Are you looking back to the “good ole days” when your practice was shiny and new . . . ? Remembering when your appointment book was full and you had a two week waiting list and wondering where all the clients have gone?

Well, I’m here to tell you that they are all still right here . . . right around the corner from you and they are wondering what happened to their bright and enthusiastic therapist that you used to be!  That’s right!  You heard me!  Any client will tell you that s/he would rather return to the same therapist s/he’s seen before rather than change to a new one.  They only change when they have no choice but to go elsewhere to get the help they are seeking.

If your old clients are going elsewhere for their counseling services, then it might be time for you to give your practice a facelift and that means taking a fresh look at your office, your office practices, and yourself.

Outside the Office

• Take a look at the appearance of your building.  Has it fallen into disrepair?  Does it need trim work or to be repainted?
• Is the landscaping well-tended?
• Is the parking for your clients easily accessible and is the lot well-lit?  Does it feel safe?
• Are the windows clean?

Inside the Office

• Inside the office, take a look at the paint on the walls.  Is it dingy?
• Is the carpet dirty or stained?
• How does your office smell?
• Is the lighting warm and welcoming?
• Is your office well-insulated for privacy?
• Is the temperature in your office comfortable?

Office Practices

• Does your office staff greet your returning clients as warmly as they greet your new clients?
• Is your staff well-trained on respecting clients’ privacy?
• Are you records safely locked away out of sight so that clients do not see information about other clients?

Self Check

• Are you taking care of yourself outside of the office?  Eating and exercising?  Getting enough rest?  Attending to your personal relationships?
• Are you arriving at the office in time to get settled in and appear calm and focused when your clients arrive? Or are you rushing in harried at the last minute?
• Are you scheduling your clients far enough apart that you have time to attend to phone calls, go to the bathroom, and complete your notes in between appointments?
• Do you have a plan for continuing your professional competency and are you following it? Are you continuing to learn new and interesting things to help you in your clinical work?

These are useful things to discuss with your peer consultation group.  A fresh pair of eyes can help you identify areas that need a bit of a facelift.  And, that, in turn, may help you re-engage some of those wayward clients.

Can you think of other areas in your practice that may need a facelift?  If so, I hope you will let me know!

Tags: Location, Office, Records & Documentation, Self Care

There is a lot that goes into creating a website for your private practice.  Even if you don’t want to spend the money right now, you need to think ahead of time about the many components that go into the development of your website.  Here is a starter list of things to consider.

1. Static (HTML) or blog platform [I never recommend HTML.  Check out the link to Blogging with Beth in the sidebar for more info about blogs.]
2. If you have a static site, do you also want to include a blog? [Definitely]
3. Customized or template?
4. What content to do you want include? And, how are you going to update and manage that content?
5. Who is going to write the content for your sight – you or someone else? [Kathryn Bass is a really gifted copywriter if you want someone to write it for you.  And, if you are looking for someone to help you write it yourself, hire me! I'll be glad to help!]
6. Spend some time surfing on other websites.  Collect the URLs of the ones that you like (as well as the ones you hate).  [Your web designer will love your for this.]
7. Look and feel – gather samples of art / color palettes that you like – either hard copy or on line.  [If you want more options of color palettes, check out COLOURLovers.]
8. Navigation of content -  How someone gets around your site matters.  Ask your web designer to make it simple and logical.
9. Your professional biography
10. A professional photo
11. The services you provide
12. Client testimonials / statistics
13. FAQs page
14. Links you want to include
15. Resources you want to include
16. Forms for your clients or the general public
17. Access for the disabled
18. A search feature on your site
19. How are you going to handle changes / maintenance for your site?  Who is going to do the actual work?
20. Cost – development, hosting, maintenance, auto-responder, URL
21. Security for your website

OK, gang, have I missed anything?  If so, I hope you’ll take a moment to list it below!

Tags: Security, Website

If you are a mental health professional (or an allied health professiona) with an online presence, then you know how critical it is that you control your online identity.  It’s not a matter of simply slapping up a website or blog.  You need to stay on top of how you name is being used and who else might be using it.

