Oct 8, 2018
In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon talks with Katie Englert about the transition to private practice. The two reminisce about starting out their careers working in closets and how moving to private practice was a natural transition. There is, however, a lot you need to learn about the business side of things. With no business degree, Katie had to search far and wide for the resources she needed. Eventually, she decided enough was enough and that is how her business Practikat came to fruition. Katie discusses how Practikat makes business so much easier for private practice and all the different things you can find on her website. Later, we learn to do less bootstrapping and why being vulnerable can be beneficial for business.
Meet Katie Englert
Katie Englert, LPCC, NCC, BC-TMH is an experienced entrepreneur who works with therapists to help them pioneer new ways to practice. She believes that helping therapists find their purpose as a therapist is how the mental health field will prosper. Katie has started and grown six-figure group private practices and co-created Practikat, the first online marketplace exclusive for therapists. She loves helping therapist discover products they have already created! Outside of work, she enjoys spending time at the soccer field with her kids, travel, hanging out with her family and learning about her family history.
Transitioning to Private Practice
When Katie started therapy, she rented a closet out of a practice and paid every time she needed to “bum” an exam room. Gordon reminisces about a similar situation when he started practicing therapy. He ended up being stuck in the back of a storage closet with cheap furniture and the paper-thin walls. Not exactly ideal conditions to see patients.
Katie says the process of transitioning to private practice was pretty natural but she had to search a lot for the support she needed. With no business degree, there are a lot of things you have to learn about starting a private practice. Katie suggests finding people you have a good connection with to help with the process.
Consulting Resource
Katie’s business Practikat was born from the struggle of her transition to private practice and not knowing the business side. She spent hours over the course of years learning and testing things out on her own. A couple of years ago, Katie realized she was done searching for things and was ready to solve the problem.
Practikat is an easy platform to use. You can buy a variety of things like intake forms, tracking spreadsheets, premade letters, checklists, presentations, bundles of paperwork, tools for the administrative side, agreement templates, and credentialing tools. The presentations are premade with slides and handouts for things like self-harm and forgiveness. These presentations can be customized and presented in your community. Katie says the things people are mostly looking for are marketing items, administrative forms, and hiring tools.
Do Less Bootstrapping
Delegation is a learned skill. You need to get to a place of growth where you can master the art of letting things go. Find support in areas where you may have weaknesses. Katie looks for assistance with systems because she is not the most detail-oriented person. Figure out the strengths of your team to make things easier. Katie says to have a drive on Google in order to share operational things with your team. Also, Katie suggests using strength assessments to find out her team’s strengths and weaknesses. This helps her know how to delegate smarter amongst her team.
Be Vulnerable and Reach Out
Katie reminds us to be vulnerable. Transitioning to private practice has been another opportunity for Katie to learn more about herself. When you are spearheading something, it can’t just be you, it has to be more than one person. Also, Gordon reminds us to reach out to others for coaching along the way. Even if it someone who is outside of the private practice business. For example, Gordon reached out to small business coach to gain clarity about the direction he wanted to go.
Private Practice Finances
Having a smooth intake process will help you out a lot. Gordon reveals how he used to return the phone calls of potential customers who were inquiring about his work. This took up so much of his time that Gordon decided to come up with an email template to expedite the process. This is just one example of how Gordon is saving time and money on the daily. In addition, in order to help others out, Gordon is putting together a private practice financial management course.
Resources Mentioned:
Facebook – www.facebook.com/Practikat/
Products from Amazon.com
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Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT
Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog.He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest “Like” us on Facebook.