Not a FAQ...A SAQ!

That is, the questions you should be asking as a beginning counselor.

When you're new...you don't know what you don't know...obviously.

That means, you don't know what questions you SHOULD be asking to get the answers you want or need to thrive as a Beginning Counselor.

Here's one of the questions I wish I'd asked when I started out...and you should start thinking about RIGHT NOW!



What kind of counseling do I want to do?

Preparing for an agency job is different than preparing for a private practice. In the former, you want to start understanding the nuances of nonprofits and social work aspects of agency-style counseling. Things like, how to qualify work you do in terms of a grant proposal. (Unless your organization's grant writer is also a counselor, he or she will be asking you to help them create solutions that can be legitimately covered by grant writing, without sacrificing the integrity of your work.)

For agency work, you also want to prepare how to make your counseling valuable for people who aren't paying for it, or aren't paying very much for it. We will value less what we don't pay for, and if the clients aren't paying for it, they risk not absorbing the full value of counseling. We don't want that! But there are options to increase the client investment in counseling when the counseling is free. Options like: enforcing time boundaries, not rescheduling within 48 hours for last-minute cancels, expecting homework responses, and so on...

If you want to end up in private practice, your time is best spent in learning about the business of private practice. I hear a lot of questions about how to get on insurance panels, but that's not the hard part. The hard part is how to find out which panels are the "good ones" for your area and how to create a billing system that doesn't end up costing you more than it earns you in time and effort.

You also want to invest time in learning about marketing your practice. How do you engage clients in a way that feels non-slimy? What do you do when you "throw a party" and no one shows up? How do you network with referral sources without them shutting you down or hanging up the phone?


In addition to preparing for the different work settings, now is also a great time for you to start figuring out what kind of counseling topics you want to handle and what kinds of clients you want to serve. I can hear you panicking right now...please know, this doesn't mean that you have to make a permanent decision now. Far from it. In fact, your interests and desires will evolve over the course of your career. But you do need to pick SOMETHING and start exploring your interests.

Why? Because there will be other counselors applying for your desired agency job, and the one with specific experience in that agency's area (domestic violence, drug & alcohol, etc.) will likely be the one who gets the job. Another why...if you're marketing yourself in private practice, you need a "hook" to start attracting clients to your door - the right clients. In fact, it is my belief that the counselor who markets to a specific group - no matter WHICH group it is - gets 2-3 times the client referrals of the counselor who markets to everyone.

In summary, ask yourself what kind of counseling you want to do now in regards to:

• Agency vs. Private Practice
• Populations You Wish To Serve
• Types of Mental Health Issues

If you do, you'll:

• See more clients OR be more likely to get the job.
• Be able to prepare NOW for your business or future agency career (rather than waiting till you have no free time and desperately need a paycheck to prepare.)
• Have better skills with your clients from Day One - rather than running into things you didn't expect. 
• Feel better about yourself. 

That is why I think that this is a "SHOULD-BE-ASKED" question.

What do you think?

Do you think there's value in asking yourself this question now? Would you like to see more "SAQs" in the future? Post your answer below!

When The Counseling Field Sucks

There are times when I'm just so disappointed in our profession.

Like when an intern tells me that his group steals clients he pays to attract.

Or when supervisors tell student counselors gossip about clients.

Or the fact that we have tons of training and yet might be subject to lawsuits if we practice life coaching over state lines, while untrained, unlicensed life coaches can do the same with much less liability.

I can think of a half-a-dozen more things to complain about in the field of counseling. Legitimate things. The invasion of privacy by insurance companies. The questionable choices made in the DSM-V. The lack of business training in counselor education. The poor compensation offered most counseling interns, after exiting a prohibitively expensive educational path.

You can probably add your own. There's a lot to be frustrated with about this field. I'm sure there are similar frustrations with every field  - but in some ways the injustices and complications are harder to accept within the world of counseling.

Has it ever felt that way to you?

It has to me, because I tend to feel that since we're doing a good thing - helping people heal emotional wounds - we should be supported in that effort.

Even as I write that, I think how entitled that sounds! We should get a break, why, because we're "good people?"

The truth is what we all know but struggle to accept when it applies to us. Life's not fair and sometimes good is not rewarded in the way we expect.

