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Private Practice Startup Podcast
Episode 145: 5 Steps to Build a 6 figure Couples Therapy Practice
00:28:19
Shane Birkel, LMFT
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- [00:03]
A
Welcome to the Private Practice Startup, where we inspire you from startup to mastery. We chat with entrepreneurs, experts in the mental health and business arenas, and successful private practitioners to give you the tools needed to make your dream practice a reality. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, free trainings, and so much more. Here are your hosts, Dr. Kate Campbell and Katie Lemieux.
- [00:28]
B
Hey there, Startup Nation. What is happening? We are excited to give you another podcast episode. And today we're going to be talking with Shane Burkle on five steps to build a six figure couples therapy practice. But of course, before we do that, if you're a longtime listener, you know, we don't just jump into the topic right away. We want to make sure that you joined us last week as we talked to our second couples duo, Justin and Kim Slagle of practice. Re. I think I said that right this time. You did. I said like rotisserie practice. Re. Okay, I did say that. Right. And we talked about why do I need branding and why is it important? So you'll want to join us for that because Kate and I are loving and passionate about branding. So join us for that and you'll understand why it is important as a therapist. Whether you're a solopreneur, group practice owner, doesn't matter. You definitely need a brand. So Shane is a certified relational life couples therapist outside of Boston. He's the host of the Couples Therapist Couch, the podcast that is all about the practice of couples therapy. But before we dive in, we wanted to say thank you. If you are our loyal listener and part of our Startup Nation family, welcome back. But if you're brand new to us, we want to welcome you into the family. And what better way to do that than by giving you a gift? So Kate and I would love to gift you our A to Z cheat sheet, the essentials for building and growing your dream practice. Kate and I have been in business for over a decade, more than that, collectively, and we built our six figure private practices from the ground up. So we want to gift you this roadmap that really helps you build your dream practice. And you can grab that@privatepracticestartup.com head over to the resources tab and there you will see the ATZ cheat sheet as well as a whole bunch of resources information. You will also get five days of private practice building emails to really support you in your growth. So why don't we dive in and welcome Shane.
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A
What's up, Shane?
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C
Hi, Kait and Katie, thank you so much for Having me. I'm so excited to be here.
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A
Yeah. So good to see you again.
- [02:30]
C
Yes. Good to see you. It was so great to meet you both in person finally.
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A
I know. That was so fun. I'm sure for those of you who have been listening to multiple episodes or some of you might be binging, kind of like a Netflix binge, you're hearing us talk about the not so typical psychotherapist conference in each one of our episodes for the last four we've done. And we were able to meet Shane there in person as well, which was so fun.
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C
Yeah, you guys did an amazing presentation. That was awesome.
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A
Thank you.
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B
And for those of you who are like, darn, I missed it, well, good thing is that May 2020, it is going to be in our backyard here in Fort Lauderdale. So we'll put the link to that in the show notes as well. And what I will say, though, is you will want to register early. There are already spaces, it's a year out and people are already purchasing and it will sell out. So we would love for you to join us there.
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A
Shane, tell us about your journey as a couples therapist in private practice.
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C
Yeah, absolutely. I did the thing that I think a lot of people do right out of grad school. I started working at an agenc, and I was just working with everyone. And I was really determined to start my private practice as soon as possible. And so once I was in private practice, I just wanted to take anybody who would come in the door, any warm bodies that I could get to work with. But listening to podcasts like yours, or maybe at that time reading blogs or whatever I could consume about starting a practice, I realized how important it was to have a niche to focus on. And it became. And I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist. And I think working with couples was always really appealing to me. I feel like it's like I'm solving a mystery sometimes when I'm working with couples and figuring out what's wrong with the system and trying to help them figure out how to do things in a better way. And so that was always appealing to me. And so I started really focusing on couples and focusing my training that I was doing on working with couples and making that my niche. So that's how I started off. And I started working with Terry Real, who started the Relational Life Institute, or Relational Life Therapy that I'm certified in now. But he's been a really good mentor, and his model has been really inspiring for me in the way that I work with patients.
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A
That's awesome. I've just come to learn about him. Maybe six to eight months ago, I saw a webinar that Ernesto had done with him, and I was like, wow. Wow, this guy's amazing. And then I've been seeing his stuff all over the place. I'd love to get more experience and training under him.
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C
Yeah, he is amazing. He's great.
