April 10, 2025 • 25 mins
Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey, I'm Dr Kate Walker.
Welcome to your Tuesday groupcoaching and I'm going to let
people in so we can get started.
All right, just as a reminder,if you're joining me live today,
you don't have to have your,and I'm going to let people in
so we can get started.
All right, just as a reminder,if you're joining me live today,
you don't have to have yourcamera on, you don't have to do
anything, and just remember, ifwe interact, that it will be on
the recording so you can popstuff in the chat if you feel
(00:38):
like it.
Today is going to sound supersalesy Like.
I even recognized that when Iwas posting the calendar.
I think I used customer journeyor client journey, but then I
was going back and forth like,okay, we're going to have to use
the customer word and I'm notgoing to apologize for that,
right, because our clients areour customers.
(01:01):
They are spending money for aservice that we are hopefully
providing, right, and they goaway from our services better
for that.
So when we think about how wemarket, you know, okay, so let
me back up again a second.
So how many times have you, asa practice owner, felt like you
(01:25):
were just wasting your timemarketing.
In fact, I have a little termfor it.
I call it throwing rocks offthe Grand Canyon, right, like
you're throwing a rock andyou're like waiting and waiting
and waiting to hear if anything,and it's like nothing, right,
silence crickets.
And so maybe you've triedsocial media, maybe you've tried
(01:49):
blogging, maybe you've tried anewsletter to your email list,
maybe you have tried all ofthese different things and you
don't see the needle moving onyour SMART goals.
So if you don't know what aSMART goal is, I've talked about
it in other trainings and soyou can go back and look at that
.
But just real quick, it'sspecific, measurable, attainable
(02:12):
, realistic, trackable goals,and so long and short.
If you can't count it, it's notreally a SMART goal.
And that's a summary.
Please go Google it, find moredefinitions for that.
And that's a summary.
Please go Google it, find moredefinitions for that.
So when you notice somethinglike my favorite KPI or key
performance indicator of whethersomething is working or not is
(02:34):
the phone call, and I know a lotof you use email, a lot of you
use texting.
So when I say phone call, justinsert your communication of
choice, your preferred one, andwe'll go from there.
So when you see that theseincoming points of contact right
email, phone call, textmessages, however a client is
(02:55):
supposed to contact you.
Or if you work in an agency butit's still a private practice
setting.
So you've got a receptionistright.
How many referrals?
How many people are showing upto come to that first session?
Now, that's a little bit of adifferent animal.
So I am, for the purposes ofthis conversation, going to
(03:16):
focus on marketing as if it wereyour own private practice.
So if that's you and you're inan agency or a big private
practice setting, but you'restill responsible for your own
marketing, you need to come upwith a smart goal.
That's something you can count.
And then a key performanceindicator Again, that's also
(03:38):
something you can count.
Because one of the things, ifyou got my email this morning, I
said test me right, test me inthis right.
This will be a game changer foryour marketing, and the only
way you can test me is if yougive me a grade.
The only way you can give me agrade is if you have numbers
right.
So think of something thatwould indicate what you're about
(04:02):
to do or about to change isactually moving the needle
toward your preferred SMART goal.
So that's why I'm landing onmore intake phone calls, more
calls coming in, and so I dohave other trainings on this.
Where I talk about a 10-minuteconsultation, I talk about a
(04:22):
script for a 10-minuteconsultation, and those
trainings are in your Step it Upprofile.
So we're going to talk about,though, what comes before that
initial contact.
How do we see this?
We call it a journey right Froma potential client to an actual
(04:44):
client, and I call it a journeybecause when you look at
business literature andmarketing literature, it's
actually it's referred to as ajourney, or sometimes the hero's
journey, and the hero's journeyis everything from you know the
Odysseus and you know goingfrom.
You know the Argonauts, jason,I don't know all that stuff, but
(05:06):
you know the Iliad and theOdyssey, right, those epic tales
to.
You know the story of Bambi andyou know Simba in Disney movies
, right, and basically you startfrom a place where everything's
good, everything's okay, andthen suddenly it's not okay, and
then suddenly it's not okay,and then there is some kind of a
(05:28):
transformation, usually withthe aid or assistance of an
outside thing or person, andwith that transformation you
don't go back to being okay, youactually become something
better, not just different, butbetter.
And so when we talk aboutmarketing, we're talking about
(05:51):
taking our client from a placewhere they're not okay and then
you're offering them some kindof a transformation so that they
become better.
Now we have to be really carefulhere, because with medical
marketing and even though, youknow, I don't consider myself a
medical model this is still theethics that we follow, right,
(06:15):
with this kind of marketing, wehave to understand these are a
very vulnerable population and Iknow you know that.
