Therapist Blog Challenge #15: Parenting Tips

It's been a few weeks since our last Therapist Blog Challenge, but I'm ready to hit the ground running again if you are!

Therapist blog challenge #15 focuses on parenting defiant young children. This is something that every parent has experienced, and you as a professional may be able to provide some insight on this topic. Use the following format as a guide for how to best structure your blog post.

[Headline] Come up with a catchy title for your blog post. You may write your own or use one of the following:

How to Survive When Your Toddler's Driving You Crazy!

5 Steps to Make it Through the Terrible Twos

Keeping Your Cool With a Defiant Child

[Strong Intro] Lay out the topic with a little more detail and introduce your reader to your main points. Here's an example:

It's only 10 am, and your 2-year-old has already suffered a major meltdown. You were warned that the toddler years were tough, but you never expected anything like this! Here are 5 ways to survive with a defiant toddler.

[Scanable Content] This is the real meat of your blog post. Make sure to format your content in a way that is easy on the eyes by breaking it up into sections instead of just writing one long paragraph. Be sure to flesh out the details under each sub-topic.

1) Don’t lose control

Write a short paragraph about why it's important for a parent to stay in control. This may include explaining how a situation can escalate if an adult gets angry and how a child is more likely to respond positively to a parent who is calm.

2) Don't lose focus on who is responsible

Write a short paragraph about how parents need to remember that they are the ones responsible for helping their toddler. True, they cannot force a child to stop crying or acting out, but the parents are the adults and ultimately have the responsibility to improve the situation.

3) Pay attention to the positive

Now, write about ways that parents can recognize the good, even when a toddler has a meltdown. Has the child gotten a bit better since the last outburst?  Has a parent improved in becoming more patient or more firm in his/her approach? Write how there is something positive to be gleaned even from difficult situations with defiant toddlers.

4) Don’t assume the worst 

Write about ways in which a parent can remember that even the most difficult toddler doesn't have bad intentions. It's easy to become overwhelmed with stress and frustration, but parents should remember how young these children are. Remind your readers that defiant toddlers are still developing and are certainly not trying to cause trouble.

5) Set limits for your defiant child

Explain why setting limits for a child's behavior is crucial. Elaborate on how limits help your child learn consequences, how they can be appropriate punishment, and how limits can help a parent put an end to a tantrum.

[Strong Ending Paragraph] Here's where you wrap it up. Just one short paragraph to briefly summarize your main points will do. You may want to close with a question, such as "How have YOU best dealt with a defiant toddler?"

That's it. Now, get to writing!

Here are a few additional reminders about the blog challenge:

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too.
• Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

Here's a list of previous blog challenges.  Feel free to revisit!

What You Need To Succeed As A Solopreneur Therapist

 Why are so many therapists bad at building a business? A key to building a successful private practice is developing discipline.

Guest post by Clinton Power, a Sydney-based Gestalt therapist and the owner of Clinton Power & Associates and founder of Australia Counselling Directory.

When I first dreamed of being a therapist, my vision was about helping people, making a difference and feeling good about contributing to the well-being of others.

After 10 years as a therapist, I’ve become acutely aware of the reality of running a business by myself. While I still enjoy the reward of doing all those good things I mentioned, I’m also realistic about what it takes to run a private practice. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that to be a successful therapist in private practice today, you need to be a solopreneur.

What is a soloprenuer therapist?

So what’s a soloprenuer therapist? Effectively it means you’re an entrepreneurial therapist that works solo. Being a solopreneur therapist means you can hold a big vision of what you want for your business and you’re always on the lookout for new opportunities.

You might have all your qualifications, a lovely office space in the right area where your ideal client is located, the furnishings to accompany it and perhaps an attractive website. But that’s no guarantee that you will attract clients to your practice.

In my mind, to be a successful therapist and soloprenuer, you need to have some of the following skills:

• Marketing skills to effectively communicate about your services
• Accounting skills to track your income and manage your finances
• Discipline to show up and complete your marketing activities
• The ability to create a vision for your business and implement the smaller steps needed
• Interpersonal skills to network with other therapists and allied professionals
• Willingness to learn about online marketing, social media and good website design
• Basic SEO knowledge to help your website and articles show up in the search engines
• Writing skills and basic copywriting skills so you can convert your readers into paying clients

Are you getting the idea?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, that’s not my intention. I hope you have a sense of how versatile you need to be to be able to run a therapy business that brings you clients on an ongoing basis.

I’m not talking about a hobby therapy business where you see a handful of clients a week. I’m talking about what’s needed to create a thriving practice where you are the ‘go to’ person in your niche and you can make a very comfortable living from being a therapist.

The importance of discipline for the solopreneur therapist

In my coaching and consulting work with many healthcare professionals, I talk to a lot of therapists that are wanting to build their businesses, but are not sure what they’re doing wrong.

If there’s one theme that seems to capture what many therapists struggle with, I would say it’s discipline for the solopreneur.

