We were lucky to catch up with Erin Beussman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Erin , appreciate you joining 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.
After graduating from The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN, I specialized in pediatric occupational therapy and soon found my first clinical job in an outpatient clinic. Working with a variety of very encouraging individuals and later joining new clinics in the metro as they were being established, I realized that how I wanted to practice outpatient occupational therapy was not working within a traditional outpatient clinical setting. With time, I realized how important working with both the child AND family/caregivers was to an effective therapy program. I started to see how I could better support these children and their families if I was working more directly within their homes, schools, and other settings. Bringing my knowledge to the table on how to adapt a home setting to meet true sensory-motor and emotional regulation needs for these children without thousands of dollars of clinical equipment, to empower the families so they are directly a part of the session and can easily carry over suggestions in the home, and truly following a developmental, child-led, individualistic play-based form of occupational therapy all led me to the realization that in order to practice how I believed I would be best treating my clients, I needed to start my own business, my own mission, and my own set of practice guidelines, all still within the ethical scope of pediatric occupational therapy.
For me, one of the main key challenges in setting up my own practice was establishing a solid group of contracts to be an in-network provider within all of the local Twin Cities area insurance groups. Unfortunately, and this is still the very frustrating case, most insurance groups have been closed to adding in new practices to their networks for over 10 years. The statement I am repeatedly told when denied a contract to be a provider within these networks is “We have sufficient geographical coverage of occupational therapists within a 30-mile drive range throughout the metro area.” What they fail to look at, acknowledge, and frankly, even care about is the types of occupational therapy practices that are in-network throughout the metro area are all different. For example, some large and well-known clinics affiliated with major hospitals are not necessarily going to be treating the same patients or in the same ways are smaller outpatient clinics. For me, a major frustration when establishing my practice is that I am just a name and degree in the eyes of those who decide contracts for insurance groups. Never have I been interviewed, observed, or even asked how my practice may be different and can bring a different type of occupational therapy to the metro area. For me, it is so very hard to have to tell families who are wanting my style of occupational therapy that I am not in-network with their insurance. These families pay thousands of dollars a month in premiums, and yet they cannot choose the type of therapy they want for their child because they are limited to “who is in network.” Call this a political issue, and economic issue, or just plain lacking of foundation, for me, the limitations with insurance for these children and families is a major key challenge and hurdle.
Being in private practice for over 10 years, advice I were to give to a young professional seeking to start their own practice is to really know what it is that you want to do. Be strong in your convictions in how you want your practice to run; not just financially and via your business plan, but also ethically, morally, and compassionately. If you are true and believe in your services with your whole heart, you already have a great start to your journey!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Becoming a pediatric occupational therapist was not my intended major when I started college, however looking back at my history and the people I was influenced by, it is not shocking to me at all that I switched majors and went this route. I began working with a neurodivergent boy when I was 10 years old as a “Mother’s Helper.” Hanging out and supporting him with all of his favorite activities, I was already learning about a child-led approach. I worked with him all through middle school, high school, college and even grad school. I learned from that friend and his family the importance of a relationship, of patience and listening, of joy and laughter, and of following a child’s interests to make the most success. Becoming a pediatric occupational therapist, it was not too many years in as a practitioner that I knew my specific calling in the pediatric OT world was a bit different than most “traditional” outpatient clinical settings.
As a pediatric occupational therapist, my passion is working with all children and their families on areas of difficulty that are impacting developmental milestones and goals. My particular passion is working with these little “friends” on sensory-emotional regulation and motor-based development. I am guided by and a certified practitioner in the DIR/Floortime philosophy, which really focuses on a child’s individual profile in terms of sensory processing, motor development, communication, and problem solving all within a very relationship-focused framework. A child must feel safe, comfortable, and having fun with their therapist in order to make true gains.
With this philosophy guiding my practice, I am also unique as an OT in that I encourage and ask parents and caregivers to be directly involved in the therapy session. For one thing, this helps the parent/caregiver to see and learn things first-hand, which then helps to translate outside of the clinical setting. Additionally, this allows the child to feel safe and supported, and can help us to tweak and change goal areas as we work together. For me, a strong OT practice encompasses not only a therapist’s professional perspective and knowledge, but also, and perhaps at times even more importantly, the family’s perspectives, concerns, and first-hand experience.
