The Australia Counselling Podcast: Recent Episodes
Clinton Power
The Australia Counselling Podcast is for counsellors, psychotherapists and mental health practitioners who are looking for new clinical and practice-building ideas for their private practice.
The host Clinton Power has over a decade of experience working in the mental health field as a Gestalt therapist and relationship counsellor. Clinton also has a passion for helping therapists improve their marketing efforts so they can attract new clients into their practice.
Clinton is the founder of Australia Counselling, which is Australia's leading online directory for finding a counsellor, therapist, psychologist or registered mental health professional in Australia.
In this podcast he interviews leading therapists from Australia and across the world on a large range of mental health and psychology issues.
Whether you're a therapist starting out, or a seasoned practitioner, The Australia Counselling Podcast will provide you with thought provoking content to help you refine your craft as a therapist. You will also learn new marketing skills so you can grow your practice and attract new clients.
To find out more about Australia Counselling, visit the website at www.australiacounselling.com.au
For the 100th and final episode The Australia Counselling Podcast, we invited psychotherapist Bill O'Hanlon back, who had one of the most downloaded episodes of all 100 episodes.
Bill's solution-oriented approach is a powerful approach to working with clients that can help discover their own abilities and dissolve their resistance to change.
In this interview Bill discusses: * how he came to create the Solution-Oriented Approach. * the basic premises of the Solution-Oriented Approach * some of the methods used in the Solution-Oriented Approach * the difference between Solution-Focused Therapy or Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and the Solution-Oriented Approach * how this approach combines with hypnosis.
The premises of his solution-oriented approach are:
- people have resources, strengths, abilities and solutions they may not be aware of
- what you focus on tends to expand
- people are more than their diagnosis
- focus on the present towards the future
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/100
The Australia Counselling Podcast has come a long way since I published the first podcast on September 8, 2013.
In just over 2 years the podcast has been downloaded over 63,000 times and listened to in 98 countries across the world.
So for episode 99 I decided to go back through the archives and check out which of our podcasts were the most downloaded episodes of all time.
In this compilation podcast, you can hear highlights from our most popular episodes of all time.
The top 10 Australia Counselling Podcasts of all time (based on downloads) are:
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10 077: Coming Out: What Therapists Need to Know When Working with LGBTI Clients - an interview with Matt Glover
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9 063: What is Narcissism and Why is it Becoming an Epidemic? - an interview with Dr Jean Twenge
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8 020: Positive Psychology: Powerful Interventions for Helping Clients Change - an interview with Dr Kate Lemerle
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7 004: Gestalt Therapy: A Relational (Re)turn - an interview with Dr Michael Reed
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6 080: The Neuroscience of Resilience - an interview with Linda Graham, MFT
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5 073: Overcoming Shock: Healing the Traumatised Mind and Heart - an interview with Diane Zimberoff and David Hartman
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4 078: The Challenges of Working with High-Conflict Couples - an interview with Jacqueline McDiarmid
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3 064: The Lived Experience of Borderline Personality - an interview with Sonia Neale
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2 075: The Yalom Interview: Creatures of a Day and Other Tales of Psychotherapy - an interview with Irvin D. Yalom
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1 072: Out of the Blue: Six Non-Medication Ways to Relieve Depression - an interview with Bill O'Hanlon
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/99
The end of the year and the start of the New Year is the perfect time to reflect on the wins and challenges from the year just passed, as well as your goals for the coming year.
As a therapist, one of your goals for the coming year will likely be to earn more income.
There are a number of ways you can use your skills and knowledge as a therapist to generate more income.
In this episode of the Australia Counselling Podcast I share 5 strategies that will help you make more income from your therapy practice in 2016.
The 5 strategies I discuss are:
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Raise your fees
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the New Year (or start of your new financial year) is a good time to raise fees
- raise fees for all clients from January 1
- separate out the GST (or your tax) from your main fee in case GST goes up
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Clients excpect that fees will raise over time - you are a business and you have rising costs, so operate like a business
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Add new services
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can you add coaching as a service? eg coaching for singles
- can you start a therapy group? - funnel existing/ending clients into your therapy group
- think outside the box and get creative with new services - e.g. offer phone support packages so clients can pre-pay for phone support and use as needed
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have you learned a new skill/technique such as EFT, hypnosis or EMDR and are you marketing? Don't forget to do marketing of any new techniques and skills
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Create joint ventures
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can you form a partnership with someone you know or would like to work with?
- put together a group/workshop/PD event
- share the load of the marketing and administration work
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joint ventures can be fun, reduce the isolation of working in private practice and help you earn more income
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Get more clients (is your marketing up to scratch)
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getting more clients is always the quickest way to increase your income
- is your marketing following best practices?
- is your website professional with compelling copy on your that speaks to the core issues of your clients?
- are you following best practices on social media?
- are you collecting email addresses through your website and sending an email newsletter?
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are you doing community marketing and networking on a regular basis with other professionals in your local area?
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Create a product
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it’s never been easier to create a product and start to earn a passive income
- can you sell a meditation series? - record meditations and guided relaxations and sell them online
- can you put your intellectual property into an ebook and sell it through your website or the Amazon marketplace?
- do you want to create a membership site or an online community where you provide ongoing support and content?
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au
Have you ever considered starting a podcast? If you want to start a podcast, now may be the perfect time to catch the wave of the podcast revolution taking the world by storm.
Never before in our history has it been so easy to reach a worldwide audience via podcasting. This is the perfect vehicle to get your message out to new people and raise awareness of you, your ideas, your services and products.
Podcast growth has been enormous over the last few years. The Pew Research Centre has found that:
- podcast listenership has more than doubled since 2008
- awareness of podcasts has more than doubled since 2006
- podcast creation is rising with more than 22,000 podcasts hosted on Libsyn, one of the most popular hosting companies for podcasters
- in 2014 over 2.5 billion requests for podcast downloads were processed
In this episode of The Australia Counselling Podcast I talk you through how to start your own podcast from scratch. After producing almost 100 episodes with 61,000 downloads to date, I've got some idea of what's involved and some great tips for you as well.
Here's what I cover in this episode:
Why start a podcast? * you can expand your reach of people and expose your ideas and your business to countless people across the world * The Australia Counselling Podcast has to date 96 episodes, 61,000 episodes and has been listened to in 98 countries * 50% of our listeners are from Australia, 25% from the USA, 10% from the UK and the remaining from other countries * podcasting is great for networking and building relationships with other therapists - on this podcast I’ve interviewed world-renowned therapists Michael Yapko, Sue Johnson, Harville Hendrix, Bill O’Hanlon, Rick Hanson and Irvin Yalom, just to name a few * You get more attention from the media - I’ve been interviewed for numerous media outlets, magazines and radio stations - plus I’ve secured media interviews for Australia Counselling members * you can improve your confidence as a speaker * you can build the know, like and trust factor with your listeners * it can assist if you want to create products for sales or promote your services to a wider audience
What’s involved in podcasting? * the most import thing is the commitment - be aware it’s a huge commitment of time and resources * if you’re not willing to commit to podcasting on a regular basis, don’t start! * securing interviews can be time consuming and challenging with negotiating time zones * recording of episodes need to be either batched or done in advance * editing episodes takes time, especially if your guest is not a confident speaker * you may need to create blog posts for the show notes of each episode * after editing you need to upload the audio to your audio hosting * once your episode is published it's important to do marketing so new audiences can listen to your episodes * this is a slow marketing strategy - results take time
How podcasting works * every episode is an mp3 audio file * you need to tag the file with 'meta data' before uploading to your hosting * you need a server to host your audio * you need to create a feed - I use Libsyn - which is the gold standard in the industry (I pay USD $20 a month) * the feed is what goes into iTunes and every time you upload a new audio, iTunes gets the audio on the feed
Questions to ask before you start a podcast * what are you going to podcast about? * are you going to do interview style or just you speaking? * what is the purpose or end goal of your podcast? * what is your podcast title? * what is your podcast subtitle? * what is your podcast description? (this goes in iTunes) * what will be on your artwork? - look at other top podcasts in iTunes and what graphics they have (I recommend 99designs for getting your iTunes artwork) * do you want a professional intro and outro (try fiverr.com for voice-over artists) * is your music royalty free?
Podcasting equipment and software needed to start a podcast * sound quality is the most important part of recording - invest in a great microphone * cost effective solution: Audiotechnica ATR 2100 USB microphone about $60 * pop filter and a stand and shock mount * my own high end podcasting microphone: Rode podcasting microphone with studio boom and shock mount about $400 * Call recorder for Mac (Skype plugin) - for interviews * Pamela Call Recorder for Skype (PC) * Hindenburg Journalist - for audio editing (about $100) * alternatives: Garage Band (Mac), Audacity * freeconferencecall.com for free recording on the phone * post-production - auphonic.com to even out the sound levels
How to record a podcast episode 1. for interviews I use Call Recorder 2. if I'm doing an interview, I record directly into Hindenburg Journalist 3. I drag audios into Hindenburg - then edit 4. then export the file from Hindenburg as a wav file 5. add tags in auphonic 6. upload to auphonic to even out sound levels 7. if not using auphonic, add tags using ID3 editor software 8. upload into Libsyn and add description and schedule or publish immediately 9. once your feed is ready in Libsyn, then create your show in iTunes 10. upload your artwork to iTunes for the first time and add a description 11. once you’re up and running, submit your podcast to free podcast directories
Tips for recording a podcast * get ahead in your recordings so you're not scrambling to record your episode each week * create a system around requesting interviews to save time * don’t get obsessive about editing - you don't need to remove every "um" and "ah" * work out the structure of your episodes so you can rinse and repeat * prepare your interviewees - create an information document to give them before * often interviewees are nervous so let them know it’s okay if they make a mistake and you can edit out mistakes * listen to the most popular podcasts in iTunes for format/structure and interview style * have a call to action in each episode - what do you want your listener to do?
Constellation work is a powerful way of resolving issues within systems that keep individuals, couples, families and organisations stuck.
Constellation work allows people to experience a completely new view of a system so they are aware of the patterns in a system and respond in healthier ways.
It’s a powerful way to work in a group setting that involves choosing representatives from the group and setting up the system so it can be understood better.
While there is still much we don’t know about constellations because it’s a new field, we do know that they are powerful agents of change that can affect how people can handle their personal and professional lives.
In this interview Jan discusses:
- what is constellation work, how and why it works
- how constellation work is set up in a group setting
- what settings can constellation work be used in
- his work with organisational change
- the most difficult family dynamics to shift in organisations
- what is a double bind and why they are so challenging in systems
- the most powerful impact family/organisational constellations have had on his personal and business life
- why rituals are important in constellation work
- case studies of how constellation work has opened up greater possibilities for an organisation
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session96
Have you ever wondered why someone chooses one therapist over another when searching online?
Believe it or not, there's a whole psychology behind choosing a therapist online. And when it comes to online counselling directories, visitors often have hundreds of therapists to choose from.
So we spoke with Vancouver-based marketing coach and copywriter Juliet Austin about how to create a compelling counselling directory listing that gets you clients.
In this interview Juliet shares:
- What people care about when choosing a therapist online
- Why it's important to spend some time creating a compelling directory listing
- What psychological factors influence the decision making process of a website visitor choosing one therapist over another
- The elements and must-haves of a compelling directory listing
- The most common mistakes therapists are making on directory listings
- How to write your copy when you have a limited word count
- Whether clients care about qualifications, degrees and specialised training
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session95
Have you ever had the experience of doing great work with a client, but then for some reason progress stalls? You've reached a therapeutic impasse and no matter which direction you go, you can't seem to make headway.
It's not uncommon for clients to get stuck in therapy, but the key is knowing what to do once the therapy stalls.
So I spoke with U.S. therapist Courtney Armstrong who is the author of the book The Therapeutic "Aha!": Strategies for Getting Clients Unstuck.
In this interview Courtney discusses:
- where clients often get stuck in therapy
- why you need to engage the emotional brain of your clients
- how you can strengthen the therapeutic alliance when your clients are stuck
- how to create exciting goals with your clients
- how to locate the root of emotional conflict
- her 5-step memory reconsolidation framework to reverse trauma
- why it's essential to activate experiential change in your clients
- some of her best tips for helping clients get unstuck
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session94
In this episode of The Australia Counselling Podcast, listen to founder Clinton Power share his thoughts on why he thinks the Australian psychotherapy industry is in crisis.