Yep, there's a lot of things that aren't fair about the counseling profession - or counselor training - right now. 

So what are we going to do about it? 

If you agree that this situation isn't where it should be, you have three options (at least the way I see it).

1. Leave the profession. Sadly, that's what some counselors do. I sympathize - but I hate it!
2. Stay in the profession and grow bitter. Unfortunately, that's what a lot of you guys tell me in confidence that the older counselors around you have done!
3. Claim your internal locus of control, and refuse to let the circumstances dictate your ability to do your job as you were called to do it.
• Lobby for change. 
• Leave managed care if you can't come to a satisfactory agreement. 
• Charge no-show rates or private pay alongside more inexpensive options, or instead of those options if that's what you must do to be in business.
• Hold clients to accountability if that's what's best for them. 
• And so forth!

Think that's impossible? Honestly, if you lead with your values and your calling it is absolutely possible. Let me give you some examples:

• Your state suggests a law that potentially reduces access to counseling care in rural or underserved areas. Spread the word and change the law like we as a beginning counselor community did in August 2013.
• Your managed care company demands that you justify your client's treatment in more detail than you know is ethical to share with the representative. (It happened to me.) Explain to your client the situation and have them reach out to the insurance company to share the info, if they so choose, or offer a reduced rate to forgo managed care altogether. 
• Your client calls 15 minutes late to cancel for the second time in a row. Add the no-show rate to your bill, explaining, "I understand, but as we discussed that means that the time is still billed to you because we have to have 24 hours notice." Your agency won't let you charge? Wait a few days or a week before you reschedule, so that they client learns to value this time as much as you do. 

I'd guess those last two examples might cause indignation or fear. It seems like we're being mean when we put up boundaries with clients, but unless we're only doing it to be mean, we're not. Ultimately, it's healthier for clients if we have strong boundaries driven by concern for their best. It's not good for a client's secrets to be at the mercy of a managed care corporation. And the client gets nothing out of therapy if they don't show or they don't respect it. And so on...

In my experience, you the interns are the most generous and ethical of all of us. The only thing that you don't realize is that it's okay to ask for what is right on behalf of you, and on behalf of your clients. You don't think you know enough or have enough experience to justify it. 

Maybe you don't. But what would it hurt to ask yourself (the next time you come across a situation that feels odd or unfair, even unethical) "What can I do to make this better for myself and my clients?" 

"What might it help?" 

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew the right thing to do, but lacked confidence in yourself to do it? How did you deal with it? Share with us below!

What You're Afraid Of Right Now

The results are starting to come in.

The most common Beginning Counselor fear is fear of lack of personal ability. Running right behind that (less than five percentage points behind) is fear of failure.

Do you identify with that as well?

I certainly did. Last week, I sent Beginning Counselor members an email talking about how fear of screwing up a client reduced me to a nervous mess before my first session. I invited Beginning Counselor members to take an anonymous survey on what fears they struggle with on a regular basis. (If you haven’t yet, you can take the survey right now, it’s still open.) 

Over 60% of those polled described their professional anxiety as ‘moderate’ – meaning regular (although not constant) worries about their future or professional abilities. The most common result of those worries, so far, is the “genuine worry that [they] will be unable to make this career work.”

While this is not a scientific survey – I cannot guarantee a random sample or eliminate other factors as influential in the results – I think it calls for further research at the very least. And a frank discussion of what this means for us, even with the caveat of it not being a fully scientific research study.

Respondents to the study shared comments about their concerns that their fears would impact their work with clients. They said things like:

• I'm “freezing up mentally with clients due to my negative thoughts like, ‘I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.’”
• I’m worried I will begin “overstepping boundaries with clients that I begin to care a lot for.”

They shared worries about their future career options, saying things like: 

• “I fear I will not be able to get enough hours to pass, and then if I do graduate can I afford to live on being an intern and will I have to pay for supervision, too”?
• I know “if counseling was my only profession I would have to get another job to survive financially for awhile, based on other beginning counselors I know.”
• I’m concerned about, “not being able to repay my student loans…not being able to start and sustain a private practice.”
• I’m afraid that, “my goal is unrealistic.”

