Adding groups into your private practice may seem intimidating or impossible, but in this week's episode, we make it easy! Julie sits down with Carrie Haynes, the genius behind The Art of Groups, and talks all about when it's a good time to implement groups into your practice, how to manage compensation of clinicians while adding groups, and some tips & tricks she's learned along the way!

Carrie Haynes is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has been practicing for over 10 years. She is a specialist in group therapy, and has led numerous therapy groups, workshops, and retreats. She is also a faculty member at Colorado State University and teaches courses in group therapy!

Episode Highlights:

• One of the many ways you can diversify the services your practices offers is by implementing group therapy
• Groups are a great way to increase your capacity to serve more clients, while offering an affordable solution for the client and a profitable service for your business
• Group therapy services can be the main source of a client's treatment, or it can be an additional treatment used alongside individual therapy work, making group therapy very versatile in a number of situations
• Getting started:
  • You can expand your service offerings to include groups once you have around 10+ clients
  •  You want to create the groups based on looking at your existing clients that have similar needs and taking on new clients that could also participate in the groups
  • Ask yourself, "What are the common themes we are seeing in our clients and what expertise can we offer them?"
• Dedicate one of your clinicians as the Group Coordinator
  • This is not a position that you need to hire full-time for
  • They will delegate a few administrative hours per week/month to create groups, schedule them, spread the message to clients about group offerings, and follow up once everything is up and running to make sure things are running smoothly or adjust as needed
• How long should you run your groups?
  • The standard timeline of a group therapy service is around 12-16 weeks
  • This timeframe gives clients enough time to get to know other group members in a comfortable setting while also giving you enough time to see if you are enjoying the group work, if the group is effective, and deciding if you need to extend/shorten the group timeframe in the future

Links & Resources:
Carrie Haynes
The Art Of Groups - Website
The Art of Groups - Podcast
The Life Coach School Podcast
GreenOak Accounting
Therapy For Your Money Podcast