Why is it that most people never reach their goals? Well, we all know about the importance of marketing, right? Emotional connection, however, is often ignored. That's a problem because our mindset about using our voice in our marketing is a huge issue that can propel us forward or hold us back!

As entrepreneurs, we need grit to handle the ups and downs of building a business. That's why I had to talk about podcasting again and share a heavy dose of inspiration and motivation. This episode perfectly illustrates the timeline of success and gives you the tools you need to take action with the right vision in place.

I first talked about podcasting last year when I interviewed Cristal Acosta who hosts Through the Eyes of a Therapist and Cyndi Doyle host of Code 4 Couples. Both told their story building a podcast based on their passions. They built huge audiences and helped their respective communities by transforming their mindsets. This episode builds on those conversations to help you supercharge your confidence, develop a long-term vision, and handle setbacks with grace.

Listen in because I've got some hacks and strategies that will shift your perspective and help you get better results when you decide to start YOUR podcast. Enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

If you're trying to add to your business using online courses, I'm worried about you. This goes against most of the advice you'll hear these days, but I'm taking a stand because putting in the work to create an online course without building a loyal audience can be a waste of time. Listen in and hear me out!

In this session, I'll walk you through the thought processes and experiences that led me from my early not-so-great sellers to my top selling 40 Hour LPC/LMFT Supervisor Training. In fact, I'm going to tell you how to re-purpose 'failures' into audience attractors.

You see, creating online courses is a lot like cooking a gourmet meal for 10 people that may not like (or who are allergic to) what you are cooking and who may not even know you are throwing a party. 

Is that how you want to spend your time?

I want you to be the chef at a restaurant where your potential clients, actual clients, and paying customers go for an unforgettable experience. At the end of the day, you've got to do the work BEFORE you build the course.

So join me today as I make the case for doing the pre-work before you build your amazing, successful, income-enhancing, educational, online course. Tune in and enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

“You're such a tool”… is what we should say to EVERY thing we do in private practice.

In other words, you should be asking yourself, "Is what I'm doing (blogging, writing newsletters, podcasting, advertising on t-shirts) serving me or not?"

Blogging is the topic I want to cover today. In this episode, I share the blog goals that impact how I work right now. These are the latest additions to my arsenal, and I've been blown away by how effective they are!

Take most would-be bloggers for example. Blogs become another 'have-to' on their list of 'to-dos' and so instead of being amazed by hitting their strategic growth goals,  they are stressed out by the process and underwhelmed with the results. 

In this episode I take you behind the scenes of WHY you should have a blog and WHY NOT and give you great tools so you can hit the ground running.

One of those great tools is the editorial calendar. I've been using a lot since stepping back and revamping the marketing goals at Kate Walker Training (See Episode 18). This is a great way to maximize the team's potential if you are a group practice and even if you're not, it will keep YOU happy and engaged and excited to get the blogging work done.

Why?

So blogging goes from a chore you dread to an amazing marketing tool with a great ROI (return on investment)!

 So tune in and enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

There's a way to conceptualize your use of social media as a stove with two burners: family and friends on one, work and clients on the other. To succeed at social media in your counseling practice, you have to make sure you're using the right burner. If you want to excel at social media in your counseling practice, you have to adopt best practices.

With that in mind, what is the best way to build a presence on social media without hurting your reputation, breaking a rule, or compromising your clients along the way?

This week on the show I'm sharing the powerful message sent by the Texas LMFT board when it published its best practices for social media. In addition to that, I'm going to help you understand how to navigate those best practices to achieve a great social media presence without sacrificing what matters most. 

If you have yet to listen to my previous episode about social media, "Uh Oh my client found me on social media" episode 19 is a great inside look at crafting a social media policy for your practice. In this episode, I go even deeper into the LMFT best practices for social media. We explore professionalism, confidentiality, communication, and the things that can really get you in trouble!

Having an online presence to market our practice is what a lot of counselors are looking for. So join me to get the tactics to help you get there!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

Some counselors get great results using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques like REBT, thinking error worksheets, and mindfulness exercises (MBCT). That's incredible! But here's the thing—many of them are clinical supervisors using these techniques and calling it CBT supervision. That's totally OK - I am not the clinical supervisor theory police 😎 - but they aren't getting the amazing results an actual CBT supervision session can offer. Not one!

Today's subject came from my experience teaching my online 40 hour course to become a clinical supervisor. I noticed that students who thought they were conducting CBT supervision in their video role plays were actually just teaching or using CBT techniques. The sessions were amazing - I saw encouraging people with teacher's hearts working their butts off to showcase their skills - but the supervisee was never remediated or they were just given a few tips and the supervisor never addressed the supervisee's growth developmentally. 

These same people completely turned their supervision sessions around when they just made a few tweaks that changed everything for them!

I'm here to share the ins and outs of how I teach new supervisees to use CBT supervision and build a fantastic supervision practice. I'm going to tell you the story of how I help new supervisors shift from 'using CBT words' to providing supervision that teaches, grows, and mitigates liability. This kind of change in focus is actually pretty easy for most counselors familiar with CBT, and my students are able to navigate it masterfully.

