Getting Paid: How Professional Associations, Peer Consultation Groups & A Professional Will Can Bring Support & Continued Success to You, Your Practice, and Your Clients

Therapists are always wanting to know what they can easily do to keep their practice full, their clients happy, their income high, their expenses low, their license safe, and their services competitive. 

Here are the top three things therapists can do to have a robust practice, a professional support system, and peace of mind:

1. Join and Get Involved in Your Professional Association
2. Find and Join A Peer Consultation Group
3. Set Up A Professional Will for Your Practice 

1. Join and Get Involved in Your Professional Association
Whenever I tell therapists that belonging to and getting involved with their local, state, and professional associations by attending events and volunteering is the number one thing that will save them money, get them known in their community, keep their practices full, their referral sources plentiful, and their clinical work up-to-date legally, ethically, and clinically—and more, they are very surprised. 

Invariably a very lively, interesting, and informative discussion about how professional associations help meet the needs of therapists in practice follows—a very eye-opening one for those who haven’t been aware of how the benefits of membership, participation, and volunteering sustain therapists and their practices. 

Most therapists look at joining a professional association as a necessary evil that takes money out of their pocket for dues so they can get member pricing for continuing education hours—and access to general legal advice if they have a question or problem or want a discount on malpractice insurance.

Professional associations are so much more than that. 

Check out the short articles in this section to discover why joining and volunteering for your local, state, or national professional organization is a really good use of your time, energy, and money—and how it will keep your practice profitable. I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised. 

1. 23 Reasons To Join Your Professional Associations Today
2. Important Reasons for Getting Involved with Psychology Associations
3. Benefits of Joining Professional Organizations for Counselors
4. 3 Reasons to Get Involved in Professional Organizations 

2. Find and Join A Peer Consultation Group

Having a regular peer consultation group is one of the joys of being a therapist. The mental health professionals I know who belong to these groups and attend regularly consider them vital to their own wellbeing and that of their practice, too. 

Having a place among peers that’s safe and confidential where you can share about yourself professionally, your clients, and your practice, offer feedback and have interactions with other professionals in the group, enhances clinical learning through exposure to multiple perspectives and new ideas—and keeps burnout, professional isolation, and loneliness at bay.

Peer support is of great value at any stage of your career—and the peer interaction further develops your professional sense of self. Clearly these group experiences are crucial tools for success as a therapist. 

Sharing about cases, clients, clinical and professional experiences; therapy and marketing and business strategies/issues/tips; emotional and social support, and more—this is what peer consultation is all about. Get some for yourself. 

Read on and find out which of these short articles speaks to you and your practice needs. 

1. For Therapists: How to Find a Peer Consultation Group
2. The Power of Peer Groups
3. 9 Benefits Of A Peer Consultation Group 
   
4. Peer Consultation: If It’s Wednesday It Must Be Group Night 

3. Set Up A Professional Will for Your Practice
Having a plan in place that takes care of your clients and manages your practice’s clinical and business affairs should something happen to you that interferes with you doing that is what a professional will is all about.

While putting a professional will together takes a little thinking and planning, it brings peace of mind to the practitioner when it’s in place. Knowing that your practice will be taken care of and that your family members won’t be burdened with having to figure out what to do to legally and ethically to take care of your clients and manage your practice due to your illness, disability, or death, will bring you peace of mind.

Here are 5 short articles that describe and detail what Preparing a Professional Will For Your Practice entails. See which one is the most helpful and informative for you and your practice. 

1. How (and Why) to Prepare a Professional Will for Your Therapy Practice
2. Therapist's Guide For Preparing a Professional Will
3. Prepare for the Unexpected by Having a Professional Will
4. Your Professional Will: Why and How to Create
5. How to Prepare for the Unexpected: Creating a professional will can help you protect your patients and put your affairs in order 

Now you know some of the secrets I use that keep me inspired—and my practice full, my referral sources plentiful, and my clients receiving top-of-the-line clinical services. See which ones work for you.

Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping them develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com.