We were lucky to catch up with Katie Stone recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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.
Establishing my own private practice as a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist has really been an exercise in learning to trust myself and my intuition. There were plenty of expected and unexpected hurdles to overcome throughout the process, all of which taught me valuable lessons about myself as a business owner, clinician and human being.
In my experience, the keys to establishing and maintaining a successful practice are: passion, drive, adaptability and self-trust. Starting a private practice is an investment in yourself. You have to trust that all the time, money and energy you’re putting in up front will all be worth it in the end. Being passionate about the work you’re doing will get you through some of the more difficult times. Passion fuels motivation, inspires creativity, and helps prevent burnout. But, passion alone can only take you so far. This is where drive and self-trust come into the equation. You also need to be willing to put in the extra work and believe in your capabilities to see it through. It might seem paradoxical, but in order to succeed, you first have to give yourself permission to try and fail and try again and fail again. Over and over. Each mistake or challenge you face is an opportunity to learn and grow, if you let it. Determination and adaptability are necessary to survive the instability and unpredictability that comes with running your own business.
The freedom you gain to run your business your way in private practice is one of the biggest benefits and also one of the biggest challenges. The more freedom you have, the more responsibility you take on. With such high stakes, fear and self-doubt will inevitably show up and can easily take over if you don’t have a strong sense of self. While fear can be motivating, it can also lead to sacrificing parts of yourself or your values in order to feel safe. The potential for long-term success is much greater when you stay true to yourself and allow your intuition to guide you instead of fear.
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 am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and owner of a small private practice located in Redondo Beach, California. We provide individual, couples, and family therapy to adolescents, teens and adults. We offer both in-person and Telehealth therapy options to help meet the growing demands for mental health services to residents of California, near and far. We treat a wide range of mental health challenges and we specialize in the treatment of eating disorders.
Our practice is centered around the concept of wholistic wellness, which involves treating the whole person, not just the “symptoms,” in an effort to provide a more meaningful and sustainable treatment outcome. Our therapeutic approach involves healing through the mind and the body. As clinicians, we hope to provide our clients with with the tools, awareness, and understanding needed to live and thrive. Our goal is to provide each client with a safe, supportive and healing space to work through difficult emotions and allow for vulnerability, healing and growth.
What sets us apart is our commitment to providing personalized, quality care. We strongly believe there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to therapy, which is why we utilize an integrative, customized, culturally informed, and trauma-based treatment approach in our work with clients. We apply evidence-based practices such as Eye Movement Desensitize and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) along with somatic and experiential therapies such as yoga, expressive arts, and mindfulness to meet the unique and diverse needs of each individual client. We believe in meeting our clients wherever they are in their journey to wellness, with compassion and understanding.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
In establishing my private therapy practice, the most effective strategy I used for building up my clientele was mainly networking and marketing myself to potential referral sources. For therapists, the biggest referral source is word of mouth, so it’s essential to get your name out there in the community. Putting in the face time with your referral sources is far more effective than simply advertising your practice online generating referrals. The clients you receive from word of mouth referrals are also more likely to follow-through with booking an appointment and are more likely to be a better fit for your practice than referrals from online sources such as Psychology Today. When you’re providing a service such as therapy, the product you’re really selling is yourself, which can feel incredibly daunting and uncomfortable, especially if you’re like most clinicians who have never received any training in sales or marketing. But the truth is, it sounds a lot harder than it is! In my experience, what really matters when you’re networking is simply putting yourself out there in the first place. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if a networking conversation was amazing or mediocre because either way, people are still more likely to refer to a clinician they’ve met than one they haven’t. So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and know that it’s going to be uncomfortable. This is the type of short-term discomfort that will ultimately help you evolve and build confidence in the long-term. It’s much easier to sell yourself when you know who you are, so be sure to take some time to reflect on what makes your business special and how you want to present your business to the world.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Assertiveness!!! Being a mental health professional has one of the highest burnout rates of any profession. Working with the emotions of others for a living is incredibly meaningful, but also requires a significant amount of energy from the clinician. As therapists, it’s our responsibility to create and maintain a safe space for our clients, which is hard to do when you’re feeling drained and burnt out. Being assertive is an excellent way to prevent burnout and protect your energy as a clinician. Assertiveness means knowing what you need and how to meet that need in adaptive vs. maladaptive ways, such as setting healthy boundaries with your clients, family members, colleagues, team members, etc. Assertive communication means speaking in a way that is clear, direct, confident and respectful. It’s important to be aware of what drains you and what energizes you so you can set boundaries and make adjustments to reduce unnecessary demands on your energy (e.g., converting to online appointment scheduling instead of doing all your own scheduling with clients, increasing your fees so you can see fewer clients without putting your finances at risk, etc.). There can’t be a successful practice if you’re too burnt out to work, which is why it’s so crucial to make taking care of yourself a priority. When you’re making yourself a priority, you’re also leading by example as a clinician. So stick to your time boundaries, nourish yourself adequately, take breaks, say no or ask for help when things become too much, and let go of perfectionism. Figuring out what you need is an ongoing practice and sometimes you won’t know you need something until a boundary has already been crossed, and that is to be expected when you’re navigating new and uncharted territory. We can only take responsibility for our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Being assertive also means letting go of trying to change things that we can’t control while at the same time taking control over the things we do have power to change.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katiestonewellness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiestonewellness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064910654352
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/katie-stone-wellness-hermosa-beach
- Other: Psychology Today Profile: https://mandrillapp.com/track/click/30575510/www.psychologytoday.com?p=eyJzIjoiRzE4MUtYdVBTaE80TUFUbnBkUEpWQTh0YU44IiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDU3NTUxMCxcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwczpcXFwvXFxcL3d3dy5wc3ljaG9sb2d5dG9kYXkuY29tXFxcL3Byb2ZpbGVcXFwvNzMzMDQ5P3V0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1URF9TSEFfNF8xX0ExLmEmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1FbWFpbCZ1dG1fc291cmNlPVRERVwiLFwiaWRcIjpcImJkMDU0ZGU3Nzk1MTRkZmRiNTQ1ZDczM2JhOWI3ZGY4XCIsXCJ1cmxfaWRzXCI6W1wiZjc3YjJlNGEzNTJlMDJkZjZjNmY1MThiNmY3MjJhZDk1ZDkzN2I5Y1wiXX0ifQ
Image Credits
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