Like most overnight success stories, this one has been over two decades in the making. I cover a lot of important takeaways today, tackling everything from understanding why just teaching CBT techniques isn't connecting with your supervisee to figuring out how CBT supervision creates the change you want to see.

Enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

There's a big difference between creating a client note and managing a client file. You see, as counselors, we can be obligated to do a lot more than just document sessions, collect client signatures on intake forms, and put it all away neatly after a session. When we own our practice the full weight of the records custodian rests with us and WE are responsible for creating a safe space for protected health information. 

The problem is, when you are a 1099 contract employee. In fact, depending on your employment contract, even in a large practice you may ultimately be held accountable for safely managing the client records you generate.

This is key because, now more than ever, protected information must be - well - protected!

Listen in on this episode to hear stories that brought this reality home to me in a big way. I also share some solutions if you are worried that the records custodian in your practice is YOU.

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

In Texas, it's common to feel like you aren't sure what to do after you graduate from your counseling graduate school. Sure, you can give a killer reflection of content and emotion and lean forward in your chair and make eye contact with your client when they talk, but here's the thing: after you have that diploma in your hand, you have the opportunity to become someone else for the first time ever.

What the heck am I talking about?

If you've followed my blogs, webinars, You Tube, and podcasts over the years, you know that LPC and LMFT rules regarding the LPC Associate License in Texas have changed like crazy. As a result, the number folks who don't know or understand them all is out of control! 

In fact, with all of the changes, you might even notice that YOUR PROFESSORS don't know all of the post-graduation tasks. What?!

Lucky for you, in this episode I'll be interviewing Dr. Tara Fox, Assistant Professor, Program Coordinator, and Graduate Coordinator within the Clinical Mental Health graduate program at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX. 

She knows her stuff and she'll help you understand it too. You can grab the resources she mentions by going here.

Listen in on this session to learn more about the steps that will make all the difference for you in your new venture to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. Enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

What happens when you finally look at your accounting books may surprise you—and not in a good way. You see, many people who work in the mental health field either as practice owners or employees, find both the journey and the destination stressful.

But what if, instead of perfection, you aimed for organized?

This is the focus of this incredibly powerful conversation with my friend Dr. Olivia Wedel. As many of you know, Dr. Wedel is the president of the Texas Mental Health Counseling Association (TMHCA), she is an adjunct professor and she owns her own private practice Olivia Wedel Counseling . What you may NOT know is she has been filing Schedule Cs for her husbands corporation for years! Don't know what that means, don't worry, Dr. Wedel gives us definitions, advice, and actionable steps.

How does a get-organized-first mentality help you lower your stress at tax time?

In this episode, Dr. Wedel shares her tips for finding uncomplicated tax prep strategies that work for YOU. We talk about her framework for estimating quarterly taxes, transforming cluttered receipts into a scalable system, overcoming challenges, and much more.

The advice and strategies we discuss today are invaluable for practice entrepreneurs and w-2/1099 contractors alike. You won't want to miss this fantastic session with Dr. Wedel, so tune in and enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

The clinical supervision contract is by far the most under-taught concept in counselor education. Which is crazy, considering it's the foundation of the post-graduate supervisory relationship! It can be also be much more straightforward than we've been led to believe. So why are so many graduate students AND supervisors reluctant to take a closer look?

We often like to overcomplicate things, but in this episode I share simple tactics that are easy to understand. In fact, you can use this information along with Navigating the Supervision Search: A Comprehensive Guide for Counseling Graduate Students to create a great set of interview questions for a potential supervisor! At the core of this message is a vital attitude shift from passive supervisee to partner in supervision. Participants of the Kate Walker Training 40 Hour Clinical Supervisor Training Course use this same framework to create effective contracts for their future supervisees.

This session is an excellent behind-the-scenes look at what goes into a clinical contract and a blueprint for any supervisor looking to follow in these footsteps. My approach to the clinical contract is very practical, so I can't wait for you to hear all about it. The best part is that the tools discussed today can be used at any level, so listen in and enjoy! 

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

You've just about had it with grad school! You want to start practicing what you've learned. You want to spend more time with your family, get back to your hobbies, reconnect with your friends. The demands of grad school have kept you apart much too often. But back up....you have to work for 3000 hours under a clinical supervisor?

Yep.

So how should you go about finding that perfect supervisor? What is the step-by-step process?

If you're not too confused, listen in on this episode to get exactly that!

Today, I'm talking about one of the things I get asked about the most.  Navigating the Supervision Search: A Comprehensive Guide for Counseling Graduate Students is out now to provide the blueprint for going from “stuck” to making strides toward finding a supervisor who will become your mentor and friend.

I talk about a lot of myths in this one and even talk about things to beware of, but the tactics I talk about are pure gold for new grads! I also talk about my upcoming free webinar with Dr. Tara Fox April 5 where you can attend via Zoom and get the latest information (and 1 CE) about bridging successfully from grad school to Associate and much more. 

I'm also giving away three months free in the Step it UP membership so listen up to see how to enter (actually when you get the guide you're entered)!

Many people wait for their perfect clinical supervisor to appear out of nowhere. The thing is, unless you start taking action, you'll get what you get. So join me for this fantastic podcast to begin your journey to becoming a professional counselor. Enjoy!

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.