We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katherine Hyatt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katherine below.
Alright, Katherine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
I decided to start in Private Practice as a Mental Health Counselor in hopes to be able to work part-time and be home with my future kids the remainder of the time. This was back in 2014. I had a friend that I worked with that really helped to give me the steps and tools to get started. In graduate school, we learn about the clinical parts of our field, not how to run a business. Becoming business oriented has been a huge challenge for me and can be as the business grows and develops. What would I have done differently knowing what I know now? I would have reached out for consultation with clinicians in private practice. Inventing the wheel made it a much more complicated process than it needed to but learned a lot in the process. I now offer consultation to other providers looking to start private practice.
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?
I decided I wanted to be a therapist when I was in high school. I had struggled with anxiety (although I did not know what it was called ) starting in junior high and had an interaction with a school counselor in 9th grade that helped me determine my future career. I set out to be a school counselor, but the universe had a different plan for me. I completed my Master’s degree in 2010 from SUNY Oswego in Oswego, NY and from there worked in an outpatient substance clinic, as a family therapist in the juvenile justice system, then to working in a National Suicide Prevention Call Center.
I loved working in the call center, but became drained from only talking to people one time, never seeing the outcome and felt I wanted more from the field. I had many colleagues at the call center that worked in private practice that encouraged me to “give it a try”. I went for it in 2014, loved it, but in 2015, I lost a partner to suicide and closed my practice to take time to heal. In 2016, I reopened, completed Yoga Teacher Training and completed a program through Syracuse University called “Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Families of Veterans”. I had a new calling in private practice through surviving my own trauma.
I wanted to create a space for people to have multiple treatment options for healing, outside of the medical model of medication. This is where Branches of Growth Mental Health Counseling and Yoga Studio grew from. Yoga, mindfulness and therapy helped me through my grief and are a regular part of each day for me. The mission of the practice is to assist our community with holistic methods of mental health treatment to help them meet their needs. We take into account the whole body. Are you eating? Getting outside? Moving your body? Breathing? Sleeping? Things that may feel like common sense, but are often overlooked. The practice offers treatment for folks both in person and via telehealth in hopes to assist them most effectively.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
I think that the growth of Branches of Growth Mental Health Counseling and has been mostly due to our dedication to our community as a whole. We are an insurance based practice, offer a sliding scale and can meet with folks both in person and via telehealth. We believe that ALL people deserve to have access to exceptional mental health treatment. Attempting to find a therapist in 2023 can be an exhausting process for people. If we are unable to get people in, we provide referrals to other providers. People have been very grateful for this. We hope to make it a little easier to reduce the stress surrounding finding support when they need it most.
Any advice for managing a team?
At Branches, we have been working really hard to create a sense of community by doing lunches, appreciation days, team meetings, sending birthday cards, summer parties and holiday get togethers for our staff. Creating a connected community is very important for job satisfaction, self-care and mental wellbeing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.branchesofgrowth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchesofgrowth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/branchesofgrwth
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinehyatt/
Image Credits
Professional Photos provided by Sarah Wiley Joyce