I am most proud of the fact that I came to my own realization of the type of occupational therapist I really wanted to be mere months outside of graduate school and within my first clinical location and that I started to act on that desire to provide my unique perspective even as a novice in the field. I am so proud of all the wonderful experiences I have had working in various outpatient clinics in the Twin Cities area, but even more that I have been in my own private practice, successfully running my OT therapies in exactly the way I feel is important and speaks to me as a person for over 10 years. I am not a large-name clinic associated with a hospital; I don’t have a large therapy space with thousands of dollars worth of equipment; I don’t have staff I am delegating to or growing with more and more practitioners, yet still, I have had a successful run as a private practitioner and I am practicing occupational therapy in the way I believe.
The main things I want potential clients and followers to know about me and my business/practice is that the child and family always come first in my therapeutic practice. No two children are alike, and no two treatment plans and activities should be the same, either. While I am small in relation to all of the OT clinics in the Twin City Metro area, I will always lead with honesty, heart, integrity, and ethics. I want people to know that I will always communicate and be honest and always take the needed time to get to know your child and family to serve their unique individualistic characteristics. My practice may not look like a traditional OT setting, but I am going to dig deep to get to the “why” they are seeking OT services in the first place. My sessions may not look like traditional OT therapies, but I can guarantee you that there is always a reason to why we are doing what we do in a session – and essentially, it’s because I am taking the child’s interests and needs and putting that first – always.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I am always learning as a pediatric occupational therapist. The day I feel I have “learned it all” is the day I need to retire or find a new professional adventure. One lesson that I feel I had to unlearn is really going with the “norms” within the pediatric therapy world. We are taught in school, in our trainings, and in our first jobs how to assess a child, how to interpret the scores, how to write that down in a report for the insurance companies to review and determine if services should be paid or not. That is absolutely something I needed to unlearn quickly as my practice, while still ethical and providing insurance-based information, as I need the parents and caregivers to be the first ones I am explaining my findings, impressions, and recommendations to before worrying about the politics of insurance.
I also “unlearned” the way a therapy sessions “should” look like. I have a set of goals we are working on. I may have a set plan on how to execute activities with a child to address those goals. However, many times, I also need to be flexible in the session to meet the child where he or she is at any given day. While I have an overall “agenda” to my therapy, it will not be effective if the child doesn’t feel heard, safe, respected, or even having fun. A child’s “occupation” is play, so to have a great “occupational therapy” session, it must feel playful. Unlearning that all sessions should look the same and have the same type of flow, as I felt was pushed in initial clinical settings was a very important “unlearning” lesson.
Additionally, I have had to “unlearn” that therapy is not about me or how I look as a provider. While I want to service the child and family and address their needs in an individualistic manner, therapy can’t be about me or what I am bringing to the table. An effective therapy program needs to focus on the child and the child’s success. It should be about the family and how they are growing to develop skills with and for the child. It should be about all the hard work the child puts in, as well as the family. Early in my career, I was guided in a different manner that I should present each session in a way that shows my knowledge, my expertise, and to represent the clinic I was working for well. Now, I have shifted that perspective that I am just the person in the background providing the tools and support for the child and family to glean all of the praise!
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
For me, as a very small business with 10-plus years of success, I have never relied on advertising in any traditional sense. Similarly to how I practice as an OT, I believe that the reason I have had ongoing growth in clientele is by having a loving, caring, developmental and patient reputation as a provider. My clientele is built on referrals from parents, teachers, doctor’s and other professionals working with children and families. Being a strong listener, learner, and putting any and all ego aside has been a big part of my growth, in my opinion. Advocating for why I believe my specific practice style is effective and unique has also given me great growth in growing clientele. While all business owners, big or small, obviously have a goal to be successful financially and grow from year to year, I have found that being compassionate, patient, and an effective communicator has helped me to “open doors” to meet people and thus, establish a firm referral-base. For me and my practice, leading with heart and kindness versus dollar signs behind my eyes has been the biggest lesson I have learned to grow my clientele.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ebnpediatricot.net
- Instagram: @ebnpediatricot