Every mental health professional needs consultation
on a regular basis. I wrote about that in my last post. If you work in an agency or organization, it’s likely that consultation is built into the system. However, if you have ventured out into private practice, you have to work a little harder to get your consultation needs met.
Many therapists choose to pay an individual counselor for their clinical consultation on a regular basis. If that is what you prefer, then you can expect to pay whatever that therapist’s usual and customary hourly fee is for his / her consulting and therapeutic services.
However, here are nine benefits to creating a peer consultation group to meet your consultation needs:
- As a solo practitioner, you remain isolated most of the day except for seeing your clients. A peer consultation group allows you to meet some of your basic social needs.
- It also exposes you to new / different ideas, perspectives, and energies.
- It allows you to learn about other therapists’ business and clinical practices.
- It may give you a broader range of professionals to refer to.
- It exposes you to more professionals who may refer to you.
- It exposes you indirectly to more resources in your community.
- It can serve as a knowledge bank for clinical issues that you are not familiar with.
- It can serve as a check point for potential ethical issues.
- It’s free!
Have I convinced you yet of the huge benefits to participating in a peer consultation group? In my next post, I’ll tell you How to Create a Peer Consultation Group that ROCKS!
I have started a peer consultation group which will be meeting for the first time on Feb 21, 2011. Thanks for sharing this information. I found it helpful at facilitating the forming of the group.
Hi, Brenda! I’m so glad you found it useful and can’t wait to hear about your peer consultation group. I know you’ve been a long-time member of Private Practice from the Inside Out’s online community here so you may already know this but if not . . . you can read a lot more about consultation groups in these posts: the benefits of peer consultation groups, who needs consultation groups, forming a peer consultation group, and why you don’t want to “consult” via social media.
I’m really sorry that I can’t make it across town to attend your consultation group, Brenda, but you have inspired me to start my own consultation and supervision group!:) Looking forward to sharing notes!
Dianne, thanks so much for the tweet! I so appreciate you passing the post along!