Dr. Kate Campbell, LMFT of Bayview Therapeutics, PA and myself, Katie Lemieux, LMFT of Lemieux Solutions Unlimited, LLC answered several questions about private practice from our raffle winners, Betty & Gabriella, during our "Marketing Your Practice for Success" workshop at the Private Practice Expo in conjunction with the Broward Association for Marriage and Family Therapists. Check out their questions and our collaborative responses below.
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How do you find your niche without closing the door to working with other people?
Find what you are passionate about. Finding a niche does NOT close you off to working with others. It establishes you as an expert in the field and feeds your passion. You will get calls from others regardless. Know who you want to work with and what populations. It is also important to know who you don’t want to work with. Utilize what skills and resources you already have to enhance your practice i.e. culture, language, etc.
Can you share your thoughts on running groups?
Groups are a great way to get your name out in the community. You can offer free groups or workshops. You can work in conjunction with a place or agency to host a group. Perhaps choose something in your niche. For example Katie hosts a free monthly bereavement group in conjunction with Coral Springs Funeral Home. The funeral home pays her to run the group and both Katie and the funeral home market the service. Katie also writes a monthly blog on grief after each group. The blog is then used as a resource for information for others. Groups are also a great way for people to have access to services at a reduced cost. Think of what/who you want to target and collaborate with others to get the word out there.
How do I market for groups?
This question is relatively HUGE. There are so many ways to market but the most important things are to know your product, your people (the audience), and know how to market to them. Are they looking online, are they picking up flyers at their doctors office, does the school send out an email about your group, does a brochure on tips for raising healthy kids go home in the backpacks to each child….???? Also assure you have a “call to action” and your contact information – it tells people exactly what to do next. For example – “RSVP for our monthly parent group by Thursday July 3.” Or “Sign up before August 8th and received a reduced rate.”
Re: paperwork for groups, your paperwork doesn’t need to be as extensive as when working with someone you would see privately but you do need to cover all the important basics – consent, confidentiality, benefits, risks, emergencies, etc. Remember you are always need to act in accordance to our rules, laws, and ethics because we are therapists. You also need to obtain basic demographic information on each person as well as some basic psychosocial questions.
What should I do about office space?
Regarding office space there are several different options to look into. You can pay a flat fee like a an executive suite to use the office only when you need it, do in home therapy, partner up with someone at their office, seek out other therapy offices who offer a flat free for rental, perhaps you can work in an office related to your niche. For example maybe you want to work with couples who are dealing with infertility issues. Maybe you set up shop in an OB/GYNs office. Be wary of “fee splitting”. Although it is a common practice in Florida there are some ethical issues that arise due to fee splitting. Fee splitting is a gray area. Fee splitting has to be outlined in a document and specifically needs to be for rent, advertising, and/or marketing. It is also important to map out your financials, make a budget and decide what you need to charge to cover your expenses and make a profit. Remember your business is always changing and evolving. If you need to start out small and grow, know that it is just part of the process.
What forms are essential to have for clients to fill out and how/where do I access them?
Here are some of the important documents that you need. I suggest coming to one of my, Katie Lemieux’s, “Prevention of Medical Errors” trainings as this is all covered in the training which helps reduce liability, increases knowledge and protection.
Consent – policies and procedures, cancellation policy, confidentiality, client rights, risks of therapy, benefits of therapy, credit card agreement (If you take credit card), expectations from clients, fee agreement, cost for medical records and turn around time, etc.
Biopsychosocial – red flag issues – homicide/suicide, abuse, general information, demographics, family dynamics, family functioning, reason for referral, medications, etc.
Emergency Contact Information & Release
Phone or Video Consent – both benefits and risks and ways to reduce issues when using these 2 ways of doing therapy. There are many more forms you may need as well as forms that you would request when working with specific populations, referrals sources, etc.
HIPAA
If you worked for an agency you can model it after the agency. Always have an attorney review any form that you have or create. You can look at online resources you just want to assure they are complete, attorney approved, and also cross reference your ethics and state laws and rules. There is also practice-building software you can check out. Here are some resources for books suggested by Dr. Kate Campbell:
1. “Therapy 2.0” by Tracy Todd
2. “Marketing For Mental Health Professionals” by David P. Diana
3. “Getting Started in Private Practice the Complete Guide in Building Your Mental
Health Practice” by Stout & Grand
4. “Building Your Ideal Private Practice” by Lynn Grodski
How would this differ for individual, couple, group work?
When doing therapy with individuals, couples, or families you can utilize the same forms. When doing group work you can modify your paperwork so it isn’t so cumbersome and overwhelming.
What type of insurance do you recommend and how much coverage should I get?
Regarding liability insurance/malpractice – if you are a American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, AAMFT, member they work in conjunction with CPHINS. They often offer discounted rates for first time insurance purchasers. You can also look around online, locally or ask colleagues who they use and/or recommend. CPHINS also offers general liability better known as “slip and fall”. Regarding how much coverage should you for both liability and general depends on you, your practice, what you are covering, your own personal beliefs, concerns, etc. You might consider asking the insurance company based off their recommendations of your practice. Get insurance before you see clients and be SURE to read your policy thoroughly if you don’t you can put yourself at risk! Always protect yourself first!
Is S Corp the best way to go?
Deciding on what type of incorporation to have depends on what your needs are, if you have others going in on your business, etc. This isn’t our area of expertise we suggest speaking to a Business Law Attorney such as Michael Cabrera who presented at the Private Practice Expo. His office is in Coral Springs.
How do you set boundaries around social media?
As technology progresses it presents alternate issues around confidentiality and boundaries. Remember that your business is always evolving and as ceratin things come up or you have certain experiences you can and should update your policies, procedures, boundaries and ways of doing business. Here are some ideas:
1. Address it in the consent, policies or procedures. Inform clients if they choose to break their own confidentiality you can not protect them. You the therapist are bound by the confidentiality your clients are not. An example of this would be if a client “likes” your Facebook business page and states, “That was an amazing session yesterday, thank-you so much! You are the best therapist.”
2. Don’t let your clients connect with you personally such as on your personal Facebook page. Make sure you check out your privacy settings in regards to your personal social media outlets.
3. It might be time for you to clean house. The picture of you acting a little tipsy at your friend’s bachelorette party might need to come down off your social media, just saying.
4. Be clear on the content of what you are writing online and offline.
5. Don’t be opinionated in a way that can create a judgment towards you or the services you provide. Remember whether it is on your personal page, a friend’s page, or on your business page, once it is out there, its out there!
I want to offer a one time introductory workshop (1-2 hrs) in order to bring people to sign up for group or individual work. This will be a free event. How much can I charge for a four-week course that will meet for 2 hrs each week?
It really depends on the group, your target market, costs, etc.
How do I promote and market myself as a health and wellness coach?
You can call your services “coaching services” in a way to position yourself in the market, but you absolutely must attend to the laws, rules, and ethics of the profession. You also want to be sure if you are calling yourself a health and wellness coach that somehow you are backing that up. Do you have specific credentials, training, certificates, etc? You are still and always a therapist. You would still need to report abuse, do a suicide assessment, etc. You would need to differentiate between coaching and therapy. Again, you would need to remember that you are a therapist ultimately.
We wanted to thank both Gabriella and Betty for their questions and participation, and we also hope that their questions help you! Responses to questions were given by Katie Lemieux and Dr. Kate Campbell.
By Katie Lemieux