What Are You Grateful For?
If you are new to our online community here at Private Practice from the Inside Out, welcome! And, if you have been with us before, welcome back!
As a way of building our “gratitude muscles” and to help our colleagues build theirs, too, every Friday we will be hosting Mustard Seeds & Mega-Gifts: A Community Gratitude Journal. Here you can share the large and small gifts and opportunities that come your way while building your private practice.
And, as for me . . .
I’m grateful for so many of you who are willing to expand the conversations here by sharing your own ideas, adding to our resources, and supporting your fellow therapists. Like many of you, I visit other websites that are focused on supporting therapists in private practice. And, while the information presented is often useful, their online communities either pale in comparison or are virtually nonexistent.
You guys show up here . . . , tell others about our resources and community here . . . , and generously support each other. You do your best to set any fear-based thinking aside while being transparent with your gifts and your challenges. I so appreciate that you are bringing the best of mental health professionals to this table. Thank you.”
If you would like to build your own gratitude muscles by sharing your appreciations with us, here is how our gratitude journal works . . . .
- It will post weekly on Fridays.
- Your job is not to just be a passive observer but to contribute to the post by sharing something that you are grateful for.
- Just send an email note of appreciation related to anything that supports you growing your practice and put “Mustard Seeds” in the subject line.
- I’ll post it the following Friday as part of our community gratitude journal!
- And, if you forget to send an email, you are welcome to just add your appreciations to the comments of the weekly post!
- Afraid you’ll forget or slack off on sharing what you are grateful for? You can sign up here to receive blog updates for Private Practice from the Inside Out (that you can use as nudges and reminders to share your appreciations) in your email inbox.
Research indicates that by consciously savoring those large and small gifts that come way, our joy and ability to recognize other opportunities are intensified.
Ten months into Barker Therapy Arts’ first year, with my monthly owner disbursement continuing to grow, I am extremely grateful to all of the people who helped me begin and grow my practice. So grateful, in fact, that I just held a Fall Open House in my office suite to thank people in person. I had a great turnout, practitioners and friends solidified existing relationships, and we all made new connections as well. I’m really glad I did it, and I recommend others consider holding a similar event in their area. Who knows – maybe it will turn out to be a yearly gathering!
Anne, what a lovely gesture of appreciation from you and what a remarkable opportunity for you . . . to be talked about and commented on by others long after your open house has passed! When I worked in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I always looked forward to the many open houses hosted by therapists in the area. They were places to meet new folks, reconnect with others, and were truthfully some of the best “parties” that I ever attended! Oh, how I miss those!
I’ve put up several posts on how to host an open house (including one guest post from Board Certified Music Therapist Rachel See Smith) but am wondering if you have any tips or special twists that you can add?
Well, I just read your open house posts for the first time, Tamara, and it seems you and Rachel thought of everything!
Two things I did (that you also recommended) seemed especially helpful to me. First, I asked my husband to bartend (we served a simple assortment of wines and sparkling waters) so that I could be free to move around, greet people, make connections, etc., and that turned out to be a good decision. Second, I held a drawing for a gift card for a local coffee company that has outlets all over town. This was fun for my guests, obviously, as they had an opportunity to win something, but it also gave me a chance to collect business cards from everyone, cars I can now use for referrals and others types of contacts.
Thanks, Anne! It’s so helpful to others who are planning their open houses to hear what did / didn’t work especially well. Being free to play host to your guests really can make the difference between being able to focus on their needs and putting out fires the whole time. And, who doesn’t want to win something?! Kudos to you!
What time of day did you hold your open house and how did you figure a head count for your event?
I held it from 1:00 to 4:00 on a Friday afternoon, and had a steady stream of attendees during that time, with a higher density of people during the latter half. I asked for RSVPs, but also said it was fine to just drop in, so I had to estimate the expected head count. I ended up being pretty close in my estimation. And I did have a few people drop in, so I was glad I had encouraged that.
Thanks, Anne! That helps others know what to expect! I typically “guestimate” 10% more than my RSVPs when planning events.
I hesitate to say this, because it sounds cheesy, but it’s true and needs to be said, so I decided to go ahead: I am thankful for you, Tamara, and the continuous encouragement you give your readers. I am also thankful for other good therapist friends like Ann Stonebraker, Deb Legge and Diana Pitaru. My fellow therapists keep me going and I am so so glad to have you. 🙂
🙂 Thank you, Stephanie! It’s always nice to know we matter!