It's a Wonderful (Psychotherapist's) Life!!

If I had been writing this some time ago, my “Wonderful Life” blog would read very differently. At one time, I worked full-time at The Family Center in Union Square Somerville as a family therapist (http://thefamilycenterinc.org/), and also had a small part-time private practice operating out of a shared office in Cambridge, MA. While the work at The Family Center was emotionally rewarding and the mission of the center entirely congruent with my personal and political philosophy, the hours were long, stress levels amongst clinicians were high, the paperwork overwhelming and the salary inadequate. My health suffered and my family life and friendships bore the brunt of the strain and stress I was carrying around with me. I was constantly tired and drained with little energy left over for anything outside of my work. I decided that despite my reluctance to leave The Family Center, my health demanded that I make a change and take better care of myself. So it was with much trepidation, I decided to move into an office of my own and grow my private practice from very part-time to full-time. The two concerns I had initially were financial and collegial. Firstly, I had heard horror stories of therapists not being able to build clinical practices that would pay the bills and secondly, I loved and respected my colleagues at The Family Center and was heartbroken at leaving the friendship and support that I both received and gave during my time there. In my darkest hours, (oh, how dramatic!) I feared being destitute and lonely, this despite knowing that I had, in another career incarnation, successfully run my own business. I have always had a tendency to leap into leadership vacuums and there is no better place to do this than in one’s own business ventures.

Despite the challenge of being self-employed, the change in my life has been dramatic, with most of the changes being for the better. Many therapists complain that their clinical studies ill-equip them for what is ahead in terms of running a business. With very few graduate programs offering business classes in marketing and management, therapists are left to their own devices when it comes to building their practices. My father was, in his later career incarnation, a Management Consultant and despite his tendency to drink all his profits (remembers that long and not-so-illustrious line of alcoholics I mentioned in my profile?) I learned a great deal from him, albeit inadvertently, about marketing and selling. This information and my inherent aptitude was one of the very few positive things that my father gave me, and I value it immensely, despite its origins. So, with relatively little financial outlay, I launched my practice.

Initially relying on print media for advertising and marketing, I soon gave up on this as having too narrow a geographic focus and too expensive given the very little returns, in terms of client intakes, that it brought. I turned instead to the internet and put my marketing dollars into that and networking. This was a great move, and killed two birds with one stone. Internet advertising did what I hoped and gave me a much wider location lens and my client base started to build almost immediately which took away some of my financial/income concerns. Secondly, because of the decision to also focus on networking, I have begun to create some collegial relationships which have added much to my life and detract from the largely solitary nature of my work as a psychotherapist. I joined the local chamber of commerce (http://www.wbcc.org ) which has enabled me to meet other self-employed folks in the area; I became a member of The Divorce Center (http://www.divorcenter.org) and have begun to forge some helpful professional relationships which support my work with couples; I joined a planning committee to identify professional development needs with one of my professional associations, the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (http://www.mamft.org ) and I joined a Peer Supervision Group with 3 other psychotherapists.

As “Mistress of my domain” I set my own schedule, and rarely does this mean that I have to get up any earlier than 8-9am. My office is positioned in a professional building between a Starbucks and a Dunkin’ Donuts, so I usually drop by Starbucks and pick up a cup of tea or Decaf coffee on my way into my office. Not a day goes by that I don’t smile at my name on the window of my office and delight in the pansies blooming merrily in the window boxes beneath the periwinkle blue lettering. Being on hi-how-are-you terms with some of the people working in businesses that surround my office has greatly added to my sense of belonging in the neighborhood; I enjoy recognizing and having a day-to-day connection with the baristas in Starbucks; exchanging pleasantries with the lawyers and dentists whose offices are above mine; waving hi to Dori in the office next door. Alex in the sandwich store next door knows that I like my Turkey sandwich with mustard, no mayo. The folks in Starbucks knows that I like an extra shot in my non-fat latte.

My work week runs Tuesday through Friday with my first clients usually arriving at 10 am on Tuesday morning. I try to plan my day so that I either have a big chunk of time off in the middle of the day or don't start until mid afternoon. This allows time to run errands, occasionally fit in having lunch with a friend, or walking my puppy, Ziggy, and sometimes even taking a nap! On Tuesday through Thursday, I tend to see clients until 8pm and by the time I have finished with my paperwork for the day I usually arrive home around 9:00pm.

During the course of my day, the majority of the time is spent face-to-face with clients. If I have an hour off in between clients, I return calls, catch up on reading professional journals, research issues that clients are facing that I may be unfamiliar with (for example, a religion that I am inexperienced with or a profession that I know little about but still understand how much it impacts the client’s functioning and recognize that not to educate myself would impede my understanding of them and the progress of their therapy), attend my own therapy and in a similar vein, attend supervision. (More on supervision in a separate blog.)

One of the families I work with is involved with an agency in the Boston area, and I attend Case Management meetings once every three weeks or so with the team of professionals who work to support the family. In addition, the family’s Case Aid worker and I meet weekly, usually mid-week, to share ideas about the family, and to brainstorm ways of being even more effective in our work with them.

Furthermore, I spend time thinking about ways to market the Parenting Journey™ Group (a 12 week psycho-education group created by the talented folks at The Family Center for parents focusing on how our own experience of being children impacts the choices we now make as parents) that I, as a Certified Parenting Journey facilitator, am planning to co-lead in September with another therapist, Isa Mattei, LMHC. This involves emailing Isa, passing ideas backwards and forwards, and occasionally meeting face to face with her. I also belong to a Business Planning group and have regular meetings with John Badalament (buy his wonderful PBS video, “All Men Are Sons,” or bring him to your school or community to do the incredible work he does with Fathers and Sons and, at the very least, visit his website. www.AllMenAreSons.com ). John and I brainstorm ways to support the growth of our businesses, particularly as I begin to think of ways to creatively branch out into other ventures, such as public speaking, the creation of an eTherapy site, www.JassyTimberlake.com which is currently under construction and begin work on a radio program which will focus on a variety of sex therapy and mental health issues. And, just for the pure enjoyment, I have also been spending time with other mental health professionals seeking to start their own private practices by helping them figure out marketing strategies for their particular niche.

All licensed mental health professionals require the completion of CEU’s (continuing education units) in order to maintain our licenses and keep current with unfolding developments in the mental health field. As a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (http://www.aamft.org ) and a member of the American Association for Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (http://www.aasect.org ) I have a professional development training to attend on average once every 3 weeks. The topics for these are many and varied. In the last 6 months, for example, I have attended the following trainings:

8 day course in Radical Honesty (http://www.RadicalHonesty.com )
Sex and Addictions
Same Sex Couples: How do our values affect whom we treat?
Fad Diagnoses: The effects of a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis on children, adolescents and their families
Online Therapy Skills Training
Conversations about Marginalized Coupleships: Challenges and Opportunities Supporting Clients in their search for a mate: a cognitive behavioral approach Sexuality and Developmental Disabilities
Update on Reproductive Health: Focus on males and females
Sexual Development and Behavior ages 0-8 years

When I’m not in the office, I phone in and check my voicemail every 2-3 hours up until 11pm at night, so that I can be on the ball about returning calls, and getting back to clients who may be in crisis.

So, that in a nutshell is my wonderful life!