We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Reina Lombardi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Reina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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?
Like many people, I was afraid to take the leap to go out on my own. I read a book about opening a private practice, all the responsibility, the business administration and closed the cover and didn’t think about it again for a couple of years. At that point, I realized I either had to go out on my own or find a new career. I thought it better for me to learn through apprenticeship than jumping in the deep end without a floatation device, so I became an independent contractor at a trusted colleague’s practice. In the beginning, I kept my full-time job and began building a caseload and getting my feet wet marketing myself.
Over the course of four years, I slowly shifted into working as a contractor until I had a full-time caseload. Then I had an epiphany moment where I felt like I was struck by lightening and new it was time for me to leave to open my own practice. A few days later I turned in my notice and began planning. I had a 6 month non-compete clause in my contract which allowed me plenty of time to do extra research on how to choose the right name and web domain, create ethical and legal systems of operation and paperwork, and lease and decorate a new office.
I think the biggest challenge was doing everything myself. On one hand it was exciting and on the other a bit overwhelming. I think I would have joined a consultation group or mastermind for folks opening a new practice to be with likeminded professionals in the same stage of the journey.
It is funny to think now, but I would have invested in a larger office space from the beginning. I didn’t anticipate how quickly my practice would outgrow the conservative (both square footage and cost wise) office I leased. I ended up leaving it about 7 months before the lease expired. That meant I had to pay rent on a space I wasn’t even using during that time.
My advice to folks that have the drive and desire to start their own practice are to connect with people that have done it before, learn all you can from them, and then put your own spin on it. Don’t be afraid to do things your own way.
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?
Sure. I always had an interest and passion for the arts. They played a pivotal role in my life growing up, but I believed the myth that many people perpetuate – you can’t earn a living and sustain yourself as an artist. This led me to pursue nursing a major and I took a job offering home health care. I quickly realized what I liked about the work was the relationship and that nursing wasn’t going to be the right fit for me. I abruptly changed majors into the only thing I knew I was interested in – art. I began volunteering at a local arts organization serving adults with developmental disabilities and was introduced to the field of Art Therapy. I thought they were messing with me and went to the library at my college and began looking up research articles on the field. I learned that art therapists served clients from all walks of life and in various contexts. From there, I went to graduate school for Expressive Arts Therapies and Counseling. After many years in the field, I opened Florida Art Therapy Services, LLC.
As an art therapist, I believe in the inherent power of the arts to help people heal, understand their relationship with themselves and others, and to find solutions to the life challenges they are experiencing. Art therapy will look different based upon the individual needs and desired outcomes for the client being served. It is highly experiential and creative. Oftentimes people think it is just for children, but it is really accessible for all people at any age of life. Infusing the creative process in psychotherapy sets my practice apart from other mental health practices within the community. For example, if someone is experiencing anxiety we may ask them to create an image of what that anxiety would look like if it were a caricature, a monster or an abstract composition. Once it is laid out on paper, we would then process what we see and observe about the image. We might discuss how it felt to create it, which part of the image they like or dislike, or ask them to give the image a voice from which to have a dialogue. This can give us rich content from which to play with, re-write story lines and beliefs about the anxiety, or even befriend it.
I am most proud of the growth that has occurred within my business. I started off alone and now have 8 other therapists that work with me in the practice. We are dedicated to using creativity, play and art within our work with clients whether they come for in-person or online therapy sessions. In addition to providing therapy, we also are a continuing education provider for licensed mental health professionals in the State of Florida.
As the practice grew, I began receiving inquiries from others on how to open a practice themselves. That led me to open a consultation business called, The Creative Clinician’s Corner, where I provide individual and group consultation services to other creative therapists so that they can create thriving practices within their communities. I host and produce The Creative Psychotherapist Podcast. I interview successful creative therapists from around the globe about the tools and strategies they used to grow their dream practices, as well as how they have hustled to create additional streams of income using their knowledge and creativity by developing products and services that enhance their therapy practices. I love talking with and learning from other professionals in the field and sharing that with the world.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Leadership can make or break and organization. I have seen tight knit teams leave like a line of dominos as a result of leadership change. People leave people, as the saying goes.
As a therapist, I understand the value and importance of the relationships we have with others. Developing and maintaining healthy and supportive relationships with your team is essential for maintaining high morale and for them to give the best to those they are serving.
It is important as leaders that we inquire and understand on a regular basis the challenges our teams are experiencing. What are the barriers that they are experiencing day-to-day to perform their jobs effectively? What aspects of the systems we have in place are contributing to frustration? Where do they need additional support or resources to perform their job to the best of their ability? What do they need schedule wise?
