found myself in a meeting last night where the introduction included everyone talking about what they did this Summer. As one woman described her joyous trip to Amsterdam and a cruise up the Rhine River I’m thinking, hmmm SUMMER, WHAT SUMMER, oh you mean those hot days we endured. I clearly have not had enough fun this summer, or noticed how much fun I was having, so I’m turning to all my Positive Psychology training and literature and boning up. I’m a firm believer in walking my talk so as soon as I finish composing this newsletter, I’m calling my husband and suggesting we take a vacation by a peaceful river. Better late than never, as with taxes.

In case you’re in the same boat, or simply could use more happiness, read on.

Positive Psychology

The book I’m referring clients to these days to get them started toward a more positive relationship to themselves and their lives is the book Positivity, Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive By Barbara L. Fredrickson, Crown book. If you haven’t discovered this book yet, Click Here for a review that was done soon after its release. 

The reason I like this book is it gives easy exercises to increase your positivity ratio so you can reach the tipping point that takes you from negativity to positivity. There is even a website where you can assess your daily positivity for free. They can send you a daily reminder to do your positivity check-in each day. Check it out HERE. 

If you’re not convinced yet that positivity is good for you and your clients, watch Barbara Fredrickson’s interview on UTube

Now for those days when you accidentally turned on the television and watched the news, as soon as you notice that knot in your stomach, look to the Good News Network.

Expand Your Practice While Being Socially Relevant

If you’ve ever bought something you didn’t need, or have friends, relatives or clients who do this over and over again, you may be interested in exploring overshopping behavior more deeply. Here is a jewel of a training opportunity for any therapist who wants to expand their practice and are looking for an affordable and socially relevant way to do it. 

 I don’t often whole heartedly support other therapist's training offerings, but in this case I’m making an exception. A colleague of mine has made a commitment to helping people stop compulsive spending and buying. I know of her work and her work ethic, and have no doubt that anyone who decided to train with her would definitely get their monies worth, and much much more. 

Dr. April Benson has developed a treatment program for overshoppers and wants to teach her approach to other therapists who are drawn to this niche. To get a good sense of her passion about her work, go to the website and look at the media page where you can view interviews with April.

The upcoming therapist training, led by Dr. Benson, is rich in resources and managed impeccably so you get the most out of your training. It is a telecourse so you don’t have to travel to New York and you can be in the class from anywhere as long as you have telephone access. If you haven’t taken a distance class before you may wonder if you’ll get as much as you would at a face to face event. Having taken many distance classes, and lead them as well, I know they can be as rich as a face to face educational experience. 

The 4-session interactive telecourse begins September 11, so don’t ponder this one too long. Here are the educational objectives:

To Buy or Not to Buy:
Theory and Treatment of Compulsive Buying Disorder

“Through readings and class discussion, you learn what compulsive buying is, how our culture supports it, what forms the disorder takes, how to assess and diagnose it, and what its various functions are. Additionally, you learn how to determine when intervention is necessary and what forms of effective treatment and treatment adjuncts are available, whether or not you personally choose to do the focused, structured work so necessary for recovery from this problem. You'll be introduced to a variety of important tools, techniques, and strategies for working with compulsive buyers and learn how to integrate them into ongoing treatment. Finally, we'll deconstruct the shopping process and untie the knot that binds shopping and buying so tightly together so that you can help overshoppers find out what they’re really shopping for and how to get that.”

For detailed information about the course go to:

http://www.stoppingovershopping.com/therapisttelecourse-4session.htm

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OK, now I’m off to gather up my Julia Child's cookbooks and videos and ponder what to cook on a vacation at the river with the dogs. Yes, I also cook my own dogfood and it's all my daughter's fault. Turns out it reduces my vet bills and helps the little ones live longer. I've also reframed this summer and realize that my life is indeed FUN, the only thing I missed was being AWAY.

