Episode #606: Make 2025 Better Than 2024 - Abundant Practice Podcast

Summary

Abundant Practice Podcast: Episode #606 - "Make 2025 Better Than 2024"

Release Date: December 28, 2024

Host: Allison Puryear
Membership Program: Abundance Party (www.abundanceparty.com)
Resources: Free private practice checklist and worksheets (www.abundancepracticebuilding.com)
Support Email: help@abundancepracticebuilding.com

Introduction

In Episode #606 of the Abundant Practice Podcast, Allison Puryear guides therapists through a comprehensive assessment to ensure that 2025 surpasses 2024 in terms of practice growth, personal fulfillment, and professional sustainability. This episode is particularly valuable for both new and seasoned therapists looking to refine their private practices, offering actionable insights and practical tools to overcome common challenges.

Assessing and Reassessing Work Hours

Allison emphasizes the importance of evaluating and potentially redefining your work hours to align with your personal preferences and lifestyle. She challenges the conventional belief that therapists must adhere to rigid schedules, advocating for flexibility to enhance both productivity and personal well-being.

Key Insight: "Do not buy into the BS that you have to work evenings or weekends if you don't want to." (00:XX)
Action Step: Use the free worksheet available at AbundancePracticeBuilding.com to outline your ideal working hours and strategize how to communicate changes to clients confidently.

Selecting the Right Clients and Niche

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the importance of working with clients who not only benefit from your expertise but also make your work sustainable and enjoyable. Allison encourages therapists to evaluate whether their current client base aligns with their professional satisfaction and personal energy levels.

Notable Quote: "Sometimes we feel compelled to stay with the niche or client population that we've worked with forever, even if it's draining." (00:XX)
Guidance: Gradually transition to a new niche by phasing out previous clients as they complete their therapy, while simultaneously promoting your new focus area.

Setting and Adjusting Fees

Allison addresses the often-daunting task of setting fees, reassuring therapists that their pricing should reflect their practice's sustainability rather than market comparisons.

Recommendation: Utilize Tiffany McLean's Fun with Fees Calculator from Lean and Make Bank to determine appropriate pricing based on personal and professional needs.
Encouraging Insight: "In my experience...nearly everyone I've worked with on this issue is shocked that it went as well as it did." (00:XX)
Action Step: Implement the fee adjustments confidently, knowing that most clients will respect the change or continue with the therapy without significant issues.

Goal Setting for Sustainable Growth

Allison advocates for setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals rather than vague objectives. By focusing on actionable steps, therapists can create a clear roadmap for their practice's growth.

Practical Tip: Break down long-term goals into daily actions. For example, if your 90-day goal is to increase your client base, determine the weekly tasks needed to achieve this, such as weekly blogging or networking.
Quote: "Make sure your goals are SMART...if it doesn't get scheduled, it probably won't get done." (00:XX)

Celebrating Achievements and Building Confidence

Allison encourages therapists to acknowledge and celebrate their accomplishments, no matter how small. Recognizing progress fosters a positive mindset and reinforces the courage required for business ownership.

Notable Quote: "Business ownership is courageous...and it's exciting and scary and hard and easier and freeing and binding." (00:XX)
Encouragement: Reflect on past challenges you've overcome, such as setting fees with confidence or managing technology issues, and take pride in these achievements to bolster your motivation for the future.

Identifying Current Needs and Challenges

Acknowledging areas of struggle is crucial for growth. Allison prompts therapists to honestly assess their current challenges, whether it’s burnout, client acquisition fears, or system management issues.

Guidance: "Acknowledge that this is a part of business ownership...Things are not always smooth sailing." (00:XX)
Action Step: Identify specific areas where you need support and seek appropriate resources or mentorship to address these challenges effectively.

Seeking Help and Building a Support System

Allison highlights the importance of seeking help when needed and leveraging community resources to build a successful practice. She introduces the Abundance Party membership program as a comprehensive resource for ongoing support.