So we can't say, hey,counseling with me is guaranteed
to make you better and you knowwhat, if you do counseling and
buy my book, you're going to beabsolutely better than better,
right, that's not what we'retalking about here.
(06:35):
So I made some notes and I'mgoing to put on my glasses so I
can follow my notes, and so whenwe talk about a space, that's
okay, I'm going to go ahead andtalk about, you know, simba, the
Lion King.
Right, it starts off.
Simba is okay, he's a littlelion and you know he's
frolicking and doing whateverlittle lions do, right.
(06:58):
And then something happens,right, the stampede.
His father dies.
I don't remember the entirestory, but I just know that he
ends off out in the wildernesswith the warthog and the meerkat
, right.
And then you know, that's wherehe grows up and he learns all
these things.
And then an outside influencecomes along right, that's the
(07:18):
baboon Rafiki, right, and thetransformation happens so that
when he is at the end of thetail, he is better, right, he is
fit to be king, or however.
That is so with your client.
I divided it into two areas andI'm going to refer to these as
(07:40):
pain points, so get used to thatterm pain points.
So when we talk about a clientone minute being okay and the
next minute being not okay,these different pain points or
these two different categorieshave a different sense of
urgency, and that's going to beimportant here in a second.
So when we think about I'm okay, and then my pet dies, I'm okay
(08:12):
.
And then I discover an affairwhen I look at my partner's
phone, I'm okay.
And then when I'm cleaning mykiddo's room, I find drug
paraphernalia Right.
So that's urgent.
That's sudden.
I was okay, then not okay, allright.
The next type of pain point isnot quite that sense of urgency,
but it's a problem still, right.
(08:33):
So you think something happens.
I'm not okay.
Well, maybe it's that I noticedyou know what.
I'm just not focusing, I'mlosing track of time, I'm
sleeping all the time, I'meating too much, I'm not eating
enough, I'm having anhedonia,right.
The things I used to enjoy Idon't enjoy anymore.
So that's less urgency.
(08:56):
So before I go on, and if you'relistening to me on a replay,
first of all go you.
You're doing something greatfor yourself today.
Hit pause and I want you tothink about what area you
address.
Do you address an urgent painpoint with your specialty and
what you enjoy and the type ofclient you enjoy, or do you
(09:17):
address something that's alittle bit less urgent, right,
and maybe something that it'ssomething that you may even
require more sessions?
So I put a pin in that.
So that could be important, allright.
So while you guys are thinkingof that, I'll speak to my own
specialty working with couplessurviving infidelity.
(09:40):
So I started my practice oneway, and so there I go, I'm kind
of cooking along and it's okay,and then I noticed that I'm
working more and more withclients who are surviving
infidelity.
So I thought, ooh, I need toget more training in this.
So I got more training in this,and then I, of course, take
business courses and I'mlearning more and more about the
(10:02):
business and I learn and I findand I notice this is an urgent
situation.
So think of an urgent situationin your own life.
My favorite example is toothache.
Right, with a toothache, youdon't care if your dentist has
their degree from, you know,downtown university or Brown Ivy
(10:24):
League university.
You just want to what you wantto get in quickly.
It's all about schedule.
You're not going to read theabout me page, you're not going
to dig into all the things.
You're going to click theschedule button and you're going
to pray that someone can getyou in today.
Okay, with the less urgent painpoint, right.
(10:46):
So if that's you, perhaps youwork with individuals recovering
from grief Now, not the suddenmy pet just died, but maybe
something that's revisiting youlater in life.
And you notice, gosh, I'mthinking about my mom a lot.
You know that last holiday wasreally rough because all I could
do when I was cooking was thinkabout my mom.
(11:07):
You know I really should get into see somebody.
You know I've been doing okay,maybe.
So you've got people who arekind of on the fence, but your
specialty speaks to that.
You're a trauma-informedtherapist, you're an EMDR
specialist.
You focus and you specialize inpeople who are noticing, kind
(11:27):
of it's evolving, that they'renot okay, All right.
So you got that in your head.
Those of you who hit I hopeyou've unpaused if you hit pause
before so you've thought aboutwhat you like to specialize in
your ideal client, where you are, and if that isn't you, if
you're like.
But, kate, I kind of like both.
I don't know which one I likeyet.
You're going to see why it'simportant in a minute, but you
(11:49):
don't have to make that decisiontoday.
So good news, right?
So next comes thetransformation.
Now, when I was writing my notesfor this, the only thing I
could think of were thosepharmaceutical commercials.
You know where everybody's likedancing and it's like woohoo.
You know where everybody's likedancing and it's like woohoo.
You know, I took this thing andnow I'm dancing and I'm like,
oh, I want to dance, I need totake that pill.
(12:15):
And I'm like, whoa, calm itdown, kate, you don't.
You don't even know whatthey're treating there, right?