Sree Sreenivasan has written an informative post at DNAinfo entitled Identity in the Age of Facebook.  In her post, she identifies at least four things you need to do to maximize your control over your online identity.  Take a look and let me know what you did with the suggestions she provided.

Tags: Professional Image, Security

David from Longmont, Colorado wrote  . . .

Tamara, I attended your workshop at the Colorado Counseling Association’s Spring Workshop, The In’s and Out’s of Private Practice. Thanks so much for being so generous with your information!  I remember you encouraging graduate students to go ahead and get business cards.  I am a graduate student and don’t really know what I need to put on my business card before I graduate next year.  Can you help me out?”

Hi, David!  Thanks for attending our workshop.  I really enjoyed working with you guys!  Here’s a link to an earlier post on business cards.  For a graduate student, I would suggest that you include:

• Your legal name;
• All forms of contact information that you are comfortable sharing;
• A statement indicating the graduate program that you are attending – something like “Masters student, University of North Texas, graduating 2012″; and,
• You might also want to include 1-3 areas of special interest.

Once you get your business cards, pass them out liberally. They are your least expensive form of advertising and will help your colleagues and professors remember you years later.

Tags: Business Card, Work with Tamara

Every responsible adult needs a personal will and every responsible psychotherapist in private practice also needs a professional will.  Ken Pope, Ph.D. has posted on his website a chapter (from a book he has co-authored with Melba Vasquez, Ph.D.) entitled Therapist’s Guide to Preparing a Professional Will.

You may not like to think about the many ways that you can  end up unable to take care of your professional responsibilities but ethically, you are still required to do just that.  Take a look at Ken and Melba’s suggestions for how to get your professional will in order.

Do you already have a professional will?  Is there something that you can add to these suggestions?

Tags: Ethics, Professional Will

If you are just getting started in private practice, don’t forget that you will need receipts.  Here is the information that you will need to include on your receipt:

• Date of Service,
• Client’s Name,
• Diagnosis,
• Time Spent in Session,
• CPT Codes for the Services You Offer,
• Your Fee for Service,
• Amount of Payment,
• Your Professional Name and Credentials,
• Your Phone Number,
• Your Full Address (both office location and mailing),
• Your Mental Health License Number(s),
• Your National Provider Identification Number (often referred to as NPI#), and
• Your Federal Tax Identification Number (often referred to as EIN#).

You can go to office supply stores like Office Depot, to have three-ply copies of receipts made.  Or, you can order large quantities through online suppliers like Medical Art Press.  If you use other suppliers for printing your receipts for professional services, feel free to suggest them below!

Tags: Receipts

Nothing puts potential clients and referral sources at ease as quickly as hearing from your colleagues and past clients  that you have been helpful to them.  That’s why it’s important to collect testamonials and to use them liberally. Here are some ways that I have effectively integrated testamonials into my marketing marketing efforts . . . .

• I always offer to provide references to those considering attending my Annual Series of Private Practice from the Inside Out.  It’s a great way to show that my intentions are good i.e. I’m providing what I say I will provide.  It’s also a good way to let past participants brag on their own  successes and tell others what a terrific investment it was for their practices.
• I pepper my handouts and fliers with testamonials.
• I have used testamonials as the basis for an advertisement.
• I have used written testamonials on each page of my counseling website.  (I have also seen other professionals actually use YouTube-type videos of testamonials.)
• I also look for opportunities to include testamonials when I am writing proposals to present or teach at different institutions and organizations.  I may insert these into my cover letter or include a separate sheet with stats and comments gathered from previous presentations.

I’m sure that there are other effective ways to use the testamonials that you gather.  If you think of them, I hope you will leave them below.

Tags: Fliers, Testimonial, Website

Unlike many professionals, those in mental health cannot ethically ask therapy clients / ex-clients for testamonials.  Nor can you use your client’s written expressions of gratitude without their permission.  However, there are other ways to ethically gather testamonials about your quality of work and your clients’ satisfaction.

Remember that you cannot ask your therapy clients for a testamonial. And, you cannot use your client’s actual words without their permission.

