We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heather Kuhl a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Heather, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

While there have been several defining moments in my career, one stands out. It was 2015, and I was hired by a substance abuse treatment center as a psychologist where my role was to conduct evaluations and provide neurofeedback. I loved my job, co-workers, and the clients. I have always had a passion for working in recovery and substance abuse and thought this was the ideal way to concurrently grow my private practice where I could partake in my other passion, psychological testing with children, teens, and young adults.

The only problem was that I was so exhausted after a 40-to-50-hour work week that I had very little time for my practice. Years passed and I was able to take a handful of testing cases, many of which I did on the weekends. But I saw no other way to grow my practice because the idea of not having a stable income with benefits was terrifying. I was in a catch-22. I could not market myself or my practice because I did not have time for more clients, which also meant I did not have enough clients to leave my full-time job to further grow my practice.

In 2017, the company I worked for started to downsize from three locations, to two, and finally to one which was my location. Not only was it traumatic to witness this process and see colleagues get let go one by one, but the fear of the unknown also kept me hanging on. When asked by my colleagues what I planned to do, I said I was staying until the ship sinks, and if it does, I’m leaving the substance abuse world and devoting all my time to my private practice.

Well, the ship sank. We were informed on a Friday morning that we were closing that day. That was it. I was heartbroken….I was grieving the loss of a job I loved and coworkers and clients I cared deeply about and had no proper goodbye. It took a few days, but I finally realized this was the push I needed that I was too fearful to take on my own.

This was my defining moment. This was finally the time I needed to grow my practice. I took a part-time job as an independent contractor at an agency and devoted the rest of my time to my practice. It took about one year until I realized I was finally so busy that I had to cut back my hours at the agency. A few months later, I decided to leave altogether. That was in the beginning of 2020. Fast forward to 2023, I have a thriving private practice with offices in Plantation, Coral Springs, and Fort Lauderdale.

My passion for helping children and teens is finally my full-time job. I play a critical role in helping parents better understand their loved ones. Not to mention, I have the pleasure of providing teachers with new insights and suggestions to best support their students. I have been able to develop amazing referral relationships with local schools, mental health providers, psychiatrists, and medical providers.

When I look back, I am grateful for the push the universe gave me. Fear kept me stagnant. This moment in time gave me the opportunity I needed to stand on my own two feet and grow the practice of my dreams.

Heather, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a licensed psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist in Florida. I earned a master’s degree in education with a specialization in marriage and family therapy from the University of Miami in 2005. Upon graduating I worked at the South Miami Hospital Addiction Treatment Program as a therapist in the adolescent outpatient program and adult residential program. After working in the field for two years, I decided I wanted to further my education and pursue a doctorate degree in clinical psychology at Nova Southeastern University. It was during my experience at NSU when I learned about psychological testing.

While I have always loved traditional talk therapy, psychological testing was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, Testing involves gathering history, developing a relationship, administering tests, and collecting collateral information with the goal of making a diagnosis. But this was only one aspect of testing, I found the most important facet of testing to be providing families with a blueprint with recommendations to implement to help their loved ones find success.

I evaluate children starting at 4 years of age up through adulthood. Typical evaluations include assessing for ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning differences, language disorders, as well as social, emotional, and behavioral disorders. I provide gifted testing as well as evaluations for pilots and air traffic controllers seeking employment with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). I am also able to individualize my testing to meet the specific needs of my clients.

Interestingly, this was not my first career choice. Initially, I was enrolled in a pre-veterinarian program at a college in Virginia. But I was miserable and came home after one semester. My path to becoming a psychologist started with my own journey in therapy. Like many other young adults, I had difficulties navigating the transition to adulthood. I was strongly encouraged to enter therapy and worked with an amazing marriage and family therapist. She helped me gain insight into myself, educated me about my family dynamics, and helped my family improve their communication. Part of me wished I had started therapy at a younger age, while the other part of me realized that I could help other teens and families. It was this experience that motivated me to switch my career path toward the world of mental health.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele is doing excellent work. Many of my referrals are word of mouth. Further, the parents of several of my clients have found my evaluations so helpful that they often ask me to evaluate their other children.

My reports are typically shared with schools, and as a result, I have been able to develop positive relationships with teachers and staff at local schools. Teachers value my comprehensive approach and feel comfortable sending me their students.

Similarly, I work collaboratively and believe it is critical to connect with any others involved in a child’s life such as tutors, nannies, therapists, psychiatrists, and other providers including speech and occupational therapists and applied behavioral analysts. Information gleaned from these consultations provides invaluable insights into a child or teen’s life.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

It’s funny but years ago, a school psychologist from a well-respected private school called me to talk about my report. My inner imposter told me that this psychologist must have wanted to challenge my diagnosis or recommendations. To my surprise, when I returned his call, this psychologist told me that in his career he has seen hundreds of evaluations but mine was one of the best. He told me that the report was so well done that he wanted to reach out personally and share this feedback. I was over the moon and incredibly grateful for his words.

This type of situation has happened several times where I have received emails from therapists or colleagues in the field thanking me for my comprehensive reports. This has allowed me to build new relationships and develop a reputation for being thorough. Several times when parents call to make an appointment, they often tell me, “The school gave me several names but said you are the most thorough.” Therefore, doing quality work, taking my time with families, and valuing collaboration with others has allowed me to develop a good reputation, one I feel blessed to have created.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kuhlpsychology.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kuhlpsychologicalservices/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kuhlpsychologicalservices
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drheatherkuhl
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hKO5s-yOzw

Image Credits
Grace at Say It Gracefully