So I want the transformationbefore I even know what they're
selling Like.
That's how good marketing isthese days, right?
In fact, that's kind of whatvisual marketing is all about,
like, when they buy those $6million ads on the Super Bowl
and you kind of play my kids andI play a game.
What are they marketing?
Right, because I see thetransformation.
(12:36):
I see the guy kneeling next tothe client's tail with his puppy
and I'm like, oh, I love that,I want that.
Oh, but I don't drink Budweiser.
Okay.
So with your description of howyou can help the client on their
journey to transformation,you're going to have to be a
little bit different, right?
(12:56):
Because, as I mentioned earlier, you're not going to say, well,
take my therapy and you'regoing to be cured.
Buy my book and you're going tobe cured.
So I wrote down some thingsthat you can do, though,
remember, if your specialty issomething that has some urgency
to it I just found out mypartner had an affair.
I just discovered paraphernaliain my kid's room, I just
(13:19):
discovered whatever right?
Well then, you want to.
Your transformation is going tofocus on urgency.
It's going to focus onscheduling.
If you have a big practice,it's going to be focused on that
.
They can talk to a personquickly, right?
It's going to be training yourstaff how to do those 10-minute
(13:40):
consultations that I've taughtyou guys, so that they can get
plugged in quickly.
Now, that doesn't mean youneglect your about me page and
your credentials and all theother things that you do, but
this is your client's journey,not yours, right?
So you are showing them on yourwebsite Like, hey, urgent
(14:03):
issues are my people.
I see you, I can help you onyour journey to transformation.
Okay, so if it's not an urgentsituation, right, you're part of
the pain point for the folkswho are just kind of noticing
this pain evolving.
Well, then you want to takethem on a little bit of a longer
(14:25):
transformation.
Remember, in the story of Simba, at first he's like I don't
want to go with you, rafiki, I'mnot going to go back and be
king.
I like hanging out with thewarthog and the meerkat, right.
So when we work with ourpotential clients, right,
because they're not our clientsyet, remember, we haven't earned
the right to take away theircoping tools, right, that's not
(14:49):
our job.
They get to come to thedecision to lay those coping
tools down and pick up new ones.
That's what we help them with,right?
So think of all of the thingsyou can show them from videos on
(15:10):
your website, right, videos ofyou talking about how you help,
pdfs, downloads, that they canget Three ways to get through
the holidays.
When you're grieving the lossof a parent.
Gosh, they can get on yournewsletter.
They can enter their email andget a newsletter once a month
from you.
Now this isn't throwing rocksoff the Grand Canyon anymore,
because you are talking to thisperson whose pain is evolving.
(15:35):
So remember earlier when I saidyou don't have to make the
decision today.
Well, you will probably have tomake the decision eventually
because if you are giving kindof these long journey resources
to someone who needs urgentattention but you have no
schedule now button, you'regoing to miss out to the next
(15:56):
therapist down the road who hasa schedule now button right, so
it can.
If you are addressing the wrongjourney, right, so it's.
Remember.
Our first thing is to recognizeeverything was okay until it
wasn't and you can help themtransform with.
And we've got the acute, urgentfolks.
(16:18):
You got a schedule button thefolks that are evolving.
You've got resources.
Now I get asked all the time butif I have free resources,
they're not going to pick meWrong Y'all.
Just because you get coupons atthe store for a free bag of
M&Ms, does that mean you nevergo back to the grocery store to
(16:38):
get M&Ms.
Come on, think about it right.
When someone you trust, likeHEB, down the road, offers you
free M&Ms, I'm going back to HEB.
I'm going to tell my friendsabout HEB because they gave me
what I needed when I needed it.
Right, that's the urgent thing.
(16:59):
How I needed it.
So that's the resources.
That's a PDF, that's a video andthe format I needed it at the
time that I needed it.
So you are showing yourpotential client that you are
Rafiki.
I'm going to lose people whodon't know the story of Simba,
(17:20):
aren't I?
Well, hopefully they'll Googleit.
Right, you are patient.
You understand that if yourpeople need time to evolve, well
, you're going to have to walkwith them a little bit, but
you're not going to hold back.
You're not going to hold back,you right.
So if it's a podcast, they getto hear your.
So, if it's a podcast, they getto hear your voice.
If it's a video, they get tosee your face and hear your
(17:41):
voice.
If it's like you, kate, I don'twant to do any of that, all
right.
Well, it's going to be afabulous photo and you're going
to put some really good contentthat shows them how you help.
Now that brings me to verbiage.
If you have heard me talk orbeen in any of my courses at all
(18:03):
, I talk about this a lot, andthis isn't just us, right?
But we counselors use the wordI a lot, right?
Here's what I've done.
Here's what I do.
