Welcome to the inaugural Private Practice from the Inside Out Blog Carnival! Thanks so much to all of the bloggers who submitted articles for this first blog carnival! This is going to be so fun!!!!
Our theme for this blog carnival is Creative Responses in Building a Private Practice. I decided on this theme after working with several therapists who were fearful of even thinking of their practices as anything other than “traditional” and predictable. The more I asked them to think about out-of-the-box and unique concepts for their work, the more they dug in with their heels. And, yes, if you are wondering if I’m talking about you, then assume that I am!
So . . . I’m hosting this first blog carnival hoping that these five bloggers below can help nudge and stretch you guys that are stuck in that same fear-based rut . . . to do something different to grow your practice! Here’s our inaugural Carnival Bloggers . . . .
* Editor’s Choice – Giora Carmi, ATR-BC, BCIM, BCPC credits one of his clients in spawning his own decision-making process and creative solution to working with clients’ financial needs in Pricing Policy. He says
I told her what to expect. I heard from her how she felt about her life now, how she trusted me as a result of her former therapist’s recommendation, and how she now felt she could trust me as a result of our conversation. But she did not make enough money to pay my price.”
Giora’s post is Editor’s Choice as the most creative response I’ve seen yet to addressing clients’ and therapists’ financial needs in a mutually compassionate and thoughtful way. Giora blogs at Intuitive Flow (.org).
* Kat Mindenhall, LCSW is writing today on Why You Should Reinvent the Wheel.
When my son was born I decided to use his first year to “build” my practice infrastructure. I wasn’t ready to accept clients, so I spent many nights cradling my infant, indulging my creative side, and building some basic graphic design and WordPress skills. . . .These hours also gave me time to reflect on who I was as a therapist, and get excited about this business identity taking shape . . . .”
I love her wisdom in taking time for incubating while building her practice! Kat blogs at A Peaceful Life’s Blog.
* In 6 Creative Comebacks to Combat Your Inner Critic, Anne Barker, LIMHP, LCSW invites us to step away from
immobilizing self-criticism, and instead belly up to this bar of creative confidence-giving comebacks.”
In doing so, she provides a clever and creative cheat sheet to move those self-limiting beliefs right out of your head so that you can attract the clients you were meant to work with! Anne blogs at Out of My Mind.
* Nina Danhorn, MS, NCC focuses on Self Care for Healing Professionals as she urges mental health professionals to
Listen to your intuition, unleash your creativity and let it flow through you filling you and the world with love.“
Nina’s post underscores what we all know to be true . . . . If we are not taking care of ourselves, we are not taking care of our clients either. Nina blogs at Laska Counseling.
* And, finally, in Nourishing Growth and Giving Breath to My Hungry Private Practice, Kate Daigle, MA, LPC, NCC suggests the need for both a reflective and reflexive response to the needs of a growing practice when she says
At times, the work involved in this journey can feel exhausting and overwhelming and might dry up our internal resources. When this occurs, I try to tune into what my practice is asking for.“
Kate knows that a private practice is an animal that requires care and feeding. Kate blogs at Kate Daigle Counseling.
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That’s it, folks, for our Blog Carnival #1 at Private Practice from the Inside Out! It didn’t happen without a few kinks along the way. We didn’t pull it off perfectly but . . . I’m hoping that you weren’t troubled too much with the imperfections and enjoyed meeting and reading the thoughts of some of your colleagues.
Take some time to check out the carnival bloggers above. Drop in to say “hello” and let them know that you found out about them through Private Practice from the Inside Out. Let them know that you appreciate their blogging, offer your own thoughts, expand the conversations.
And, then, let me know if you like the idea of hearing from your colleagues in the form of theme-specific blog carnvials. I’m hoping that even more of you will be submitting posts to be included in future blog carnivals. And, if your submission didn’t make it in this one, please know that there will be others and you are always welcome to enter again!
In the mean time, I hope you are entertaining your own ideas to up the creativity in responding to building your own fabulous and busy private practice!
Tamara – I am counting my blessings as I read the commentc from your readers. Three people are in my close circle of peers and I love knowing them. They bring a lot into my professional life.
Kat’s exemplifies creative self-care and Nina brings her artistic gifts into her conversations with openness and non-judgement. And Kate, who is in a peer consultation group I host, is brave and willing to talk about what really matters with her clients.
Love you ladies! Brenda
Good morning, Brenda! So sorry we had some technical glitches when you dropped by. All our links are working now so I hope you’ll drop by each of their blogs and check out their posts!
Thank you Brenda, we love knowing you too!
Ditto, Brenda! 🙂
Thank you so much for this opportunity Tamara, I can’t wait for the next one so that I can get even more wisdom from others, so much fun! I especially love seeing each individual therapist expressing the creativity that they bring to the process, that has been so neat. I love being a part of this community that you are inspiring.
