It’s mental health month! Like many of you, I’ve been actively sharing mental health information as a way to increase education and reduce stigma surrounding mental illness. While it’s an honor to be in a profession that focuses on supporting the mental health of others, being a therapist often requires regularly going to “dark” places with clients, and that can take a toll on our own mental health.

After nearly 20 years in the field, I’ve noticed that a lot of therapists (myself included) tend to be caretakers, people-pleasers, and self-sacrificers, making us particularly vulnerable to neglecting our own mental health in the name of caring for others. I have learned to become fiercely dedicated to self-care, self- awareness and to maintaining my own relationships in order to protect and nurture my own mental health.

I wanted to reach out beyond my own experience to therapists around the world to see how they nurture their own mental health in a profession that can be emotionally and mentally exhausting. Here’s what they had to say.
1. Live in the present
“I make myself more present by asking ‘Where am I in space right now? What do i hear? What do I feel? What do I taste and smell? What do I see?’ ” Natalie Robinson Garfield.

“I find 20 minutes a day to escape from the world and enjoy the peace and quiet.” Deborah Serani, Ph.D.

(c) Can Stock Photo

An interesting theme emerged in my private practice consultation group last week. It may seem like an odd theme for a business group -  resentment. As I shared a few of my own experiences in private practice it became very clear that I had used my feelings of resentment as a guide to lead me to my ideal private practice.

Do therapists really need to care about search engine optimization (SEO)? If you’re in private practice the answer is YES!

So, what is SEO? SEO is the process of improving your website’s visibility in search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

Before you starting thinking about SEO, you first need a practice website. Even a single page site with your photo, practice description and contact information is better than nothing! I predict that in the near future it will be nearly impossible to build a successful private practice with clients who pay your full fee unless you have a website and strong professional online presence. If you don’t have a website, stop reading here, and get busy creating a site. If you already have a site and you want to make it easier for potential clients to find your practice on the web, read on!

I’m thrilled to introduce to you Stephanie Adams, LPC – my very first guest blogger on Private Practice Toolbox. Stephanie’s passion for counseling and develop multiple streams of income, like offering online counseling and webinars, and self-publishing her first book are impressive. For all of you shrinks who’ve been thinking about writing a book, I hope Stephanie’s guest posts will encourage you to take action!

photo credit: Mark J P

Among therapists, “multiple streams of income” is a phrase with buzz. For good reason: though we all love our one-on-one work with clients, it gets nerve-wracking to rely solely on “dollars for hours” income. Those times when a client gets sick – or we do – can mean a major hit to our paycheck.

That’s why more and more, smart therapists are looking to diversify their methods of earning income. Self-publishing a book for your main client group is one excellent means of doing just that.

1) If you build it they will come

One of the most difficult challenges of private practice is finding consistent referral sources. Come up with a marketing plan and secure a few referral sources before you hang up your “shingle.” (Read Private Practice Marketing Made Easy)

2) My only overhead expense will be leasing office space

Not so. Plan on buying software for billing and record keeping, malpractice insurance, business license, incorporation fees, professional consultation, website costs, paper goods, furnishings, marketing materials…

If you’re a graduate student in the mental health field planning on going into private practice, here are a few things that you won’t learn during your program. Most of what I learned about psychotherapy and private practice came after I graduated.

After 17 years of practice, here are a few things I wish I’d known earlier:

1) Clients don’t care about your degree

I’m rarely asked what degree I hold or what school I attended. I’ve found that very few clients know the difference between an MSW, MFT, PhD, MFCC, PsyD or any other degree. What clients really want to know is that you’re qualified to do therapy, and if you can help them.

Call it group therapy for therapists. Connect with other like-mined therapists in my closed Facebook group and share resources, ideas, practice building tools, successes and failures. Must be a licensed mental health therapist or therapist in training be added to the group.

Click here and request to join the Private Practice Toolbox Facebook group

Dr. John Duffy

When it comes to parenting and family relationships, particularly during the tween and teen years, Clinical Psychologist Dr. John Duffy has become the go-to expert. Not only does he have a thriving private practice in the Chicago area, he also published a book last year called The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens (2011), and blogs regularly for The Huffington Post on relationship topics.

Learn more about how Dr. Duffy parenting niche found him, how he manages the stress of being “the boss” and how he’s built a thriving private practice.

Why did you decide to open a private practice?

From the day I began grad school, I knew I wanted a private practice. To be honest, it started much earlier as I idealized characters played by Bob Newhart and Judd Nelson. Later, I realized it was the model I could thrive in. I had spent many years in a VERY corporate environment working for other people, and I knew I wanted to work for myself.

As therapists we ‘re skilled at talking about what we do (“I’m a play therapist who works with children”, or “I help older adults improve their mental health”), and how we do it (“I use DBT, EMDR, and CBT” or “I help clients work through resistance to change through psychodynamic therapy”), but we don’t often talk clearly about why we do what we do.

I was recently introduced to this video by author, business guru, and optimist Simon Sinek a few months ago and found it to be incredibly inspiring and clarifying. It reaffirms that ” why” is crucial to personal and business success. I wanted to share it with you as we begin 2012 to help you clarify your practice vision for the year.

Here’s my “why” for my therapy practice:

I believe that loving and accepting relationships have incredible healing power.

Call me a bad therapist. It wouldn’t be the first time. But I write my case notes during sessions. It’s not “writing” really. It’s more like “jotting” a few important things down as I go. I sign and date the note at the end of the session and I’m done. Call me crazy, but I like to complete all work, notes, letter writing on behalf of the client during the session. I have resistance to adding and hour or so at the end of my day for case notes.

If you haven’t been able to tell from past posts, I tend to be an early adopter when it comes to technology. I had a therapy website in the early 2000′s. I’ve been on Facebook and Twitter for 4 years (which is a long time for the over 40 crowd). I love my iPhone and iPad. I developed an app. But, I haven’t yet transition to electronic notes and health records, until now.

Starting today my therapy clinic is finally transitioning to an electronic records and practice management system. After a lot of research we decided to go with Care Paths.