Here's what we offer, right, no, no, no.
Here's what I do.
Here's what we offer, right, no, no, no.
Right, when I'm on a journey andI'm carrying a burden and
things used to be OK and notthere, now they're not OK, I
(18:24):
want to know what I'm going toget.
Let me know what I'm going toget from you, right, and if it's
not a cure, this better be good, right?
Well, pot, potential client,you're going to get some free
resources.
Well, potential client, I takeyour insurance.
(18:46):
Here's a list of insurances.
You'll get an opportunity touse your insurance.
You'll get an opportunity toexperience EMDR.
You'll get an opportunity toexperience the transformative
effects of I'm going to say EMDRagain, because here's a link
and you can Google how effectiveit can be with trauma, right?
So here's what you'll get.
(19:06):
Here's what you'll get.
You'll be so talking from theclient on, or the potential
client on, the journey, whatthey're going to get from you
Now, super, super basic, ifyou're like okay, kate, I have
no idea what they can get for me, because counseling is hard to
(19:26):
describe.
True, but can they get aninitial consultation from you?
Is it free?
How long is it?
Can they get an initialassessment?
That's paid?
That's where they show up,that's session one that's
thorough and you'll listen tothem.
(19:47):
Can they get resources afterthat first session from you?
At the second session, can yougo over that homework and help
them course correct and findeven more resources by the third
session?
Can they learn that workingwith you is going to be a good
fit and have some coping tools,right?
(20:09):
So even though you're not likean ozempic sorry, I said the
name, I'm not going to say thename Even though you're not like
a pharmaceutical commercial andyou can say hey, if you take
this, we're not going to tellyou you'll be dancing, but we're
going to show you lots ofpeople dancing, so you'll make
that connection.
You're going to say look, here'swhat you'll get.
You'll get resources, you'llget a connection.
(20:29):
You'll always have the choiceif you want to continue with me
or not, and and and right.
And so the idea is we areshowing them that they will not
be the same when they finishthat third or fourth session
with you as they were when theycame into that very first
(20:51):
session.
Right, we're not promising thema cure, but we're saying, hey,
you need to talk to somebodytoday.
You can have that.
Right, it may just be a10-minute consultation, but you
can let them know exactly whatto do.
Then, of course, the call toaction, the CTA.
Right, if this is on yourwebsite, it's going to be click
(21:12):
here, schedule now download this, get this here.
Arrow, arrow, click, whatever.
If you are speaking to a group,right, if you're at the Kiwanis
Club or the Elks Lodge andyou're giving a presentation on
grief following the death of apet, you're going to make sure
(21:32):
that you let them know.
After you've let them know whatthey'll get, here's how you can
contact me.
Here's how you can get all ofthose amazing things.
I mean, when I used to givetalks, I used to have people
hold up their phone, google melike find me, and then find the
schedule, a consultation button,like I've made them show me.
(21:53):
And what I was teaching myaudience was how to be a
resource for their friends andfamily, and that's another topic
altogether.
But imagine if that's what youput out there, right, like, even
if you're not the person who'son this journey, you know
someone who is.
(22:13):
Can you think of someone onthis journey?
They were okay, now they're notokay and now they need
something from you.
So this is your client slashcustomer journey and you will
waste lots and lots of time,throw lots of rocks off the
Grand Canyon and hear nothing ifyou don't take a little bit of
(22:35):
time and identify number onewhat does your okay client look
like?
Right, if you work with highperformance athletes, okay is
well, they're performing,they're making their goals and
scoring their touchdowns.
Not, okay is they had an injury.
Is they had an injury?
What do you offer?
(22:57):
What can they get?
What does the transformationlook like?
Right, but you got to do thehomework and start off with.
What does the okay client looklike?
And again, I want to emphasizeto you folks just starting out,
if you have not seen a singleclient and maybe you're in grad
(23:18):
school and just kind of dreamingof private practice, it's a lot
of pressure to think I have tocome up with my ideal client and
I can never switch.
No, that's not it at all.
Right, but start somewhere.
Start with something that youknow.
I mean usually, I think youknow, sometimes in counselor ed
circles we talk about whenyou're first starting out.
Your ideal client is you 10years ago.
(23:40):
I mean, it's just kind of likethat's the pain you know best.
Right, it's when you sought outa therapist.
Now we probably won't staythere, but it at least gives you
some place to start.
What did you 10 years ago need,right?
Where were you?
When were you okay and whenwere you not okay?
What would have been wonderfulif you could have gotten it from
(24:04):
an outside party?
And what was yourtransformation?
Well, I think you're looking inthe mirror at it, right?
Who are you now?
Why are you on this journey asa mental health professional now
?
All right, I'm going to hitpause, and we've got a lot of
folks here live today, so I'mgoing to hit pause and take
questions.
