Educating Texas Counselors Since 2007
Happy 2018! Every January I edit and revise all of my paperwork. As promised, here is a fifteen minute video consultation. In it, I act as your supervisor and tell you exactly why I include the things I do. As a speaker, this is a topic I get asked to present a lot. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
January is that beautiful time of year when I clean my counseling practice ‘house’ including my paperwork. This year was a little extreme because I literally got a new coat of paint and new floors. As you can see from the artsy filtered photo I took below, my office looks amazing.
But what about the things you can’t see in the photo? Is my paperwork up to date with the latest licensing laws? Have I changed my passwords on a regular basis? Have I checked to see if my credit card charges are accurate?
I’m not even joking – I called about a charge on my account I didn’t recognize and found out it was from something I THOUGHT I had closed in February 2017. The lesson? Watch your bank account.
January 2018 I will edit all of my new client paperwork, change my passwords, and update my bookkeeping. Today’s housekeeping item will be my new client intake Face Sheet. Catch my next blog and I will walk you through my editing process for our 2018 Service Agreement/Consent to Treat. Is it exciting? No, not really, but it’s only 3 minutes of your life and it will save you a lot of headaches down the road. When you’re ready you can even head to our store here to purchase the fully edited paperwork you can download and customize for your practice. Enjoy!
The title of this blog is inspired by the Jack Nicklaus classic “Golf My Way,” but that’s where the similarities end. As I’ve talked about in other blogs, running a mental health practice is not the same as developing muscle memory for a golf swing, increasing endurance for a triathlon, or any other sports-related skill for a sports-related activity. If it was, I’d be advising you to, “Get in the game before you’re ready!” and, “Get injured!”
Why?
Because in business you must:
1. Recognize mistakes are inevitable and stop being afraid of them.
2. Mitigate the fear of making a mistake by maintaining an emergency fund and/or paycheck-based day job, supportive partner income, or line of credit so those mistakes don’t take your business down.
3. Persist. Never quit. Don’t give up.
Like most of you I started my practice as a solo practitioner. Within five years I added a continuing education component (The 40 Hour Supervisor Training), a non-profit (Ann’s Place), and I had several therapists working with me and from whom I took a percentage of their profits (fee-splitting).
I made a LOT of money.
Unfortunately, taking a percentage of another therapist’s income, while one of the most profitable components of my practice, was also unethical.
When I recognized that fee-splitting was not the proper way to make money in private practice I dropped that component like D’Onta Foreman dropped the ball against Texas Tech in 2016 (see what I did there?).
That was a HUGE blow to my income (I talk about this more in the DVD “My Favorite Mistakes”).
If I hadn’t had an emergency fund I don’t think I would have survived and thrived.
Now, after ten years in practice, I am on the constant hunt for systems, software, gadgets, and hacks to streamline my practice, save time and money, and increase profit and life balance.
Now that I think about it, I do have a favorite sports metaphor. My dearly departed dad was kind of a super hero to me and he kept a sign above the family weight room (another story for another blog) that said, ‘No Pain – No Gain.’ In business if you aren’t willing to accept that there will be some pain (making mistakes, losing money, wasting time) you will never get to experience the gain. At Kate Walker Training we want to help you achieve your highest potential! If you would like free weekly tips, tricks, hacks, cheap resource ideas, and systems to make your that journey MUCH easier, sign up for our newsletter below!
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