Onward

Linda

NewsFlash 8-09 Healthcare Reform

Understanding Healthcare Reform and How it Will Impact Mental Health Care.

I've been following the government's new legislative efforts to create a national healthcare program. I support affordable healthcare for all, and am also skeptical of any government created solution. As I read my usual media publications I find it difficult to sort out how mental health is included, funded and controlled. Today I received an e.newsletter from NCMHCP the National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers who have created a compilation and organization of articles which I'm finding helpful. I thought I would pass it on to you. It is important that we learn about and become active at this historic moment. What is legislated now will impact all of our future practices. Please be informed and proactive. Click HERE to view their Newsletter. Onward Linda

Support our Troops & Expand Your Practice

Greetings All,

It seems appropriate on July 4 to look at a practice building effort that also supports our troops at home and away.

This is an approach you may not have explored yet! E.Therapy for US Soldiers and their Families I recently started to look into doing more e.therapy or telemedicine and found a site that meets all the legal and ethical requirements. I consulted with a CAMFT Attorney, and he said MyTherapyNet.com had both of those. I met the originators at my recent CAMFT conference where they mentioned that they were talking to the military about providing online or E.therapy for soldiers and their families. This week I received an e.mail and telephone call from MyTherapyNet.com to see if I was interested in being part of this program. To qualify I needed to be a MHN (Mental Health Network) and Tricare provider. Since I quit taking insurance years ago I had to say no, then wondered just how hard it would be to re-enter the system. What I discovered was that my previous Tri-care and MHN memberships had disappeared for various reasons. I would have to reapply. OK, how hard could that be? I am now looking at 75 pages of forms, and I'm going for it. One, I want to help our soldiers, and two, increase my income working with clients via the internet which I believe is the wave of the future. If you are a MHN and Tricare provider you need only to connect with MyTherapyNet.com to check out the program. I thought others who are not in these system/s might be interested in joining in, so I thought I would pass this information along. Since I'm starting from ground zero, what follows should be enough information for everyone to get started. You'll need the following: _____ 1 Your original e.mail verification of your NPI National Provider Identifier - If you don't already have one I highly recommend getting one. Go to https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/StaticForward.do?forward=static.npistart 2 Copy of your license/s 3 Malpractice insurance 4 All that information you needed for licensure, i.e., graduation info, internships etc. 5 Info about your specialty education and certifications 6 Tax identifier information 7 Mytherapynet.com - e.therapy service - It costs a small fee to register 8 Tricare - For information on how to become a provider go to https://tricare4u.com/apps-portal/tricareapps-app/static/providers/tricare/becomeaprovider.htm 9 MHN Mental Health Network- The person who I've been dialoging with online is: Rafael Linares | Sr. Professional Relations Representative | ': 917.228.2363 | 7: 800-327-3087 | +Mail Stop NY-900-06-04 | / 40 Wall Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10005 I asked him how others could best connect with him and he said to send e.mail to Rafael.X.Linares@mhn.com _____ This is another one of those tests in getting the paperwork right. I've been doing this for years, and it's a piece of cake. It is although time consuming as I look for ALL those documents. If you have any questions about the applications, just shoot me an e.mail at Linda@PracticesMadePerfect.com and I'll do my best to answer your questions. Put E.Therapy in the subject line so it doesn't get lost in junk mail. If you want to talk about it, call 415.356.9809 and let me know a good time to call you back. If your needs are more than a 5 minute conversation, that moves into consultation which I bill at $3/minute. Talk fast. I truly want this project to work and hope it can help your practice grow as well. Onward Linda

NewsFlash 5-09

Hi all,

I’m changing the format of LawlessENotes to keep you more up to date on current opportunities, trends and whatever I believe should be shared with colleagues to further their professional practices. In the past I would find a piece of information, wonder how to integrate it into the overall structure of the online newsletter, decide to do it tomorrow, and then not do it at all. So here is the new model:

1 - News Flashes - I’ll be sending news releases whenever I find something of import that you may find informative or useful. Each one will be assigned a Keyword to help you organize any information you want to store. If the category is of no interest to you, skip it.