Hey, I'm Dr Kate Walker.
Welcome to your Tuesday groupcoaching and I'm going to let
people in so we can get started.
All right, just as a reminder,if you're joining me live today,
you don't have to have your,and I'm going to let people in
so we can get started.
All right, just as a reminder,if you're joining me live today,
you don't have to have yourcamera on, you don't have to do
anything, and just remember, ifwe interact, that it will be on
the recording so you can popstuff in the chat if you feel
(00:38):
like it.
Today is going to sound supersalesy Like.
I even recognized that when Iwas posting the calendar.
I think I used customer journeyor client journey, but then I
was going back and forth like,okay, we're going to have to use
the customer word and I'm notgoing to apologize for that,
right, because our clients areour customers.
(01:01):
They are spending money for aservice that we are hopefully
providing, right, and they goaway from our services better
for that.
So when we think about how wemarket, you know, okay, so let
me back up again a second.
So how many times have you, asa practice owner, felt like you
(01:25):
were just wasting your timemarketing.
In fact, I have a little termfor it.
I call it throwing rocks offthe Grand Canyon, right, like
you're throwing a rock andyou're like waiting and waiting
and waiting to hear if anything,and it's like nothing, right,
silence crickets.
And so maybe you've triedsocial media, maybe you've tried
(01:49):
blogging, maybe you've tried anewsletter to your email list,
maybe you have tried all ofthese different things and you
don't see the needle moving onyour SMART goals.
So if you don't know what aSMART goal is, I've talked about
it in other trainings and soyou can go back and look at that
.
But just real quick, it'sspecific, measurable, attainable
(02:12):
, realistic, trackable goals,and so long and short.
If you can't count it, it's notreally a SMART goal.
And that's a summary.
Please go Google it, find moredefinitions for that.
And that's a summary.
Please go Google it, find moredefinitions for that.
So when you notice somethinglike my favorite KPI or key
performance indicator of whethersomething is working or not is
(02:34):
the phone call, and I know a lotof you use email, a lot of you
use texting.
So when I say phone call, justinsert your communication of
choice, your preferred one, andwe'll go from there.
So when you see that theseincoming points of contact right
email, phone call, textmessages, however a client is
(02:55):
supposed to contact you.
Or if you work in an agency butit's still a private practice
setting.
So you've got a receptionistright.
How many referrals?
How many people are showing upto come to that first session?
Now, that's a little bit of adifferent animal.
So I am, for the purposes ofthis conversation, going to
(03:16):
focus on marketing as if it wereyour own private practice.
So if that's you and you're inan agency or a big private
practice setting, but you'restill responsible for your own
marketing, you need to come upwith a smart goal.
That's something you can count.
And then a key performanceindicator Again, that's also
(03:38):
something you can count.
Because one of the things, ifyou got my email this morning, I
said test me right, test me inthis right.
This will be a game changer foryour marketing, and the only
way you can test me is if yougive me a grade.
The only way you can give me agrade is if you have numbers
right.
So think of something thatwould indicate what you're about
(04:02):
to do or about to change isactually moving the needle
toward your preferred SMART goal.
So that's why I'm landing onmore intake phone calls, more
calls coming in, and so I dohave other trainings on this.
Where I talk about a 10-minuteconsultation, I talk about a
(04:22):
script for a 10-minuteconsultation, and those
trainings are in your Step it Upprofile.
So we're going to talk about,though, what comes before that
initial contact.
How do we see this?
We call it a journey right Froma potential client to an actual
(04:44):
client, and I call it a journeybecause when you look at
business literature andmarketing literature, it's
actually it's referred to as ajourney, or sometimes the hero's
journey, and the hero's journeyis everything from you know the
Odysseus and you know goingfrom.
You know the Argonauts, jason,I don't know all that stuff, but
(05:06):
you know the Iliad and theOdyssey, right, those epic tales
to.
You know the story of Bambi andyou know Simba in Disney movies
, right, and basically you startfrom a place where everything's
good, everything's okay, andthen suddenly it's not okay, and
then suddenly it's not okay,and then there is some kind of a
(05:28):
transformation, usually withthe aid or assistance of an
outside thing or person, andwith that transformation you
don't go back to being okay, youactually become something
better, not just different, butbetter.
And so when we talk aboutmarketing, we're talking about
(05:51):
taking our client from a placewhere they're not okay and then
you're offering them some kindof a transformation so that they
become better.
Now we have to be really carefulhere, because with medical
marketing and even though, youknow, I don't consider myself a
medical model this is still theethics that we follow, right,
(06:15):
with this kind of marketing, wehave to understand these are a
very vulnerable population and Iknow you know that.