The seven reasons the Australian psychotherapy industry is in crisis are:
- Our professional psychotherapy associations have let us down.
- Psychotherapy training institutions are spreading propaganda about the profession
- Therapists are not promoting themselves effectively
- People don’t understand what psychotherapy is
- We have taught people to go to a G.P. when they have a mental health issue
- We have created a culture of quick fixes for mental health issues
- There is still a lot of stigma for seeking treatment for mental health issues
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session93
Gestalt therapy is an effective and powerful relational therapy that helps clients raise their awareness about how they are in the world so they can self-regulate and move towards health.
Gestalt therapy is also synonymous with the 'empty chair' technique made famous by Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt therapy. However Gestalt therapy is much more than this technique and has a rich tradition and evolution to become the modern relational psychotherapy it is today.
So we spoke with world-renowned Gestalt therapists Drs. Bob and Rita Resnick from Gestalt Therapy Training Associates Los Angeles (GATLA) about what Gestalt therapy is and why it is such an effective therapeutic approach for working with individuals and couples.
In this interview Bob and Rita discuss:
- What Gestalt Therapy is about and how it works
- Why Gestalt Therapy became synonymous with the empty chair technique
- What is character and how it is formed
- How Gestalt Therapy works with interruptions to self-regulation in the present
- What Gestalt Therapy has that other theories and methodologies lack
- The relevance of Gestalt Therapy today in a culture of governments and consumers expecting effective outcomes in limited sessions
- The biggest mistakes people, including therapists, make about understanding Gestalt Therapy
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session92
As a therapist in private practice, you're probably not excited when it comes time to do your bookkeeping and accounting. You came into this field because you love working with clients and changing people's lives and likely don't have a background in finance or economics.
However, if you don't stay on top of your numbers, your therapy business is flying blind without clear goals and strategy for increasing your income over time.
So we spoke with accountant and financial expert Amanda Fisher, who has recently published a book called Unscramble Your Numbers: Unlock the Secrets to Your Business Cashflow about how therapists can start to manage their finances better and get their business on track for financial success.
In this interview Amanda discusses:
- why the numbers get scrambled for so many therapists
- what numbers should we be looking at in our business
- what are the biggest mistakes she see therapists make around their numbers
- what can happen in business when we are not on top of our numbers
- why you need to use cloud accounting like Xero.com to streamline your business
- whether writing down our financial goals really makes a difference
- what business metrics we should look at on a regular basis
- whether therapists really need a budget and cashflow forecast
- the key numbers and reports therapists should be looking at and when
- the benefits of investing most your profits back into a business that is trying to grow
- how to interpret the numbers and indicators your business is in trouble
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/91
Website design is one of those fields that is in constant flux. What was cool and cutting edge two years ago is now obsolete and out of fashion.
And when it comes to websites for therapists, it's critical your website reflects current trends so your professional face to the world looks up-to-date and attracts your ideal clients.
So we spoke with accomplished website designer Kat Love, who specialises in creating website for psychotherapists. We asked her about the current trends you need to know and some of the biggest mistakes she sees therapists make in their websites.
In this interview Kat discusses:
changes in website design over the last few years
why she only recommends WordPress self-hosted as a website platform
some of the biggest mistakes therapists make on their websites
the top website trends we should all know about
why mobile responsive is no longer an option - it's essential
what is website conversion and why you want to build a website that converts
some simple tips you can do today to improve your website conversions
where she sees the future of website design
Links and resources mentioned in this episode
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session90
Psychotherapy and counselling in the United States is vastly different from Australia in terms of the culture and the development of the industry as a whole. Yet there are many valuable lessons Australian therapists can take from U.S. therapists in how to build a successful private practice.
So we spoke to an Australian therapist Roby Abeles who has lived and worked extensively in the U.S. and Australia to find out more and get tips for building a successful private practice.
In this interview Roby shares:
the fundamental differences in how U.S. therapists approach marketing a private practice
- how the mindset of U.S. therapists differs from Australian therapists
- the unique challenges facing Australian therapists today
- lessons we can apply from U.S. customer service to therapy clients in Australia
- the benefits of taking a collaborative approach to working with peers
- the truth about what it really takes to go into full-time private practice in Australia
- the importance of education, supervision and clinical hours before opening a private practice
- why you need social and clinical support from your psychotherapy peers
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session89
Most psychotherapists today will agree it’s essential to include the client’s body in the therapeutic process for therapy to be effective.
The mind-body connection has been reinforced by emerging research over the last decade, which shows the mind and body are inseparable when it comes to how we operate as human beings.
Hakomi therapy, which is a form of mindfulness-centred somatic (mind-body) psychotherapy emerged in the 1970’s from founder Ron Kurtz.
Hakomi means “how do I stand in relation to all things?” and is a good description of how Hakomi works. So we spoke with Australian Certified Hakomi practitioner Carol Perry about what Hakomi is and why this mind-body therapy approach is so powerful.
In this podcast Carol discusses:
•what is Hakomi therapy and where it came from
•an outline of the Hakomi approach
•how to track your clients non-verbal behaviour and use therapeutically
•when using Hakomi might be contraindicated
•why is it important to include the body in psychotherapy
•the place for disclosure in Hakomi therapy
•how her mindfulness and meditation practice has influenced her work
•a successful case study demonstrating the use of Hakomi therapy
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/88
Online therapy refers to a wide range of therapy services that are provided by therapists to clients that are sometimes thousands of kilometers apart, thanks to the power of the Internet.
But online therapy is a potential minefield with lots of ethical issues that can arise with practitioners that are providing online therapy without specific training or knowledge of this field.
So we spoke to Dr Kate Anthony, co-founder of the Online Therapy Institute about the promises and pitfalls of online therapy.
In this interview Kate shares:
•what is considered online therapy today
•how far has online therapy come in the last 5 years?
•some of the most common approaches to online therapy
•what is Omnichannelled Therapy and why it's good for clients
•her thoughts on how secure Skype is as an online therapy delivery platform
•which platform she now recommends therapists use when delivering online therapy
•the importance of clear therapist boundaries in online therapy
•what is the 'online disinhibition effect'
•what should therapists do when things go wrong with online therapy
•training she recommends for mental health practitioners wanting to become provide online therapy
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session87
Clinical hypnosis is an effective technique for helping your clients manage pain, stress, phobias as well as a broad range of other issues our clients present to us.
Clinical hypnosis can be easily integrated with Gestalt therapy, NLP, Person-Centred Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and many other therapy approaches. So it's a wonderful technique to add to your clinical skills to help your clients who present with many different issues.
The mechanisms of suggestion are powerful in calling upon the subconscious mind to assist our clients in the process of change and positive therapeutic outcomes.
So we spoke with Leon Cowen who is a clinical hypnotherapist and clinical hypnotherapy educator, with over 40 years as a therapist.
In this episode Leon discusses:
The difference between clinical hypnosis and clinical hypnotherapy
What clinical hypnotherapy and psychotherapy have in common
Some of the most common myths about hypnosis
Why our clients are often in a hypnotic state when they first contact us on the phone
Issues clinical hypnosis can effectively treat
Issues where hypnosis is contraindicated
How clinical hypnosis and psychotherapy techniques are similar
What are induction techniques, susceptibility techniques and deepening techniques
Successful case studies where clinical hypnosis was used
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session86
When it comes to navigating ethical issues as a therapist, most of us like to think we have a pretty good handle on what's good ethical practice.
But the data says otherwise.
We have all heard of stories of colleagues who have breached ethical guidelines, or have had complaints made against them. And still our professional associations regularly receive complaints relating to a breach of ethics or worse, sexual transgressions between client and therapist.
On top of that, it appears our professional associations in Australia aren’t keeping up with the development of technology and social media. So Australian therapists are left to make their own guidelines when it comes to interacting with clients online and on social media.
So we spoke to ethics expert Dr Elizabeth Riley, who is the Ethics Chair of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) about some of the most common ethical dilemmas that therapists face today.
In this interview, Dr Elizabeth Riley discusses:
- the most common ethical issues she sees in new therapists
- the most common ethical issues she sees in experienced therapists
- why we still have cases of therapists involved in sexual transgressions with clients
- what are the signs that a therapist may be grappling with an ethical issue?
- what she recommends be the first step for a therapist experiencing an ethical dilemma
- what an Australian therapist should do if they have a complaint made against them
- how can a therapist decide what is ethical behaviour online if the professional associations haven’t created a code of ethics in this area
- the ethical issues related to the delivery of online counselling and therapy
- her thoughts on the state Australian ethics and where we will go in the future
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session85
Have you ever had the experience of trying to remember all the things you need to do in your life and therapy practice, but you struggle to keep on top of your paperwork, tasks and To Dos?
Well the hugely popular app Evernote is an incredible tool that can become your 'digital brain' where you will never have to search for an email or lost paperwork again.
In this interview, technology coach Helen Crozier from Keyboard Karma returns again to the Australia Counselling Podcast to share how you can use this powerful tool to improve your productivity.
In this interview she discusses:
- The new tiered subscriptions: Free, Plus, Premium and Business
- Workchat: How to use this powerful collaboration and sharing tool and how it works
- Presentation Mode: Why you can now do away with Powerpoint/Keynote
- Scannable App: How this app links to Evernote for quick, accurate scanning
- Business Card Scanning: (premium feature): How it connects directly to Linkedin and populates profile pic, url and job title/description, requests to connect and send contact details
- Evernote Clipper Update: How to start clipping text and images from the Internet and upload to Evernote
Helen’s Top Five Tips for using Evernote are: 1. Don’t go overboard with creating lots of notebooks - it's preferable to use tags wherever possible. Having lots of notebooks is the same as having too many email or file folders. After a while you don’t have the energy to file things into the right place and it all becomes a bit of a mess. Essentially notebooks are great if you want to share just some of your notes and collaborate with someone. I advise clients to start using evernote first - then decide on the structure if they are unsure how to start. It’s very easy to change at any time so just dive in 2. Use the shortcut bar to store notebooks, notes or even saved searches. The shortcut bar speeds up finding critical information. Shortcuts will synchronise over all devices which is a bonus. 3. Try using audio. If you have your phone turned off all day you can create a note called voicemail with today’s date. Then record your messages into that note and type in any action reminders to go back to later. That way you can delete the voicemail knowing the message is safe to listen to later. 4. Use your email address to subscribe to newsletters. This is great for cutting down on emails by using your Evernote email address to subscribe to newsletters. They never come to your inbox and are all stored in Evernote. 5. Learn how to forward emails into Evernote. If you add an @ sign followed by the notebook in the subject of the email Evernote will automatically file the email into the correct place. You can even add # hashtags and reminders.
BONUS TIP! This is a tip for Kindle users who read lots of books and make use of highlights and notes. In the past it was not possible to get those precious highlights, notes and comments off the Kindle very easily but I’m pleased to say that now we have the tool for that. It’s called Clippings and is incredibly useful for those researching their field. Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session84
It seems that affairs and infidelity are on the rise, particularly with the rise of websites like Ashley Madison, which has the tagline "Life is Short. Have an Affair." And the recent hacking of Ashley Madison has brought the topic of affairs and infidelity back into the spotlight.
So we spoke to Dr. Tammy Nelson, who is a sex and relationship expert, an international speaker, an author and a licensed psychotherapist who has written extensively about infidelity and what she calls the "continuum of monogamy."
In this episode Tammy discusses:
- Her thoughts on why affairs and infidelity are on the rise
- Whether couples can recover from an affair
- What is "the new monogamy" and how it can apply to any couple
- What is “erotic recovery” and why it's essential for couples who want to recover from infidelity
- Questions to ask partners to help them understand the affair and start to heal
- How to help partners look at their monogamy and redefine their monogamy
- One thing couples can do today to prevent an affair or change their sex life
- Open marriages: can they really work? Or is an open marriage a recipe for disaster?
- What heterosexual couples learn from gay couples when it comes to open relationships
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session83
Have you ever considered going on a silent retreat?
Perhaps you're terrified at the idea of not speaking and disconnecting from technology for a week. Or maybe you can't comprehend what would be the purpose of meditating for day after day. Or perhaps you already have a meditation practice, but think you're not ready for a week of mindfulness and meditation.
However, a silent retreat can be deeply rejuvenating and is a deep form of self-care. And as therapists, it's essential we take care of ourselves so we can be in the best state to provide care and attention for our clients.
