I was a counselor straight out of grad school who was lured to move across the country with the promise of a director-level clinician position in a brand new group home that was designed to meet the disability accommodations of a niche population very near to my heart – Deaf and HH teenagers.
It felt like I won the lottery – a dream job with my dream client base immediately upon graduation.
Two weeks into my new job – after I had relocated to a new city and signed a year-long lease – I came to learn that the owners of this group home were being audited by the state because of multiple complaints, did not have any Deaf client, had experienced repeated staff turn-over, and could not afford to maintain the basic staff ratios to keep the program running.
I was paged in the middle of the night to buy milk, told I was selfish for asking for desk space, written up as insubordinate because I refused to scrub the toilets, and instructed to terminate a behavioral health technician because her age made their van insurance expensive.
I knew I couldn’t stay at this job, and I was filled with feelings of shame, embarrassment and thoughts of failure. I sent out 20 resumes and got a new job in a locked residential treatment center three hours away, requiring an immediate repair to my car, the early termination of my lease and another move. As I handed over my resignation letter, the owners threatened to destroy my reputation as a counselor in Arizona.
It was… let’s say not the best start to my career, not the dream job I thought I was getting, and certainly not what I envisioned when I attended graduate school.
My next adventure was also only marginally better. While not nearly as dysfunctional, I quickly learned that case management in a public healthcare setting is extraordinarily demanding. Managing each case was time consuming, there was very little time for consistent therapy for my clients, and I was still not working with the population (Deaf and hard of hearing teen clients) that represented my focus and passion.
I called some social workers I had met through the local school for the Deaf to let them know I was eager and available for work. While most were kind to me, none appeared eager to take me under their wing.
Eventually, however, word spread that I was a new resource in the city, and this lead to an invitation to contract with an outpatient mental health clinic and the crisis department of a local hospital. And, one day, I got a call that changed it all – a frazzled mother had heard I was fluent in ASL and a counselor and asked me to work with her adolescent daughter.
It was the first time in a long time I felt excited.
- My own private client!
- Someone in my niche!
- A chance to make some money doing something I love!
This was the first moment where I realized that my future might be in private practice, with the chance to have my very own client(s).
But this is also where it hit me. I had no idea what comes next.
In graduate school, they train you to be a therapist. They do not train you to run a business. How do I schedule treatments? What should I charge? Where should I treat them (this was before TeleHealth!)? What did I need to do to make it work?
I had been seeking a mentor for so long, but no one was there, and now that I ACTUALLY had the potential to begin achieving my dreams, I had no idea what to do next.
It Was Time for a Change
One thing I did know, however, was that I was ready for something different. I needed more than the hospital world was offering me, and I wanted it badly.
- I wanted to be more in control over my schedule.
- I wanted to achieve a better work life balance.
- I wanted to be able to afford *things* – travel, a house, a nice outfit.
I wanted to be able to go on dates with my husband feeling energetic, and not exhausted. I wanted to be present, not emotionally drained. I wanted to be able to buy groceries any time I needed groceries.
Can You Relate?
Our counseling graduate programs trained us in the art of caring for others, reminded us constantly that we’d need to engage in self-care to maintain balance. They then throw us into jobs that allow none of that. My professor quite literally warned us “you will never be rich, but you will help people.” Great! But when do I have the time to help myself?
I knew that a private practice might be the escape, but that brings up another issue. Our counseling graduate programs train us in therapy, but not the *most basic business skills* necessary to actually operate one of these practices.
How are we supposed to help others when we are drowning?
How are we supposed to escape the water when no one has taught us to swim?
The Moment That Changed My Trajectory
One morning, after coming off an 8 hour third shift crisis call in the emergency department, I was looking over some paperwork when my supervisor walked into the room.
I knew that she had a private practice. I knew that she seemed to be in control of her life.
So, I took a deep breath, and asked her how she built it.
I was lucky. She sat down with me and laid out the simple plan she had followed, guiding me toward resources for liability insurance, consent forms, networking strategies. She explained to me the basics of starting a business and growing a practice and then she took it one step more – one that ended up making an incredible difference: she offered me office space for $10/hour.
I drove home through early morning rush-hour traffic clutching my notes like a pirate holding gold bullion. The steps were so simple! I would not need to take a second mortgage to hang my private practice shingle. I had tools I could begin using that day to free myself from my two community health jobs while scaling up my one client to a full private practice.
Achieving My Dreams Through Your Dreams
Like you, my goal has always been to help people. I have grown what I consider to be a successful practice. I have achieved an amazing work/life balance. I have been able to quite literally be a “therapist to the stars,” seeing celebrities, athletes, and other high profile clients. I have taken on interns, supervised other therapists, and more.
I love my practice. I am not giving it up any time soon.
But one thing has shifted. All my life I have wanted to help people. It’s why I became a therapist in the first place.
Yet, what if I could help people that help people?
What if I could make YOUR dreams possible, so that you can support the mental health of others that desperately need someone like you?
What if I could provide a service that I desperately needed early in my career, knowing that it will help someone start or grow their own practice, which in turn will help them support more people than I would be able to do on my own?
And so, here we are.
PsychFusion’s mission – my mission – is to be the mentor and supporter that I wish I had. I can help you start and launch your practice, or help you grow it, and provide you with tools, resources, guidance, information, and so much more so that your practice brings you everything you desire and provides you with the freedom, money, and self-care that you need to thrive.
If you’re ready to learn more about private practice coaching, please contact PsychFusion today. Let’s start a conversation and begin the process of helping you launch your practice.