• Always gather feedback when you present to your peers in educational setting – then paraphrase their comments;
• Gather cheers (and jeers) when you offer psycho-educational workshops;
• Collect clippings from the media (including print, video, and online sources) that include impressions of your work;
• Consider asking for letters of reference from practice allies who know the caliber of your work;
• If you have a web presence, and these days every private practitioner needs one, ask referral sources to write a brief statement for your website highlighting one of your strengths.

Check back in on Thursday and I’ll give you some ideas about how to use the comments that you collect.

Tags: Media, Testimonial, Website, Workshop

If you’ve missed my posts concerning the risks of mental health professionals’ use of social media here and here, you may want to go back and take a look. 

More privacy concerns related to Facebook are addressed in Jenna Wortham’s article this week in the New York Times. That’s why I was happy to also stumble across Will Baum’s interview with Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. about her thoughts on mental health professionals’ use of social media.  (Don’t forget to check out Keely’s Social Media Policy here.)

If you have your own policy on social media (or any aspect of it), I hope you’ll email a copy of it to me so that I, in turn,  can share it with others here at Private Practice from the Inside Out.

Tags: Ethics, Social Media

The Importance of Hospitality

I read this terrific post on the importance of hospitality in business and it reminded me to talk with you today about a recent visit to my doctor’s office.  After several years of my phone calls not being returned, I decided to leave my (now former) primary care physician and go in search of another.

Trying Again . . . .

In February, I went see to Dr. Kari Barton for my first annual physical exam with her.  She was excellent . . . .  She was engaged, took her time, and listened carefully before offering her judgment and suggestions for my health care.  She didn’t avoid the difficult conversations.  She took a proactive and preventative approach.  In short, she was everything that I had hoped for and I am looking forward to a long term relationship with this smart and savvy young doctor.

Uh-oh . . . .

However, her front office staff was less than ideal.   They were not warm.  They were not friendly.  They did nothing to welcome a new patient or put her at ease.  They grumbled to each other about having “too many things to do” (and that was within earshot of three patients waiting to see their respective doctors).  They were not ranking high on the hospitality index.

Enlightened Hospitality

Just because they serve you, doesn’t mean they like you.   ~ Clerks, 1994 In Dave Morgan’s post, What’s Your Hospitality Index?, he writes about the “legendary restauranteur,” Danny Meyer and his “secret sauce” for opening 20 restaurants in 20 years without one closing. Meyer’s secret? “Enlightened hospitality.” Meyer points out that most businesses assess the quality of  the location, the product (clinical competence?), and the price but fail to give consideration to their “hospitality index.” Meyer’s management has been described as “maniacal about hiring people who express a spirit for caring for others, that have the emotional capacity to deliver extraordinary hospitality.”

Your Hospitality Index

Now I know what you’re thinking . . . that this should be a no-brainer for those of us in the health care professions, right?  After all, surely we care about our clients . . . don’t we?   But, the truth is that it’s not a no-brainer . . . and sometimes we don’t care . . . or at least it can seem like that to our clients . . . . In any case, I think it’s worth your time to consider (and, yes, even measure) your hospitality index . . . not your intentions but whether or not your clients actually feel taken care of.

What is it that you are doing that actually lets your clients feel that you are taking care of them above and beyond the professional standard of care?  Let’s give them something to talk about!

Tags: Hospitality, Professional Image, Take Care of Your Client

Every Therapist Has One

In the mental health profession, having a favorite client is like having a favorite child.  Every therapist (and every parent) has one but we think we aren’t suppose to tell.  In fact . . . , has anyone ever talked to you before about their favorite clients?

And Here’s Why You Should Tell

I have favorite clients. And, if you tell the truth, you have favorite clients, too. Right?  Here’s the beauty of telling that truth . . . . When referral sources know who you like to work with, that’s exactly who they will refer to you.  And, when clients know who you like to work with, your favorite’s are the ones who will seek you out.

Are You My Favorite Client?

My favorite clients are. . .