Recommendation: Join the Abundance Party for step-by-step guidance, access to mentorships, and resources tailored to prevent burnout and promote sustainable practice growth.
Quote: "We have mentorships. We have limitless practice for those of you who are full but needing to make changes so that you don't stay stuck in burnout." (00:XX)

Conclusion and Final Encouragement

As the episode wraps up, Allison reiterates the importance of awareness, clarity, intention, and consistent effort in achieving a thriving practice in the upcoming year. She encourages listeners to utilize the provided worksheets and resources to implement the strategies discussed.

Final Thought: "Next year needs to be amazing...take some time to think through these questions." (00:XX)
Call to Action: Access the worksheet by visiting AbundancePracticeBuilding.com or DMing the word "sheets" to integrate the episode's insights into your practice planning.

Additional Resources

Worksheet and Tools: Available at AbundancePracticeBuilding.com
Membership Program: Abundance Party (www.abundanceparty.com)
Sponsor: Therapy Notes (therapynotes.com) – Use promo code "abundant" for two months free.

Share and Connect: If you found this episode valuable, consider sharing it with a therapist friend to help them build the practice they desire. Follow, rate, and review the podcast to support future content that empowers therapists to achieve greater freedom, income, and satisfaction in their private practices.

This summary captures the essential discussions and insights from Episode #606 of the Abundant Practice Podcast, providing a comprehensive overview for those seeking to enhance their private practice in the upcoming year.

Transcript

Allison (0:00)

