Therapist Blog Challenge #11: Promote Gratitude

Let the benefits of gratitude inspire your next professional blog post.

It's the time of year when Facebook posts, blogs, and tweets take on a tone of gratitude. This is an excellent opportunity for you to share with your readers things that you are grateful for or encourage them to express their gratitude.

• Share your own gratitude list: This can be as easy as creating a simple list of things you are thankful for, or writing an article about the positive benefits of gratitude on mental health.
• Write about gratitude and mental health research: Expressing gratitude is beneficial for a person's well-being (Emmons, 2003). Enjoy the benefits this blog might offer for you and your clients. As a marriage and family therapist you might want to cite Gottman's work on positive versus negative interactions with couples and how that can predict relationship longevity (Gottman, 1989).
• Encourage readers to keep a gratitude journal: I came across this nifty Gratitude Journal app that you could share in your article. Writing down what you are grateful for has been associated with increased happiness and well-being.

Enjoy sharing the benefits gratitude during this time of Thanksgiving!

Additional reminders about the 2013 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.

Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of personality and social psychology, 84(2), 377.

Gottman, J. M., & Krokoff, L. J. (1989). Marital interaction and satisfaction: a longitudinal view. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 57(1), 47.

Therapist Blog Challenge #10: Celebrate an Awareness Day

Let an awareness day or month inspire your next professional blog post.

Each year we celebrate a variety of awareness dates that highlight and bring attention to a variety of challenges that people face in the U.S. and across the world. October is National Depression, Mental Health Screening Month, and World Mental Health Day. These awareness dates can make for easy blog topics. Find an awareness date that matches the work and client you are passionate about and let it inspire your next blog article.

This post can be an excellent opportunity to educate your clientele. Find statistics from reputable sources to share with them regarding the particular topic you hope to bring awareness to. Post or share quizzes, assessments or symptom lists. Share events that are happening in your area that they might be interested in attending. Remember to post on or before the date you would like to highlight!

Here are some ongoing or upcoming dates for 2013:

October

• Depression & Mental Illness screening month
• ADHD Awareness Week (Oct. 13 to 19)
• OCD Awareness Week (Oct. 14 to 20)
• National Bullying Prevention Month

November

• Survivors of Suicide Day (Nov. 23)

December

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Dec. 3)

Lists of these awareness dates can easily be located online and happen during almost every month of the year. Dates include everything from Mental Health Month to things like Schizophrenia Awareness Week. So, what are you waiting for. Get blogging to raise awareness for a cause close to your heart.

This part is new! Once you've written your blog post, click the option below "click to view/add link" and to post it on the link party below!

Additional reminders about the 2013 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 InLinkz widget above.
• 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.

Therapist Blog Challenge #9: Power of Infographics

Therapist Blog Challenge #9 Infographic

 A picture IS worth 1000 words. Find a credible infographic that is helpful to your ideal client for your next blog post.

Visually interesting and sharable infographics can provide easily digestible information for your blog readers. It's easy to find infographics on a variety of topics by doing a Google search of your area of interest and the word "infographic".

Many infographics are easily sharable with the HTML code and a copy function near the infographic. Another option for adding the infographic to your blog post is to right click and copy the "copy image location" and insert into your blog post (If you have no idea what I'm talking about contact your webmaster for help).

It is best practices to post a link back to the site where the infographic was originally posted. I've shared a few infographics below as examples that you are free to use for your blog post. Write a few sentences, embed the infographic, and you're done! This is the easiest challenge yet!

Additional reminders about the 2013 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 are a few examples of infographics on 3 different topics. This first is from Sharecare Now and is the one and only appearance on an infographic. Feel free to use any of these for your post or search for your own!

Top 10 Online Influencers: Depression

http://www.sharecare.com/static/sharecare-now-depression-graphic

The Science of Mental Illness

Therapist Blog Challenge #6: Embed a Favorite YouTube Video

Commenting on expert YouTube videos can make for a quick and meaningful blog post that lets potential clients know more about you and provides them with helpful information.

While your blog posts may be a way of sharing your unique perspective, you can use existing content as a springboard for meaningful content. Blog posts don't have to be entirely original material. One way to do that is to share your favorite YouTube video with your blog readers and potential clients.

Many experts, researchers, and  psychology gurus have YouTube videos or channels. Find one that speaks to you and is relevant to your ideal client. Summarize why the video speaks to you and how the information will be helpful to your ideal client. Then embed their video on your own blog post. Easy, right?

How to embed a YouTube video into your blog post

• Underneath the YouTube video there are several links.
• Click on the "share" link.
• Then click on "embed" option.
• A box will open that has the code needed to embed the video on your site. Copy this code and paste it into your blog post.
• If you're totally lost here then contact your webmaster for help.

Here are a few of my favorite videos. Feel free to use these or find your own.

Additional reminders about the 2013 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.

Would Your Practice Survive An Employment Tax Audit? (1099 vs. W-2 part 2)

Does the state tax commission really take the time to audit small private practices? I didn't think so, until my practice was selected for an audit.

A few years ago my clinic was selected for an employment tax audit. Lucky me, right? When the auditor walked into my office suite and saw many offices with different names on the doors, he looked at me pleadingly and said, "Please, please don't tell me that these therapists are all classified as 1099 contractors."

I replied, "I won't. We're all W-2's."

There was a look of relief on his face.He then proceeded to tell me that health and mental health private practitioners are notorious for incorrectly classifying 1099 employees. In his experience many groups are set up as contract workers when they are acting like employees (I'll go over into detail about the the IRS criteria for how to classify  an employee as a 1099 vs. W2 employees in a forthcoming post).

The auditor requested access to all of my financial documents including bank accounts, accounting,  payroll information and tax documents. He asked us questions about any large checks written directly to employees to make sure we were paying our employment taxes. After a brief review of my payroll and tax documents the auditor thanked me for making his job easier and left with a smile. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Had I hired the therapists working with me as 1099 I may have been penalized with a hefty fine and required to pay back employment taxes on all of the therapists' income. I was not in a position to shell out thousands and thousands of dollars. Had I been incorrectly classifying employees it may have put my practice in jeopardy.

Do you know the IRS criteria for classifying 1099 contract workers vs. W-2 employees? It isn't based on whether or not you want to pay your therapist's taxes or want to have them pay self-employment taxes. It isn't based on whether they are full-time or part-time workers. It isn't based on whether or not you provide benefits.

There are many misconceptions about classifying employees in private practice. I'll address theses criteria for how to distinguish between hiring 1099 vs. W-2 therapists in upcoming posts.

Watch for the next Therapist Blog Challenge coming next week, too!

Dave Dugdale & learningdslrvideo.com via Compfight