The first time I ventured into private practice (back in 1991), no one talked to me about what a counselor’s office should look like – not a peer, not a professor, and not a supervisor. Over the last 30 years in mental health, I’ve worked in a dingy old office in a building that also housed a variety of rodents, a beautifully appointed office in an upscale building that overlooked a manicured pond, an short-on-space office that required sharing a desk with a colleague, an office that consisted of just my own lap, and a home office. I suspect that many of you more seasoned therapists have had your professional lives housed in a variety of spaces, too.
The warm and inviting office of Claire Von Karls, LCSW in Franconia, New Hampshire, USA
It occurs to me that psychotherapists still in training and those who have only recently ventured outside of academia may not be familiar with the locations, furnishings and decor of “real” therapists. With that in mind, I thought you might find it interesting to read this article from The New York Times (back in 2008) called “What’s in a Chair” by Penelope Green. It’s a fun and interesting glimpse into the ideas, assumptions, and possible blind spots of psyhotherapists and the possible implications of choices we make related to the spaces we choose to work in.
And, in a more visual format, I’ve started a Pinterest board specifically related to Private Practice from the Inside Out. It’s still in the beta phase of experimentation but the idea is to provide visual representations of information and inspiration for you as you build your private practice. With that in mind, I’ve posted images of different therapists’ offices. If you are curious about my experiment with Pinterest or want to peek in on your colleagues’ worksites, . . . you can take a moment to check out my Pinterest board here.
If you find Penelope’s article and / or my Pinterest board for Private Practice from the Inside Out to be useful, I hope you will drop back in here to share your thoughts about (and photos, too) of your own work settings.
And, for those of you who have been around for a while, how about sharing some of those lessons learned along the way about how your work spaces affect both you and your client . . . .
Love this topic! I’ve relocated my office twice and put a lot of work into finding the perfect space. I work with children so I need an office that’s child friendly and one where parents/caregivers feel comfortable. I also feel it’s important that my office reflects my personality and my therapeutic approach to working with children and families. Most of my clients find me via my web site so I have photos of my office and a video tour. You can view them here: http://www.pamdyson.com/photo_album_facilities.html
I’m also a Pinterest user. Here’s my link: http://pinterest.com/pamdyson/
YAY to you for referencing your amazing Pinterest board! I’m looking forward to seeing more pins from you soon! Maybe in future updates you can embed some pins in your posts! I can teach you how if you need a quickie tutorial.
Ahhhh, Beth! How kind of you to drop in and offer a quickie tutorial! Is that a guest post offer? I know you are a busy gal and if you can’t manage a guest post (sooner rather than later), I would welcome the private tutorial because . . . alas! I can’t seem to figure it out!
Hello!
This post is so timely for me, as I just moved into a new therapy office in December, and just last week I launched a Pinterest board for my practice here:
http://pinterest.com/bloomhealth/
Off to check out your board, and looking forward to the discussion!
Jen
Jen!!!! How fabulous! I’ll be checking your pins soon! Thanks for including the link!
Jen, congratulation on your new office.
Thanks! I am really excited about it and spent a lot of time trying to create the right atmosphere. I love going there, and my clients seem happy with the move, too. I am hoping to host an open house (using the good advice found here, Tamara, thanks!) in early spring, so I will definitely let you know when I get that organized! I’d love to have you come by!
Oh, Jen! That’s great! I’ll definitely be there if it’s not in my crazy-making month of March! Would love an opportunity to meet you face to face! Thanks for dropping in here to chat tonight!
Hey Tamara! I was thinking of doing the same type of board on Pinterest for play therapy rooms! I think it’s a great idea to show office space visually like that.
Hi, Jill! Welcome back! Please do put up a Pinterest board for play therapy rooms! It’s a wide open space and will certainly be helpful to others. When you get it up, please do drop back in here to add a link. Can’t wait to see what you come up with! I think play therapists, maybe more than others, often have fewer resources for how their spaces should / could look. In fact, that seems like a consulting gig waiting to happen. Interested?
Hey, and this reminds me . . . I would think that it’s important as a play therapist that your decor be both child-friendly while at the same time also appealing to the adults that bring the children. That seems like it might be a tricky balance for some therapists, Jill, and I’m wondering if you have any thoughts to share on this . . . .
