The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer: Tina Wehner | Intensives, Niches, and Collaborating in Private Practice

Tina Wehner | Intensives, Niches, and Collaborating in Private Practice | TPOT Podcast 058

Nov 13, 2018

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon and Tina talk about how intensives are a game changer for private practice because it allows you to increase profits for less time worked. Tina explains what inspired her to get her certification as a sex addiction therapist and how it lead to other intensives she now offers. Next, the two discuss niches and some things that may be preventing therapists from creating one. Tina reveals some external and internal blocks that could be the culprit of your hesitancy. Later, Gordon and Tina talk about passive income, planning long-term, and collaborating with others.

Meet Tina Wehner

Tina Wehner is the Founder and Executive Director of Livingwell Counseling and Associates, established in 2012. She is a counselor, a supervisor, and a consultant. Tina earned her BA in Human Services from Elon University and later received her Master’s degree in Counseling from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte. Tina is a North Carolina Licensed Professional Counselor and supervisor (LPCS), a Certified Sex Addictions Therapist and supervisor (CSAT-S) and educational Supervisor (CSAT-S), and of the only Certified Hope and Freedom Practitioners (CHFP) in the country.

In addition to treating individuals and couples with traditional therapy, Tina’s advanced training and certification by Hope and Freedom founder, Dr. Milton Magness, brings the groundbreaking sex addiction treatment model to her practice. Over the years Tina has developed various other “3 Day Intensive” programs for individuals, couples, families, and groups. She now offers a wide variety of Intensive therapy through LivingWell and LivingWell Recovery and over six years have facilitated nearly 100 Intensives during that time.

Intensive therapy includes many different modalities of treatments, comes packaged in several options related to timeframe and is an excellent option for most situations that clients would seek traditional therapy. We often say using an Intensive approach is like getting 3 to 6 months of traditional therapy in 3 days!

Not only is Tina a “go-getter,” she a gifted motivator. She is acutely aware of the emotional struggles her clients and supervised clinicians face on a daily basis. Her life experiences along with her comprehensive education and experience shine through with unparalleled compassion and understanding. Because of her mission to come alongside others in need, she has recently launched her consulting business, The Confident Clinician to support clinicians in powerful ways, finding their confidence as practitioners and exponentially impacting more people as a result.

Tina grew up in Durham and currently lives with her family in Concord, NC. She is the mom of twin teenage daughters and a younger son.

Three-Day Intensives

Tina tells a story about how her clients needed intensive therapy for sex addiction, and she kept referring couples to see a specialist. After referring multiple couples, Tina knew she wanted to get her sex addiction license to serve her clients better. Now, Tina can charge well over her average session rate to give her clients crisis intervention. Also, she feels more like a coach and a guide instead of just a therapist. In addition to the sex addiction intensives, Tina also offers marriage intensives, family of origin intensives, and family intensives. Gordon points out that intensives give more bang for your buck because you can increase your profits for less time worked.

Niches

Tina points out that therapists have external and internal blocks that prevent them from pursuing a niche. External blocks are the client demographics in your area might not need niche therapy, or there may not be any training programs in your area. Some internal blocks include doubting your ability to pull off niche therapy. Tina points out that when someone becomes an expert, people will find you because they are searching for the best. To overcome your blocks, Tina suggests finding scalable ways to reach your goals to become certified and successful in your niche work. Also, Make a calculated decision around your niche, do something that you love. Think about what you are good at how you can market yourself as a niche therapist. Communicate to people that you are capable of solving their problem and make sure you can back it up.

Passive Income

Tina has spent quite a bit of time in the past year on passive income and loves helping other clinicians figure it out. For example, Tina wants clinicians to figure out a long-term strategic plan to think about doing something they love and earn money without sitting in their chair. Gordon wishes he knew about passive income earlier and then talks about his Financial Analysis Guide that will help others think long-term and alleviate negative pitfalls. The two then discuss how you should never compare your start to someone else’s middle and the reason people succeed is their persistence, grit, and tenacity.

>>Get the FREE Financial Analysis Guide<<

Collaborating

Tina suggests using a multi-prong approach by utilizing learning and coaching to maximize your time and profit. Gordan and Tina agree they wished they reached out to others sooner. Being able to ask others for advice instead of trying to figure everything out on your own is a great way to learn without having to use trial by error. Many therapists have gone through the motions of starting their private practice, learn from their mistakes, so you don’t end up doing the same.