So we can't say, hey,counseling with me is guaranteed
to make you better and you knowwhat, if you do counseling and
buy my book, you're going to beabsolutely better than better,
right, that's not what we'retalking about here.
(06:35):
So I made some notes and I'mgoing to put on my glasses so I
can follow my notes, and so whenwe talk about a space, that's
okay, I'm going to go ahead andtalk about, you know, simba, the
Lion King.
Right, it starts off.
Simba is okay, he's a littlelion and you know he's
frolicking and doing whateverlittle lions do, right.
(06:58):
And then something happens,right, the stampede.
His father dies.
I don't remember the entirestory, but I just know that he
ends off out in the wildernesswith the warthog and the meerkat
, right.
And then you know, that's wherehe grows up and he learns all
these things.
And then an outside influencecomes along right, that's the
(07:18):
baboon Rafiki, right, and thetransformation happens so that
when he is at the end of thetail, he is better, right, he is
fit to be king, or however.
That is so with your client.
I divided it into two areas andI'm going to refer to these as
(07:40):
pain points, so get used to thatterm pain points.
So when we talk about a clientone minute being okay and the
next minute being not okay,these different pain points or
these two different categorieshave a different sense of
urgency, and that's going to beimportant here in a second.
So when we think about I'm okay, and then my pet dies, I'm okay
(08:12):
.
And then I discover an affairwhen I look at my partner's
phone, I'm okay.
And then when I'm cleaning mykiddo's room, I find drug
paraphernalia Right.
So that's urgent.
That's sudden.
I was okay, then not okay, allright.
The next type of pain point isnot quite that sense of urgency,
but it's a problem still, right.
(08:33):
So you think something happens.
I'm not okay.
Well, maybe it's that I noticedyou know what.
I'm just not focusing, I'mlosing track of time, I'm
sleeping all the time, I'meating too much, I'm not eating
enough, I'm having anhedonia,right.
The things I used to enjoy Idon't enjoy anymore.
So that's less urgency.
(08:56):
So before I go on, and if you'relistening to me on a replay,
first of all go you.
You're doing something greatfor yourself today.
Hit pause and I want you tothink about what area you
address.
Do you address an urgent painpoint with your specialty and
what you enjoy and the type ofclient you enjoy, or do you
(09:17):
address something that's alittle bit less urgent, right,
and maybe something that it'ssomething that you may even
require more sessions?
So I put a pin in that.
So that could be important, allright.
So while you guys are thinkingof that, I'll speak to my own
specialty working with couplessurviving infidelity.
(09:40):
So I started my practice oneway, and so there I go, I'm kind
of cooking along and it's okay,and then I noticed that I'm
working more and more withclients who are surviving
infidelity.
So I thought, ooh, I need toget more training in this.
So I got more training in this,and then I, of course, take
business courses and I'mlearning more and more about the
(10:02):
business and I learn and I findand I notice this is an urgent
situation.
So think of an urgent situationin your own life.
My favorite example is toothache.
Right, with a toothache, youdon't care if your dentist has
their degree from, you know,downtown university or Brown Ivy
(10:24):
League university.
You just want to what you wantto get in quickly.
It's all about schedule.
You're not going to read theabout me page, you're not going
to dig into all the things.
You're going to click theschedule button and you're going
to pray that someone can getyou in today.
Okay, with the less urgent painpoint, right.
(10:46):
So if that's you, perhaps youwork with individuals recovering
from grief Now, not the suddenmy pet just died, but maybe
something that's revisiting youlater in life.
And you notice, gosh, I'mthinking about my mom a lot.
You know that last holiday wasreally rough because all I could
do when I was cooking was thinkabout my mom.
(11:07):
You know I really should get into see somebody.
You know I've been doing okay,maybe.
So you've got people who arekind of on the fence, but your
specialty speaks to that.
You're a trauma-informedtherapist, you're an EMDR
specialist.
You focus and you specialize inpeople who are noticing, kind
(11:27):
of it's evolving, that they'renot okay, All right.
So you got that in your head.
Those of you who hit I hopeyou've unpaused if you hit pause
before so you've thought aboutwhat you like to specialize in
your ideal client, where you are, and if that isn't you, if
you're like.
But, kate, I kind of like both.
I don't know which one I likeyet.
You're going to see why it'simportant in a minute, but you
(11:49):
don't have to make that decisiontoday.
So good news, right?
So next comes thetransformation.
Now, when I was writing my notesfor this, the only thing I
could think of were thosepharmaceutical commercials.
You know where everybody's likedancing and it's like woohoo.
You know where everybody's likedancing and it's like woohoo.
You know, I took this thing andnow I'm dancing and I'm like,
oh, I want to dance, I need totake that pill.
(12:15):
And I'm like, whoa, calm itdown, kate, you don't.
You don't even know whatthey're treating there, right?