2 - Online Newsletter - Articles I’m writing about practice development will be published on my on-line newsletter which you can visit at any time. I’ll let you know when new material is added. 

URL for PracticesMadePerfect newsletter

http://lllawless.typepad.com/professionalpracticeinst/

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Catching Up

I’ve been in the process of finishing my Personal Leadership book, LifeDancing which is in the final phase, yea. My Editor is leaving the country in June so we have a deadline of May 30 for the final draft. I’ve been traveling a lot and presenting practice development workshops and attending conferences that include practice development trends. The final ProfessionalPracticeInstitute.com curriculum is about to be put online and I’ve hired a full-time media professional to create the online courses.

It is a busy, yet exciting time. With all that is going on I continue to monitor many publications and list-serves and constantly say to myself “I should share this with others,” and then not taking action. This new format will allow me to simply forward this information to you, on a timely basis, while retaining the continuity of the online E-Zine.

I hope this change serves you well. Please let me know how I can be more helpful in supporting your Wildly Successful Professional Practice!

Warmly

Linda

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Women’s Issues

Marketing

Here is something that passed over my desk today from the APA. Remember that anything that is printed by the government, unless otherwise notated, is copyright free and can be used in your own outreach efforts.

The DHHS Office on Women's Health has released two women's mental health publications during National Women's Health Week (May 11-15, 2009).  You may download or order free copies through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Health Information Network (SHIN), SAMHSA or call 1-877-SAMHSA-7.

The Office on Women's Health Presents:

Action Steps for Improving Women's Mental Health

A report that brings together the most recent research, resources, products, and tools on mental health issues in women and explores the role gender plays in diagnosing, treating, and coping with mental illness. It also points to resilience and social support systems as key factors in overcoming mental illness.  The report outlines specific action steps for policy-makers, health care providers, researchers and others to take in an effort to address the burden of mental illness on women’s lives and increase their capacity for recovery.

Action Steps

Women’s Mental Health: What it Means to You 

A consumer booklet that addresses the stigma associated with mental health, with information on the signs and symptoms of mental illness. It also provides suggestions for support and solutions for preventing and coping with mental illness.

What it means to you

Adrienne M. Smith, PhD, MS, CHES Public Health Advisor US Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

Adrienne.Smith@hhs.gov - womenshealth.gov and girlshealth.gov

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Positive Psychology

If you haven’t heard of or read the new book Positivity, I highly recommend it. +++, the author also has a website where you can score your positivity for each day. She believes there is a tipping point where you tend to be more positive and less negative. I’ve been using the daily assessment for a couple of months, am pleased to report that life hasn’t changed, it still has its ups, downs, surprises and bumps yet my attitude is more constantly positive. I really noticed it the other day when while I had a houseful of company. My husband, in an attempt to quickly chill a bottle of sparkling water, put it in the freezer where it exploded and spewed water and small shards of green glass throughout our freezer. My first response was arghh, I don’t have time for this, what was he thinking. That was my que to reframe from negativity to positivity (I knew I’d be filling out the assessment at the end of the day and wanted a good score) and discover the opportunity to clean out my overflowing freezer. He helped, my daughter confessed she had done the same thing a week before, and I discovered a bag of rocks the grand-baby had placed in there weeks before for some 4 year old reason. It became a group project, made the day more fun, and helped my positivity score. Check it out at:

Positivity Ratio/

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Positive Psychology

LifeStyle

Tired of the same old bad news. Here is a news site that reports the good news.

Good News Network/

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Mindfulness

I just ran across the Mindfulness Society blog. There is so much “mindfulness” related media these days it can be difficult to sort out. I enjoyed Barry Boyce’s review of mindfulness practitioners and their work.