Maybe it’s from my many years as a classical musician, where I had to be disciplined in my musical practice to maintain my performance standard, but I see discipline as an essential part of my business, but also the mindset needed for success. And I see discipline as a major stumbling block for many therapists.

It’s so essential for the soloprenuer therapist to have discipline, because if you don’t do the work, no one will do it for you.

Tips for developing discipline

Here’s a number of ways you can work on your discipline in your private practice:

• Create a publishing schedule for your blog and stick to it
• Give yourself learning goals to increase your knowledge of how to use social media effectively
• Study the basic principles of copywriting so you can write powerful copy for your services and events
• Learn how to manage money effectively using accounting software that makes your job easier
• Create a networking schedule to build relationships with other healthcare professionals and make yourself accountable
• Create a marketing plan that breaks down into weekly tasks that you follow through on
• Create 1, 3, and 5 year goals for your business, write them down and review your progress every 3-6 months
• Join a mastermind group or find an accountability partner and schedule regular meetings so you can support, encourage and challenge each other

This is just a start, but I hope I’m giving you some ideas here.

I believe if you choose just one of those ideas from the list above and commit to the application, it can only benefit your therapy business.

The practice of discipline is one that many people struggle with, however, I do believe it’s like a muscle that you can build and strengthen with practice over time.

I invite you to experiment with shifting your mindset from thinking of yourself as a business owner to a soloprenuer, and notice what happens in your business. Take this as a challenge to help take your business to the next level.

Clinton Power is a Sydney-based Gestalt therapist and the owner of Clinton Power & Associates- a private practice dedicated to helping singles and couples move out of relationship pain. He is also the founder of Australia Counselling Directory, a free directory for find counsellors and psychologists in Australia. Clinton is also a passionate coach and consultant for healthcare professionals. Find him on Twitter @sydneytherapist.

(c) Can Stock Photo

How To Find Top Student Interns To Grow Your Practice

There is an "it" factor when looking for interns to train in your private practice.

Here's how I've found amazing interns that stay at my clinic even after graduation.

Over the past several years I have trained and mentored many graduate students and new graduates working toward clinical licensure. Working with interns has been a great way to build my practice, leverage my time, and satisfy the part of me that loves mentoring.

Most graduate students who train at my clinic during school are offered a therapist position after graduation which creates a win-win situation -- the student gets a job they're already trained for and I get to add talented and enthusiastic therapists to my team! After interviewing several therapists, I've learned to be very selective about who I bring on at Wasatch Family Therapy.

I recently consulted with a private practice therapist who has a waiting list for new clients. As we started exploring the option of hiring a graduate student to train she expressed some concerns. Her biggest questions were:

• How do you find talented graduates students?
• When interviewing potential student interns, what qualities do you look for?
• How do you know if they're going to be a good therapist and work well with your private practice clientele?

So, here's what I've learned after several years of interviewing and hiring student interns...

How do you find gifted graduate students?

• Contact local graduate programs in your discipline and see if they are  looking for internship/practicum placements for their students.
• Fill out the necessary paperwork to be an approved placement at local schools, even if you're not quite ready to bring on a student. When you're ready to train an intern you'll already be approved.
• Reach out to traditional and for-profit schools. I've found that the for-profit programs (Argosy University and University of Phoenix in UT) are more flexible in terms of internship start times and the number of clinical hours per week required. I have been very pleased with the caliber of students from private, for-profit universities.

When interviewing potential student interns, what qualities do you look for?

• After interviewing grad students for several years now, the biggest "it" factor I look for is likeability. I know that sounds simple, but it's true. If I enjoy talking to them and I trust them during the interview process, then it's likely they will quickly put clients at ease, too.
• I look for people were "born" therapists and just need the formal credentials and trainig in order to actually to all themselves a therapist.
• I look for people who have long-term goals that include working in a private practice setting, like mine, beyond the internship.
• I always ask about their style of handling conflict, feedback, or direction in work settings and discuss several scenarios that might arise in private practice.

How do you know if they're going to be a good therapist and work well with your private practice clientele?

• You don't. There's no guarantee that someone will be an effective clinician. I suggest that you make sure that there is a clause in your contract that you can stop training a grad student that isn't working well with your clientele.
• I often require that interested graduate students volunteer at my clinic for several months before securing a clinical internship. There is such a high demand for interns in my area that we can be extremely selective. This volunteer time gives us both a chance to make sure it's a good fit.
• A 3-step interview process helps screen potential interns before bringing on.  I do an initial interview, a second interview, and a "mock" case presentation at team meeting. While I ultimately decide which intern we will "hire," I trust my team's input as to whether the student would be a good fit.

While it's always a risk bringing on a new student to my team, I find comfort in the fact that the number one predictor of client outcome is the strength of the therapeutic alliance. Generally, if it's easy for me and my team to connect with a grad student in the interview process, it's safe to say that clients will feel the same way about them. Ultimately, it's your practice and your reputation on the line as the owner of your practice.

Have you trained interns in your private practice? I'd love to hear about where you find them, how you screen them, and if it's worked to build your practice!

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(c) Can Stock Photo