• Resilient and open to new ideas;

• Courageous and willing to face their fears;
• Willing to experiment with life and able to adapt the things we talk about to fit their lives;
• Interested in helping other people and are involved in efforts to do just that;
• Recognize that their relationships with me are valuable;
• Naturally collaborative and focus on possibilities;
• Naturally optimistic;
• Really get the 90 / 10 law i.e. 90% of my value to you will be outside of the time we spend together; and,
• Enthusiastically tell others about our work together.

If you aren’t telling your clients and referral sources who your favorite clients are, you are preventing the right clients from getting to you.  If you don’t know who they are, then take some time to figure it out . . . or, if would like to be one of my favorite clients, then drop me an email or give me a call.  I’ll be glad to help you figure out who you love, love, LOVE to work with, how to let them know, and how to help them find you!

New fabulous and favorite clients are always welcome!

(And, here’s how I let them know on my counseling website.)

Tags: Favorite Clients, Words for Your Private Practice, Work with Tamara

2010 Open Enrollment for the 6th Annual Series

Let me, Tamara Suttle, show you how to get all the clients you want in this 18 hour series in Parker, Colorado.  This small group coaching series is spread over 12 sessions from July 9, 2010 through March 22, 2011.  Here’s what you’ll get:

• Innovative and customized information to help you build referral sources to get and keep clients
• Allows you to set aside time only to focus on your private practice growth and future goals
• Creates opportunities for you to develop practice allies with your colleagues
• Access ongoing mentoring by Tamara throughout the entire series
• Receive personal email feedback from Tamara.

Download all the details here.

Tags: Work with Tamara

In the midst of your strategizing for your 2010 marketing plan, you need to gather what I call supporting  data. This is a file that contains information that might help a potential referral source or client choose to work with me.  One type of data that goes into my file are articles and research related to the niche, domaine, and services that I offer.

Here is an article by Raymond A. Levy and J. Stuart Ablon in the Scientific American that cites research concluding that clients feel better, function better, and are more flexible in managing life challenges as long as three years post-termination of psychodynamic  psychotherapy.

This is an article that is going into my Supporting Data file.  Perhaps it should also go into yours.

Do you have other articles / items that might be useful to the rest of us?  If so, share them with us right here.

Tags: Marketing Plan, Supporting Data File

Erin Blakemore of VOCO Creative wrote a great little post suggesting 10 easy ways to nurture those online relationships you are building.

Whether you call it “do unto others,” “cross-promotion,” or “backscratchin,” the results are the same.  Check out her tips and get busy building your private practice with social media!

Then, drop in here and tell us where we can find you and how it’s working for you.

Tags: Relationships, Social Media

When you get ready to close your private practice, for whatever reason, you can’t just shut the door and walk away. Did you know that?  Attorney Richard S. Leslie has written a thoughtful article in the January 2010 issue of the Avoiding Liability Bulletin.  In it he details some of the following for your consideration when you decide to close up shop:

• Ask yourself who needs to be notified – clients, former clients, insurance panels, landlords, supervisees, colleagues and business associates, referral sources, and your licensing boards;
  

  "You Couldn't Have Planned This if You Tried" by Ken Douglas / Today is a Good Day

• Consider the possible circumstances that might result in you closing your door – retirement, geographical relocation, health emergencies, financial circumstances, your own death, your spouse’ or partner’s death,and other unforeseen circumstances;
• Your state may dictate certain actions that you must take when you close your practice;
• Your professional code of ethics and HIPPA will certainly have standards that you must adhere to when closing your practice;
• How to notify existing clients;
• Subsequent maintenance, storage, and access to records;
• How to provide public notice of the closing;
• When and how to notify former clients;
• Why you may not want to terminate liability insurance policies when you close your practice;
• And, in the event of your death or incapacity to handle these things, who does it for you?

Every mental health professional and every professional coach is required to responsibly close their private practice  – regardless of whether their closing is planned or unforeseen.  Whether you’ve been in business for years or you are just now getting started, now is the time to take the steps necessary to prepare for the eventual closure of your practice.

Tags: Closing Your Practice, Ethics, HIPAA, Records & Documentation, Relocation, The Unexpected