Absolutely LOVE this post. It inspired my “head space.” But, as you know, I am only able to work in online counseling right now. Do you have any suggestions for creating inspirational moods when you work online?
I’m wondering if I could do something with soft music & lighting for my video clients?
Stephanie, I had no idea that you were only working online! So . . . how does that work exactly? And, are you asking about creating an inspirational mood for you? Or for your clients? Paint a picture for us of what / how a session is conducted and I’m sure we’ll have some ideas.
Yep, we are only living in our current location for a total of two years, and then two years at another location before maybe moving again due to my husband’s med school schedule! Knowing it takes at least a year to build up a good client load, I wasn’t up to investing in a physical location just to move when it started paying off – let alone leaving a whole batch of clients again. (That was emotional the first time!) So I’m staying in touch with them online.
I think an inspirational mood would work for me or them – I want them to feel calm and hopeful. I’ve already created a website that’s mostly in purple for the ladies (my main demographic) and I have neutral tones in my office that they can see through the webcam. Except for the computer in between us, a webcam session is very much like an in-person session. 🙂
I know this is a difficult question, I appreciate your trying to answer it!
Beautiful!
Thanks, Brenda! So glad you like it!
The article seemed to speak more about home versus commercial offices, but I can totally relate to trying to create an ambiance that is comfortable to me as well as my clients. It feels much like it did when I designed my site and business cards – so much of what I liked just wasn’t going to make a good storefront or brand. There is such a balance to strike between personalized & expressive of you and neutral enough to be inviting to the masses!
My first ever private office was a former nursery in a domestic violence agency, with a big storybook mural that said, “Once Upon a Time…” across the wall. It struck me as a metaphor for the excitement of beginning of my “real” career, but it also became very uncomfortable when domestic violence victims had to come in and share their horrors under the painted glare of a big reminder that fairy tales don’t exist for them. We all like to think that we have good taste and that what comforts us would comfort others, but this really isn’t the case. You can really alienate your clients with too much stylized decor. I’m trying to find that middle ground!
Hi, Kat! Welcome back! Hmmm. I didn’t read the New York Times article to be more about home vs. commercial offices. I read it to be talking more about how therapists’ personal lives leak over into our office spaces . . . whether we acknowledge it or not . . . and how that, in turn, affects our relationships and work with our clients. And, of course, part of where you fall on that discussion is going to be based on your theoretical background, too. Although no one these days really adheres, I think, to the whole idea of therapists being “blank slates,” those who are psychoanalytically trained are likely to believe that a more neutral backdrop in the office is preferable to a professional trained in Feminist or Adlerian psychology.
I see the irony of working with a victim of domestic violence under the big storybook banner that says “Once Upon a Time!” Oh, my! I can see the challenge there . . . and also the opportunity to use that same banner to discuss the irony . . . and the tendency in our American culture to be raised on happily-ever-after fairy tales and then told as an adult to suck it up and get real!
I know what you mean, too about good taste being relevant and trying to find middle ground. I went to one of my colleague’s open house a few weeks back and it was beautiful with impeccable taste. But, I’ve also been to other therapists’ offices that look disheveled and unkempt. They make for very different first impressions . . . and, for me . . . some of them would not have a chance to make a second impression!
Yes indeed!
I’m enjoying all the comments posted here. I’m now following all of you, forgive me if I’ve missed someone, on Pinterest.
Hi Pam,
I absolutely love your play therapy space and your video tour – also your Pinterest page!! It’s fabulous – so many great ideas!
I’m an LCSW/play therapist in the Kansas City area. I’ve been searching for the right office space to start private practice. I am talking with a pediatrician about possibly renting space in his office area (he has several docs in his practice and actually has an entire floor in an office building). Do you have any suggestions? Also, I notice you get most of your referrals from your web site – did you do any other specific marketing? I would also like to stay away from insurance and accept private pay only, but I’m not sure of the best way to reach those clients. Any help would be appreciated!!
Kathy! I’m not a play therapist but I was also wondering some of the same things. Come on, Pam . . . spill!