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A
What, Katie?
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B
Yeah, it's all that tracking online. You're like. Then I started seeing his stuff all over the place.
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C
I know. And I feel like he's doing a lot better job putting himself out there online now, too. So it's good.
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A
That's cool you have that mentorship.
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C
Yeah.
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B
How did you actually create your podcast?
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C
Well, when I started my podcast, I listened to Pat Flynn and Amy Porterfield, those kind of people's podcasts, a lot. And I actually took Pat Flynn's course, and I did the healthcasters course also that you both are in with Melvin. And so I definitely needed a lot of guidance as I was getting started to help me figure it out, I guess.
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B
What inspired you to start that? And it's.
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C
Oh, yeah. The. Yeah. Beyond the technical stuff was trying to figure out what to focus on. And I felt like I was surprised when I looked into it, there wasn't a podcast out there that was about the practice of couples therapy. There's quite a few out there about relationships for people to learn about how to have better relationships. But I thought that it would be really needed out for therapists to have a podcast where they could listen to people talk about all the different models, because I think it's really confusing when you decide to become any kind of therapist to try to figure out, okay, where do I go next for training? And I was really inspired to talk to all the leaders in the field. For me, it's particularly couples therapy. All the leaders in the field of couples therapy and learn about their models, learn about how they work, so that it was almost like, selfishly, I wanted to learn what. Where to start having more training and what I thought was most helpful.
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A
I'm sure there's a lot of reciprocal benefit and reciprocal inspiration from having all these guests and just inspiring your own practice throughout the journey.
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C
Yeah, absolutely. It's been really inspiring. I think it's really cool to see how many similarities there are with a lot of the different models and to have an excuse to reach out and contact all these leaders in the field, people I admire and look up. Up to.
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A
Although your audience is more clinicians and more oriented towards therapists or working with Couples. How has your podcast helped your couples therapy practice?
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C
Yeah, so it's definitely helped in the education part of it, and that's the first. I wanted to talk about five steps for building a successful couples therapy practice, and that's one of the first. The first step is the education part of it. So by having 88 episodes or whatever I have by the time this is released, you know, I've talked to 88 experts in the field of couples therapy and had these intense conversations that you can all go listen to. And it's. That's part of the education for me. So I've definitely benefited and brought that into my practice. And the way that I work with people, I don't. It's funny because I do focus on. My audience is couples therapists. And so a lot of my clients coming in haven't even heard of the podcast, but I have had a few who reach out to me and say, we really want to work with you. And from other parts of the country, we really want to work with you because we heard your podcast. And so I'm definitely seeing some things like that happening, some exposure, where even though it's to therapists, people reach out and want to work with me.
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A
It's definitely a way of positioning yourself as the expert in the industry and not that you're having to create all this content and being the expert yourself, necessarily. You're in the expert role as you're facilitating all these interviews, and you can really sit back and enjoy the process. I mean, it's a pretty cool strategy.
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C
Yeah, absolutely. And then when I go to conferences and stuff and I see these leaders, I can go up to them and say, hey, remember we talked? And I feel like it is a good way to elevate myself, even though I haven't really done anything meaningful, but talk to them and make connections. I think making connections is such a big part of it.
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B
Shane, you're so humble and so kind. That's the first thing that I noticed about you when we actually met in California. So you started off, like many of us, as a generalist, and then you realized, like, you wanted to have a niche. So share with us a little bit about your journey. I know you said education is like, the first part, and then what comes next?
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C
Yeah, absolutely. And so, one thing I wanted to say, when you're getting education as a couples therapist, or any therapist for that matter, I think that you should explore a lot. You know, coming out of our graduate programs, it's sort of like drinking from a fire hose, you know, What I mean, and there's all these books that you have that you haven't read that you wish you had. And so, you know, I would say for people to take their time and really read all the books that are out there. And then, you know, when it comes to couples therapy, there are some really important leaders like the Gottmans, Sue Johnson, Terry Real, Harville Hendricks, Ellen Bader, and I think that Stan Tatkin. I think it's really important to read all their books and get familiar. But then eventually at some point you're going to want to decide one to really focus on. And I think it's really important to go really deep with one model and begin to start focusing on one model. And then once you get certified or something in that particular model, then I would say start learning more about other ones again. But that would be my, a little piece of advice for the education piece of it. And then I think another huge part of this. So number two. So that's number one step for building your successful practice. Number two is get support. And what I mean by that is join peer supervision groups. Get one on one consultation. If you can, talk to leaders in the field or just therapists in your community who have more experience and really make sure that you're asking the questions. You don't have to figure this out for yourself. I think this is so important. And if you're a couples therapist, I would say try to find a peer supervision group that's specifically about couples therapy, because that's going to be really helpful that you have a place where you can talk about couples cases that you're working on.
