Success Story: Amy
Amy counsels men and women in Parker County, TX who are Highly Sensitive Persons or are struggling with trauma. She often uses EMDR in conjunction with talk therapy to help people heal past wounds and move forward in a healthy way.
Your Experience with Business School for Therapists in one sentence: I was a new Business Schooler as of 2018, having my first experience during the working session in May.
How were you feeling before you signed up for Business School?: I was feeling overwhelmed, under-prepared, and generally like so much potential was just leaking out the door every day.
What did your private practice look like before Business School started?: I was seeing too many clients, being paid too little money and by too few clients, with an air of desperation hanging over everything. I felt anxiety regularly as it related to my business.
How do you feel after Business School for Therapists?: I feel like I can breathe. I still have a lot to accomplish and much room for growth, but I can truly say that the things that were keeping me up at night (or waking me up in the middle of the night in a panic) are now things that I don't worry about anymore. I have a peace that is worth it's weight in gold.
How have your private practice and life changed after bootcamp (processes, clinically, work-life balance, financially)?: The biggest change I've felt and seen is confidence in running my business the way that feels right and acts right for me. I watch my colleagues turn circles trying to figure out what is the "right way", and all the while I'm making more and more of my own educated choices that reflect my core values.
Using software that works for me instead of against me has been a huge turning point for my practice. I now feel much less anxiety about administrative tasks and I'm noticing how nice it is to feel educated about being HIPAA compliant...and being HIPAA compliant. No more HIPAA-related nightmares and no more head-in-the-sand business philosophy.
I've tweaked intake processes, late cancel/no show policy and procedures, paperwork, initial screenings for potential new clients, type of practice (I'm now what I'd truly deem an insurance/cash hybrid), types of services (no more couples counseling for me - it isn't a good fit and I don't feel pressure to HAVE to take on new clients), and the number of clients I see per week. Now I see a comfortable 12-15 and regularly say no to new inquiries that don't feel like the best fit or for whom I don't have room. No more desperation, no more competition with friends/colleagues, no more coming from a place of scarcity. While I'm not making more money, I'm extremely content with the way I"m managing what income I do have, which is making all the difference. I've traded (some) profit for peace.
What would you say to someone else who is on the fence about joining Business School for Therapists?: I wasn't taught about running a business in graduate school, and I'd guess that's true for the vast majority of mental health professionals. Rather than running around trying to get it all together from 400 different resources or hoping that what your supervisor taught you still appropriately applies 10-15 years later, Business School puts as many resources as humanly possible in one spot. I still haven't made it through all of the resources, and I'm grateful to have a lifetime to improve. But I've made enormous strides in my practice. It looks significantly closer this year to what I wanted it to look like when I interviewed for BSBC.
What do you wish you had known about private practice before you started?: That it's not only okay to run it like a business but necessary to run it like a business. Honestly, I just wish I'd known anything about business.