Foreign welcome to Ask Allison. Y'all ask the questions about having a fun and thriving practice and I answer them. We have a worksheet for you today so you can bring this answer into your life. You can Access that@AbundancePracticeBuilding.com links where you'll also be able to ask any questions you have for Ask Allison. If you want more support, we've got some free trainings in there too. If you can't get enough Ask Allison, check out our YouTube channel for our entire Ask Allison library. Welcome to Ask Allison. We are not going to do a question today though. We are going to talk about the new year and how to assess where your practice is and make sure that next year is better than this year. So I want you to bring some openness, some new perspective to your practice, whether it's brand new or it's been chugging along for years. And I'm going to guide you through this assessment. There is the free worksheet that goes with it that if you DM the word sheets, I will send it to you and then you can actually write in the things we're talking about. All right. But first, before we get into it, I would love to thank Therapy Notes. They sponsor Ask Allison. They are the number one rated electronic health record system available today. They have live telephone support seven days a week and it's clear why. They are rated 4.9 stars out of 5 on Trust Pilot and have a 5 star rating on Google. Therapy Notes makes billing, scheduling, note taking and telehealth incredibly easy. And they also offer E prescribed for you prescribers out there. And if you're coming from another ehr, maybe they raise the rates on you yet again. Therapy Notes makes that transition really easy. They import your demographic data free of charge and you can get going right away. Find out what more than a hundred thousand mental health professionals already know. Use promo code abundant@therapynotes.com and you'll get two months for free that you can learn how to use it, play with it, see if it is the best thing you've ever used before in your practice. I think it will be all right. So first things first, we're going to assess or reassess when you actually want to work. In case you need reminding you do not need to work times that you don't want to work. Night owls can roll in at noon. People like me who fade with the sun can stop whenever you need to, even if you see kids and couples. Absolutely you can work when you want to. Do not buy into the BS that you have to work evenings or weekends if you don't want to. If you need to change your hours, that's as like simple with quotation marks as a conversation with current or potential clients. It feels stressful for us. What I've found, though, is that our anticipatory anxiety about this conversation far exceeds any discomfort or inconvenience that our clients feel. If you need scripts for that conversation, we have them in the what to say when course in the Abundance party over@AbundancePracticeBuilding.com now this part may be harder. Are you working with the clients you do great work with and that feel sustainable for another year? Sometimes we feel compelled to stay with the niche or client population that we've worked with forever, even if it's draining. Then we come home and we don't have anything left for our loved ones. Or we continue even when we're not feeling challenged and alive in session. It is okay to change your niche. It's okay to go a complete other direction. I'm not here to tell you how to run the clinical side of your practice, but I will suggest that you don't ditch your current clients as you change your niche. Rather, only promote the new niche as soon as you've decided to switch and phase out the previous clients as those clients graduate from therapy. Your fee is the next thing I want to talk about. If you haven't already done Tiffany McLean's fun with fees calculator over at Lean and Make bank, do it. The truth is, your fee has nothing to do with anyone else's fee. Market value means nothing. This is a business and your business needs to be sustainable. That means knowing how many sessions you can work and still be the person that you want to be for your friends and family or for yourself. That means taking vacations. It means not sweating snow days and some simple math that even I can do. Now, once you've figured out what your fee may need to be by using the Fun with Fees calculator, I want you to know that it's like changing your hours. In my experience, working with thousands of therapists across the world, 90 something percent of clients don't bat an eye. There may be one or two that really struggle or challenge or ghost you, but nearly everyone I've worked with on this issue is shocked that it went as well as it did. Next, make your practice goals something that you can actually control. A goal like get three new clients in January. That's not something you can do. You don't have control over that it's a result of action you take. So blog once a week and SEO it up or have one networking coffee a week or hire administrator to help with my practice. These are great goals and this is the part where I'm going to get all like corporate trainery. Make sure your goals are smart. That's specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Have them in whatever calendar system you use. If it doesn't get scheduled, it probably won't get done. I personally really like to break down my goals by okay, if I have a 90 day goal, what do I need to be doing? And I reverse engineer it all the way back to like what do I need to do today to reach that goal in 90 days? And while that's not necessarily the most fun work I do, it's really effective in having me actually reach the goals that I make. I want you to also give yourself some well deserved credit. Whether you are contemplating private practice or you're in the thick of it, you're doing something most people don't do. Business ownership is courageous and it's exciting and scary and hard and easier and freeing and binding. And now that we are about to be in 2025, take ownership of the times that you did something scary or hard that you didn't want to do did it anyway. Maybe you networked for the first time and you thought you were going to hate it, but you made a real friend that day. Maybe you fought with technology and you didn't snap your computer in half even though everything in you wanted to destroy it. Maybe you stated your fee with confidence and you didn't offer a sliding scale immediately. Maybe you got off insurance panels or on insurance panels. If you're listening to this podcast or watching this video, I guarantee you did plenty to be proud of. So own that even if you can hold on to that pride just for a few seconds, I want you to revel in it as long as you can. Now, I'd like you to look at your greatest needs right now. Are you burned out? Are you terrified you won't get more clients calling? Are you swamped with life stuff and having a really hard time keeping your work systems together? Get really real with yourself about where you're struggling or sabotaging and letting fear dictate your actions. Get help if you need it. For any or all of those things. Acknowledge that this is a part of business ownership. It's not all up and to the right. Things are not always smooth sailing and growth over growth over growth. Things are hard in life and in business ownership. So acknowledge that it's not that you're doing anything wrong. It's not that you're inherently bad at this. It's just that business ownership can be hard. So get help if you have specific things you know you need some help on. If you don't know what to do next or how to get through those struggles, find a place to learn the Abundance Party, which is@AbundancePracticeBuilding.com party. It's always open, you can always join, and it's something 99% of you can afford. It gives you everything you need to build a successful practice. And if you want more support, we have mentorships. We have limitless practice for those of you who are full but needing to make changes so that you don't stay stuck in burnout. We are here and we love to help and I want you to have the practice that you want next year because next year needs to be amazing. For a lot of us after this year, know that in order for next year to be as great as we want, it's going to take awareness and clarity and intention and follow through and support for all of us in different ways. So take some time to think through these questions. DM me the word sheets and I will get you that worksheet along with all the other worksheets from this year that you'll have access to. And I hope that you have a really great New Year's and a really Great start to 2025. Take care. If you're ready for a much easier practice, Therapy Notes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code abundant for two months free. I hope that helped. If you have questions for Ask Allison or you want to get your hands on the worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com l if you're listening, you probably need some support building your practice. If you're a super newbie, grab our free checklist using the link in the show notes. I'd love for you to follow, rate and review, but I really want you to share this episode with a therapist friend. Let's help all our colleagues build what they want.