Mindfulness Blog

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Ethics

There has been a lot in the media about the torture of prisoners and the role of psychologists in the interrogations. Here is an article in the British Medical Journal reviewing the issue. They site Ken Pope who has been very articulate and at odds with the APA.

British Medical Journal

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Toodles

Linda

URL for LawlessCo, an overview of websites:

Lawless & Company Websites

“Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun.” Kahlil Gibran

Mental Health Professionals as Agents for World Change

As I complete my Phase III Classes and Assessments for the ProfessionalPracticeInstitute.com I come to believe more and more that seasoned mental health professionals are very well equipped to help change the direction of personal growth, positive action, and sustainable change for the world. We've had years of experience learning about the human condition, working with the mental health system, and living a life that walks our talk (hopefully). I fear our culture will loose the great wisdom of seasoned professionals as they move on to other work/s. I invite you to join me in shaping a support system for professionals to come together and create a more user friendly world.

Warmly

Linda

November 2008

Hi all,

After last night’s election results, I find myself thinking in bigger, more global terms, so I’d like to ask some big questions this month:

1 - How do we help our clients create quality lives and a sense of well-being either as an adjunct to therapy or post therapy? Or is this our job?

 2 - How can we as therapists contribute to the sustainability of our planet by educating ourselves, and possibly our clients about going green, recycling, and/or connecting with nature if this would help them, or is this our job?

As I've been writing my personal leadership book, LifeDancing, Mastering Life's Movement (Check it out on the right), I've been looking at other's models, i.e., Wilber's Integral Life and Frisch's Quality of Life Therapy. Both are excellent models.

What tools do you use to help your clients manage their lives and lead themselves toward their goals after the clinical issue that brought them to your office has been treated, or do you not believe this is important or part of your job? Certainly insurance companies don't think it is your job, so how do you weave life-management or personal leadership into treatment?

Let me know how you feel about this topic and what your thoughts are, please.

Marketing Events for late November and December

November

18 - National Memory Screening Day - Free confidential screening available at local healthcare organizations. Think about being one of those sites for next year. This year, simply tell people about it and go to a site and introduce yourself. If one of your specialties is Eldercare, this is perfect time to tell them about your work.

20 - Great American Smokeout - Do any of your clients want to quite smoking? Here is a great day for them to try again. If you specialize in Smoking Cessation, market market market to every professional in town.

December

All Month - Shopping, Shopping, Shopping

Often the holidays mean shopping, and this year, more than most, many are dealing with a shrinking investment or bank account. They may have lost their job or much worse. So how do we all manage and learn to do with less? There are MANY wonderful resources out there to help us. 

This is a particularly difficult time for overshoppers. A resource I can highly recommend is April Benson's Stopping Overshopping webpage and books. She has put a lot of work into listing resources for us. Check it out HERE. Also if you are a clinician who may be interested in learning how to apply her work, she has training programs available.

and more, or less

Every holiday season I seek a new simplicity and simple joy while holding the family together with differing expectations and desires. Last year I used the book Unplug the Christmas Machine and found some great ideas. This year I'm spending less and purchased Simplify Your Christmas for $.01 on Amazon. It looks good. I'll report back later.

Holiday Blues

When I had the Benicia Community Counseling Center, every year I held a drop-in Holiday Blues Support Group. It was a great way to let others know about my practice and get to know me a little better. If you are interested in offering this service to your community, put together a press release and flyer, find a space (sometimes businesses organizations will donate space if you offer a free community service), create an agenda, make some confidentiality releases and see what happens. Directions for all of the above are in my first book How to Build and Market Your Mental Health Practice (see on the right). If you want to step away from an illness model, you can change the name to Put the JOY Back in the Holidays, or Make the Holidays more Fun, you get my drift.

Marketing Tools

I've been introduced to a new marketing site, Spiritus. The creator is a wonderful woman who's not too hidden agenda is to create a marketing community. Please check it out HERE.

