We were lucky to catch up with Christen Clark recently and have shared our conversation below.
Christen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.
I never imagined myself as an entrepreneur. I am not a huge risk taker and was not that kid marketing toys to sell/trade at school growing up. In the back of my head (and never out loud) I dreamed I would *maybe* begin my solo practice when my kids were in middle school or high school. The dream felt almost silly to say out loud and I felt a lot of imposter syndrome even thinking about it.
However, after spending time working at a group private practice I began to learn some things about myself. I genuinely love being a therapist – this is long-term (maybe life-long) work for me. In early 2022 I became very aware of how quickly burnout can happen. Being a therapist can be emotionally taxing. We work hard to care for our emotional, mental, and physical health. One part of caring for myself that I overlooked was using all of my skills. By nature, I am a developer (of systems and people – think mentor and also organizational structure). I am adaptable and hardworking. Some of my natural skills were clashing with being a mental health clinician. It is unfair for a clinician to try to “develop” or “fix people”. That is not our job. I came to realize that in order to feel fully fulfilled in my work life I needed to figure out a way to use these skills. I knew I had more time to give to my job but not necessarily more emotional energy to take on more clients. Becoming a practice owner has allowed me to continue to do the work that I love while also having an outlet for creating, implementing, and building systems. I am also looking forward to growing the team of therapists at Clark Counseling to be able to mentor new therapists.
Even though I wasn’t willing to admit it out loud, I was doing a lot of internal processing about beginning my own practice for years. In 2017 I began meeting with therapists who run their own practice for coffee/lunch dates. How did I meet these people? I literally googled private practices in the area and reached out via phone or email introducing myself. I just wanted to get to know entrepreneurs’ stories around me and learn from them. I came eager to buy their coffee or meal, and I had a list of questions on hand. Most of us love being able to tell our story and to help out the people who were in our shoes 5-10 years ago. It really hasn’t been tough to make connections – I have been blown away by the stories of perseverance I’ve heard in the last 6 years.
The next thing that I did was gently propose the idea to a personal and business mentor (who happens to be my uncle). I think I said something to him like, “Sometimes I think maybe I would want to have my own practice”. He ran with my idea. He was able to see the parts of me that would fit into being an entrepreneur, help me dream, and knock down the imaginary walls I had created in my mind about this pursuit. We began talking and processing my ideas over phone calls and holidays. I’ll be forever grateful to have someone in my life like him – shoutout to Paul Dominski!
Then came all of the practical business things – establishing an LLC, meeting with my accountant to establish quarterly taxes, working on the 6+ month long process of getting credentialed to work with insurance companies, working with an attorney to approve paperwork, establishing the onboarding process for new clients, locating secure HIPAA approved Telehealth platforms, learning marketing, website creation, blogging, listing myself on directories, and creating social media accounts for my business. It was an intense process but not in a bad way. I felt alive and have found myself saying often, “This job feels the closest to what I was meant to do more than anything else I’ve done”. I was going to bed dreaming about a new way to market or how to streamline a process. I lit up when friends/family asked me about how my business was going and felt on top of the world when my contracts with insurance companies were finally signed!
I think the biggest challenge that I had to learn to overcome with starting my own practice was to be ok with the fact that not everyone thought this was a good idea. In the beginning I had a really hard time coming to terms with the people who did not wholeheartedly believe in me. Becoming a practice owner had this stigma of “impossible” around it and I had to really choose to watch how I was letting others’ opinions (verbal and nonverbal) affect me. I chose to listen carefully to the people who know me best in life. People like my previous boss/mentor of 6 years, my Uncle Paul, my mom, my husband, and my old coworkers who cheered me on from the start. I chose to listen more carefully to the people telling me I could do it instead of the people telling me I couldn’t.
My biggest piece of advice to someone thinking about beginning their own practice would be to find your people. Find the people who have known you for long periods of time and can affirm in you the things that have been there all along. I often heard people telling me they weren’t surprised I was doing this. They have told me I have always been a hard worker, always been someone who thrives in getting something tough done, and that I am creative and innovative. Be ready to hear (or get the sense) from certain people in your life that they think it is a bad idea to do this. However, remember that you get to decide for yourself who you are going to listen to.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I’m Christen Clark, mental health therapist and practice owner of Clark Counseling. Clark Counseling provides exclusively online therapy services to women ages 18-35 in Michigan. We’re passionate about providing therapy for women going through anxiety, depression, grief or challenging life transitions. In particular, we have a heart for college students, young adults, and women going through pregnancy/postpartum.
We know firsthand that reaching out for help can be intimidating – maybe even scary. Our goal is to help you feel at ease in therapy sessions by building a real relationship. We hope to provide a warm, loving presence and to help you recognize your own strengths. Our number one priority is making sure we are a good fit and building trust in our therapeutic relationship. We believe in the importance of finding a counselor who you “click” with. The desire for women to find a counselor they feel understood by is what led me to grow the Clark Counseling team.
We are a team of women counseling women. Each clinician has extensive post-grad experience working in the mental health field and provides hope in sessions to our clients.
How would you know if we would be a good fit? Maybe you’ve found yourself awake in the middle of the night and can’t seem to fall back asleep due to your racing thoughts. During the day you are productive and busy but when you have down time your mind is full of racing thoughts wondering “What do they think of me?” “Am I doing enough?” “What is wrong with me?” You feel misunderstood. Everyone seems to think you are ok and have it together but deep down you know you’re not ok. You just don’t understand why you are feeling so worried and anxious all of the time.
What would it be like to make decisions without spending the next three days second guessing what everyone thinks of it. What would it be like to not need others’ approval to feel good about yourself? If you’re ready to feel as healthy on the inside as you look from the outside we’d love to work with you.
Many of our clients share that simply being with someone every week, who is willing to listen deeply, allows them to feel heard. In our sessions we work together on understanding what is leading you to feel this way to help you get unstuck. Our therapists walk with you in understanding the hard things you might be avoiding and provide a safe space to work through those things.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Hands down the biggest way our clientele has grown have been by providing quality therapy services. Therapy is a very vulnerable place to be. If people aren’t feeling comfortable or heard in sessions it can make things worse for them. Most of our referrals come from word of mouth from clients referring their friends or family after experiencing firsthand the power of therapy.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
The things I think matter the most are having good listening skills, being approachable, and being a people-person. While of course, it is essential to get a master’s (or higher level) degree in order to be a mental health clinician, I believe the skills that make us good therapists have been in us all along. We are the people who have been unofficially counseling our friends/family for years. Therapists have this tendency to make people feel as though they can open up and be themselves. We crave deep conversation and shy away from small talk. In order to succeed therapists have to listen well to others (and their own internal voice) in sessions. We are doing our own work on our mental and emotional health outside of sessions.
Contact Info:
- Website: clark-counseling.com
- Instagram: clark_counseling
- Facebook: @ClarkCounselingMI
Image Credits
Jakki Zirbel Photography