Making the time to ask, listen to and create solutions which address these concerns is essential. Doing so communicates how much you value your team and their well-being. We must demonstrate that we truly care about our team as fellow human beings and not as a “worker”.
As a supervisor for many years, I have heard about the systemic challenges therapists face in various agencies and settings. A frequent complaint and cause for their desire to leave a position is when they communicate concerns and challenges (especially, one’s that can be remediated) and are not taken seriously, minimized or told something will happen but it doesn’t. The other complaint I hear, which is even worse, is being shamed by leadership for not being able to keep up with unrealistic productivity standards. These illustrate the value in seeking feedback from your team and tangibly responding to it by making changes within the system.
View your team as collaborators. Collaborators work together to create an environment that is conducive to everyone’s success. We make changes as often as needed until we find a flow that works, until it doesn’t and then we change it again. I truly believe that as a practice owner, I am only successful when all the people working with me are happy, healthy and successful, too. Collaboration is key.
Finally, work on your personal mindset. If you see members of your team as competition that might evoke fear based decision making in how you develop systems in your business as well as how you manage. Often times, this leads to punitive measures, micro-management, pay scales, and/or restrictive contracts. No one likes being micro-managed, under-paid, under-valued or to live in fear of remuneration payback or an inability to earn an income because they chose to leave a position. Those are quick ways to instill low fear based morale and job dissatisfaction.
Instead create opportunities for your team to have autonomy regarding their scheduling and completion of tasks, pay them as best you can for their services, encourage their growth and professional development, authentically care about their well-being, make changes that support and enhance their ability to perform their job effectively and efficiently, and eliminate the of use punitive language and clauses from your contracts.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
There is a wealth of knowledge out there on business development, entrepreneurship and leadership. Once I realized that I needed to grow my business, I dove headfirst into listening to podcasts, youtube videos and reading books and blogs on the topic. Among them, there are several authors and thought leaders who I have tried to consume everything they have written or lectured about.
Simon Sinek’s work has been valuable to the way I think about business and leadership. I stumbled upon his Ted Talk years ago and found his style to be engaging and the information he shared accessible and actionable. I recommend his book, “Start With Why” to anyone I speak with who is interested in creating their own business and practice. His book “Leaders Eat Last” has also been highly influential. I love how he integrates the research into his recommendations.
Mike Michalowicz’ work about business is pure gold! Everything he has written should be in every small business owner’s library. Profit First, which helps people get their finances in order and transform their business into a healthy profitable organization was revolutionary despite it’s simplicity. The latter makes following his method easy enough that any business owner can tackle the task. Fix this Next is also a wonderful text on identifying the main pain point in your business and honing in on it to maximize your profits without wasting time attending to tasks that while need to be done, don’t help your bottom line. He is hilarious and a great story teller. The best part is that he is not afraid to share his greatest mistakes and struggles as a serial entrepreneur. Perhaps what makes his work so accessible and helpful is his relatability.
Melvin Varghese’s Selling The Couch Podcast has been so helpful over the years. I listened for years before buying into an online course on how to start a podcast as a therapist. I don’t know if I would have started mine had it not been for him. He has a Mastermind Group for therapist entrepreneurs that I have been part of for several years and I have learned so much from him and his work.
Michael Hyatt’s book “The Vision Driven Leader” helped me to think about my business and leadership in more expansive ways. He clarifies the differences between mission and vision. Both are important to business administration, operation, service outcomes and culture but in different ways. He, too, has a writing style that makes it easy to read his material and take action in your own business. I also loved his book “Platform: Get Noticed in a Busy World.” For folks that might not be interested in reading an entire book, he has awesome resources on his blog. I have learned a great many efficiency hacks for systems through his materials. I am a huge fan!
Just about everyday, I listen to one or more Abraham Hicks recordings on Youtube. I only discovered them a few years ago from a recommendation of a friend. They are a spiritual guide. Their teachings have helped me to ease up a bit, to not be hard on myself if I don’t obtain the outcomes I was working towards, and to feel more relaxed as an entrepreneur. They have a saying, “Everything is always working out for me.” Saying that when things seem like they are going off the rails or things are completely out of my control (the world shutting down during covid) helps me to not dive into a stressful mindset. I suppose that is the core of the teachings – positive mindset. As a business owner the ability to turn problems into opportunities is essential for the health and wellbeing for both the business and the owner.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.floridaarttherapyservices.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridaarttherapyservices/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FloridaArtTherapyServices/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/florida-art-therapy-services-llc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@floridaarttherapy
- Other: My Consultation Business Creative Clinician’s Corner https://www.creativeclinicianscorner.com/ Listen to The Creative Pyschotherapist Podcast on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4513EKvtg0w5MMqtBwTNjN Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creativeclinicianscorner/