Do You Have a Business Plan?

Do you have a business plan?  What is that you may be saying? A business plan is a basic vision of your business. Think of a business plan like a treatment you do in therapy. It’s an assessment of where your business is right now. It’s also like a treatment plan as it guides your intervention within your business.  Think goals. The business plan does not have to be formal but each of you should have one in place if you are in private practice or you are wanting to be. I would take an hour or two and sit down and really think about how you want your business to be. This type of writing does not have to be formal enough to be presented to a bank for a bank loan. However, it should be written down after you have spent some time figuring out a vision for your business.  This is where you get to dream and dream big. The basic plan should include:

• Why: Why are you a therapist? Why you are providing your services?
• Who: Do you want to serve, the type of clients you enjoy working with; those you don’t enjoy working with. Remember we can’t serve everyone nor should we try.
• What: What services do you want to include; are you the best couple’s therapist or are groups your thing? Do you teach and will you be bringing that income into your business (which has tax benefits)? Think about what you or your team provide to your clients; it could be as simple as individual therapy, couple, family or maybe a psychoeducational class like parenting or grief and loss.
• Where: The location of your business will it be a home-based business or in an actual building, sharing an office with several other therapists or will you rent one room or share with another therapist? If you are in a building, does the facility fit your business? Are you in a professional building or in a strip mall? Is the building big enough? Do you need more treatment rooms or are you adding therapists and interns to your practice?
• When: When will you start your business or if you have one started, when will you add more services, clients or maybe treatment rooms? Maybe you want to add supervision or another therapist to your practice.
• Resources: To whom in your area do you refer? Who are your referral sources (You should be able to name at least 5)? What staff do you need to make this happen? A virtual assistant, office assistant, biller or answering service? What do you need to make this business work for you instead of you working for it?
• Goals: Take where you are now and where you want to be in say 3 months, 6 months or next year. We can’t get to a place if we do not have any idea of where we are going.

I would try to project out at least two years, three would be optimal. Then review your plan yearly. Ask yourself how close am I to my goals? Do I need to make more money? How many clients did I serve? Do I need to purchase health insurance? Did I take enough vacation time? How is my social media plan working? Did I blog consistently?

Having a vision in the form of a business plan will make you more successful as a business owner. There is something about seeing all of your wonderful accomplishments over the year that is motivating.  Keep the plan simple at first; you can always make it more detailed along the way.

As your board president, I wanted to thank you for your support and encouragement many of you have provided to me during my last two years of service. I have enjoyed my time as president and I have learned a great deal. I have heard from many of you that the newsletter is something that you read monthly and you have enjoyed the information shared. This newsletter is the work of a few dedicated hands, thank you Carol and all who contribute regularly. After this month’s election, I will be handing the reins over to the very competent Janetta Peltz and I trust you will continue to support her as she leads our organization. Please think about becoming involved in IE CAMFT; it is helpful to the chapter but it also gives back to us personally. Additionally, you get to meet and work with some awesome people. I am humbled by all the fabulous work each of you are doing and collectively all the healing that our community is receiving from your tireless work. Our world continues to need us more than ever and I hope that IE CAMFT will continue to support the work and provide trainings to help each of us become better clinicians.  I will continue to be part of this organization as your Past President and encourage you to step out of your comfort zone to see the magic that happens outside that zone. Godspeed to us all.

Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino

Currently recruiting for Child Custody Recommending Counselor. The position is open only until April 26.

Visit www.sb-court.org/employment for details

The 3000 Club meets the third Saturday of every month, which is April 22nd this month.  Judy McGehee will be doing a presentation on preventing burnout and increasing self-care.  The event is free and lunch is included, but please RSVP so we know how many people to expect so there is enough food. Please disseminate the attached flyer to anyone who may be interested. The training is open for students, trainees and interns with MFT focus, no membership required.

3000 club FLYER (1)-2.docx.pdf

Self-Care—A Needed Respite!

Happy Spring! I do hope you have been taking advantage of our wonderful weather. Today we went to see the “super bloom” at the Santa Rosa Plateau. We took the hike to the vernal pool; it was so pretty, and we saw flowers everywhere. It was such a lovely day with the lush plants, and it was nice to feel the sun on my face--trying to soak up that needed Vitamin D. I do enjoy the extra daylight we receive this time of year, and I appreciate having the day off to recharge and practice some self-care. In fact, I am taking a few extra days off for a mini-vacation this week. I have a couple of small projects I am working on but my I am going to spend as much time as possible outside hiking, sailing, and swimming. Tomorrow’s hike will be in Anza Borrego State Park and I’m hoping to get out there early enough to see the flowers and the Big Horn Sheep.

I do hope you are also building self-care time into your life as well. Can you remember your last vacation?  What did you do? Where did you go? We so need our breaks and vacations to help us prevent burnout and to remain effective therapists. I know some therapists are fearful about taking a vacation because they feel the clients won’t come back or they might have an emergency while the therapist is gone. This could happen, but most of the time my clients are happy that I am taking a vacation. One of my clients stated, “Good for you, enjoy your self-care time.”  My clients know that this time I am only gone a week, and then I will return. I gave them two weeks’ advanced notice and who they should contact if they do have a true emergency. It is rare, but I like for my clients to have a “just in case” number; I think it also provides them peace of mind too.

Do you have your therapist tribe in place? A person or two that can cover for you when you take a vacation or need a break? If you do not, I would encourage you to find a couple of therapists in your area that could take that responsibility on. It is a little more work, but usually, when I cover the week, it is pretty quiet. However, I had a couple once that came in because they just felt they fight too much if they can’t get in to see a therapist. They were a funny couple, and it wasn’t a true emergency, but they begged to come in to see me.  They spent most of the session telling me what they had learned from their therapist and how great he was and only about 5 minutes telling me about a fight they had.   