Renting space from a pediatrician would position you for referrals from him and the other docs in his office. However, my experience has been, since I’m private pay, that most pediatricians don’t refer to me or if they do the client doesn’t want to use me because I don’t accept insurance. I have a great referral source in a behavioral pediatrician who doesn’t accept insurance so when potential clients call they’re not expecting me to accept their insurance either. Since I only work with children I network with therapists who are private pay and only provide adult and couples therapy. My office is located in a community where people can afford to pay out of pocket for my services. I’ve developed a niche and a reputation of being solution focused and clients seek me out and are willing to pay for my help. I also do a lot of public speaking and I appear once a month on a local TV show as ways of getting my name out there. Nothing is more gratifying than a call from a potential client saying they saw me on TV or heard me speak and feel that I’m the right person to help them.
Good morning, Pam. Thanks for sharing some of your great tips here! Your point about not all pediatricians being equal when attempting to find practice allies is exactly right. Therapists should look for like-mindedness when networking to build referral sources for the same reasons that apply to dating. Research has shown that it is the differences that attract and keep up interested in a potential partner; and it is the similarities that give us comfort, predictability, and security. Strategic networking is about finding that right balance of like-mindedness and difference with potential referral partners.
I also appreciate you stating unequivocally that you don’t work directly with insurance companies. I continue to hear from so many mental health professionals who are envious of that choice but too fearful to make that choice – buying into the myth that it just can’t be done. What I know and you know is that it certainly can be done. Hopefully, as more in our community take the time to speak about their own successes without managed care, we will dispell this myth – at least here at Private Practice from the Inside Out – and more therapists will be able to experience the freedom to practice outside the constraints of managed care.
Pam, I would love to know more about how you got hooked up with the local TV show. Any tips? Thanks!
I was wondering about that, too, Pam, and thinking that might make for another great guest post . . . . If your response to Jen is rather detailed, feel free to consider this an invitation :).
I want to add that seeing clients is not my only source of income. I facilitate parent education classes, speak at schools and provide consultation services to early childhood centers and to therapists wanting to start a private practice. I teach a graduate level play therapy course at a university each summer and as an approved provider for the Association for Play Therapy I offer trainings locally and across the country. I enjoy teaching and training and the topics are complimentary to the therapy services I provide. The diversity of the work I do attracts a diverse clientele and that’s exactly the way that I like it.
Pam, most of the therapists that I know diversify their sources of income just like you and me. Isn’t that part of what we love about this field? That variety is part of my self care, for sure, and it’s exhilarating, too! And, of course, just like an investment portfolio . . . diversifying is also a smart business move.
Regarding my TV appearances, the station found me. The local CBS affiliate began broadcasting an hour long, live show five days a week and they were looking for content. One of the producers stumbled onto some of my parenting videos and asked if I was interested in appearing as a parenting expert. That was nearly two years ago. They invite me back about once a month and they let me select the topic. Sometimes they bill me as a parenting expert, sometimes a parenting coach and sometimes a therapist. I’ll wear whatever hat they put on me. I’m not compensated for appearing but I see it as free advertising. My web site link is on the show’s site when I make an appearance and they also put a video link onto their site after the show airs. My web site gets a lot of hits whenever I appear. Sometimes people in the community recognize me from my appearances. When you’re on TV people see you as an expert. I’m still trying to convince myself that’s true. lol
Thanks, Pam! Such helpful info for all of us!
Yes, I want to second that, Pam! Thanks so much for the great advice! Love all the Pinterest pages too! ( I may need a Pintervention)
Having seen the inside of my share of therapists’ offices over the years, I was fascinated by your post and the comments. From the client’s point of view, I agree it’s good to have a balance between warmth and neutrality in decor. The only therapist I saw in her home had an office in a separate part of the house, very quiet and serene. And she was a Jungian, with lots of small statues and totems, so that was fun.
Hey! Gail! Thanks for dropping back in! I so appreciate hearing from the other side of “the couch” here and I know my colleagues do, too!
Yes, I thought the New York Times article referencing the nude photographs of the therapist was . . . uhhmmm . . . well, let’s just say it was outside of my comfort zone . . . as a client and also as a professional! And, I don’t know about that particular therapist but there is very little information that is passed on to new therapists about what a therapist’s office should / shouldn’t look like. It seems like a no-brainer after 20 years in practice but I remember way back when . . . it was all a bit of a mystery.