I recently went on a silent retreat and reflected on the numerous personal and clinical benefits.
In this episode I share 5 compelling reasons why every therapist needs to experience a silent retreat.
The 5 reasons are:
- A silent retreat helps you learn to tolerate difficult sensations and feelings
- A silent retreat helps you grows your capacity for holding others
- A silent retreat helps you improves your personal resilience
- A silent retreat helps you feel part of the human race
- A silent retreat gives you a deep sense of self-care, recovery and rejuvenation.
I also interview three Australia Counselling members who have been on silent retreat with me to ask them about their experiences.
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session82
Email marketing is a powerful form of marketing because it helps your readers to know, like and trust you over time.
An email newsletter is a great way for therapists to stay in touch with prospective clients as well as build your email list.
However many therapists are still not using this effective medium to long-term marketing strategy as part of their marketing plan.
In this podcast I cover the most important things you need to know to get started with an email newsletter for your therapy practice.
In this interview I discuss:
Why have an email newsletter?
The importance of choosing a topic for your email newsletter
Why you need to decide on a publishing schedule
Email marketing software recommendations
Email marketing templates - why mobile responsive is critical
How to find content ideas for your newsletter
How to structure your email newsletter
Additional links and resources to include in your newsletter
How to start capturing leads for your newsletter
Thank you pages and final welcome emails
Advanced email newsletter tips
The value of getting help and outsourcing parts of your email newsletter
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session81
Resilience is often considered the ability to deal with life’s challenges, whether you're dealing with a small disappointment or a crisis of disastrous proportions.
Resilience is built into our brains, however, over time we learn unhelpful patterns, which then become fixed in our neural circuitry.
But neuroscience is now revealing that what we previously thought was hardwired and couldn't be changed can actually be rewired to form new neural connections that bring about change and improve mental health.
Linda Graham has written extensively about this in her book Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being, where she writes about how to improve your well-being and resilience by using the power of neuroplasticity.
And the good news is Linda is coming to Melbourne and Brisbane to present her workshop on resilience for the first time in Australia, presented by KEvents.
In this interview Linda shares:
her definition of resilience
how the brain develops resilience - or not
how early development of resilience goes wrong
how to recover resilience through the neuroplasticity of the brain
how mindfulness helps us recover resilience
how empathy and self-acceptance assist with building resilience
how resonant relationships play a role in resilience
what is somatic intelligence and how it helps us recover resilience
the role of positive emotions in helping to build resilience
reflection and response flexibility and how it helps shift patterns of response
exercises she uses with her clients to build resilience
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session80
Diabetes is a serious disease which if left untreated, can have enormous consequences for the health of the diabetic.
However, the mental health of people with diabetes is often not discussed, yet is often impacted by this disease. It's not uncommon for diabetics to suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and relationship issues.
Australia Counselling member Carolien Koreneff has the unique skills of being a diabetes educator as well as a somatic psychotherapist. So we spoke with her about how diabetes and mental health are closely related.
In this interview Carolien shares:
•How she started working in the field of diabetes
•A background about the field of diabetes and therapy – 3:00
•What is diabetes and the different types of diabetes - 4:15
•Why type 1 diabetes is considered a more serious health issue – 6:00
•Other ways diabetes impacts people – 6:25
•The mental health issues for people with diabetes – 8:00
•How Carolien combines Diabetes education work with psychosomatic therapy work - 9:15
•What counsellors should you be aware of when encountering clients with diabetes – 11:50
•Warning signs to watch for when glucose levels drop low – 12:55
•The importance of mood regulation for diabetics – 14:25
•Relationship issues that can arise during mood changes – 15:05
•How she helps her clients increase their body awareness and tune into what their body is telling them – 15:50
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/79
If you work with couples, you probably find some of your most challenging couples to work with are those in high conflict.
Sometimes couples come into the therapy room right from a fight and continue the fight in your office. Or perhaps you're dealing with a couple that has been harbouring resentment and anger that explodes out when they talk about certain issues.
Whatever the case, the reality is you need to contain your clients and put rules in place to make the therapeutic environment safe and secure so everyone can be heard and validated for the therapy to progress.
This is no easy task at the best of times and made all the harder if you're a therapist who personally finds conflict challenging.
So we spoke with Australia Counselling member Jacqueline McDiarmid who specialises in working with couples and families, and has a wealth of experience in working with high conflict couples and training therapists in how to work with these clients.
In this interview Jacqueline shares:
- The most common behaviours of couples in high conflict
- The challenges therapists struggle with when working with high conflict couples
- The most common mistakes therapists make with high conflict couples
- How to effectively manage the couple when fighting escalates in the therapy room
- Tips for therapists needing to manage their own anxiety when conflict escalates
- How to use systemic circular questioning in your sessions to reduce escalation of conflict
Get the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session78
The coming out experience for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex person (LGBTI) is unique for each person.
It's not uncommon for a LGBTI person to experience rejection, homophobia, harassment and abuse that can lead to serious mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol addiction and suicide.
Australia Counselling member and Melbourne psychotherapist Matt Glover is passionate about advocating for the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTI people and has dedicated his counselling and psychotherapy practice to this cause.
He has taken a fascinating journey as a former Baptist minister for 14 years where he was struck by the poor levels of mental health and the high levels of suicide of LGBTI people.
In this interview Matt covers:
- Some of the unique challenges LGBTI people experience
- Mistaken assumptions therapists often make about LGBTI people
- The experience of coming out for a LGBTI person
- What the coming out experience is like for friends and family
- The developmental milestones for a LGBTI person coming out
- The risks for LGBTI people when coming out
- How we can best support a LGBTI person coming out
Access the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session77
There’s no doubt that online video is experiencing an exponential growth in recent times. If you’re marketing your private practice online, it’s an important channel to consider adding to your marketing mix.
Have a look at some of these amazing video statistics:
- 4 billion YouTube views a day
- 6 billion hours of video watched a month on YouTube
- 300 hours per minute of new videos uploaded to YouTube
- 323 days worth of YouTube videos viewed on FB every minute
- 1 billion videos viewed on Facebook each day
- The average Facebook user worldwide watched 75% more video this year compared to last year
- Brands posted 20,000 more videos on Facebook than they did on YouTube in December 2014
So we spoke with professional videographer Duane Strauss of Bright Crayon Productions about how to create short videos to promote your private practice.
In this interview he shares:
- the different kinds of videos you can create to promote your services
- the benefits of video over text or images
- tips he recommends for DIY video
- the basic equipment you need to get up and running with your video recording
- the benefits of working with a professional videographer
- how can you prepare for making an effective and compelling video
- the most common mistakes people make when creating video
If you’re a psychotherapist or training to become one, it’s likely you know the name Irvin D. Yalom.
Dr Yalom is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University with over 50 years clinical experience as well as an accomplished author. He has inspired generations of therapists with his text books Existential Psychotherapy and The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, as well as his ‘teaching tales’ that contain psychotherapy themes central to his fiction and non-fiction books.
Dr Yalom’s latest book Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy is a collection of poignant and moving tales from psychotherapy. In these stories his patients grapple with life’s two greatest challenges: that we must all die, and that each of us is responsible for leading a life worth living.
In this interview Dr Yalom discusses:
- Writing and psychotherapy: How he came to write this book and how his creative writing sits with his practice of psychotherapy.
- Therapist disclosure: Throughout this book Dr Yalom makes honest disclosures in the here-and-now with his patients. He talks about how important therapist disclosure is in psychotherapy.
- Facing the death of a client: What he learned about death from his patient Ellie, who called herself “a pioneer of dying”.
- Not predicting where the therapy will go: The important ingredients that make for effective therapy and how he is sometimes completely surprised by the therapeutic journeys of his patients.
- Taking a detailed history of a recent, 24 hour period: This strategy seems to uncover some surprising information about his patients, such as his patient Alvin, who he discovered through asking this question had so little intimacy in his life. Dr Yalom describes how he uses this intervention.
- Brief therapy: With symptom focused, quick fix and short-term therapies becoming increasingly popular with governments, therapists and clients, Dr Yalom shares his view on whether in-depth psychotherapy is still relevant.
- Giving up hope for a better past: How we can help our clients with the idea that change may come from actually giving up hope for a better past.
- On being creative in therapy: How he worked creatively with some of his patients to bring about change and transformation in unexpected ways.
- Effective psychotherapy: How much of his writing is part of his mission to educate and inspire young therapists about what effective psychotherapy looks like.
- Group psychotherapy: His views on the importance of this type of therapy and positive changes he’s noticing with psychiatric resident group training.
Mediation is often considered the last stop for couples who are separating and need help disentangling their lives and working out how to divide their finances and formalise their co-parenting arrangements.
However there is a lot more to mediation than meets the eye. In fact, a great many types of disputes between couples, work colleagues, neighbours and families can all be effectively resolved with mediation.
Julia Brierley is a nationally accredited mediator who has a great deal of experience working with many people from all walks on life who are trying to resolve a dispute.
In this interview Julia shares:
- what is mediation?
- the different types of disputes where mediation can be used
- the difference between counselling and mediation?
- how do you know whether a couple should seek counselling or mediation
- the strategies used during mediation to ensure a good outcome for all parties
- the benefits of mediation
- what is a parenting plan
- the legality of mediation agreements and what happens if one party breaks the agreement
Here the show notes at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session74
Most people experience shock at one time or another in their life and a great majority of people are in shock on a daily basis.
Shock may begin early in life and then build up as life’s stresses increase, or it may result from a sudden traumatic event.
When shock is not treated, it can lead to serious illness and health issues, dysfunctional relationships and addictions to sugar, alcohol and drugs.
Diane Zimberoff and David Hartman are a husband and wife team of psychotherapists with over 30 years experience in helping people heal the shock and trauma in their lives. They are also the authors of the best-selling book: Overcoming Shock: Healing the Traumatised Mind and Heart.
In this interview, Diane and David discuss:
- what is shock and the physiological response to shock
- the relationship between shock and trauma
- how shock impacts our well-being
- the relationship between shock and addictions
- how relationships are impacted by shock and trauma and how shock contributes to domestic violence
- how we can help our clients heal the shock in their lives
- the significance of The Wellness Institute and the Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy method
- why using hypnotherapy so important in treating shock and trauma
Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this epsiode at http://australiacounselling.com.au/session73
People with depression, one of the most common problems we see, are sometimes stuck and challenging to help change. Medications don’t help all depressed people and, even when it helps, it often comes with uncomfortable side effects and only works partially. Sometimes working with depressed people gets therapists depressed and discouraged.
Bill O'Hanlon is an accomplished psychotherapist and author of 36 books and more than 60 articles. He has appear on The Oprah Show, Today and has presented over 3000 times around the world. He recently published a new book called Out of the Blue: Six Non-Medication Ways to Relieve Depression.
In this interview, you will learn six hopeful and innovative approaches for helping people with depression to get some traction out of it. Because depression has multiple causes and factors, there are many ways to shift it. These approaches draw on respectful, strength-based models as well as the latest brain plasticity research. The latest research casts doubt on traditional explanations of depression and shows a whole array of new angles on treating it. Bill, who has suffered and recovered from depression, is a lively presenter with a fresh take on this topic.
The six strategies for relieving depression are:
- Strategy#1: Marbling. Acknowledgment of suffering, uncovering non-depressed moments and times. Mapping the contours of depression and non-depressed times and moments to find some traction and hope.
- Strategy#2: Undoing depression. Challenging patterns of depression to break its grip.
- Strategy#3: Changing your relationship with depression. Externalizing, noticing and valuing depression.
- Strategy#4: Challenging isolation. Connections as important healing and preventive elements in recovering from depression.
- Strategy#5: A future with possibilities. Connecting to a future with meaning and hope as way out of depression.
- Strategy#6: Re-starting brain growth. The neurogenic/neuroatrophy hypothesis and how to use it to get traction out of depression.
As a therapist, writing can be a powerful and effective way to help you build an online profile that can lead to increased exposure for your business, requests for media interviews and new clients inquiries.
Writing can be in the form of magazine articles, blogging, guest blogging, copywriting on your website or newspaper articles. All these avenues help you establish yourself as an authority in your niche and the ‘go-to’ expert for the clients you work with.
If you’re a therapist who is not sharing your knowledge and expertise through writing, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities for growing your business.
Valerie Khoo is a journalist and author who is the founder of the Australian Writers’ Centre. She has mentored countless writers that have gone on to write for prestigious publications and publish books.
