Developing The Dream: Play in Private Practice
| CHRISTY GRAHAM, LPC-S, RPT-S I magine: Y ou have just walked out of a meeting feeling
shocked, and deeply disappointed. The company where you practice play therapy decided to convert the provide developmentally appropriate services for children
has cited funding issues and increased adult client referrals as reasons, but in the back of your mind, you begin to understand a deeper issue. The core missions for you and the company you work for are different. Their policies and procedures, habits, and marketing focus on different populations: adults, couples, and adolescents. In your heart, you long to focus on children and provide them and their families with developmentally appropriate care. Y
ou recognize this divergence of missions for
Starting a Private Practice for children and families. After that, I worked at a residential facility for children. This was heaven: surrounded by great people, doing important work, and never short on clients. However, my personal and professional needs evolved, and I required more flexibility with my hours and client load. So, I started a private practice. The years that followed taught me a lot about the focus needed to run a practice with children as the primary clients, working as a solo practitioner and a contractor, and handling general business concerns. In the introduction, I described myself a few years into private practice when I was a contractor with a wonderful group. My co-workers funneled their energy towards adults and whole families. Providing care to children under 10 and consulting with them on their needs made for a great environment. However, our practices, licenses, education, and clientele were very different, with needs that did not always overlap. Dreaming of a practice where decisions about facilities, procedures, and marketing focused on young children and families began to take more and more of my time.
CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS:
The author emphasizes how mission, team building, and flexibility can help turn private practice dreams into reality.
Now, I operate a growing therapy practice with other clinicians. Working with families and children continues to be extremely gratifying and allows me to work fairly flexible hours. My therapeutic skills are used alongside endlessly rewarding, exciting at times and scary at other times. Three steps will help you realize your dream to own, manage, and maintain your own to adapt to unforeseen challenges.
Step 1: Develop Your Mission Ask yourself, “What drives me to have to have my own company?” I dreamt of providing high-quality, child-and-family-focused counseling. The hard work and the risk an owner assumes in developing a company are uniquely theirs. The company’s mission distinguishes it from others in the industry that work with the same population. Use the mission statement to create a brand that informs clients and referral sources about how you work with children and families in therapy. Developing the mission includes spending time visualizing the kind of work you want to do and the type of business you desire to create.
When I began visualizing my business, I knew I wanted to work in close conjunction with other therapists. My dream included having a strong peer group with whom to discuss client care, provide treatment team planning, and to refer to for specialties I didn’t have. The clients would feel a seamlessness that would incorporate the relationship with the therapist in every aspect of the treatment process. Incorporating one’s world view and how that would work out in day-to-day treatment became a subject of deeply embedded within our community and a place of refuge that felt comfortable and safe. I read books to help me unlock my creativity (e.g., Coelho & Clarke, 1993) and to learn about leadership (e.g., Friedman, 2007). In developing your vision, think about ways to make your mission a concrete part of all you do.
Once you have a vision, focus on this dream and learn to share it through
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