So I want the transformationbefore I even know what they're
selling Like.
That's how good marketing isthese days, right?
In fact, that's kind of whatvisual marketing is all about,
like, when they buy those $6million ads on the Super Bowl
and you kind of play my kids andI play a game.
What are they marketing?
Right, because I see thetransformation.
(12:36):
I see the guy kneeling next tothe client's tail with his puppy
and I'm like, oh, I love that,I want that.
Oh, but I don't drink Budweiser.
Okay.
So with your description of howyou can help the client on their
journey to transformation,you're going to have to be a
little bit different, right?
(12:56):
Because, as I mentioned earlier, you're not going to say, well,
take my therapy and you'regoing to be cured.
Buy my book and you're going tobe cured.
So I wrote down some thingsthat you can do, though,
remember, if your specialty issomething that has some urgency
to it I just found out mypartner had an affair.
I just discovered paraphernaliain my kid's room, I just
(13:19):
discovered whatever right?
Well then, you want to.
Your transformation is going tofocus on urgency.
It's going to focus onscheduling.
If you have a big practice,it's going to be focused on that
.
They can talk to a personquickly, right?
It's going to be training yourstaff how to do those 10-minute
(13:40):
consultations that I've taughtyou guys, so that they can get
plugged in quickly.
Now, that doesn't mean youneglect your about me page and
your credentials and all theother things that you do, but
this is your client's journey,not yours, right?
So you are showing them on yourwebsite Like, hey, urgent
(14:03):
issues are my people.
I see you, I can help you onyour journey to transformation.
Okay, so if it's not an urgentsituation, right, you're part of
the pain point for the folkswho are just kind of noticing
this pain evolving.
Well, then you want to takethem on a little bit of a longer
(14:25):
transformation.
Remember, in the story of Simba, at first he's like I don't
want to go with you, rafiki, I'mnot going to go back and be
king.
I like hanging out with thewarthog and the meerkat, right.
So when we work with ourpotential clients, right,
because they're not our clientsyet, remember, we haven't earned
the right to take away theircoping tools, right, that's not
(14:49):
our job.
They get to come to thedecision to lay those coping
tools down and pick up new ones.
That's what we help them with,right?
So think of all of the thingsyou can show them from videos on
(15:10):
your website, right, videos ofyou talking about how you help,
pdfs, downloads, that they canget Three ways to get through
the holidays.
When you're grieving the lossof a parent.
Gosh, they can get on yournewsletter.
They can enter their email andget a newsletter once a month
from you.
Now this isn't throwing rocksoff the Grand Canyon anymore,
because you are talking to thisperson whose pain is evolving.
(15:35):
So remember earlier when I saidyou don't have to make the
decision today.
Well, you will probably have tomake the decision eventually
because if you are giving kindof these long journey resources
to someone who needs urgentattention but you have no
schedule now button, you'regoing to miss out to the next
(15:56):
therapist down the road who hasa schedule now button right, so
it can.
If you are addressing the wrongjourney, right, so it's.
Remember.
Our first thing is to recognizeeverything was okay until it
wasn't and you can help themtransform with.
And we've got the acute, urgentfolks.
(16:18):
You got a schedule button thefolks that are evolving.
You've got resources.
Now I get asked all the time butif I have free resources,
they're not going to pick meWrong Y'all.
Just because you get coupons atthe store for a free bag of
M&Ms, does that mean you nevergo back to the grocery store to
(16:38):
get M&Ms.
Come on, think about it right.
When someone you trust, likeHEB, down the road, offers you
free M&Ms, I'm going back to HEB.
I'm going to tell my friendsabout HEB because they gave me
what I needed when I needed it.
Right, that's the urgent thing.
(16:59):
How I needed it.
So that's the resources.
That's a PDF, that's a video andthe format I needed it at the
time that I needed it.
So you are showing yourpotential client that you are
Rafiki.
I'm going to lose people whodon't know the story of Simba,
(17:20):
aren't I?
Well, hopefully they'll Googleit.
Right, you are patient.
You understand that if yourpeople need time to evolve, well
, you're going to have to walkwith them a little bit, but
you're not going to hold back.
You're not going to hold back,you right.
So if it's a podcast, they getto hear your.
So, if it's a podcast, they getto hear your voice.
If it's a video, they get tosee your face and hear your
(17:41):
voice.
If it's like you, kate, I don'twant to do any of that, all
right.
Well, it's going to be afabulous photo and you're going
to put some really good contentthat shows them how you help.
Now that brings me to verbiage.
If you have heard me talk orbeen in any of my courses at all
(18:03):
, I talk about this a lot, andthis isn't just us, right?
But we counselors use the wordI a lot, right?
Here's what I've done.
Here's what I do.
Here's what we offer, right, no, no, no.