In this interview Valerie covers:
- Why it’s important to write as a business owner
- The different types of writing available to business owners
- What forms of writing are suitable for therapists
- How a blog can help serviced-based professionals such as therapists
- Some of the most common objections people have to writing
- The benefits that can come from writing for your business
- How blogging is different from other forms of writing
- Where to find inspiration for writing and how to collect your ideas
In a marketplace today that is saturated with therapists and mental health practitioners in private practice, it's essential that you have a marketing strategy and a marketing plan to implement over time. Effective marketing is about communicating the benefits and value of your services.
Australia Counselling Founder Clinton Power recently presented two workshops for ACAP and PDP Seminars.
In this podcast, you can listen to an edited version of the first half of his workshop called A Beginners Guide to Online Marketing.
In this presentation Clinton covers:
Getting started:
- having the right mindset
- the value of knowing yourself
- how revealing yourself attracts clients
- the importance of building online authority
How to define your niche for marketing purposes: * what is a niche * why you need a niche * examples of niches * niche exercise
The elements of effective therapy websites: * overview of how websites have changed * features of effective websites that attract clients * examples of websites * opt-ins and email collection
When parents experience the death of their child, no one can truly know the depths of their grief and despair unless they have lost a child of their own.
In today's society, many people don't know how to respond to others when they go through such a tragic loss. As a result, parents can feel alone, isolated and unsupported in their grief. This is where professional counselling support can be critical for grieving parents and families.
Cait Wotherspoon is a counsellor and psychotherapist who specialises in working with the parents and families who are grieving the death of their child. She is on the forefront of working with people that are trying to cope with unbearable grief and loss.
In this interview Cait shares:
- Some of the emotions that are commonly experienced by those people dealing with a death or loss
- What is unique about the grief of parents who lose a child
- What is considered as healthy grieving
- Whether the stages grieving as suggested by Kubler-Ross in the 1970s are still relevant today
- The new DSM 5 description for complicated grieving
- When counsellors should be concerned about how a client is grieving
- How we can best support parents and families who lose a child
- How relationships are impacted after the loss of a child
- How parents and families can remember a child who dies
- Resources available in Australia for grieving parents and families
In our latest therapist success story, we interview Sydney couple therapist Melissa Ferrari to find out how she has created a successful private practice.
Melissa has an interesting story because she has built her practice up from part-time work while volunteering and working in other jobs, to a thriving practice where she refers clients to her associates.
Melissa has also been effective is using Facebook in a strategic way to drive traffic to her website and capture new counselling prospects.
In this interview Melissa shares:
- How her practice evolved from a small part-time practice to full-time with associates
- Some of the challenges she experienced in building her practice
- The successful mindset that was instrumental in her business growth
- The most effective marketing strategies she has used in her practice
- How she grew her Facebook Page from 0 to over 6,500 fans
- How she has been getting more exposure in popular media
- The results she has seen in her business from these marketing strategies
When you're running a busy therapy practice, time is money.
So you want to make sure you're working as productively as you can with the time outside of your client hours.
Thankfully there are lots of tech tools that can help you work more effectively and efficiently when it comes to the running of your business.
In this podcast episode, Clinton Power shares his 10 best tech tools that can help you save time and money in 2015. Visit the show notes to check out the tech tools mentioned by Clinton in this episode.
Infidelity has a huge impact on relationships with the ripple effect affecting children, families and communities.
When a couple is dealing with infidelity, the relationship is often threatened with the possibility of ending due to the deep pain and hurt that is often felt by the betrayed partner.
Savannah Ellis is the founder of the Infidelity Recovery Institute (IRI), and is passionate about helping couples get back on track after an infidelity.
In this interview Savannah shares:
- how she became interested and developed her passion for infidelity recovery
- what is the impact of infidelity on couples and families
- how social media and the internet is making affairs and infidelity more widespread
- her seven stage process to recover from infidelity
- the different affair types and how to treat them
When it comes to working as a therapist in private practice, it’s sometimes challenging only trading dollar for hours.
The downside of working in private practice as a therapist is you don’t get paid if you’re sick, take holidays or need to decrease your client load.
This is where multiple streams of income can be enormously helpful in increasing your overall revenue and support your income when you’re not seeing clients.
U.S. therapist Mari A. Lee has had some great success with creating digital products and has built a practice that is built on multiple streams of income.
She is passionate about this business model for therapists as a way to share your knowledge with the world while working less hours in your practice.
In this interview Mari shares:
- Why therapists should consider multiple streams of income.
- Some of the multiple streams of income that are suitable for therapists
- The successes she has had with creating multiple streams of income.
- What to consider if you want to get started with digital products.
- Tips for therapists who want to create online products.
- The most common fears that stop therapists from creating online products
- How to promote your digital product once it’s finished.
- What to watch out for when it comes to creating online products.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a complex disorder experienced by 2-6% of the population. BPD is often misunderstood by the public and many mental health professionals.
People with Borderline have ongoing difficulty relating to other people and to the world around them. This can be very distressing for the person and for those who care for them.
Symptoms often include deep feelings of insecurity, constantly changing emotions, ruptured relationships, impulsiveness and sometimes self-harm. In it's most serious form some people can experience psychotic episodes.
Sonia Neale is a motivational speaker who speaks on the topic of living with Borderline Personality Disorder. In this interview Sonia gives us a unique insight into the challenges and struggles of living with BPD.
Most importantly, Sonia shares a message of hope for people suffering from Borderline and is living proof that recovery from BPD is possible.
In this interview Sonia shares:
- What the lived experience of Borderline Personality Disorder is like.
- What is happening on a biological level for people with BPD.
- The causes of BPD.
- The importance of neuroplasticity and empathy when it comes to managing Borderline Personality.
- What she has found most helpful in her journey with BPD.
- The value of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).
- Advice for family and friends of people with Borderline.
- What mistakes she has seen professionals making when working with BPD.
- Advice for practitioners who work with (or would like to work with) this population.
We live in a world today where many people feel entitled to money, fame, success and popularity. Studies are telling us that narcissism is at an all time high.
What exactly is narcissism are we having a narcissism epidemic? What are the causes of narcissism and can anything be done to prevent a future generation of narcissists?
Dr Jean Twenge is professor of psychology at San Diego State University and has been researching and writing about this topic for many years. Her ground-breaking book The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement answers many questions about what’s happening in our culture and what can be done to reduce narcissism.
In this interview Dr Jean Twenge shares:
- what is narcissism and why we having a narcissism epidemic
- how the internet, celebrity culture, parenting and easy credit is contributing to a rise in narcissism
- the characteristics of a narcissist
- some of the causes of narcissism
- the difference between healthy and unhealthy narcissism
- the relationship between self-esteem and narcissism
- how to deal with a narcissist
- what can parents do to reduce the possibility of raising children that become narcissistic adults
When it comes to adolescence, there’s no doubt it’s a time of enormous change and development. And for some teens and families, it’s also a time of interpersonal conflict, high emotions and challenging behaviours.
Child psychiatrist Dr Daniel Siegel specialises in working with teens and young people and he understands the unique challenges that adolescents have to navigate due to changes in the brain. He released a book on the topic this year for teens, parents and anyone who works with or supports adolescents called Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain.
In this podcast episode Dr Siegel shares:
- The benefits, challenges and purpose of adolescence.
- Some of the most common myths of adolescence
- What is happening in the brain of a teenager.
- How the teenage brain is involved when it comes to risk-taking behaviour.
- How to best support a teenager who may be struggling.
- How we can empower adolescents who are going through such huge changes.
This is a fascinating interview with one of the world’s leading authorities on this topic.
When it comes to counselling gay men, adolescents and boys, it’s critical as a counsellor you understand some of the special needs and challenges of this minority population to be effective.
Dr Michael Kocet is a U.S. professor and mental health counsellor who has specialised in working with gay men, adolescents and boys, as well as educating counselling students about this very specific area of counselling.
He has also recently written a comprehensive book on the topic called Counselling Gay Men, Adolescents, and Boys: A Strengths-Based Guide for Helping Professionals and Educators.
In this interview, Michael discusses:
- how he became involved in counselling gay boys, adolescents and men
- how gay boys and men develop psychologically
- important cultural issues for gay men, adolescents and boys
- the effects of stigma and prejudice towards gay people
- the most important assessment factors for developing a treatment plan
- critical mental health factors that can affect gay men, adolescents and boys
- how important a counsellor’s sexual orientation is for a gay client
- special needs counsellors need to be aware of when counselling bisexual people
Australia Counselling member Helen Larkey is a therapist who was struggling to build her private practice in an area of Australia that is saturated by therapists.
She was about to go back to university to commence the long process of gaining a psychology degree, after already having completed full registration as a counsellor and psychotherapist. She thought that she could only create a successful therapy practice if she could offer Medicare rebates to clients.
But rather than embark on many years of study (and huge cost), she instead made a mindset shift in her approach to her therapy business that has lead to great results.
In our latest podcast, Helen shares how this important mindset shift helped her start to grow the counselling business of her dreams.
In this episode we discuss:
- the benefits she gained from choosing a niche for marketing purposes
- the importance of having a professional website that is aimed to attract her ideal clients
- how she was able to grow her business from no clients to a busy client load
- how working with other professionals such as a business coach and website developer has made a huge difference
- how she has used networking with allied health professionals to grow her referral base
If there were things you could start doing today that would lead to greater business growth in the new year, would you do them?
As the year comes to a close, it's a good time to reflect on your therapy business across the last year and start setting goals you want for your business in 2015.
In our latest podcast, Australia Counselling founder Clinton Power shares five things you can start doing in your business today that will lead to more business growth in 2015.
The points he covers include:
1. Redesign your website
- Websites are living things that need to be refreshed on a regular basis.
- The investment is worth it - not expensive.
- There can be an immediate increase in inquiries.
- Look at your website through the eyes of your ideal client - is it attractive?
- Have a mindset shift regarding costs.
2. Look at your content strategy
- Ask yourself if you're creating client-attracting content.
- Create content your prospective clients will love, visual images and infographics are the most popular right now.
- Consider a monthly newsletter - write one article a week.
- Do you have a blog? If not, start blogging.
- Have a lead magnet.
3. Increase your networking
- This is a long-term strategy that can pay off in a huge way.
- Go to networking events, meet colleagues on a regular basis.
- Reach out to former contacts. You can uses software that can help you with this.
- Start or join a peer supervision group that you can nurture and help grow you professionally as well as become a good source for referrals.
- Look at your online networking such as LinkedIn - many therapists have incomplete LinkedIn profiles. Clean it up and make it look more professional.
4. Look at your business practices
- Have a rock-solid cancellation policy.
- Streamline your business practices.
- Get your books in order.
- If you can, outsource tasks such as VA (virtual assistant) work, writing, accounting, bookkeeping.
5. Review your fees and services
- Consider raising your fees in the new year.
- Create new products and services e.g. group therapy, short-term coaching groups.
- Offer new services to old clients.
When it comes to codependency, there are many myths that surround this presentation in clients.
What's more, the definition of codependency has changed over the years and has a different meaning from what it meant 30 years ago.
In this podcast episode, we speak with U.S. marriage and family therapist Darlene Lancer, who has been working in the field of codependency for over 27 years. She brings us up to date with what codependence is today and some of the important clinical presentations to look out for that may indicate codependence.
In this interview, Darlene also shares:
- what is codependency and the modern definition of codependency
- what are the myths about codependency
- the symptoms of being codependent
- what enabling has to do with codependency
- when and where codependency starts
- how the family of origin can contribute to codependency
- how setting boundaries can actually help treat codependency
- what part shame and guilt plays in codependency
- what are the steps that can be taken in treating codependency
- how to recover and completely heal from codependency
As therapists we often have clients come into our practice with sexual issues, but unfortunately many therapists do not have the specific training to deal with these presentations.
So we spoke with Melbourne sex therapist and clinical psychologist Dr Janet Hall about sex therapy.
Janet gives us a fascinating look inside the world of a sex therapist, where we discussed a wide range of topics related to sex therapy and sexual issues that are experienced by individuals and couples.
