As I said, there is more to this story There is more because I found out that even once I was established in my practice there were still lots of times when I felt alone.
Sometimes it was because I had questions I still felt funny asking others (although I slowly got over that for the most part), but as I went along I noticed that private practitioners really are alone a lot. Even when we share office space with others, we are all usually behind closed doors (hopefully more often than not, right?).
I soon broke away from my first office along with a friend who was also looking for a more ideal setting for her own private practice. We found a little place with two offices, a small waiting room, and a small reception area (that area was so small that it made our secretary feel claustrophobic 🙂 ).
Over the years I’ve felt alone when I had questions about insurance issues, billing, collections, marketing, networking, fees, policies, procedures, and countless other topics. Whatever I did, I felt as if I was re-inventing the wheel. I come up with very complicated solutions to simple problems only to find out that there were already forms or procedures for those things.
When I first started out, I didn’t have the internet at my fingertips. I was still hand-writing my case notes and (snail) mailing my assessments to my referral sources. I had a ledger book for my billing and receivables and my only source for business cards and letterhead was the local print shop.
So, you’d think that in this day and age with the internet and everything is has to offer that someone going into Private Practice would have it easy — wouldn’t have to feel so alone. Problem now is TMI. You know — too much information.
Now the problems include: what truly is “right”, which are the best resources, and how am I sure that this will work for me?
Anyway… I digress. So, there we are in our little two-office suite and… it started to happen. People we knew from our last office and other mental health professionals in the community started contacting us looking to rent some space and for some help promoting their private practices. They too, felt alone and scared.
That’s when I knew. That is when I knew that I had to help others not feel so alone. I already knew that Private Practice was the best career decision I ever made. I already knew that Private Practice was an amazing opportunity for me and so many others. NOW, I knew that I had to help other people make it. I had to help them make it without feeling so alone.
So, now you get the idea of why I’m doing what I’m doing here at the InfluentialTherapist.com Private Practice blog. Maybe next time I’ll tell you more about what I see for us here.