As for me? Here’s what I worry will happen if we don’t address this within our community.

Due to fear or lack of support, I fear we will lose good counselors.

• If you’re afraid you can’t make a living…
• If you’re afraid you won’t be able to help…or may even hurt your clients…
• If the pressure gets overwhelming…

It would seem a logical concern that you might consider leaving the field somewhere down the line.

That, to me, is unacceptable. 

So what can we do about it?

There’s really only three options:

1. Do nothing.
2. Wait and see.
3. Do something.

Here’s a hint: the first two options are the same.

Can I guarantee that doing something is going to be doing the right something? Heck no. But I prefer the option of trying something to the other two.

So here’s what I suggest as far as “doing something.”

1. If you haven’t already, click on this link and help us get more accurate data to work with by taking the survey on professional anxiety. (Paying special attention to question #8 which tells me what I can do to help you in the future.)
2. Share your fears with another beginning counselor you trust, to normalize the anxiety and offer support to someone else.
3. Attend “Beat Private Practice Anxiety! How To Get Rid of Your Business Fears Once & For All,” October’s FREE MYOB webinar. Even if you’re still in training, if your private practice is way down the line, or if you’re not sure whether you’ll start a private practice at all, you still need to come. 

For one thing, the earlier you prepare for practice success, the more likely you are to have it. For another, I’m going to be talking about how to have confidence in yourself as a professional as part of how you can have success in private practice. So either way, you need to make sure you will be there!

 

Do You ACT Like You Believe In Your Worth?

A few weeks ago I broke one of my own rules. 

I set up an appointment with an existing client through a new billing system, which required the client submit their payment information before the first session. 

I don't do collections, and so I always require payment up front. 

Except when I don't. 

Guess what? I didn't make the client get the payment submitted through the system, we had the session, and as of today the bill has not been settled. Especially near the holidays when it feels like I'm bleeding money, it's extremely stressful not to have that bill taken care of. 

Have you ever done this?

Bent your rules for a client, or a referral source, or a colleague? Said something was okay when it wasn't?

Why did you do so, and what was the result?

I seem to bend the rules for one of a few reasons:

1. I feel attached to the person asking. We all want to make allowances for people we have a connection to. It feels mean not to do so. 
2. I don't want to be a "suit." Who wants to be the soulless corporate stooge? 
3. I forget that no one else will be as invested in my business success as I am.  It just makes sense that people have other things on their mind and they can't be prioritizing MY needs. But somehow (egocentrically) I never remember that. 

Do any of these sound familiar to you? I'd bet they do. That's because these hangups just seem to go along with the profession of private counseling. 

We all seem to go through a stage where we believe that helping people for money is mean, even though we spent $60,000 or more on our education in order to be able to help people more effectively. But grasping that what we do is valuable...that isn't even the hard part. 

It's maintaining it. 

I believe in the value of what I do. But many times I don't act like it. Such as when I bend the rules for clients I feel connected to, or allow myself to accept garbage like requiring payment up front defines me "all about the money." 

Here's the reality:

1. It's not personal, it's business. We are not meeting a friend for coffee, we are conducting a specialized service transaction. How can we challenge ourselves to act like it? 
2. Moneymaking is business. We cannot stay in business and continue to help people unless we run a business. How can you focus more on the income in your business?
3. The buck stops here. No one else is accountable for your business success but you. How can you prioritize your business success without feeling guilty about it?

Part of maturing from a beginning counselor to a fully-grown-up counselor (a part I'm still working on) is respecting yourself and what you have to offer...AND ACTING LIKE IT.

Did anything here today make you reconsider your commitment to behaving in a way that backs up your belief in the value of what you do? Please share below so we can encourage one another! 

[Video Post] How To Get More Clients Now (Yes, Even If You're an Intern.)

The #1 question I heard during the Mind Your Own Business Virtual Conference this summer was, "How do I get more clients?" followed closely by, "How do I get more clients as an intern?"

This video teaches you how to do all that and more. Enjoy!

This post is adapted from a written blog post from 3/24/11. If you're interested, you can read it here. 

Don't forget to leave your comments below!

You Told Me!