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My next newsletter will arrive in January. Until then I'm off to make my annual Holiday Rumballs, start sewing and making jewelry, and oh yes, cleaning out the garage. I wish you the best life possible until then and a most successful professional practice!

Warmly

Linda

Lawless & Company - Check out our websites and newsletters!

• Executive-Life Coaching & Consulting  - L&Co. Newsletter

• LifeDancing - Personal Leadership Coaching & Consultation Newsletter

• PracticesMadePerfect Professional Practice Coaching & Consulting

• Professional Practice Institute 

in partnership with:

The Psychotherapists Training Institute 

Positive Psychology at Work   

 

…..

 

 

 

 

September 08

Hi all,

A lot has been going on since my last newsletter. I've been working on The Professional Practice Institutes curriculum and creating a Fast Start, or overview class to get people started TODAY creating a successful practice. You'll be the first to know when it's released. If you haven't visited the site, go to www.ProfessionalPracticeInstitute.com.

I've also been collaborating with other professionals all over the world to create a Positive Psychology website to help others bring positive psychology into their lives and practices. You can view it at www.positivepsychologyatwork.com.

The Psychotherapists Training Institute, that I'm a partner in, is launching an online test preparation program nationwide to help Clinical Mental Health Counselors pass their licensing exam. Check it out at http://www.psychotherapiststraininginst.com/examaceov.php. 

And.... I'm working now with an editor to complete my Personal Leadership book, LifeDancing, Mastering Life's Movement. The Newsletter for that is at here.

All this and next weekend is the grandbaby's 4th birthday (yes, he has a website too) and I've finally completed cleaning up my Mother's estate and am now a landlord.

Practice Development

As you may already know, my approach to successful practice development is to be connected to your community. There are many ways of doing that, that must be congruent with your values and strengths, but one way is to offer services and products that fit into and improve people's lives. That way when they need help, you will be the one they turn to. The ways I am currently doing this are:

I belong to the Chamber of Commerce Networking group. I promote Lifestyle Change via MBSR, Mindful Based Stress Reduction, and consult with small business owners using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a tool for optimal performance and team building. CAPT has an excellent training program, assessments and tools to use in your practice. I build awareness of my specialty niche of working with women by collaborating with the local Soroptimists to create a Women's Resource Directory for our community.

Below, I have listed what is coming up for October so you can plan your outreach and activities.

October's Events

Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. Twenty-five percent of the dogs waiting for adoption in shelters were surrendered by people who said the dogs didn’t fit in with their lifestyles. The ASPCA sponsors Adopt A Shelter Dog Month to advocate ending the euthanasia of all adoptable pets. For more information, visit www.aspca.org. This is a good topic to jump off into therapeutic pets.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This marks the 22^nd year of this campaign to raise awareness about violence perpetrated against women and their children. Go to www.ncadv.org for more information. If this is your specialty, send press releases to your local publications about your work.

Dyslexia Awareness Month. Millions of children and adults worldwide live with this neurological disorder that impedes their ability to read; many more go undiagnosed. Use this month to learn the signs of dyslexia and understand its consequences—at home and in the workplace. For more information, visit www.interdys.org.

Emotional Intelligence Awareness Month. The more capable we are of assessing and managing our emotions and those of the people around us, the better all our interactions and decision-making will be. Visit www.e-ii.org for more information. This is a great topic for psychoeducation!

National Breast Cancer Month. Get ideas at www.nbcam.org on how to help “Pass the Word” about screenings and early detection.

National Crime Prevention Month. Make your community a safe place to live, work, and play with crime prevention tips from www.ncpc.org.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Go to www.dol.gov/odep to find out more about this mission to educate the public on the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities, and to highlight the employment issues and barriers that still need to be addressed.

National Reading Group Month. To celebrate the joy of sharing books and to inspire individuals who do not belong to a reading group to join one or start one of their own. For more information, visit www.wnba-books.org. Start a reading group in your practice.

