A Day In The Life: Meet Divorce Counselor Misty E. Vogel, MA

A ten year career in the mortgage banking industry not only prepared Misty Vogel, M.A., NCC for many of the business aspects of self-employment, but also for managing the intense emotions that come with major life transitions.

Helping clients buy homes seems far from providing therapy, but the process of helping mortgage clients navigate intense emotions that surface during home purchasing has been added to Vogel's therapeutic skill set.

Fresh out of graduate school, Vogel is just starting to build her practice in Denver and in Evergreen while she continues to work as an extern at Evergreen Psychotherapy Center, a practice specializing in treatment of attachment disordered children and families.

In her private practice, Vogel combines her experience doing attachment work with her passion to help children and families navigate the difficulties of divorce and custody issues. Vogel's own parents divorced when she was 5 so she knows first-hand the impact divorce can have on the entire family. Peek into a day in the life of a therapist just beginning to build her private practice and see what it takes!

A Day In The Life

February 13, 2012

6:30AM

Alarm is sounding and my husband is up and out of bed quickly. I, on the other hand, reach for my phone which is next to me on my nightstand, easy to check email from here. I turn on the local news to check the weather. No snow and warmer temperatures… happy about this, as it means I can go for a walk later (self-care).

7:00AM – 8:15AM

Getting ready for my day includes planning lunch and a change of clothes. My externship is located in the foothills outside of Denver in Evergreen, about a 30 minute commute on a good day.

8:15AM – 8:50AM

On my commute to Evergreen! I can’t complain, this drive is often quite picturesque – many times the moon is setting to the west, or the snow capped mountains are glistening in the sun rising upon them, and, more often than not, I am fortunate enough to spot wildlife – buffalo, coyotes, elk, hawks, and even eagles once in a while! I also am lucky to use this time to make a few phone calls. (When I was still studying for the NCE exam, I used this commute to listen to Dr. Rosenthal’s study CDs!)

9:00AM – 12:00PM

In session, an intensive at my externship. Our current family is in real crisis. Mondays of the second week can be very tense because the families have just spent a couple of days outside of treatment and often they fall back to old patterns. Unfortunately, in this case, the crisis may not be diverted and it appears this week is going to be a tough one.

12:00PM-12:50PM

An hour with an individual client – my own client, not part of the externship. Without a break between the intensive and my individual session, I am feeling some hunger pains! Those almonds didn’t quite cut it.

1:00PM – 1:30PM

Commute back to Denver, meeting up with an old co-worker and friend who has a networking group she wants to introduce me to.

1:30PM – 2:45PM

Lunch with friend. Networking is essential at this stage of opening my own practice. I also attend a Private Practice support group as well as numerous workshops and conferences.

3:00PM – 4:00PM

Changed into walking clothes at the restaurant and went for a walk at the park. This is my self-care time!

4:15PM – 6:30PM

Back at my home office. I make finishing touches to my post card announcements for my new practice and two offices. Order those online – some will be mailed to a small database and the rest will be distributed in local coffee shops and local hang-outs. Post a quote on my business Facebook page – I find that if I do this every day, people are more likely to remember me and my practice. Open up the project I am currently dreading…building my website. I am trying to determine if I chose the right web page host; it hasn’t been a user-friendly experience thus far.

6:30PM – 7:45PM

Cook and eat dinner with my husband. Catching up on one another’s day. He is working on a start up company and we are also beginning the journey of seeking out fertility options. The journey has just begun – I filled my husband in on the task at hand getting in for a consultation with the fertility doc, information gathered on a phone call during my commute this morning.

7:45PM – 9:00PM

Took a little time to read up on divorce and attachment. I had downloaded a few articles over the weekend. I am considering writing a blog targeted to this population.

9:00PM-10:00PM

Both my husband and I are exhausted. We treated ourselves to a few TV shows on the DVR. Turning off our brains before heading to bed tends to produce better sleep!

10:00PM

Turning in – thinking about the family I’ll see tomorrow at Evergreen. They have been on my mind a great deal this afternoon.

Find out more about Misty's practice at  www.mistyvogel.com.

If you'd like to submit a day in your life for this series, please contact me here.

Private Practice Marketing Made Easy

Last week I spoke to group of local therapists on "Marketing Your Private Practice" and a record number of people attended the presentation. Why? Because therapists in private practice feel ill-equipped and uncomfortable with the business aspects of private practice. It's rare that a marketing course is included in a mental health graduate school curriculum, and few internships and practicums offer marketing mentorship. In my graduate program in social work, just the words "private practice" were treated as "bad words," as if making money while helping people was somehow morally wrong.

For some therapists  the word marketing brings up feelings of anxiety, even dread. "I am not comfortable with self-promoting," I've heard many therapists say.  "I'm not in this for the money so I hate to think that I have to market my services."

Over nearly 10 years in private practice I've learned that marketing isn't as difficult or scary as it sounds. Most therapists already have the relationship skills that make marketing effective. You're already good at building relationships and communicating. You just need to apply your skills differently.

 Build relationships of trust

You already know how to market, because marketing is simply building relationships of trust in a different way. Marketing requires reaching outside of your therapy office, and often beyond your comfort zone. Whatever strategy you use: talking to strangers, talking to friends and colleagues, meeting with physicians or schools, or finally getting a website, it's all about building relationships of trust.

Let 2 simple questions guide all of your marketing

• Who is your ideal client? Identifying your ideal client is  not just getting clear on the demographic and diagnoses that you like to work with, but also the characteristics, values, and traits that you look for in a client.
• What is your basic practice message? This is a simple message that focuses on one aspect of your work and emphasizes the benefits of your services in layman's terms.

Talk to everyone and anyone about what you do

In graduate school you learned how to communicate, build rapport, and put people at ease. Building relationships of trust isn't just limited to talking with your clients. Effective marketing is simply applying all of the skills you know to a broader group of people. Talk about who you want to work with what you do with strangers in the grocery store, neighbors, extended family members, or online communities, media contacts, or other professionals.

Remember you're promoting your passions, not yourself

Effective marketing isn't about pushing yourself on others, but about letting the things that you're passionate about shine through in every conversation, every blog post, every interview, an every page of your website.

It only takes three

According to private practice guru Lynn Grodski, it only takes a few "practice angels" to have a full practice-three people who will consistently refer your ideal clients to you. You probably already have three referral sources ready to refer to you. All you need to do is warm the connections you already have.

How do you feel about marketing your practice? What works and what doesn't? Share your comments below

photo credit: Hen3k Hen3k