Last week, out of worries that I wasn't offering blog posts that were of enough relevance to your experience as a new counselor, I decided to do the simple thing and ask you guys what you thought. I was OVERWHELMED by your helpful feedback and kind support. I will be SO MUCH better able to support you now that I know what you're looking for!

The FIRST question I asked was: 

Which of the following topics are the MOST interesting and/or helpful to you?

Here's what you said:

What New Counselors Most Want To Read About

Counseling Techniques was a BIG one, followed closely and more or less equally by private practice business building, resources for counselors, support and job or internship help. 

Next, I had asked you, "What would you say is your number one challenge right now related to the world of counseling?" This answer was open-ended, and the responses were even more diverse: 

• Getting Clients 
• Getting Ideal Clients 
• Internship/Employment 
• Establishing A Business 
• Marketing as an LPC-I 
• LPCC in California/Internship in California
• Reducing No-Shows 
• Updating License While Relocating 
• Creative Techniques and Handouts 
• What To Do In The Interim Period Between Grad & License 
• Clients You Don't Know How To Help 
• Meeting The Clients Where They Are 
• Finances/Income 
• Finding a Paid Internship 
• Getting On Insurance Panels 
• Getting More Supervised Experience 

So to this I say: Challenge accepted. 

I pledge to address each and every one of these concerns in upcoming blog posts so that you can have a more healthy, happy new counselor experience. 

And in the meantime, I want to encourage you to remain active in seeking out your answers to those questions and forming a stronger community of counselors. 

Here are some great ways to make that happen. 

For those of you who'd like to keep your finger on the pulse of business-building for private practice counselors, check these out:

The Mind Your Own Business Virtual Conference FACEBOOK group, where we discuss business needs, share tips, and collaborate. 

Here's what we are about:

A networking group for business-minded counselors

Please note: Since we get a lot of spammers (we're just awesome that way) you MUST message me here on Facebook as you request to join the group or your membership will not be approved. (Just say "I joined!")

You'll also want to subscribe to 30 Days To A More Profitable Private Practice free business success tips by yours truly. 

Find business advice and brilliance at Psychotherapy Private Practice Marketing. 

For those of you who want help with supervision and internships, look at these resources: 

Kim Peterson, of Kim's Counseling Corner, has a Facebook group called Young Counseling Professionals and Supervisors. (She gave me permission to invite ya'll!) 

Here's the description for that:

• New graduates, interns, and young therapists, as well as supervisors in counseling and psychology are encouraged to join in an effort to offer support and mentoring to those just starting out. Post questions, photos, and events aimed to encourage, support, and challenge new counseling professionals.

And don't forget about:

CounselingInterns - Helping New Counselors Plan For What's Next 

You must sign up for the newsletter. I do, and I love it!

And of course, for the many, many of you who are thirsty to improve your counseling techniques:

Here's a website I just found that I think is kind of amazing! 

Basic Counseling Skills

Check this out, let me know what you think - and keep following the blog for more success secrets, business-building, encouragement, tips, tricks and how-tos!

Guest Video Post: Creating a (Counseling) Business Facebook Page!

You guys just have no idea how lucky you are today.

Jennifer Del Castillo, a new friend I met through the MYOB conference, recently went above and beyond to help another member correct a problem she was having categorizing her Facebook business page.

The way she followed up with it demonstrated 2 things:

1) She cared about helping those who were new or unfamiliar with a process find clarity.

2) She really knew her stuff.


I wasn't born yesterday. I knew Jennifer had some skills I wanted to make sure you guys got a taste of. She agreed to do a guest post for you on how to create a Facebook page for your counseling business.

She's incredibly modest, so she probably won't take credit for it, but she did an absolutely amazing job.

Check out her guest video blog below:




Please thank her for her selfless and thorough instructional video in the comments below.

Jennifer Del Castillo is a licensed professional counselor and yoga teacher in the metro Atlanta area. You can find her website: Your Mindful Path Counseling & Yoga. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+.

After you finish checking her out, would you hop by my new Facebook page and give me a "like?" I just made it after watching this video (she inspired me that much!) and right now, I only have one "like." It's really lonely right now and could use some friends! 

Thanks again, Jennifer! You're amazing!