- [11:32]
B
Shana, as you talk, I'm kind of reliving my own journey. And so as I came in the field, I was much more of a generalist. And I started seeing couples and they were just kind of coming to me and I was trying to apply solution focused brief therapy on relationships. And that didn't work so well. And so I remember like, there was this place where I'm like, I kind of like working with couples, but I am not doing a good job here and I need to figure this out. And Kate and I actually, when we were president and vice president of the Broward association for Marriage and Family Therapy, we hosted national marriage seminars, coming over to the Fort Lauderdale area, and we became friends with Chris and Laurie. And then I went on a two year journey and I did nine trainings and couples counseling. So I did all of the Gottman training, two of Sue Johnson's trainings. So I really became comfortable and obviously at the same time was working with couples and saw that transform as well as my relationship. And so what I love about couples therapy, especially if you're currently in a relationship and you actually utilize it in your relationship, like the experience of that, watching your couples, like, there are so many layers to that. But I definitely kind of did exactly what you're talking about, is really got educated.
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C
Yeah, that's so cool to hear. And I definitely think that you can apply normal individual therapy strategies to couples. It's a totally different thing. You need different type of. You need a different type of training if you haven't had it before. 100%. And something you were just saying, Katie, is. Well, I think you were saying that you felt like how you could apply it to your own personal relationship. And that was number three on my list, which is a good transition, because I think the personal part of this is so important that this might be a little controversial for me to say, but I wouldn't go to a therapist who was in the middle of going through a divorce. If I wanted to work on my relationship, I apologize. I'm sorry. No matter how much training you've had that you haven't figured your shit out in your own relationship, and that's important to me. So I might go to you for therapy for other things. But I think if I'm going to be a good. If I'm going to be in my community, someone who is teaching people about relationships, then I'm making sure I'm going to my own therapy. I'm practicing these skills with my partner. I think that my own relationship is like a science experiment oftentimes where I'm trying out all these things I'm learning and trying to figure out, and I'm like, oh, wait a second. This is just what I was learning about. My wife and I go to relationship workshops together and things like that, but just continuing to make sure that I'm acknowledging that. Well, and part of it is when I'm working with clients, I'm acknowledging to a huge extent that I'm not perfect in my relationship. Not at all. That I will often say things like, oh, yeah, my wife and I have this issue all the time, because I think that's really helpful for people to hear that normalization of what they're experiencing.
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B
Clients already look at us like, I don't know why. They look at us like we're like gods. Like, we don't have any problems. That's their perception. And like, oh, you must have the perfect Relationship and really to just kind of explain. And I. I utilize my own relationship. Like, and I'll talk about the first Gottman training that I went to, and I remember sitting in the room, and Bill Bunbury was the trainer, and he's amazing, and he was talking about the Four Horsemen, and he was talking about criticism. I'm sitting there. This is me like, oh, gosh, is that. Oh, my gosh.
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A
Oh, I do that too.
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B
Like, and it was really this awakening experience, and that has been part of the transformation. But I will use very much, like, how we do in marketing. Like, I was too, but look what's possible. And here we are now, right? Just kind of keeping it high level. But yeah, and I share with my clients, too. Like, it doesn't mean that we don't argue or have conflict, but it has completely transformed, you know, so it's a really cool process. And clients, like, you're saying clients really like that. And too, like, when I think about, like, the marketing and branding pieces, you know, part of that can be part of who you are as a clinician and your. And your branding as well.
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C
Yeah, absolutely. And, like, but what I was saying before, you know, if I had been through a divorce that happened a couple years ago, that's something that I would definitely use and I could use in my branding or I could use, at least in the conversation I'm having with people. Like, that is if I was going through a divorce, I might go to. I would be interested in going to someone who's been through a divorce a couple years ago because they might have some good helpful feedback and guidance about how to get through that process.