In this episode, Dr. Janet Hall discusses:
- the common issues and reasons why men and women go to sex therapists for help
- the most common sexual issues for men who present for sex therapy
- how the internet is contributing to sexual issues in men
- the pros and cons of individuals and couples using pornography
- the differences between sexual problems with heterosexual couples and same-sex couples
- how couples can deal with mismatching libidos
- the downside of ‘hook-up’ apps like Tinder
- what important assessment questions we need to ask clients when they ask for help regarding sex
- how to know when it’s time to refer a client to a sex therapist
- the most unique sexual problem she has worked with
- the healthy and unhealthy sides of fetishes
- whether monogamy/non-monogamy and polyamory can work in a relationship
We know due to advancements in neuroscience that facilitating change involves helping clients to move into different neurobiological states.
As therapists, we want our therapeutic interventions to impact the functioning of the brain in a positive way.
Richard Hill is a psychotherapist who began his career as a professional actor for 25 years, but returned to university at 45 to do a BA in linguistics and went on to complete three Masters degrees with a focus on neurobiology and neuroscience.
Richard is interested in how to apply developments in neuroscience into therapeutic practice and what techniques practitioners can utilise to help clients change.
In this podcast Richard shares:
- what is the Curiosity Approach
- how the Curiosity Approach can help with people affectively disordered
- how therapists turn their curiosity on and off
- what is his Winner/Loser World Theory
- how therapists can apply these concepts to therapeutic practice
- examples of techniques that practitioners can utilise
Have you ever thought about how you could use your knowledge of psychology, psychotherapy and counselling to create products that could earn you a passive income?
Writing an eBook is the perfect way to create an additional income stream for your therapy practice. Not only can your eBook reach audiences across the world you could never impact or help through your local therapy practice, but you can also start to receive a regular income from the sale of your information product.
Californian therapist Lisa Kift is a marriage and family therapist who has been a trailblazer in this area. She has had enormous success creating information products that have helped countless individuals and couples across the world. She has added an additional revenue stream to her practice, as well as used the power of affiliate marketing to have other people sell her information products on her behalf.
In this episode Lisa shares:
- Why she decided to create online products in the form of eBooks
- How to decide what to write your in your eBook
- Her strategy for creating and selling her eBooks
- How to decide whether to sell your eBook through your website or on Amazon
- The benefits and results you can have from writing a eBook
- The software she uses to sell her eBooks all over the world
- Tips and advice for therapists who have never written an ebook but want to get started
Crisis counselling is a unique form of counselling that involves comprehensive training and boldness on the part of the counsellor.
Those counsellors that are working with people in crisis or suicidal can be faced with challenging cases that can be unpredictable at times.
So we spoke with Jimmy Henderson, who is a counsellor in South Africa with over 29 years experience working with clients in crisis at LifeLine.
In this interview Jimmy shares:
- How crisis counselling is different from other forms of counselling
- What happens in a person’s life that brings them to a point of crisis
- How we can respond effectively as counsellors to those in crisis
- How therapists can manage their own reactions when working with someone who is suicidal
- The signs that someone is at a point of crisis
- What approach to take with someone who has experienced a trauma?
- Whether people who have experienced traumatic events can fully recover
- How to avoid the risk of PTSD after a traumatic event
Developing the right business mindset is a sure-fire way to make sure your therapy practice will grow and become the successful business you’ve dreamed of.
Unfortunately, many therapists have unhelpful or negative mindsets that actually prevent them from successfully marketing their business and attracting their ideal clients.
When you develop a marketing mindset, you’ll find you feel greater confidence about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, as well as a plan that can help steer you in the right direction and support the growth of your business.
In our latest podcast, Vancouver-based marketing coach Juliet Austin speak about the importance of developing a marketing mindset.
In this interview she discusses:
- What is mindset?
- What is a marketing mindset and why you need one
- How you can change your mindset to be open to new opportunities
- The signs of an unhelpful mindset
- How to develop a successful marketing mindset
- An example of a therapist who changed their mindset and experienced huge success in their therapy practice
Make sure you listen to the end to hear about a special offer Juliet has for listeners of the Australia Counselling Podcast.
Male sexuality can express itself in ways that may be difficult to understand to the general population.
Many marriages have been hurriedly terminated when couples (and their therapists) have lacked the information they needed to understand their current situations when male sexuality is being expressed in alternative ways.
Dr Joe Kort, who joined us in episode #8 speaking about gay affirmative therapy for the straight clinician, has recently written the book: Is My Husband Gay, Straight or Bi? A Guide for Concerned Women as a guide to help couples understand how male sexuality.
This book provides the clarity, describes the choices, and (in many cases) offers hope for relationships and marriages that have been brushed off as doomed.
In our latest podcast interview, Dr Kort discusses:
- What inspired him to write his new book Is My Husband Gay, Straight, or Bi? A Guide for Concerned Women
- Whether we can clearly differentiate sexual orientation between bi, gay and straight
- The four question test he uses to determine a person's sexual orientation
- What the term heteroflexible means and how recent generations are embracing this new sexuality
- If it's possible for a person’s sexual orientation to change throughout their lifetime
- Advice he gives women who discover their husband or partner is watching gay porn or having sex with men
- The psychology of men who express their sexuality through having sex with men, but don't consider themselves gay
- Whether women’s sexuality is more fluid than men, or if this is just a myth
- If a marriage can survive when the husband has been discovered secretly having sex with men
- How he works with couples when there is concern about the sexuality or sexual orientation of the male partner
Have you ever worked with a couple where one partner had significant ambivalence about whether they want to continue with the relationship?
Many couple and marriage counsellors make the mistake of commencing couple therapy without having both partners fully committed to working on the relationship.
When this is the case, discernment counselling may be required, because it is a way for couples to look at their options before making a decision about divorce.
Discernment counselling is right for couples who want more understanding of what’s happened to their relationship and help for deciding whether to break up or to try to repair it. It’s different from regular relationship counselling because discernment counselling is not about solving the problems in your marriage; it’s about figuring out whether the problems can be solved.
Dr Bill Doherty, Director of the Doherty Relationship Institute created his unique model of discernment counselling so therapists can help couples who present in this way.
In this interview Bill discusses:
- How he came to work in the field of couples counselling
- How his model of discernment counselling came about
- The benefits of discernment counselling
- How discernment counselling is different from marriage counselling
- How to know when discernment counselling is indicated
- The goals of discernment counselling
- A case study of successful discernment counselling
- Resources for therapists wanting to learn more about discernment counselling
Twitter is a powerful social networking tool that helps you build relationships with colleagues across the world. However, many therapists in Australia are yet to understand and appreciate how helpful it can be for their businesses.
Twitter has a language of its own, plus, you need to use specific tools to use Twitter in a productive way.
Social media enthusiast Ken Burgin, who joined us in podcast#37 on LinkedIn marketing, returns to give us an overview of the basics of Twitter for therapists.
In this interview, Ken discusses:
- What is Twitter?
- Why therapists should consider using Twitter
- An overview of the basics of Twitter
- The benefits of Twitter for marketing and networking
- Advice for therapists on how they can interact in on Twitter and still maintain their ethical codes and be professional.
- The most common Twitter mistakes people make.
- The first steps to get started with Twitter
- Tips on the kind of posting frequency and type of content you need to be sharing on Twitter
Are you a therapist who finds it hard to know what price to charge for your services? Do you feel awkward speaking with clients about your fees? Do you wonder if your money issues are costing your business?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re not alone. Many therapists and counsellors do not have a healthy relationship with money and as a result, struggle to build a profitable practice.
In this podcast we spoke with Mark Silver from Heart of Business, who has been helping therapists, entrepreneurs and small business owners overcome their money issues and learn to charge their right price for their services.
In this interview, Mark discusses:
- Why therapists and other health care professionals have so many issues when it comes to money and pricing
- The most common blocks people in helping and giving professions experience around money
- How to know if you are undercharging or overcharging for your services
- How we can get better at having ‘money conversations’ with our clients
- Strategies and tips for learning how to choose the right price for your services and products
- Resources he recommends for therapists who want to get better at pricing their services.
There’s no doubt that adolescents, teens and young people are vulnerable due to the huge changes they undergo in their development.
But did you know that the development of a young person’s brain is an important factor in their ability to make good decisions or be inclined to take risks?
Australia Counselling member and Sydney psychologist Maya Floyd has been working with adolescents and their families for many years and has a wealth of experience and knowledge in some of the important issues young people are dealing with.
In this interview, Maya discusses:
- Some of the most common problems and issues adolescents are dealing with
- The importance of involving the family when working with adolescents
- How you work with the ‘identified patient’ and get the family involved in the therapy as well
- How the massive rise in the use of technology and social media is affecting teens and families today
- Whether therapists need specific family therapy training to start to bring other family members into the therapy
- A case study demonstrating successful work she did with an adolescent and his family
Are you a therapist or mental health professional who wants to find more clients and grow your profile?
De-mystifying PR and social media is an effective and powerful way to accomplish this and position yourself as a recognised expert.
In this podcast, we speak with Catriona Pollard, who is a PR and Social Media expert who is regularly featured in BRW, SkyNews, SmartCompany and other mainstream media, as well as being an in-demand speaker in Australia and overseas.
In this episode we discuss:
- What is PR and why do we need it?
- Can a business do well without social media?
- The importance of figuring out your ‘why’ before starting.
- What is a personal brand and does everyone have one?
- How to decide which social media networks to start with so you don’t get overwhelmed.
- How to build relationships with journalists.
- What happens to your business when you start getting noticed by the media.
Did you know at least one in seven mothers and one in ten fathers suffer with perinatal depression or anxiety and for many this can lead to family breakdown? These are some of the staggering statistics Elly Taylor has found in her perinatal research.
Elly says we laugh that babies don't come with an instruction manual and say that nothing can prepare parents for parenthood but neither of these things are entirely true and clinging to them can cost new mothers and fathers their mental health and their marriages. Our materialistic culture does a lousy job of preparing and supporting early parenthood.
Elly believes when we understand the modern day transition into parenthood, it's cultural context and what it means for couples, we can reduce the risk for parents and support the emotional wellbeing and bonding of mothers, fathers and babies.
In this interview Elly discusses:
- A summary of the research she is doing in Perinatal research
- How she came to be interested in working in the perinatal field
- The common challenges new parents struggle with
- Some of the more serious mental health issues that parents can encounter pre and post birth
- What therapists should be on the lookout for when working with new parents
- How therapists can help parents better prepare for parenthood
- What the research is telling us about the state of the mental heath of parents and young families in Australia
- Specific resources for therapists that might be working with this population
There are reasons why big business is able to constantly grow and be successful.
Big businesses have many effective marketing activities, processes and systems that help them grow in the long term and develop their business.
In this episode of our latest podcast, I speak about 5 big business marketing lessons that you can use in your own private practice.
The big business marketing lessons are:
1. Create a marketing plan that you write down
- nothing happens in big business without a plan
- create documentation for your action steps
- create due dates to stay accountable
2. Be strategic and plan everything
- big business is always concerned about strategy
- consider whether a particular marketing strategy is suitable for your niche
- think about the strategy of WHY you’re doing something
- once you have the strategy, then decide on your tactics and how you’re going to implement your strategy
3. Commit to a marketing activity- no excuses!
- big business is not interested in excuses- clients pay and want deliverables
- use this approach in your own business by committing to an activity and act on it
- being consistent in your marketing is very important to build trust and credibility with potential new clients
- use systems to help you automate as much as possible e.g. opt-in forms, scheduling on social media, scheduling newsletter or emails, use project management software like Todoist or Asana
4. All your marketing has to be focused on your ideal client
- big business spends huge sums of money on understanding their customers and clients through focus groups, surveys, interviews, contests etc.
- don’t think about your perspective, think about your ideal client’s view of the world and then tailor your marketing to their pain, struggles and difficulties
- use the language that client uses on your promotional materials
- make sure your content speaks in the voice and tone your ideal clients would use
5. Meet prospects in the real world:
- relationships become stronger when you meet people in the real world
- big business have meetings to improve and strengthen current clients and develop new business
- use public speaking to build connections with your ideal clients
- do networking to develop peer relationships and let people know you
Do you dread the end of financial year (EOFY)?
If you're like most therapists, you probably avoid addressing your accounting and bookkeeping issues throughout the year, which leads to lots of stress and anxiety when it comes to getting your books in order for tax time.
But getting your books in order doesn't have to be stressful. In fact, with the help of professionals such as experienced bookkeepers and accountants, you can actually make you business run smoothly, as well as increase the overall profitability of your therapy practice.
