How To Build A Private Practice: Hurry Up! And, Then Wait

Back in May, while learning my way around Facebook, I was introduced to a blog hosted by Anne Barker, of Omaha, Nebraska.  The minute I first read her writing, I knew I wanted to introduce you to her.  She only started her blog for Barker Therapy Arts back in March 2012 but already she is writing on themes that every private practitioner knows well – change, messy lives, balance, time.  I am very excited to introduce you to the writing of Anne Barker, LIMHP, LCSW in her first guest post here.

(If you are interested in writing a guest post, check out the guidelines here.)

_______________

A Guest Post by Anne Barker, LIMHP, LCSW

As I begin this post, lyrics from a popular John Mayer song run through my head:

“And we’re still waiting,
Waiting on the world to change,
We keep on waiting,
Waiting on the world to change.”

Mr. Mayer cannot reasonably mean to include members of our profession in this perpetually waiting “we.” Counselors and psychotherapists do not generally wait for the world to change; they take it upon themselves to be a force for change by helping others navigate the steps of the change process. And therapists who choose to go into private practice are especially willing to work hard, and expend a lot of energy, in order to facilitate positive change. But waiting is nonetheless a concept especially relevant to those of us either considering or beginning a private practice.

First, a gentle caution . . . .

Hurry Up!

In one of my earliest blog posts, “This Isn’t It,” I write about the danger of putting the actual living of our lives on hold until the moment we think we have everything perfectly figured out. This is an apt warning for anyone considering opening a private practice. Because, honestly, there is no optimal time, ideal office location, or perfect astrological sign alignment that will insure a success. And if we get stuck in “This isn’t it,” waiting for the perfect set of circumstances to come together in order to start this new chapter of our life, we will be waiting a very long time. In fact, we could end up missing our opportunity entirely.

So, for those of you out there who have always dreamed of starting a private practice but are still sitting on the fence, I encourage you to adopt the attitude of “THIS IS IT,” go for it now, and go big.

And Then Wait

Yes, it turns out waiting is a big part of the work of building a practice. At the beginning of the journey, we wait for our tax ID and NPI numbers, and our LLC paperwork. Later we wait for our business cards to arrive, for our office space to be painted and for the furniture to show up. Next, we wait for clients to call (this is the really hard, even maddening, part). Then, even after begin working with clients, we wait for them to arrive, wait with them through their stuck moments, and wait for insurance reimbursements. Lots of waiting involved, as well as lots of moments when things are really not under our control.

Waiting Involves Letting Go

I have a desktop labyrinth I sometimes use during these waiting times. It works much like a labyrinth on the ground, only it’s way smaller (Polly Pocket could traverse it with ease) and you “walk” it with a stylus you hold in your hand. I like to pick it up when I am on hold with an insurance company, or in the few quiet minutes before my next client. It helps to center me.

In keeping with my anxious (okay, somewhat controlling) nature, I often move too quickly through the labyrinth, and press too hard on the stylus, in order to push myself along to my final destination, the middle of the pattern. Not surprisingly, in trying to force the stylus in the direction I think it’s supposed to go, I usually end up hitting corners hard and jumping over walls, thus completely foiling my centering goal.

After much practice, I have found that in order to walk this small labyrinth successfully, I have to let go of my preconceptions about, and my need to control, the direction of the journey. Only then am I able to make the trip without any bobbles.

In my experience, so it goes with building a private practice. As maddening as much of our waiting can be, especially during the times we don’t really know what’s going to happen next, we should be wary of trying to stay in complete control of the pace and direction of the journey, partly because such complete control is impossible to achieve (darn it!), but mostly because in letting go of our assumptions about how things are supposed to proceed, we leave space for positive results we never envisioned.

(For instance, when I first set out to build my practice, I was just leaving eight years as the clinical social worker in a large middle school, and so highlighted this in my marketing materials, fully expecting I would be working mainly with this population. Six months later, my practice is growing right on track, but without a single middle-schooler on my caseload. Go figure.)

Waiting is Hard and Most of Us Need A Little Help

Just because waiting is unavoidable, even beneficial, when starting a practice doesn’t mean you can’t DO something while you’re waiting! As someone who’s new to the game myself, I humbly recommend the following:

• Stay in the game – plan to reach out to a new professional contact each week (fellow private practitioner, CEU event attendee, representative of a community organization, etc.) and keep abreast of current practice research and trends.
• Stay healthy – Start by designating only a few “office” days, and only schedule clients on those days (on other days, engage in activities that build your knowledge base and confidence, like CEUs and networking). Nothing makes you sour on the experience of being in business for yourself more than feeling you are a slave to your schedule, and an attitude of resentment will not attract clients.
• Stay positive – Tamara’s encouragement to journal about practice moments for which we are grateful (now developed into a community blog) helps me endure the waiting without getting discouraged. So does sharing practice-building stories with my colleagues, and keeping up with other, non-practice, interests.
• Stay centered – don’t try to change who you are to attract or keep clients. A wise practitioner once told me, “Whoever you take on at the beginning, that’s who you will attract more of,” and I think she is dead right. Don’t be so anxious for new clients that you take any referral that comes your way. Some of them, even the early ones, won’t be right for you, or you won’t be right for them. Trust the process and let them go. Take the ones you feel you can do your best work with. They will be successful and refer you along.

These are just a few waiting ideas. You will, no doubt, come up with your own (share them below, please!). Whatever you do while you wait, trust that you can and will achieve your practice goals – just not, perhaps, by the exact path you envisioned, or in the time frame you planned. We don’t know exactly where the stylus is taking us. But, if we wait, it eventually gets us there.

So hurry up! And then wait.

About the Author: Anne Barker, LIMHP, LCSW is a writer and psychotherapist in private practice in Omaha, Nebraska.  While she
is waiting, she likes to spend time with her family, work in her garden,
write, and ride her horse. You can get to know her at www.barkertherapyarts.com.