Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rachel Dorneanu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Rachel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

The best investment I’ve made in my business has been hiring social media and research interns. I truly felt that I was drowning in balancing clients and marketing. I didn’t have a life.

Then my husband and I brainstormed and came up with the idea to bring on an intern or two. The startup was a bit slow to begin, but after a year of multiple rounds of interns, I’ve got a great system for hiring and training interns. They’re excited for the experience and I’m grateful for the help in marketing my business. Now, I have a blog post editor, 2 social media interns, and 2 research interns.

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?

Sage Counseling and Wellness is currently a solo private counseling practice. I offer mostly online therapy sessions with outdoor walk and talk sessions once a week. I really enjoy the chance to get fresh air and walk around a local park. I specialize in Anxiety, Assertiveness, Highly Sensitive People, Perfectionism, and Premarital counseling. My latest service is Sex Therapy for those that may experience pain with sexual activity, anxiety with sexual performance, and assisting with communication of your wants and needs.

I’ll be looking to bring on other clinicians to the practice next summer. For those wanting to receive mentoring in applying to grad school, hire interns for your practice, or build and improve your private practice, I offer mentor calls as well.

I’m most proud of my work ethic and keeping an open mind in how to run a business. I’m open to new ideas, meeting new connections, and being resilient when things get tough.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Grad school teaches us to be a blank slate, in reality, clients want a real person. They want to be heard, validated for their emotions, see facial expressions on a therapist’s face, humor when appropriate, and have a conversation with another human.

During my internship, I remember trying to be a blank slate and it felt so unnatural to me and I could tell that clients didn’t enjoy it as much either. It’s so much easier to be myself.

Today, being myself is part of my marketing and copy on my website. It’s my words, how I communicate, and many clients have mentioned they wanted to work with me because I came across as laid back and easy to talk to.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Networking has been such a big help for me. The private practice world can be lonely, and it helps to connect with other therapists and representatives of other agencies and facilities.

Not only does this help to spice up a work day to grab lunch or coffee with someone, but it also helps with building relationships with possible referral sources for future clients. I like to make sure I’m well connected and know at least a few people for each specialty I know my clients may encounter.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sagecounselingtherapyandwellness.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sage_counseling_wellness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SageCounselingWellness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sage-counseling-wellness
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelButlerCo1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0qBKbfgtKmRoQTazkWZvWQ
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/shop/rachel_butler_counseling