In this episode, Gordon talks with Samara Stone, LCSW about having a pro-insurance private practice. Samara is a person you need to know in the private practice realm. Samara teaches so much about work-life balance and is an innovative and inspiring leader in the field of behavioral health. Gordon and Samara share their journeys into private practice and how they came to the decision to be on insurance panels instead of being strictly private pay. Samara's approach is inspirational and encouraging to those of us in this field.

In this episode, Gordon talks about marketing strategies for your counseling and therapy private practices. Ultimately, marketing is about helping people find you and helping you connect with your ideal client. Marketing can be done in two ways, online and offline. Gordon talks about the strategies of doing both and focusing on the ways that fit you and your personality best.

In this episode, Gordon talks with Maureen Werrbach, LCPC about starting a group private practice and how she grown and approached building a large group practice in Chicago, IL. Gordon and Maureen talk about how sharted the Facebook Group, "Group Practice Exchange" and some of the questions that come up for the members of that group. They also talk about the advantages and disadvantages of having 1099 (contractors) vs. W2 (employees).

In this episode, Gordon talks about the balance between the clinical vs. business side of running a private practice. Even though there are some overlaps of clinical processes and business processes, it is usually helpful to keep things separate. Gordon talks about having a good handle on how you spend your time and having processes in place to manage the various aspects of operating a private practice as a counselor, therapist, psychologist or social worker.

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Mel K. Whaley about advocacy and help make mental health services more readily available to the people that need it most. Mel talks about several of the projects she has been working on in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors to help providers have better support and improve their performance in the way they run their practices. Mel's main focus has been to use her business background to help clinicians work more efficiently and improve business processes.

In this episode, Gordon talks about using your time and money resources and when to "bootstrap" vs.outsource in private practice. There is a relationship between our time and money assets. The biggest commodity as counselors and therapists have is our time. We trade our time for money. Gordon talks about getting the best ROI for your money by developing a mindset and understanding of your time and its value. Knowing where to focus your efforts depends on which phase of private practice you are in.

In this episode, Gordon talks with Dr. Maelisa Hall from QA Prep about documentation and the common problems clinicians in private practice run into with their paperwork. Maelisa discusses some strategies around staying current with your documentation and getting caught up when you have fallen behind. "Session notes should be thought of as a part of your therapy session". Gordon and Maelisa also talk about some of the challenges of starting a new business/practice and the importance of sticking things out and being persistent with what you do to build a practice.

In this episode Gordon talks with Rachael Norman about helping self-paying clients who want to use their health insurance to pay for your services. The easiest way for practitioners to help people collect out-of-network insurance benefits is to offer a "superbill". Rachael talks about how and why her company developed an app called "Better" that helps clients easily get paid back for their out-of-pocket expenses, using a superbill, from their health insurance.

In this episode, Gordon talks about 11 things therapists, counselors and other mental health clinicians can do to help their private practices succeed in the coming year. From being action oriented to planning and preparing for the long haul, private practice success depends as much as anything on being persistent and consistent. Owning and running a small business takes a lot of knowledge and skill. Gordon discusses these top things he has learned in his years as a private practice owner.

In this episode, Gordon talks with Jim Turner about collections and getting paid in your private practice as a therapist, counselor or other mental health provider. They discuss having client credit cards on file and how to have a system that is secure and reduces liability for the clinician. They talk about how to set this up and then how to present it to clients. Jim talks about having a clear and simple financial policy with clients so that there very few questions about payment expectations.