Daily

Make A Difference Day. Oct. 25. A national day of neighbors helping neighbors. Find out how at www.makeadifferenceday.com.

Onward

Linda

February 2008

American Heart Month This year'€™s focus is on women and cardiovascular disease. www.americanheart.org

Library Lovers’ Month – Recognize the value of libraries and work to ensure they continue. www.librarysupport.net/library.lovers

National Laugh Friendly Month €Laughter and humor are essential to happiness. www.laugh-friendly.com

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February and Valentines Day speak to the topic of relationships. I thought this month I would focus on Networking and Professional Relationships to enhance your professional experience and expand your practice.

Networking

Being in private professional practice can be very isolating. When I had a group practice, even though we were all (three of us) at the office, we never saw one another. We would come out of our individual offices to greet the waiting client, and zip right back into our own worlds. I eventually mandated a weekly check-in time just to see how everyone was doing and take care of business.

When I was beginning my practice, since I didn'€™t have a lot of money to put into marketing, I knew I had to use my time to promote my business. I randomly joined organizations, not putting too much thought into my return on investment (time). Now that I am older/wiser, and have less energy, I am very aware of where I put my networking time. For more information on how to Network effectively, check out the page on the right Networking.

Professional Relationships

I can'€™t emphasize enough how important it is to have quality professional relationships to support you in your work. You also need colleagues and referral sources to support your client’s needs. Here are a few types of professional relationships that are critical to private practice.

1 Supervisor
2 Expert Consultants
3 Support
4 Professional Associations
5 Specialty Colleagues
6 Back-up and practice coverage
7 Consultants

Supervision
I believe it is critical to always have some kind of supervision while you are seeing clients. You need someone else who is watching what you are doing, an expert to guide you, and a support if you ever are sued for malpractice.

Expert Consultants
Whenever I had a client who became fragile and I believed was a danger to themselves, I always called at least three colleagues to discuss the case with them. I always got ideas I hadn’t thought of or was reminded of things I already knew but hadn'€™t remembered. Of course these relationships are reciprocal. I would do the same for them.

Support
Being in the role of psychotherapist, healer, and businessperson is a BIG job. I once was lucky enough to have a colleague who lived a few blocks away. We would walk in the mornings and simply randomly talk about what was going on in our practices. I had another group that I met with, a marketing support group, to keep me active in my practice development activities. There are so many ways professionals can be of help to one another; we need to look to one another for help.

Professional Associations
I believe it is important to be a member of, and an active participant in your professional association, even if you do not agree with them. Simply being critical is not enough. Step up and be heard. Also if you are new to an area and want to connect with colleagues, this is the perfect place to start.

Specialty Colleagues
Whatever your niche market, or specialty is, I highly recommend staying in touch with colleagues who are walking down the same path. You will be able to share resources with one another and have a companion to attend events.

Back-up and Practice Coverage
You need coverage for your clients when you are on vacation, or are blindsided by family emergencies and medical issues. I didn'€™t really get this one until I broke my leg one day walking the dog. I had been using the local emergency room psych unit for emergencies, but while babbling to clients (I was on pain medication) about canceling their appointments, I quickly realized I needed someone else doing this that I could trust with confidentiality. I highly recommend having an agreement with a colleague or professional practice manager, who you done the whole HIPAA agreement thing with to back you up in case of emergency.

Consultants
You'€™ll need consultants for legal questions, ethical issues, unexpected client issues and needs. It is best to have these in place before you need them. With a group of colleagues to go to for resources, this will be a lot easier.

I know there are many many more professional relationships, these are the top 7.

Have a great February!!!!
Warmly,
Linda

PPI Bookstore

Click here to visit my bookstore. You'll find resources for yourself and all aspects of your practice. Click here: http://astore.amazon.com/lawlesscompany