“Offer workshops to establish your psychotherapy practice”, Washington DC psychologist, psychoanalyst, Dr. Lynn Friedman’s blog for her Johns Hopkins graduate students
Offer workshops to establish your psychotherapy practice
You have your area of expertise but you are still not in private practice. Perhaps you are working in a clinical setting and pursuing your license or perhaps you are devoted to some other kind of clinical, research or academic endeavor. How do you prime the pump for referrals?
One method is to offer workshops to establish your psychotherapy practice in your area of expertise. You’ve been attending psychotherapy workshops and coursework in your interest area. Now, put on your own workshop for clinicians interested in this specialty area.
But what if you feel too inexperienced to offer workshops?
If you feel you are too new and inexperienced to do this, there are several approaches you might take. Consider these three possibilities: Â First, you might partner with a more experienced clinician. You can agree to do a lot of the spadework in exchange for being mentored by a more experienced professional. Second, another possibility is that you can set up continuous workshops on the topic – and bring in other (more senior) experts to speak. In this way, you can serve in a leadership capacity while connecting with local (or even national) experts in your area. You could even do this on a fee-for-service basis.
Third, alternatively, you can join a local mental health association and volunteer to serve on the programming committee. These are all wonderful ways to learn and to establish collegial relationships.