The purpose of a good bookkeeper is to help you manage your money and accounts well, so you can focus on building your therapy practice.
In this interview we discuss:
- What is a bookkeeper?
- How can a bookkeeper help you as a small business owner
- How you can start to get your books in order for the EOFY
- What money habits she recommends small business owners start and sustain
- What to check before June 30 to make sure you get the best out of your tax return
- Some of the bookkeeping disasters in small business she has seen
- The software she recommends for getting your books in order
Have you ever organised a live event only to have to cancel it because you couldn’t get the numbers you wanted? Or perhaps your event went ahead, but you were disappointed by the turn out and the general lack of “buzz” in the lead up to your event?
Many therapists make mistakes when marketing their events, and as a result struggle to fill their events and sometimes need to cancel their events.
These mistakes are often easily avoided if you have a strong marketing strategy in the lead up to your event.
Listen to our latest podcast to find out more about the 10 mistakes to avoid so your therapy events and public workshops are a success.
The 10 mistakes to avoid when marketing your events that are discussed in this podcast are:
- Not having enough lead time before the event.
- Not describing the event clearly in a way that’s appealing to readers.
- Not having a list of clear benefits attendees will get from attending.
- Not using professional marketing materials.
- Not offering incentives like scarcity and early bird discounts.
- Not building an email list beforehand.
- Not offering easy ways for people to register online.
- Not having follow up emails after registration.
- Not gathering feedback after your event.
- Not having a marketing action plan.
Harville Hendrix PhD is a celebrated therapist, educator, clinical trainer, author and lecturer with over 40 years experience in working with couples.
He was propelled to fame in the 1980s when Oprah featured his bestselling book "Getting the Love You Want" on her show and subsequently had Harville appear 18 times on her daytime talk show.
Harville and his wife Helen LaKelly Hunt PhD formed the popular and effective Imago therapy for working with couples, which is a therapy for couples now practiced by over 2000 certified therapists in 30 countries
In this episode Harville shares:
- How the theory of Imago therapy came about from his book "Getting the Love You Want".
- How his philosophical training and learnings influenced his theory behind love and relationships.
- A brief overview of the philosophy and theory of Imago that underpins his work with couples.
- How using an Imago lens is helpful in working with couples.
- How approaches to working with couples has evolved over the decades since he started working in this field.
- The importance of safety in the couple relationship.
- How anxiety and defenses are involved in couple relationships.
- New interventions Harville is using with couples to bring about lasting change.
- His thoughts on attachment theory and differentiation theory in his understanding of the couple.
- His latest book called Making Marriage Simple.
Have you used outsourcing in your counselling business?
Outsourcing is a powerful and cost-effective way to build your counselling practice without having to invest countless hours in administrative tasks. Outsourcing allows you to focus on the most important parts of your business such as working with clients and building networking relationships with other professionals.
Outsourcing is no different from having another professional working for your business, except that the professional often lives in another country and costs a lot less than using local professionals.
James Burgin works in the natural healthcare field and uses outsourcing as a core business-building strategy.
In this interview with James Burgin, we discuss why your therapy businesses should consider outsourcing; some of the most common myths about outsourcing; the benefits of outsourcing in your therapy business; concerns about issues like client confidentiality and sharing business information; how to find virtual staff for your therapy business; how to manage the interview process to find the right professional for your practice; how to deal with problems that may arise with your virtual team members; tips for those considering outsourcing and are wanting to get started
In this podcast, I speak with Australia Counselling member Rob Gray about art therapy and how it can help people tap into the unconscious and promote healing.
In this interview, we ask Rob what is art therapy?; what types of issues can art therapy be effective for treating?; yhy do you think art therapy is effective?; is there any research into art therapy and its efficacy as a treatment approach?; what actually happens in an art therapy session?; what do you say to clients that say 'I'm not creative! I can't make art!’?; what are the different types of mediums for art therapy?; what differences do you see in the outcomes of your clients between talk therapy and art therapy?
In this podcast, I talk about how you can build a profitable counselling practice without offering Medicare rebates.
I share 5 lessons that I learned about how to build a thriving private practice without offering Medicare rebates or health fund rebates.
This podcast was inspired by an article I wrote called : 5 Lessons in How to Create a Profitable Private Practice Without Medicare Rebates, which stirred up quite a response.
Many therapists I speak to don't want to be part of the Better Access Scheme because they are not interested in working from a model of brief therapy, as well as manage all the paperwork and admin that goes with the Better Access Scheme.
The 5 lessons I learned are: 1. You need to choose a niche for marketing purposes and have a solid marketing plan; 2. Creating a profitable private practice is hard work. Really hard; 3. You must take consistent action every single week to make progress; 4. You must invest in your counselling business to make money; 5. Marketing is not a one-time event- it’s for the life of your business
Listen to the audio above, or listen on SoundCloud or subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher Radio.
Did you know that the symptoms of ADHD and Autism can be profoundly affected by diet?
Sydney Dietitian Paula Tazzyman knows because she's been working with children who suffer from these conditions for over 15 years and has helped thousands of children and families suffering from these conditions.
In this podcast, Paula speaks about how nutritional support in children with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder can be beneficial.
Paula also discusses how her passion for working in this area came about; a working definition of ADD/ADHD and ASD; the role of nutrition in Autism and ADHD- how important is it and why?; what are the main nutritional concerns facing children with Autism and ADHD; the current scientific evidence regarding diet and Autism and ADHD; what nutrients are likely to be deficient in these children and what effect will this have on learning, concentration and behaviour; the argument for supplementation with children; the benefits of nutritional support she has observed over her 15 years of clinical experience; her top 3 recommendations for ADHD diet and Autism.
Do you know that LinkedIn is a powerful professional social media network to market your psychotherapy or counselling services and connect with other professionals who can support the growth of your business?
Many counsellors and therapists are not using LinkedIn effectively. And some are yet to join or if they have joined, have not completed their profile and are missing out on online visibility.
LinkedIn is your professional face to the world, and is a powerful platform to position yourself as an authority in your niche, as well as network with like-minded mental health professionals.
Ken Burgin has been teaching small businesses about marketing and social media for more than 15 years.
In this interview he shares the basics of a compelling LinkedIn profile that helps you be visible to others; how to start to find and connect with others in the mental health industry; the biggest mistakes you see small business owners making on LinkedIn; the business benefits therapists can experience from being visible on LinkedIn; how to make regular updates on your profile; the business benefits of posting updates on a regular basis; how to write recommendations and why to consider them; LinkedIn groups- how to find and join them; how to manage privacy concerns on LinkedIn.
Have you ever had the experience of struggling to feel empathy towards a client or felt exhausted and dreaded facing sessions with your clients?
If you answered yes, it's likely you have experienced a self-care issue.
Self-care issues can emerge on a spectrum from compassion fatigue at one end to total burnout at the other.
In our profession where we use ourselves as the instrument of change, self-care needs to be a priority.
So I asked therapist self-care expert Vivian Baruch what are the signs of burnout and what can we do if we start to experience self-care issues.
In this interview she discusses what's the definition of self-care; the best inventory to check for therapist self-care or burnout; what type of behaviours tend to lead to poor self-care and therapist burnout; the common symptoms or early signs that may indicate a therapist is starting to burnout; strategies for therapists that are having self-care issues.
Resources for therapists who want to find out more about self-care
Are you struggling with staying on top of everything you need to do to run your private practice efficiently? Perhaps you know you could be using technology and apps to help make your counselling business more productive but you’re not sure where to start?
There are so many apps and new software on the market today that it can be hard to know what to use or which ones are the best for your business.
Well in this podcast, we speak to technology guru Helen Crozier, who is a technology coach for small business owners.
She’s on the cutting edge of all the latest technology and software developments that can help your therapy business save time and cut costs.
In this interview she shares:
- The biggest struggles she sees small business owners dealing with in regards to productivity
- Her top apps and technology that she recommends every small business should consider using
- For the more advanced techies, other apps or technology that can help with productivity
- Whether the ‘paperless office’ is achievable
- Good apps and technology to help you move towards a paperless office
- Tips for those that consider themselves technophobic or scared about using new software
In this podcast we interview Dr. Sue Johnson, who is a leader in the field of relationships and couple therapy and is the primary founder of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, which is used as an approach to working with couples throughout the world. She calls herself an attachment theorist and researcher and she helps people learn how to have relationships that heal.
Dr Johnson has conducted innovative and cutting-edge research with couples and different populations and discovered many interesting things about the science of love and romantic relationships.
In this interview she discusses how she developed her passion for relationships and helping couples, how her new book Love Sense evolved out of her best seller Hold Me Tight, how she was influenced by the work of John Bowlby and his attachment theory, what the research is telling us about love and why and how we love, current thinking on adult bonding and attachment theory and what’s changed in the field of couples therapy in the last 15 years.
In this podcast , Australia Counselling member Gabrielle Gawne-Kelnar discusses how to use blogging to cultivate your own unique voice and spread your message to your community.
Blogging for therapists is a powerful way to broadcast your message, reach new clients, and establish your expertise in your niche.
Blogging uses the power of the internet, social sharing, and engagement to help you build your authority and get known by new audiences
Gabrielle also discusses how she came to be a writer and blogger on one of the worlds biggest psychology blogs, how to generate ideas and content for your blog, how blogging is different from clinical writing that is peer reviewed or written for other professionals and what conventions need to be challenged in blogging, the results, outcomes and opportunities that can come about from being a blogger, the relationship between blogging and clinical work and how they can influence each other, tips for therapists who are considering starting a blog, but are nervous about starting and how to deal with any ethical issues, such as clients-past or present- commenting on your blog or contacting you on social media.
Medication is often used as a 'front-line' response to depression and other depressive disorders, so it's important to explore other effective treatments for helping people overcome depression. Dr Michael Yapko is internationally recognised for his work in clinical hypnosis and outcome-focused psychotherapy and has a passion for teaching therapists how to use the power of hypnosis to effectively support people in overcoming depression.
In this 30-minute interview, Dr Yapko also shares how he became interested in hypnosis as an intervention for working with depression; what is hypnosis; the most common myths that pervade about hypnosis; how hypnosis can help in the treatment of depression and other mood disorders; the basics of a hypnotic intervention; hypnosis principles that therapists can effectively use in their work with clients; his views on the pharmaceutical companies positioning drugs as a front-line intervention for depression
So many therapists have issues with money and don’t take care of their books. What’s more, many often have no idea of their current financial position.
So in this podcast, I cover 7 ways you can cut costs in your business and 7 ways you can increase your therapy business income.
The ways to cut costs include:
- Practice bottom line responsibility
- Hire sub-contractors
- Change your phone plan
- Explore office space options
- Hire an accountant and/or bookkeeper, financial advisor
- Buy second hand office equipment
7 ways to increase your therapy business income include:
- Raise fees for new clients
- Package your services
- Offer coaching services
- Offer concierge services
- Offer group programs
- Offer group supervision
- Create a product to sell through your website
and the bonus tip: Take credit cards.
I also interview Sydney accountant Janice Melville, who is a Sydney accountant who is a Registered Tax Agent with more than 400 clients and a Super Fund Auditor.
In the interview she answers the following questions:
- Why do you think so many people (and therapists especially) have difficulty when it comes to managing money in their business?
- What are the benefits of getting your financial books in order and tracking your expenditure for your small business?
- What are some of the basic accounting fundamentals that a small business owner needs to start tracking in their business?
- What are the most common accounting mistakes you see small business owners doing?
- What are some of the tax deductions that many small business owners forgot to deduct?
- Are there any specific deductions that therapists and counsellors be missing or might not have considered in their business?
- If you’re a small business owner and you know you’ve been avoiding doing your accounts for a while, what should you start doing today to get control of your finances?
- Do you have any tips for us to make the process of accounting easier and less stressful?
Have you heard of Brainspotting before?
If not, it’s an effective way to gently help clients work through difficult life events and trauma.
In this episode, Dr Roby Abeles shares what Brainspotting is, a brief history of the evolution of Brainspotting, the issues and presentations Brainspotting can be used for, what happens in a Brainspotting session, contra-indications for Brainspotting, how Brainspotting different from other therapies, such as EMDR and EFT, the results Dr Abeles is getting from using Brainspotting, her predictions for the development of Brainspotting.
Have you considered using Facebook to build your online presence, build your authority and build a community around your counselling or therapy services?