I like the attitude Kat Mindenhall had concerning the preparatory work she did when her son was an infant.
Sometimes, I find myself getting discouraged. I feel as though I am always three steps behind where I would like to be.
Eventually, I rouse myself to life again by remembering what I am developing. Plus, I focus on the positive aspects of what I already have in place due to prior work. This helps me to have patience with myself as I continue to build.
Lastly, I have on my “To Do” list a question that I regularly answer. The question is: “What would be missing if my business were not here?” The answer breathes new life into me as I see the good that I bring to those around me.
Hi Tawnya!
Thank you for you kind words. That attitude came from bumping up against the same frustration of feeling like I was 3 steps behind. People just don’t really get how much work owning a small business is when they think that all you do in that business is hang a shingle and clients appear! And we fall into that trap, too. So my attitude was, “well, if I’m going to have a lot to do and some prep work, let’s get cozy!” Be patient with yourself, you’re in the same boat we all are! Best of luck to you in your own journey!
Hi, Tawnya! “Just three steps behind??!” Really? Oh, girl, you are still ahead of me! My to-do’s are never done! In fact, instead of listing 12 to-do’s everyday that I cannot possibly complete, I’ve started trying to put them on one side of one square sticky note. More than that . . . just isn’t going to happen. I’m lucky if I get the 3-4 I list on it completed that day!
I like Kat’s prep work, too! And, if you check out her website, you can see how thoughtful, clear and focused she presents, too!
Hey – I just went to your website but there’s not anything there except a blank website. Are you just now putting it up or are you really spam?
Thanks, Tawnya, for dropping in today to chat!
Shucks, thanks Tamara! I should mention that, like all things that have a lot of thought or effort put into them, my site didn’t pop up overnight. Well, actually, some overnights were done, but not one single night! When I see what you have going here, it inspires me to somehow get to the point you are at with this community, but I know I just need to keep it up. Likewise, if people see my site and don’t think they now possess the skills or time to do that for themselves they would be dead wrong. It just takes persistent and patience to keep tweaking things. I applaud Tawnya for getting a site up and I would also encourage her to DIG in and throw some stuff up on that first page! 🙂 HELLO world!
You’re right, Kat. It’s just a lot of baby steps and mentoring along the way! (Of course, cheerleading is always welcome!)
Lol! Yes, Kat, I was thinking the same thing. It’s time to stop planning and just get going! I hope you’ll check my site again in a couple weeks.
I’d be happy to check back to your site! Why don’t you let me know when you are ready for a looky? One easy way to stay in touch is to subscribe to mah blog! 😉 Shameless self promo there! 🙂
This is an amazing idea. Thank you so much for sharing these thoughtful and inspiring blog posts. I hope this Blog Carnival is one of many!
Deanna, so glad to hear you like it! And, since I love your writing, too, I hope you’ll be joining us for next month’s Blog Carnival! Will be posting details soon but if you want a head start . . . the topic is Top 10’s in Private Practice! I’ll keep hosting the Blog Carnivals if you guys will keep great submissions coming. But . . . if you tire of them, I’ll put them to rest!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Tamara, for having not only the enthusiasm and energy required to get this idea from conception to reality, but also for clearly possessing the super-sized organizational and technical skills necessary to pull all of us unruly bloggers together. I, for one, do feel there is a carnival atmosphere in the air, and really appreciate the opportunity to share ideas and feel a part of a new community. Each writer brought a unique and important perspective, and I’ve been inspired in an important way by each offering. Thanks to all for playing!
🙂 Ha Ha! I’ve got you fooled! There is not an organized clump of cells in my brain! Thus . . . a hiccup or two as we got up and running. But, so glad that it’s come together and you guys are willing to be herded like a bunch of cats with generous hearts!
Tamara, I second Kat’s comment about how awesome this opportunity has been. To be honest, when I read the theme of this carnival, I had to take some time to really think about what “Creative Responses to Building my Private Practice” meant for me. I hadn’t really considered that before! So it got my creative juices flowing and now I feel that I have opened many doors to continuing to build my business in creative ways. I also am loving reading the other posts as they offer ideas and insight that I hadn’t thought of, or are helpful reminders! Looking forward to the next Blog Carnival!
🙂 So happy to help juice up your creative responses, Kate! Details for next month’s Blog Carnival are coming tomorrow! Already thinking that I need to allow more time between the deadline and actual posting. Lots of coordination and tweaking needed on the backside so that things come off smoothly. The topic for November will be Top 10’s in Private Practice.
Hi Tamara,
Thank you for sharing all of this great insight. It is definitely helpful to have these posts in one forum as it makes it easier to focus on the content vs. getting sidetracked with other links and internet distractions. This is innovative and helpful! Great job!!