I love sleep. I need sleep. Very few things can get me to happily wake up at 3:00am, especially on a Sunday morning. The only one I can think of right now is going to the hospital to have a baby. But last week, I added another reason I’d sacrifice my precious sleep—the invitation to interview live on the national Fox News Channel.

Last Wednesday I received an email from Fox and Friends Weekend inviting me to interview live on Sunday morning at 7:20am to give tips on how to stop whining. They’d seen my interview in The Wall Street Journal a week ago in the article “A Nation of Whining: Therapists Try Tough Love.” I called the show booker to discuss the interview details and confirm my availability.

I quickly realized that the 7:20am interview was Eastern Time, and would be 5:20am Mountain Time, and that I would need to arrive at 4:50am. That meant I’d need to leave my home at 4:15. So, I set my clock for 3:00am to give me plenty of time to get ready. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to fly to New York City for the interview, but I they did send a car to transport me to and from my house to a local studio in Salt Lake City.

What do you think of when you think of professional networking? Private practice therapists who I’ve worked with in business consultations usually consider networking to be meeting with other like-minded professionals for lunch or handing out business cards to physicians offices.

While those are important ways to make connections that build your therapy practice, there are other ways to get the word to thousands and thousands of people in one shot, instead of just a few folks at a time.  Rarely do shrinks think of networking with reporters.

Over the last few years I’ve focused on responding to reporter queries seeking quotes from experts on a variety of mental or emotional health issues, and family relationship advice. There are a few who now contact me for quotes when they are pitching new articles or stories. I’ve had a great time corresponding with them by email or talking by phone.

This month I am thrilled to have quotes in:

Cosmopolitan Magazine (June 2012) article “Are we boring”

Wall Street Journal (today May 15, 2012) “For a nation of whiners, therapist try tough love” (with a photo included)

Click here to see quotes in other national publications

May is Mental Health Month! It’s a great opportunity to speak out and educate about your mental health specialty areas and raise awareness about topics you’re passionate about. I’d like to challenge other private practitioners to participate in APA’s Mental Health Blog Party May 16th.

How to participate in the Mental Health Blog Party:

1. Post a mental health related blog on May 16th, 2012
2. If you’re on Twitter follow @apahelpcenter and tweet your blog post with the hashtag #mhblogday. Through out the day retweet other mental health articles with #mhblogday hashtag.
3. Post the “I’m Blogging for Mental Health” 2012 badge on your blog and help  spread the word about the importance of mental health.
4. APA will add a link to their blog party on May 16th. Here’s an example of last year’s blog party round up.
5. This is a great opportunity to promote mental health (and your private practice website).

Here’s a link to 2 toolkits with additional information and resources to use in your blog post.

(c) http://www.fybridphotos.com

Pin A Quote is a quick and fun way to create a graphic out of your favorite quotes. It allows you to highlight any text and with the click of a button, turn it into a shareable graphic that is automatically links to the site where you found the text. Though it’s designed to interface with Pinterest, you don’t have to have a Pinterest account to use Pin A Quote.

Once you’ve selected the quote and created your graphic, Pin A Quote creates a custom URL for that specific quote that you can share on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites, and of course, Pinterest.

(c) Can Stock Photo

A simple practice-building skill that many private practice therapists overlook is to ASK directly for new clients referrals. Some shrinks assume that if they’re skilled clinically colleagues, clients, and acquaintances will automatically refer clients to them. While that may be true for some therapists, in my consulting experience, building a thriving private practice takes conscious effort and deliberate action.

Asking for referrals is important so you are on the “top of mind” for your referrals sources. Potential referral sources may assume that you’re too busy, that you’re not taking new clients, they don’t remember your name or contact information, or it just didn’t occur to them to refer a client to you.

Incoming links to your site can help boost search engine rankings and act as a “vote of confidence” which increases traffic and brings in new clients to your therapy practice.

Here’s quick way to find out which sites are linking to your website:

1. Go to Alexa.com
2. Type in your private practice website domain
3. Look at the number next to “sites linking in”
4. Click on the actual number to find out which sites link to your website

In part 2 of “A Shrink’s Guide To Self-Publishing” Stephanie Adams, LPC walks you through the process of organizing and completing your book and preparing it for publishing. Read part 1 here.

photo credit: Salem (MA) Public Library

Last week, we talked about how self-publishing can be a shrink’s dream second income AND do wonders for their practice by increasing awareness of their expertise. But at the same time many of you who might consider this path worry that no matter how much you like the idea in general, you could never actually write a whole book.

I’m telling you now, don’t sell yourself short! Think about it. What is therapy? A large part of counseling is simply listening to the client’s story and creating together a different, better story of a life they can choose to lead. Probably at least once a session, you will find yourself doing things like attributing meaning to an event in the client’s past, explaining a difficult concept to them, teaching a technique, or painting a verbal picture. That’s storytelling, and you can do it on paper just as easily as you can do it in person!

The physical “space” you work  in says a lot about you. Does your office space appeal to your ideal client? Does it speak about your tastes and preferences? Would you be willing to give other shrinks a tour of your office? Why or why not?

Every time a new client comes into my office they comment on my denim couch. It feels cozy and casual, which is how I want my clients to feel when they’re in my office. The color scheme of the office decor coincides with our logo and website colors…and that’s no accident.

I thought it would be fun to peek into the offices of private practitioners to share ideas and get inspiration. So, if you’re willing to let the world (or the readers of this blog) see YOUR office space follow these simple steps by Feb. 29th, 2012.

Do you have a Twitter account for your practice but you’re not sure how to get more followers? Do you feel like your tweeting into thin air and no one is “listening”?

Here are a few tricks I’ve learned that have help me grow my Twitter following and promote your private mental health practice online and build your professional identity.

1) Search and follow

Use the search box at the right top of your Twitter homepage to search your specialty areas and interests. Follow people who are tweeting helpful and relevant info relating to your practice areas and let them know that you like what they’re sharing online.

The Rev. Christopher L. Smith, LCAC, LMFT, LMHC

The Reverend Christopher L. Smith combines his spiritual insight as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church with impressive mental health and marriage and family therapy training in his New York City private practice Seeking Shalom.

Christopher offers a variety of mental health, EAP, and consultation services with the overarching theme of helping clients and professionals seek peace in their life. See how Christopher balances his ministry and private practice.

Why did you decide to open a private practice?
As someone who has been gifted in different ways and who enjoys the peace that comes from balancing different interests, I was interested in working on a part-time basis and to preserve some degree of flexibility.  The easiest way to do this while being able to maintain control over the way I would practice in helping others was to formalize my own practice.

Formalizing a practice in the same building that I also serve as a pastor both added a degree of efficiency in my work as well as adding to the quality care in a community (Harlem and Washington Heights) that was lacking in some of the services that I offer.