We recently connected with Melissa Mahon and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I decided to start my own psychotherapy practice so that I was able to create a harmony that worked for my life. Prior to this, I was working at a Multi-Specialty Medical Practice as a Psychologist and had very rigid hours that was extremely income driven by the company. I finally decided to leave when my supervisor asked if I could guarantee I would never make another schedule change. One thing I know about me and most creators in the world, is that we never ever stay the same and if things are not constantly moving and changing, then we become bored very quickly.

In venturing out on my own, it was a bit terrifying in that I was walking away from a steady income and it required trusting myself at a new level. I had a place I had already been renting out doing life-coaching sessions, so I asked to increase my time there, let the world know I was seeing clients, paneled with a few insurance companies, and started scheduling clients.

When I first started, I was doing a lot of it on my own, such as my own billing, website, etc. Something I quickly realized was how much these tedious tasks were not fun for me and they took more time than I was willing to spend. For anyone new, looking to go out on their own, my best advice would be to figure out what parts of your business are fun for you, that you’d like to do yourself, and hire people to do the rest. You will enjoy your business so much more and you will create more revenue this way.

The other thing I see a lot of young professionals do is that they think that they have to work evenings and weekends to accommodate their clients. They end up working strange hours and giving themselves up in the process. Something I did early on and I’m very grateful for, was to set hours that I see clients and not deviate from these. When my schedule is full for the week, it’s full. If a client can’t make a time within those hours, I put them on my schedule where it works for us both. This creates a much healthier work/life balance and also leads to people cancelling their appointments less.

Melissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Clinical Psychologist by trade and run a Psychotherapy practice in the West Suburbs of Chicago. I have also established my practice as a training site for Doctoral and Master’s Level students. I have a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and I have been licensed since 2011.

I also am a Certified Facilitator in the personal development modality known as Access Consciousness. Access Consciousness is a set of pragmatic tools that empower people to cultivate trust in themselves and create the life they love. This includes energetic body processes including Access Bars™ as well as verbal processing to clear the energy of what keeps people stuck. More information on this is available at www.accessconsciousness.com. I facilitate Access Consciousness classes that are both in person and online. These include various topics including money, business, confidence, body confidence, relationships, and many others.

I also incorporate many of the tools of Access Consciousness into the psychotherapy work that I do with clients as while continuing to use traditional psychotherapy where required. On a regular basis people tell me that working with me has empowered them to go from a place of deep depression or debilitating anxiety to space of happiness, joy, and enthusiasm for living. Just this week, a client said to me, “In our work together, I finally realize that I’m not wrong and that I can create my life.” Another one said, “I never thought I’d get beyond survival mode and just trying to keep my head above water. I’m actually happy now.”

I desire for people to know that even if they’ve tried traditional psychotherapy and it hasn’t worked for them, there’s more possibilities available. So often the things that we think we cannot change are due to stuck energy that without addressing, never gets to the root of the issue. I became a Psychologist to help people get out of get out of depression, anxiety, or whatever disorder they were struggling with. What I’ve learned since is that getting out of those stuck places is just the beginning and that having a greater life than they imagined is truly possible. One of my greatest joys is being a part of people’s journey’s to start showing up in their lives and creating a life they are actually excited about.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I manage a team within my private practice as well as my Access Consciousness business. One of the things I have found to be most helpful is to hire people who can do the job better than you can and allow them to do their job. Mostly, what I mean by this is to relax. Business owners typically like to have control over everything and do not allow for the creative space of their employees to thrive. I’ve found it to be much more helpful to have an open relationship with them, talk about things as they come up, collaborate on ideas, and give them space to create. The more everyone is empowered with what they can do and be, the more excited they are to work with you and the better job they will do.

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

I had a supervisor say to me during my graduate training, “If you are good at what you do, the people will find you.” He always had a waiting list and at the time it seemed impossible to have that kind of regular clientele. What I’ve found though are two things. First, he was right, many referrals come to me by word of mouth and referrals from previous clients, other professionals who know me, etc. The other thing I know is that your point of view creates your reality. I know that when I have the point of view that I will always have an abundance of clients, this holds true. If there are times when things get slower, it is often because I have bought the point of view from someone else that “this is a slow month every year” or go into a lack mindset. The best advice I can give on this is to make sure that people know how to find you; get paneled on insurance, create a profile on databases where people are searching, create a website, talk about what you do and then know that the clients will come.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.journeytopresent.com; www.drmelissamahon.com
• Instagram: @dr_melissa_mahon
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.j.mahon
• Linkedin: Melissa Mahon, PsyD
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYlh3c-_BGSyLoLbOcQqsMQ