Here's what I do.
Here's what we offer, right, no, no, no.
Right, when I'm on a journey andI'm carrying a burden and
things used to be OK and notthere, now they're not OK, I
(18:24):
want to know what I'm going toget.
Let me know what I'm going toget from you, right, and if it's
not a cure, this better be good, right?
Well, pot, potential client,you're going to get some free
resources.
Well, potential client, I takeyour insurance.
(18:46):
Here's a list of insurances.
You'll get an opportunity touse your insurance.
You'll get an opportunity toexperience EMDR.
You'll get an opportunity toexperience the transformative
effects of I'm going to say EMDRagain, because here's a link
and you can Google how effectiveit can be with trauma, right?
So here's what you'll get.
(19:06):
Here's what you'll get.
You'll be so talking from theclient on, or the potential
client on, the journey, whatthey're going to get from you
Now, super, super basic, ifyou're like okay, kate, I have
no idea what they can get for me, because counseling is hard to
(19:26):
describe.
True, but can they get aninitial consultation from you?
Is it free?
How long is it?
Can they get an initialassessment?
That's paid?
That's where they show up,that's session one that's
thorough and you'll listen tothem.
(19:47):
Can they get resources afterthat first session from you?
At the second session, can yougo over that homework and help
them course correct and findeven more resources by the third
session?
Can they learn that workingwith you is going to be a good
fit and have some coping tools,right?
(20:09):
So even though you're not likean ozempic sorry, I said the
name, I'm not going to say thename Even though you're not like
a pharmaceutical commercial andyou can say hey, if you take
this, we're not going to tellyou you'll be dancing, but we're
going to show you lots ofpeople dancing, so you'll make
that connection.
You're going to say look, here'swhat you'll get.
You'll get resources, you'llget a connection.
(20:29):
You'll always have the choiceif you want to continue with me
or not, and and and right.
And so the idea is we areshowing them that they will not
be the same when they finishthat third or fourth session
with you as they were when theycame into that very first
(20:51):
session.
Right, we're not promising thema cure, but we're saying, hey,
you need to talk to somebodytoday.
You can have that.
Right, it may just be a10-minute consultation, but you
can let them know exactly whatto do.
Then, of course, the call toaction, the CTA.
Right, if this is on yourwebsite, it's going to be click
(21:12):
here, schedule now download this, get this here.
Arrow, arrow, click, whatever.
If you are speaking to a group,right, if you're at the Kiwanis
Club or the Elks Lodge andyou're giving a presentation on
grief following the death of apet, you're going to make sure
(21:32):
that you let them know.
After you've let them know whatthey'll get, here's how you can
contact me.
Here's how you can get all ofthose amazing things.
I mean, when I used to givetalks, I used to have people
hold up their phone, google melike find me, and then find the
schedule, a consultation button,like I've made them show me.
(21:53):
And what I was teaching myaudience was how to be a
resource for their friends andfamily, and that's another topic
altogether.
But imagine if that's what youput out there, right, like, even
if you're not the person who'son this journey, you know
someone who is.
(22:13):
Can you think of someone onthis journey?
They were okay, now they're notokay and now they need
something from you.
So this is your client slashcustomer journey and you will
waste lots and lots of time,throw lots of rocks off the
Grand Canyon and hear nothing ifyou don't take a little bit of
(22:35):
time and identify number onewhat does your okay client look
like?
Right, if you work with highperformance athletes, okay is
well, they're performing,they're making their goals and
scoring their touchdowns.
Not, okay is they had an injury.
Is they had an injury?
What do you offer?
(22:57):
What can they get?
What does the transformationlook like?
Right, but you got to do thehomework and start off with.
What does the okay client looklike?
And again, I want to emphasizeto you folks just starting out,
if you have not seen a singleclient and maybe you're in grad
(23:18):
school and just kind of dreamingof private practice, it's a lot
of pressure to think I have tocome up with my ideal client and
I can never switch.
No, that's not it at all.
Right, but start somewhere.
Start with something that youknow.
I mean usually, I think youknow, sometimes in counselor ed
circles we talk about whenyou're first starting out.
Your ideal client is you 10years ago.
(23:40):
I mean, it's just kind of likethat's the pain you know best.
Right, it's when you sought outa therapist.
Now we probably won't staythere, but it at least gives you
some place to start.
What did you 10 years ago need,right?
Where were you?
When were you okay and whenwere you not okay?
What would have been wonderfulif you could have gotten it from
(24:04):
an outside party?
And what was yourtransformation?
Well, I think you're looking inthe mirror at it, right?
Who are you now?
Why are you on this journey asa mental health professional now
?
All right, I'm going to hitpause, and we've got a lot of
folks here live today, so I'mgoing to hit pause and take
questions.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com