I told her that she could take many steps to build up her practice without cold calling, wearing a billboard in a public place, or addressing the local Elks Club. In fact, the network is set up so that therapists can acquire the confidence they need to put themselves in the public eye. So I encouraged her to attend the network's monthly Saturday morning seminars, which give practical instruction on topics like "The Impact of Limiting Beliefs upon Your Practice and Your Life," "The Nuts and Bolts of Private Practice," "Managing Managed Care," "Creativity and Marketing," and "Speed Networking." The last—our version of speed dating—gives all participants a chance to practice their elevator speeches as they introduce themselves to their colleagues. These seminars provide opportunities for people to network with one another and practice new skills in a safe, supportive environment.

Next, I encouraged her to find a practice buddy, a licensed mental health practitioner already in the network, with whom she had something in common. "Buddies" either meet each other at the seminars and networking groups or are introduced when I think they might make a good match. The practice buddies speak at least once a week to share their challenges and anxieties about building up their practices and to support each other as they try out the skills they're learning in the program.

Sue learned to increase her Internet presence by participating in seminars led once every three months by our Internet specialist. With other members, she joined "LinkedIn" (the professional Facebook), created her own blog, and began to develop her own e-newsletter and database. She took advantage of services offered by our Internet specialist, such as website building and website enhancement. Meanwhile, she was taking part in the online intensive practice-building program, which provided reading assignments and exercises in making contacts, goal-setting, and planning. Assignments included posting regularly on our listserv, developing a workshop and a flier to advertise it, writing an elevator speech, and creating a referral-base diagram of real and potential contacts from those who'd already referred to her, those who knew her but hadn't referred, and those who didn't know her and needed to be introduced.

With her confidence increasing, Sue joined a team-marketing group to promote weight-management and healthy-eating referrals. The group included a psychiatrist specializing in medication for eating disorders, a naturopath with expertise in nutrition, an acupuncturist, a clinical social worker who was both a certified fitness trainer and a hypnotherapist, two group therapists who offered support groups for compulsive overeaters, and a specialist who worked with obese children, adolescents, and their families.

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missmagpie3  - Mental Health Association of the Greater Westerly   |Registered |2009-11-01 07:08:37 A Response to an article in The Psychotherapy Networker Magazine : I am writing in response to the article: The Not- S0-Private Practice: A Collaborative Model For the 21st Century, by Victor Goldman (Sept./Oct. issue). I am a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in RI. I am very fortunate to be a member of our local Mental Health Association of the Greater Westerly Area (MHA of the GWA) established in 2006. We are a professional association of over fifty-five licensed mental health and addictions professionals from Southern RI and Southeastern CT. Our membership includes licensed clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health clinicians, addictions specialists, licensed professional counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric clinical nurse specialists. Our two-part mission statement includes supporting and enhancing the private practices of our members, an...

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