Facebook now has well over 1 billion users, and is hard to ignore when it comes to social media.
However, Facebook marketing is not appropriate for everyone, and you need to consider whether it's worthwhile to start marketing your therapy practice on Facebook.
So we interviewed Vancouver-based marketing coach Juliet Austin about Facebook marketing and how to get started if you're not already using it, and how to improve your results if you are using Facebook marketing.
In this interview she shares how to know if Facebook is a marketing tool you should be using, ow to get started setting up your Facebook page, how to get people to like your page, how to find other pages to like, what kinds of things you should post, how often you should post and why you want people to like, comment on and share your posts.
The model of group psychotherapy developed by Irvin Yalom is now considered the 'gold standard' of group therapy approaches throughout the world. Its focus on the interpersonal relationships and the process underlying them allows the group to become a powerful agent of change.
For many therapists, adding group therapy to your suite of services is a wonderful way to augment your practice, as well as provide valuable growth experiences for your clients. However it's essential that you complete specific training in group therapy as the skills required are different from the skills of individual or couple therapy.
June Lake is the leading teacher in Australia of the Yalom group psychotherapy approach and speaks with Australia Counselling about this powerful and effective type of therapy.
In this 30-minute interview June also shares how her passion for working with groups came about, how the skills we use in the therapy room different from group facilitation skills, a brief overview of the Yalom group psychotherapy approach, the qualities of an effective group facilitator, specific skills group facilitators need to develop to be effective, the most common mistakes new group facilitators tend to make and June also speaks about her 5-day intensive Yalom group therapy facilitation training that she runs every year.
Australia Counselling members Shushann Movsessian and Gemma Summers are not your everyday therapists.
They have been creative in diversifying their psychotherapy practice income from creating The Soulful Woman, which focuses on retreats for women in Bali and Sydney, as well as the creation of online products for sale.
The Soulful Woman Facebook page now has over 146,000 fans, which is an incredible result and a sign that they have tapped into a need in the community.
In this interview, Shushann and Gemma share how they found the inspiration to diversify their therapy practices beyond face-to-face sessions, how they were able to decide what adjunct services they could add to their therapy practices, how they packaged their knowledge and experience into offerings that women wanted, how they used Facebook and their strategy they used to reach a global audience and how they created and promoted their first product for women.
Candace Plattor is an addictions counsellor in Vancouver, B.C., and is passionate about helping those in the grip of an addiction, as well as their loved ones.
She is the author of Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself and the accompanying workbook of the same name.
In this interview Candace shares how she came to be interested in the field of addictions, what are some of the tell-tale signs that therapists need to look for that may indicate addiction, what is considered a safe level of alcohol consumption and what is considered a dependence, how do you assess how serious the addiction is and what intervention is required, what the research says about which treatment models are the most effective in working with addictions, whether a person can recover from addiction with individual therapy, or if they need a multi-modal approach, how enabling shows up in the therapy room and how to approach the issue of enabling with an individual, couple or family
Have you wanted to get more exposure in popular media for your therapist profile and business? There's no doubt that been quoted by journalists and magazines, as well as requests for radio and television interviews leads to more clients.
As your name is seen and heard in the media, this helps you be front-of-mind for potential clients, as well as increase your credibility for your speciality.
John Aiken is a Sydney clinical psychologist who has had enormous exposure in the media. He speaks with Australia Counselling about all the benefits for his business that have come from his high profile in the media.
In this 35-minute interview, Sydney clinical psychologist also speaks about how being a psychologist who works in the specific niche of relationship issues helped grow his business
Some of the fundamental marketing strategies he did in his business that helped him to be noticed by the media, the benefits for his business from being able to build a high profile in the media, tips and strategies for therapists that would like to be quoted more in magazines, papers and interviews on radio and TV, tips about how to present in an effective way on radio and on television, how to focus your marketing messages and write articles so that the layperson 'gets it', tips for the therapist who doesn't feel very confident about putting himself 'out there' in the media and anexciting new ABC television project he is involved in related to couples and relationships.
Have you ever heard of the therapy ortho-bionomy? It's possible you haven't, but it's an incredibly powerful and gentle way of working with the body to aid in it's natural healing and recovery.
Bruce Stark has a hugely successful ortho-bionomy practice in Sydney and has worked for over 25 years in the field of bodywork. He has also worked closely with somatic therapists as a trainer and supervisor, so was the perfect person to speak about in regard to embodiment.
In this 35-minute interview, Bruce also shares what is ortho-bionomy, how he came to be interested in ortho-bionomy and working with embodiment, what therapists can learn from becoming more attentive to the bodies of their clients, the benefits of observing and identifying somatic signals in yourself and others, how therapists can use these observations and sensations in their therapeutic work, some of the qualities and characteristics of the various tissues and structures that relate to emotional states, how therapists can integrate these types of somatic awareness into the psychotherapeutic process and resources therapists wanting to learn more about embodiment.
Australia Counselling member Jacqueline Stone runs a very successful psychotherapy practice in Sydney working with a niche population.
In this interview I speak to Jacqueline about how having a niche therapy practice has helped her build a successful private practice where she works with her ideal clients and runs her business in a way that works for her.
Some of the benefits Jacqueline has experienced from marketing to a niche audience include attracting her ideal clients into her therapy practice, setting client expectations through her niche website, receiving client referrals that are much more ready to do the work of therapy, increased inquiries from journalists and the general media and increased exposure of her therapy business in the media.
This interview will give you lots of ideas about your own therapy marketing and how having a niche can help you get more clients.
Did you know that asking your clients for negative feedback and tracking their outcomes are statistically proven ingredients for clinical excellence?
Australia Counselling spoke to Scott Miller PhD about how outcome-focused psychotherapy can help clinicians become better therapists.
In this 30-minute interview Scott discusses what the research says about how effective psychotherapy really is, what is considered clinical excellence in the field of psychotherapy, whether the type of therapy treatment or approach you use makes a difference in client outcomes, what therapists can do to improve their outcomes, the benefits of therapists tracking their outcomes and what therapists using a outcome-focused approach need to be prepared for with their clients.
How to introduce the measurement tools to clients so that they are receptive to them
Australia Counselling member Jodie Gale is a therapist based on the northern beaches of Sydney.
She has created her ideal private practice that suits her lifestyle and family commitments through building a strong online presence by having a client-attracting website and blogging on a regular basis.
In fact, Jodie receives so many inquiries for counselling, she now refers out more clients than she takes on.
In this interview, Jodie shares:
- who she works with and which issues she treats
- how she decided on her niche
- what marketing efforts have been the most effective for her in building her ideal business
- how she uses blogging to attract new clients into her practice
- the benefits she has experienced from blogging
- how she uses social media as part of her marketing strategy
- the benefits she has gained from participating in social media
In this podcast, Brisbane psychologist Dr Kate Lemerle of Chrysalis Wellness Services speaks about how the theory of positive psychology can be used to create effective and powerful interventions when working with individuals, couples and in organisations.
Dr Lemerle also discusses:
- A brief definition of positive psychology.
- How positive psychology principles can be applied to therapeutic relationships.
- How emerging evidence from neuroscience is impacting positive psychology.
- What the research is saying about the effectiveness of positive psychology in working with depression, anxiety and relationships.
- Examples of evidence-based interventions.
- How positive psychology interventions can be used in a coaching relationship or workplace.
- A case study that demonstrates the efficacy of positive psychology.
Did you know that copywriting is a proven science that can actually increase the number of clients that contact you just from using particular words on your website and other promotional materials?
Melbourne copywriter Belinda Weaver certainly know this and in this podcast we spoke to her about how therapists and counsellors can improve their copy online and offline to attract new counselling and psychotherapy clients.
In this interview, Belinda also discuss:
- The basics of effective copywriting that therapists should be aware of
- How you can increase client inquiries with effective calls to action
- How content marketing can help you build your business
- How writing web copy different from other writing
- How to generate ideas for writing blogs and articles
In this podcast, husband and wife psychologists Drs Robert and Rita Resnick from Los Angeles discuss their Gestalt approach to couples therapy. They discuss why couples need to move from a model of fusion to a model of connection.
Bob and Rita Resnick are the founders of Gestalt Associates Training Los Angeles.
In this podcast, Bob and Rita also share:
- How their interest and passion in working with couples came about
- A brief overview of the philosophy and theory that underpins their work with couples
- How using a Gestalt theory lens is helpful in working with couples
- How approaches to working with couples have evolved over the last 40 years
- How they structure their couples session and set the couple's expectations from the beginning
- Contraindications for doing couples work
- How to manage the boundaries between individual and couples work
- Their thoughts on attachment theory and differentiation theory in their understanding of the couple and how it informs their work
- Information about their annual European residential for Gestalt therapy and couples therapy
Did you know blogging can be a great way to build your authority in your niche and attract more clients?
In this 60-minute webinar, Clinton Power, founder of Australia Counselling covers the following areas:
The Benefits of Blogging * how blogging can establish you as a thought leader and authority in your niche * how blogging raises your expert status in your are of practice * how blogging helps you build credibility within your community * how blogging leads to greater exposure in the media- leading to interviews and media requests * how a blog can be a stepping stone to writing an ebook or a traditionally published book * how blogging can is a time-effective marketing strategy * why Google loves fresh content and the competitive advantage this gives you * how your blog can become a resource for clients
How to Create a Blog: Blogging Technology * why you should use WordPress.org NOT WordPress.com * the features and benefits of WordPress for blogging * the importance of integrating your blog into your website
How to Find Blog Ideas * why listening to your clients is essential to give you new ideas * the importance of ethical issues regarding confidentiality * the value of reading newspapers and watching the news * how to use mind mapping software * the importance of awareness days * the value of reading other blogs and following bloggers
How to Structure the Writing of Your Blogs * the importance of compelling headlines * why you need to use subheadings * tips for structuring your writing * the value of calls to action * the importance of encouraging comments * how many words you need to aim for * the importance of interlinking your blog posts * how to link out to resources and other websites
Publishing Tips for Maximum Exposure * how to use eye-catching images to draw in the reader * where to get free photos for your blog * how to share your posts on social media * best tips for sharing on Twitter * other lesser known social media networks to consider * the importance of proof reading * the value of refreshing your archives * the importance of creating a publishing schedule
Plus we review the blogs of two Australia Counselling members Jodie Gale and Colleen Morris to demonstrate blogging best practices.
Terry Real is an internationally recognized Family Therapist and Author and founder of the Relational Life Institute (RLI), offering workshops for couples, individuals and parents around the country along with a professional training program for clinicians wanting to learn his RLT (Relational Life Therapy) methodology.
A senior faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge in Massachusetts and a retired Clinical Fellow of the Meadows Institute in Arizona, Terry has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and fellow therapists. Terry has been featured on Good Morning America, the Today show and ABC News, New York Times and Oprah.
In this session, you will find out about:
- His philosophy of couples therapy and his methodology of Relationship Life Therapy and relationship empowerment.
- How he uses his methodology of ‘joining through the truth’.
- Why not all couples have a 50:50 split in terms of the distribution of responsibility towards the unhelpful dynamic.
- His unique approach to using ‘time outs’ with couples.
- How he deals with angry hostile couples to de-escalate aggression.
- How he uses concepts of the ‘latent’ and ‘blatant’ to understand difficult couple dynamics.
- Resources he recommends for therapists wanting to learn more about his approach to couples therapy.
As an added bonus, Terry has also shared his latest article that was featured in a recent edition of The Psychotherapy Networker magazine recently called: Joining Through the Truth in the show notes.
Sarah Wayland is an Australia Counselling member who holds the unique title of social worker and successful freelance writer.
She has found that writing and blogging has been an effective way to attract new clients into her practice and raise her profile in the community.
In this interview Sarah also speak about:
- How her journey as a writer and therapist came about
- The benefits of being a psychotherapist who writes
- How to find content to write about
- Tips for therapists that are nervous about beginning writing
- How blogging is different from academic writing
- How writing for a magazine is different from blogging
- How regularly you should be writing for your own website and other publications
- The benefits of writing for other publications and guest posting
Mindfulness meditation and psychotherapy have many points of conversion and overlap. Both have the ability to heal and help people increase their sense of wellness and wellbeing.
But is mindfulness a stand-alone therapy in itself? And can psychotherapy benefit from using mindfulness and incorporating meditation skills into clinical work with clients?