Here are a few self-care ideas for you that I might also be doing this week.

• Read a good book
• Meditate (Yes, I do this daily)
• Get a massage
• Exercise
• Inhale a nice fragrance--try peppermint, citrus, or frankincense
• Take a new route to work
• Go cloud watching
• Fly a kite or take time to play

Until next time, be well.

Sherry

The 3000 club meetings have resumed and we are meeting on the 4^th Saturday of the month. Upcoming topics include: Practice building, 5150 training, sexual addiction and more. Stay tuned via Facebook; IE-CAMFT page.

The Weeds Will Wait

Today, as the rain comes down and I look out the window and see the many weeds popping up in my garden in the backyard I think briefly about going out and picking them, but well, it’s raining and frankly it’s not that important. Instead I settle for reading and playing boardgames with the family which is more fun than weeding any day. 

In our practices, we have clients that come into our offices in despair and sorrow and they are looking to feel better and relieve themselves of the pain that may have followed them for half a lifetime or more.  We have an important job to do: help our clients clear their weeds from their gardens of life. But as healers we must also watch out for our burnout and overwhelm. If we are not careful we set up ourselves to become exhausted. We don’t even realize it then take on “just one more client,” or stay that extra hour because that is the only time this couple can come in. Or yet, maybe we take on a client that isn’t in our specialty because the clients tell us that they have called six therapists and they are either full or don’t return phone calls. 

When we as therapists fall into this trap we are hurting both the client and ourselves. We must take care of ourselves first before we can hold that sacred space that each client requires. We must take our time to recharge our batteries, to take a walk, spend time with family, friends, or better yet, a vacation to have some personal down time. When was the last time you had a really great belly laugh where you laughed so hard your sides hurt?   We all need that type of recharging.

Recently, my uncle passed away he was 99 ½ years young.  He was a great adventurer. He was a WWII pilot, a manager, and a maker of wonderful wooden toys for children; the hardy, last a lifetime, fun kind of toys. He was a wonderful storyteller with a great big belly laugh. He once told me a story of my dad and him accidentally burning down the entire Laguna Beach pier when they were young boys; at that time the pier was completely made of wood. He also said that it wasn’t their fault but their home-made boat had a fuel leak that both brothers blame on each other for not checking. No one was hurt and the pier was rebuilt with their help.  However, when he tells the story they just laugh and laugh. I hope you are creating those types of stories in your life and career, hopefully minus the burning down of things.

So, book that vacation, set up that play date for your kids, slow down some, and enjoy what you have built. Share your stories with us, your children, and your friends. Laugh and laugh hard.  The weeds will wait.

Sherry Shockey-Pope, IE-CAMFT President

“Scream from the peaks, hold hands through the dips, laugh through the loop-de-loops, and enjoy every twist and turn – – for the ride is better because you share it together.” Author Unknown.

The last few months there seems to be a great deal of uncertainty building. I feel it, my friends feel it, my clients feel it, and maybe you do too.  This past month, a great deal of my time has been trying to help calm my clients’ anxiety and to help them feel safe enough to work on healing. My staff also report that their clients are feeling the uncertainty as well. In my office, the ringing phone has been a consistent reminder that people are scared and want help. I have taken many calls this past couple of weeks where the caller has asked desperately “Are you taking new patients? I have called other therapists and everyone is full.”

When I worked for a local county many years ago; we would have good cash flow years where we could create new and wonderful programs, add staff and ultimately help many people in our community. In other years, the budget was terrible and we reduced programing, couldn’t purchase any supplies, and fewer people received help. I remember one year I was even given a layoff notice.  That was a scary time.  While I am not trying to be political here, I do see some scary times ahead. I also know that we will get through this, somehow. Each day I get up, I meditate, workout, and I ready myself. I take stock in what I can do to make changes, I set my intention to do great work, to be even better than I was the day before. I am not looking at others to be in competition, but for strength and encouragement. How I choose to live my life matters, and it matters to my family and friends, but also it matters to my clients. Therapists matter and what we do matters. We need to be able to support each other to stand up together and be the voice for those who do not have a voice. We need to help heal this broken world and this is a daunting task, I know. I am proud of our therapist tribe. I see the tireless work that you are doing in our communities. I commend your actions and request that we do a little more. We are going to need a lot more action in the coming months and we may at times need to become political. Especially as services for our veterans, children, women, and families are stripped, the pay we receive for our work is reduced, and the healthcare system becomes harder and harder to navigate. I would encourage you stay informed, to speak up when you see or hear of injustice, and to support one another. For that is how we heal our communities. 

Respectfully,

Sherry

Another opportunity this year for a great conference is “THE EVOLUTION OF PSYCHOTHERAPY: A CONFERENCE.”

Speakers include: Daniel Amen, Aaron Beck, Judith Beck, Claudia Black, David Burns, Steve Frankel, Stephen Gilligan, Tipper Gore, John Gottman, Julie Gottman, Sue Johnson, Jack Kornfield, Harriet Lerner, Peter Levine, Cloe Madanes, Bill O’hanlon, Esther Perel, Martin Seligman, Francine Shapiro, Dan Siegel, Bessel Van Der Kolk, Irvin Yalom, and many others.

 The 3000 club meetings have resumed and we are meeting on the 4^th Saturday of the month. Upcoming topics include: Practice building, 5150 training, sexual addiction and more. Stay tuned via Facebook; IE-CAMFT page.