Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paul Kiger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Paul, thanks for joining 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?
Starting a niche organization has provided both its rewards and challenges. From my initial research, it did not appear that there were any other organizations providing mental health counseling for artists/creatives/musicians, from a creative, that were doing it through telehealth. This was before the pandemic and telehealth was much less utilized and people were leary of it. Starting Supporting Act Counseling was initially a smooth process as our services are provided through telehealth which eliminated a lot of the startup work and stress that occurs when a business has a physical location. However, since my audience is both inside and outside of Grand Rapids, it makes growing the business challenging. I work directly with artists and creatives, mostly touring musicians who otherwise would struggle meeting with a therapist regularly as they are on the road or hold inconsistent schedules. One of the main obstacles was getting plugged back into the music community and growing Supporting Act Counseling, as many counseling practices often grow through word of mouth. However, I have been connected to the music scene since my days as an artist in pop punk bands so it has allowed me to connect with peers to get the word out.
Starting your own practice is a very rewarding experience, but it also takes a decent amount of work and grit. Something that was helpful for me was having colleagues I could reach out to if I had any questions. The most helpful, tangible, tool I had was a private practice checklist from a friend and colleague that allowed me to see all of the tasks that had to be completed before I started and I could check them off as I progressed. So, a major piece of advice is do your research ahead of time to know what will go into starting your practice and then have a support system of people around you who have done it that can answer your questions and help guide you along the way.
Paul, 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?
When I was 8 years old I started taking piano lessons and at around 13 started teaching myself how to play guitar. From then on my dream in life was to become a rock star. I played in bands in the Detroit area before coming to Grand Rapids to attend college at Grand Valley State University. I studied social work and Spanish with the hope of becoming a mental health therapist if my dream of becoming a rock star did not pan out. While attending college I was able to play in a band that had decent success in the Grand Rapids area playing shows at a variety of well known local venues including Skelletones, The Intersection, and The Orbit Room. In the end, we all decided to go our separate ways and I decided to continue to pursue a career in counseling and spent time living in Central America. When I returned to the United States, I began working as a therapist and adjunct professor. After about 7 years I had the idea to start Supporting Act Counseling which allowed me to combine my two passions, music and counseling.
As the demands of life, especially those of artists and creatives, can make it difficult to attend counseling in a physical space, Supporting Act Counseling offers telehealth sessions to ensure touring artists can build rapport and maintain continuity of care with one therapist who can address their unique needs. An aspect that I believe sets me apart is that I am a musician who has played in bands and can relate to the stress, pressure, and anxiety that comes with being an artist. This is also an aspect of Supporting Act Counseling that I am proud of. I was able to find a way to combine two of my passions into a career that I absolutely love.
One of the joys of working as a professional therapist and life coach is supporting people as they move through various phases of their lives to realize and reach their full potential. I currently support clients and staff as they move towards openness, acceptance, compassion, justice, wisdom, and self-understanding. We are all on our own journey and my hope is to meet clients where they are at in their journey. The skills I have refined over the past decade have uniquely prepared me to work in the mental health field to serve individuals, families, and groups.
With over 10 years of experience working in the mental health and substance use field as a therapist, life coach, university professor, trainer, and mentor, my goal is to bring my knowledge and skills to my practice supporting artists as they navigate the complex issues that accompany touring and a lifestyle with such high demands. Before becoming a therapist I played in bands alongside groups such as Hellogoodbye, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Taking Back Sunday, The Spill Canvas, Mayday Parade, Motion City Soundtrack, and The Summer Set, to name a few. I have worked with Grammy nominated artists as well as professional athletes and reality show contestants. My hope is to bring a unique understanding of what it is like to be a touring musician or artist in addition to providing quality and evidenced based counseling and life coaching. I am a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW), Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CAADC), certified in Brainspotting, as well as trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), the Sanctuary Model of Care, and Motivational Interviewing.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
One aspect of starting Supporting Act Counseling that illustrates resiliency is how difficult it was start a niche organization that could really only grow through word of mouth. Since the work I do is via telehealth, and I do not have a local office, I could not simply advertise locally. Moreover, it was hard to advertise on a larger, national scale as there were not many areas I could target outside of large urban centers that are likely more densely populated with creatives (Nashville, Los Angeles, etc.). To grow Supporting Act Counseling I had to connect with artists and creatives online through social media, and build relationships with them. It was not as though I could simply put out an advertisement about my business, instead, I had to really put time and energy into connecting with artists/creatives on a personal level, which was time consuming work but also very rewarding. It was a very slow moving process. Luckily, since Supporting Act has very little operational costs since we do not have a physical office space, I was able to continue growing the business even though it took several years.
During this time, I also did numerous cold calls to record labels and management companies. It was an exciting time because I was able to make some connections that could have led to growth. However, it was difficult as it was hard to get through to key players that I needed to and was often ghosted. I continued to persist though and was able to make some connections with record labels and management companies that led to partnerships and more exposure.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
If I could go back in time I would 100% continue to choose this profession and start Supporting Act Counseling. I absolutely love what I do. I was able to find a way to combine my two passions, music and counseling, in a way that I have not seen done before by anyone else. Moreover, although it is a lot of work to own a business, I enjoy being my own boss, making my own schedule, and having the freedom and flexibility that is more difficult to find in a traditional work setting.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.supportingactcounseling.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supportingactcounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supportingactcounseling
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-kiger-lmsw-caadc-995b10173/
- Twitter: None
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNmD3DXF9U8qCmevO1St2nA/videos
- Yelp: none
- Other:
Image Credits
Logo design by Josh Kulchar