These are some of the questions we recently asked of Sydney Zen Buddhist and Insight Meditation teacher Subhana Barzaghi.
As a somatic psychotherapist who has been cultivating a meditation practice since the age of 20, she has a wealth of experience and knowledge about both areas of practice.
In this interview, Subhana shares:
- How she came to be interested in meditation and mindfulness
- How a mindfulness approach can help your work as a psychotherapist
- Whether mindfulness can be considered a stand-alone therapeutic approach
- The overlap between mindfulness and psychotherapy
- How therapists can incorporate mindfulness into their clinical work
- The value of therapists incorporating mindfulness and meditation as a part of their practice
- Whether you need to teach your clients to meditate
- The benefits of our clients learning mindfulness as a life skill
- Where she sees psychotherapy and mindfulness going in the future development of the field
While therapists and counsellors may not immediately appreciate the business benefits of understanding fundamental PR strategies, there are many that can help you get your therapy or psychology business exposed to the media.
Australia Counselling recently spoke with Catriona Pollard, who is the founder and director of CP Communications, one of Sydney’s most respected and innovative boutique PR and social media agencies. Catriona is an expert in developing public relations and social media strategies that engage consumers as well as businesses, and she has developed and implemented strategies for hundreds of organisations including Hilton Australasia, Macquarie University and the City of Sydney.
She is also listed as one of the top 100 PR people worldwide to follow on Twitter and was listed as one of the 22 Inspirational Australian Female Entrepreneurs. Catriona teaches a course she designed called ‘PR and Media releases that get results’ at the Australian Writers’ Centre. She authors articles on PR and social media which are extensively published online and in print.
In this interview Catriona shares:
- What is PR and why should therapists care
- How small business owners like therapists benefit from understanding effective PR strategies
- The fundamentals of PR that counsellors need to consider as part of their marketing strategy
- The benefits of positioning yourself as an expert in the media
- The business benefits from building relationships with the media
- Beginning steps for the therapist that wants more media exposure but is not sure where to start
- How to write content that is journalist-friendly and will be published by the media
- How events build your profile in the media
In today's podcast, San Francisco psychologist and digital ethics expert Dr Keely Kolmes discusses some of the ethical issues that can arise for therapists online. Dr Kolmes is on the cutting-edge of this emerging area of Internet and online ethics that therapists are increasingly have to deal with.
Dr Kolmes also discusses:
- How she came to be interested in the area of Internet and social media ethics for therapists
- Her working definition of social media
- Some of the basic principles she always considers when evaluating the ethics of counsellors and psychologists using social media platforms and interacting on the Internet
- Some general ethical issues therapists need to be aware of on social media, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+
- What ethical issues a beginner needs to consider about Twitter if they want to venture into tweeting
- The ethical issues for therapists that let clients follow them on LinkedIn
- The most common mistakes therapists make online
- The benefits she has experienced from using social media for her own practice
- Other resources therapists can access
Creating a successful therapy business in the 21st Century is more challenging than ever. Not only are you trying to keep up with technology that is changing faster than ever, but you also have more and more competition from other therapists in a market that is saturated by newly graduated professionals every year.
Dr Susan Giurleo is a psychologist from Boston, Massachusetts who was able to create a thriving private practice within 6-8 months using the Internet and the power of online marketing. In this interview she shares tips and advice on how she did it. She also speaks about what’s essential for modern-day therapists to understand if they want to create a business that can afford them a comfortable living.
In this 30-minute interview, Dr Giurleo speaks about:
- Her journey as a therapist and how she was able to build a successful private practice using the Internet.
- The biggest challenges she is seeing therapists experience today as they try to build a business in a highly saturated market.
- Whether you can have a succesful therapy business today without the Internet or social media.
- Advice for nervous therapists who are fearful about breaking ethical codes by getting online and using social media.
- When and how a therapist should start to develop a marketing plan for their business.
- The importance of marketing yourself to a niche population and differentiating yourself from other therapists.
- What is separating therapists that are very successful and those therapists that are struggling to make a comfortable living.
- Why therapists should consider looking into multiple streams of income such as coaching, ebooks, ecourses and membership sites.
- What marketing activities made the biggest difference for her when she was building her business.
In this interview, Dr Ellyn Bader of www.couplesinstitute.com speaks about the Developmental Approach to Couples Therapy that she created with her husband Dr Peter Pearson. Drs. Bader and Pearson run The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California and have trained hundreds of couples therapists world wide.
In this presentation, Dr Bader also discusses:
- How her interest and passion for working with couples came about.
- How their Developmental Approach to Couples Therapy came about.
- An overview of the stages and development challenges of each stage of the model.
- What happens if each partner is at a different stage in the model and what complexity this adds to the couple dynamic.
- The most common developmental stage where couples can get stuck.
- How to frame the developmental modesl with your couples and the importance of psycho-education.
- How they prepare the couple for the first appointment and what other aspects are important for getting the couple off to a strong start in those early sessions.
- How they structure the sessions with the couple.
- Resources for therapists who want to increase their knowledge of the developmental approach.
Pam Dyson, is a U.S. child development expert,parenting coach, licensed professional counsellor and registered play therapist. As the founder and director of the St. Louis Center for Play Therapy Training, Pam is a much sought after trainer, facilitating play therapy workshops across the U.S. What’s unique about Pam is she is attracting new clients, filling her workshops and providing lots of resources for her clients all through using Pinterest.
If you haven’t heard, Pinterest.com is a new social media network that allows you to share images and videos on virtual pinboards. Pam is a prolific Pinterest user and has utilised the power of this new platform to build her expert status as a child and play therapy therapist and has seen some incredible results from using it.
In this 25-minute video interview, Pam also shares:
- About her work as a creative play therapist that works with children
- How she came to notice Pinterest and be interested in using it
- What Pinterest is and how to use Pinterest effectively so that it can promote your business
- How she currently uses Pinterest as a way of marketing her therapy practice
- The benefits of using Pinterest for her private practice
- Beginner tips for the therapist that wants to start using Pinterest, but is not sure where to start
- Ethical issues to be aware of when using Pinterest
In this 30-minute interview, psychotherapist and sex therapist Dr Joe Kort from Detroit, Michigan, speaks about his book Gay Affirmative Therapy for the Straight Clinician and other important issues therapists need to be aware of when working with gay and lesbian clients.
Dr Kort also discusses:
- What is Gay Affirmative Therapy?
- The most common myths about GLBT people that can influence clinicians
- What is covert sexual abuse and how it relates to sexual anorexia
- How GLBT people experience PTSD?
- Why gay friendly is not enough for the straight clinician
- How homophobia effects the development of GLBT people
- How clinicians inadvertently bring heterosexist attitudes into the therapy room
- Sex addiction: does it exist and what are the markers for diagnosis?
- Case study of a successful Gay Affirmative Therapy approach and the outcomes for the clients
Blogging is one of the most effective marketing strategies for marketing your counselling private practice. Blogging for your counselling practice helps you broadcast your message, influence people across the globe, connect with other professionals and position yourself as an authority in your area of speciality.
Julie Hanks, LCSW is a a self-proclaimed social media junkie, and has over 20 years in the mental health field. She was recently recognized as the #1 online depression influencer by ShareCare for her extensive work promoting mental health resources online. Julie is a prolific blogger for both mental health issues and practice-building tips for other clinicians.
In this 30-minute video, Julie discusses:
- How she became interested in blogging as a marketing strategy for her counselling practice
- The benefits of blogging she has experienced for her counselling practice
- The unexpected benefits of blogging for your business online and offline
- How she developed her voice via blogging
- Where Julie finds material and inspiration for her blogs
- Tips for the therapist who wants to start blogging but is nervous about starting
American neuropsychologist and author Dr Rick Hanson speaks about how mindfulness and developing contemplative practices helps therapists become more effective clinicians with their clients and avoid stress, anxiety and burnout.
In this interview, Rick also shares:
- His journey as a therapist and how he became interested in Eastern traditions like mindfulness.
- What he discovered within himself and with his clients when he started to incorporate mindfulness practices into his work as a therapist.
- Current neuroscience research on the efficacy of therapists who practice mindfulness and the outcomes for their clients.
- The benefits of therapists developing contemplative practices and cultivating a mindful approach to their life and work.
- How therapists can use mindfulness practices to deal with anxietyand stress due to a large caseload or challenging clients.
- Some simple ways that therapists can help their clients benefit from mindfulness, without having to teach meditation or get them to take an MBSR course.
If you’re like most therapists, you probably haven’t received specific marketing training to help you effectively run your therapy business. In fact, due to your lack of business and marketing training and education, you may be making mistakes that are actually driving your therapy business into the ground!
In this 35-minute video interview, international therapist coach, mentor and consultant Casey Truffo speaks with Clinton Power, founder and developer of Australia Counselling Directory about the 5 Biggest Mistakes Driving Your Therapy Business Into the Ground- And What to Do About Them!
In this interview Casey discusses:
Why not choosing your therapy clients hurts your business
How to invite the client to become your client
The importance of calls to action
The importance of planning for seasonal ebbs and flows in your business
Why you need to reach out for help as a small business owner
Casey has been helping and mentoring thousands of therapists across the globe. Her advice is based on working with many therapists, counsellors and healing professionals that have struggled with many of the marketing issues you may be finding difficult right now.
Australia Counselling member and Sydney psychologist Michael Reed PhD speaks about relational psychotherapy and how the Gestalt approach is embedded within a relational approach.
In this interview, Dr Michael Reed also discusses:
- a definition of relational psychotherapy
- why relational psychotherapy is an effective therapeutic approach
- the Gestalt perspective on relational therapy
- the ingredients of effective relational psychotherapy
- common concerns therapists have about working in a relational way
- a case study that captures the efficacy of working relationally
- resources for therapists that want to explore this approach further
Shushann Movsessian is co-founder of www.thesoulfulwoman.com.au with Australia Counselling member Gemma Summers.
In this interview, Shushann shares about the phenomenal success they have achieved with their partnership through utilising the power of Facebook.
In this audio, Shushann shares:
- How they created The Soulfulwoman as an adjuct to their therapy practices.
- How they used Facebook to connect with thousands of woman worldwide.
- Some of their best Facebook strategies for increasing their followers.
- How they use Facebook to fill their SoulSpa workshops and Bali womens’ regenerative retreats.
Australia Counselling recently spoke with Dr. Judy Leung about the most common mistakes made by supervisors.
Dr. Leung is experienced in training supervisors and providing professional supervision through her career of more than 33 years of clinical work.
The 7 most common mistakes she discusses in the interview are:
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Being too nice or understanding of the supervisee at the expense of giving vital feedback.
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Being too instructional and didactic, as opposed to striking a balance between reflection and instruction
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Neglecting the assessment, evaluation and review aspects of supervision.
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Not having a clear framework to guide supervision.
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Not matching the supervisor’s worldview and style of working with the supervisor’s before commencement of supervision.
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Not keeping track actively of the supervisee’s progress.
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Adopting a formulated approach to providing supervision along the line of “one size fits all” philosophy.
Sign up for Dr. Leung's 3-day training 'From Therapist to Supervisor" at http://www.australiacounselling.com.au/therapisttosupervisor
Dr. Judy Leung is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with more than 33 years in clinical work. She has provided supervision to health professionals since 1987, and psychotherapists and psychologists since 1990. She was a trainer and supervisor in Gestalt Therapy for many years with the Illawarra Gestalt Centre and co-director of Gestalt Practitioners Training Sydney (2004-2008). She has conducted supervisor-training workshops since 2005 with Alan Meara and was one of a few selected by the NSW Psychologists Registration Board in 2006 to provide supervisor training for psychologists within the state.
In this 30-minute video, Vancouver marketing coach and copywriter Juliet Austin speaks about social media and how therapists can use these platforms ethically to market their practices.
Juliet also discusses:
Why therapists need to be on social media.
Whether you can have a successful practice and ignore social media.
The benefits of having a social media presence if you’re a therapist.
The most important social networks for therapists to be on at the moment.
Advice for therapists on how they can interact in on social media and still maintain their ethical codes.
The pitfalls of using social media to market a private practice.
The most common social media marketing mistakes therapists make online.
The first steps a therapist needs to take to get underway on social media.
Tips on the kind of posting frequency and type of content you need to be sharing on social media.
How important the new social media platforms Google+ and Pinterest are for therapists in the future.
Resources for therapists who want to get started or improve their social media strategy