|
The Mentors’ Corner |
||
|
Early Career Professionals and Continuing Education |
Miguel E. Gallardo & Michael J. Murphy |
|
|
Jane Allemang writes: I am a second-career, empty nester, 2 year licensed clinical psychologist who had the naiveté to think I could pay the bills starting a private practice immediately upon licensure. To add to the thread, here are things I have done to advance my private practice: 1) I eliminate phone-tag by using my cell phone as my business phone for the immediate future. I can’t imagine paying a receptionist for my few clients. 2) I tried to get on as many insurance panels as I could after an attempt to do a fee-for service practice(I see fee-for-service working for those who have a large referral base already). I am amazed how long it took for someone to explain that the big panels won’t even consider me as a provider for 3 years post-licensure. I hadn’t even thought to ask. The hazing continues. 3) I nurture myself, but not as often or well as I should. It is easy to become blurred with “me, the psychologist.” I am making time for long-time, neglected, non-psychology friends who remember and like plain “me”. 4) I joined a newly formed group of psychologists (both new & veteran), which meets once a month for mutual consultation, case-presentations, and moral support. 5) I rent booth-space at a yearly business fair sponsored by a local GLBT group to encourage prospective clients or referral sources to see me, a straight woman, as a psychologist with whom they might comfortably work. 6) I became a DOT-SAP, expanding my CD training so that I can do evaluations for the Department of Transportation. I advertise as a person with the skills and experience to identify co-morbid pathology that often leads to self-medication and/or relapse. 7) I’ve decided to offer groups (despite living in a city where there are not many groups, other than self-help groups). Without paying to advertise, I will get my name in the local paper at the very least. Ideas I may pursue include: a) Partners in Depression: Psycho-education and support for friends and family living with a depressed person. b) The Railing that Adds Support to the 12 Steps: Affordable professionally led treatment for those who are leaving CD treatment and may benefit from attending a group where their dual diagnosis or special needs are given support. Market to treatment centers, EAPs. 8) I am contacting a weekly newspaper, which already has a column written by a child psychologist, to offer an alternative that is also a way to promote our profession. “Psychonnection” would be a column that presents empirical data on a different topic each week (such as that found on the APA website) and offers ways in which this information can be helpful and practical. (I have a lot of unscheduled time to do this now. More free marketing). 9) I joined the Cincinnati Academy of Professional Psychologists and got a mentor (finally a psychologist I don’t have to pay to tell me things). A volunteer, he seems to like sharing information and helping me develop professionally. He lets me speak to a class he teaches about my experience in “beginning a practice.” (This was cathartic and it helped me focus on the positives) Please consider mentoring someone who was not the “golden child” of his or her program. We have hidden treasures! Tammy Martin-Causey adds: I have found all the comments on this thread to be most helpful. I’m going to save them and re-read them when I need encouragement. I’d also like to add a few to the list. I have a 2 yr old practice after moving to a new state and not knowing anyone. I’ve never had a private practice before -- although have experience in agency and hospital settings with clinical and administration. So this was all very new and different and at times hard. Here are a few things I found most helpful 1. Within the first month of moving to AZ, I joined the AZ Psych Assoc and started to get involved with committee work, etc. I found this to be helpful in terms of making friends, finding office space, and understanding the local “climate” in terms of managed care, client needs in this area, etc. 2. I started slowly with expenses by subletting one day per week, then two. Two days per week seemed to be the point where it made financial sense to get my own office. Since I still wasn’t sure about location, I got two offices and sublet on the off days to others. Now I have “two for the price of one”! 3. I made the decision to build a fee-for-service practice from the start. I have a vision of whom I want to reach, how I will reach them, and what I want to make. Many days I was tempted to get on panels and make adjustments to my dreams so I could generate income faster. My advice is DON’T! Stick to your dream, your vision and refine your process if you have to. to get there, but keep your mission in mind. I am so thankful I held on because it is paying off now. In the interim, I paid the bills by teaching and contracting with other psychologists to do their assessments overload. 4. One of the most important things I did in order to build a fee-for-service business is offer a free consultation to anyone who was considering services. Most of the time a client would have a couple of names that were referred to them and I was the only one offering them a free consult. Of course they would come to check it out. And almost all would stay and see the value of paying for a quality service once understanding the process, goals, and relational experience. I do not view this as “giving my services away”. I see it as a marketing tool and am currently crunching the numbers. First glance says I’ve made more than I lost by this approach. Also, I’ve only had one no show in 2 years. 5. Since I am not on panels, I find that my clinical work is changing. I don’t think in terms of how many sessions, face-to-face contacts, etc. I am free to set interventions based entirely on clinical needs, research results, and the creative process. Since I am not involved in much paperwork, I am more available to my clients. I utilize mini-phone sessions between office visits (and charge for them) and find that it helps people to accomplish their goals faster. Clients talking with me briefly and making changes to their “homework” a couple times a week adds to the quality of service. I don’t view this as an intrusion in my schedule, but as billable time and an effective way to accomplish goals. 6. Personal relationships were what did it. With a single- minded philosophy that I learned at Springfield College while doing a master’s degree: “We try to love people.” This is Frank’s quote that has touched me. It is about relationships and loving people. It is about offering personalized service. And it is a business where people market for you if they receive something of value. My next big challenge is hiring staff because as I grow, I find that I spend way too much time in tasks that can’t be billed and could be done more efficiently by someone other than I! Judith Fair concludes: In my treatment guidelines and contract, I specifically state that any contact - phone or e-mail - outside our appointed sessions will be charged if they require a clinical opinion, recommendation or intervention. To simplify, I charge in quarterly hours, i.e. 15- minute intervals. And even if it is somewhat less than 15 min., but requires my professional input, I still charge for a 15 minute interval. Of course, if it is just a question about their appointment time, or have to change it, I’d see that as “house keeping.” I also charge for certain reports, consultations with attorneys and certain others. And if I do a consult or program for an organization with resources, I charge for my prep time and portal-to-portal. Let me put it like this: I used to be a “soft touch” until I realized how much time I spent responding to patient’s inquiries, speaking with their docs, or referral sources, etc. And how much money I was losing. I’ve recently become a fee-for-service practitioner, so I’m reading and studying everything I can find that relates to the business side of practice - and realized I’m a lousy business person. Money has so many different meanings, and many clinicians - not all - are naïve or reluctant, or just not sure of how to deal with money and business issues. Beverly Celotta concludes this column with the following comment: I have not read any responses to this thread so please excuse any redundancy. I have found (through my graduate teaching, mentoring and supervising), that beginning therapists so badly want structure. They crave either theories to explain it all and/or concrete strategies. While there is nothing inappropriate about this, it is so very important for therapists to look at what actually comes into your office. And to listen with all your heart. And to convey your understanding of what you hear. After that, you will know how to help. Preconceived notions of what a client might need or be asking for, does not help you hear what the client is saying. I remember a colleague telling me about how she learned this lesson. She had a young woman in who was severely facially disfigured. She was sure her issue was going to be how to deal with other’s reactions, how to have a social life. The kinds of things my colleague imagined that she herself would have problems with. However the young woman had been sexually abused and it was THAT she wanted to talk about. |
||