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A
So, yeah, there's a difference between, like, going through it and being on the other side of it and being able that point. And that, like, inspires people. And, like, you've been in the trenches, you get it, you've gotten through it. You can really help other people through that. But at the same time, if you're going through it, you're in the trenches. At the same time, you're trying to help people. That can definitely be.
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C
Absolutely. And so. And so the fourth thing is marketing and talking about your niche and that. So what you're talking about is. So to be a couples therapist is one idea for a niche. But we could even drill it down even further. If I want to work with people who are going through a divorce, then that would be an even more specific niche that could be really helpful for so many people. I think, actually, that would be really needed if there's people out there who want that niche, you should definitely go for it. Or you are helping couples who are deciding whether they want to get a divorce or not, or some different options for that. And when people hear marketing, I think they often get nervous, but it's about communicating your message in an effective way. Maybe I learned this from your presentation that you're sort of getting really clear on the avatar or the person that is your ideal client that you want to work with. So that way, when I'm writing the content on my website, I'm really speaking to that person about their experience of just going through this really difficult time. And I'm someone who can help guide them through that process. And I know how to help them through. And I think that. I think that as therapists, I mean, you probably hear this a lot more than I do. But people get really scared about drilling down their niche and being too specific. And they get really. They say, well, I want to work with anxiety and eating disorders and couples and teens and depression and everything else. And it just leaves people feeling like they're very unmemorable.
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A
Scarcity mindset pops up.
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C
Yes.
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A
It whispers in everybody's ears, really gets in the way for a lot of people, and then they become generalists, and then they work with so many people that they're really not passionate about working with. They don't do their best work, and it's not as fulfilling.
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B
And it's not good for marketing. It's not good for marketing dollars because you have to figure out what's working in all these different areas and you have to attune to so much copy and ads and headlines, and it's not effective.
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C
Yeah, no. So the fifth thing I was going to say, and then I can kind of tie them together, is networking. And so what I mean by that is my primary referral source has been other therapists. And I think networking in your community with other therapists is the first thing that anybody should do. You can also network with doctors, offices, churches, community organizations, whatever fits your niche. Lawyers, if you're divorced, lawyers, depending on what kind of work you want to do. But when I'm at a networking event, you know, where there's 15 therapists there and we're all just getting to know each other and talking to each other. If I'm a generalist like you were talking about, and I'm introducing myself, no one's going to remember me. I mean, they might say he had a cute smile, hopefully, or. But that if I say I'm a couples therapist, you really? Then people are going to sit, say oh my gosh, I've been needing to. I've had all these couples contact me that I've needed someone to refer to. And finally I know someone in the community who I can refer these couples to. And I think it's so helpful. And that's part of the you want to establish yourself as someone who's an expert on relationships in your community. I think that should be the goal for all of us. And that's part of the. And what I like about all these five steps is that they play into each other. The more education I get about couples therapy, the more confidence I have in my work with couples. The more I'm willing to put myself out there and say, hey, I'm a couples therapist. When I'm at these networking events, the more I'm willing to put on my website like, hey, this is how I can help you as a couple. Or write blogs, or do local events, do free events, things like that. The more you are sort of moving into an identity that is yours. It's like personal branding. It's like you are the person who works with relationships.
- [20:59]
A
There are so many ways to keep your practice organized, but TherapyNotes is by far the best. They're easy to use, secure platform, lets you not only do billing, scheduling and progress notes, but also create a client portal to share documents and request signatures. Plus they offer amazing unlimited phone support. So when you have a question, they're there so you can get help fast. Get started with TherapyNotes today, trusted by over 60,000 professionals. Go to therapynotes.com and enter promo code PPS as in Private Practice Startup and you'll get two months for free. Also, you can listen to episode 54 where we interviewed Brad Pliner and took an in depth view into their ehr.
- [21:41]
B
Knowing you need legal, ethical and competent paperwork is overwhelming, time consuming and let's face it, expensive. We're clinicians, not lawyers. We put in 100 plus hours of work scouring through the laws and ethics and paid thousands of dollars in expensive attorney's fees so you don't have to save yourself time, money and headaches.
- [22:00]
A
We're Kate and Katie from the Private Practice Startup and we invite you to experience the quality of our paperwork with our HIPAA form as our gift to you. Go to privatepracticestartup.com head over to our Resources tab and download the free HIPAA form today. You can also shop our a la carte and paperwork options under the Paperwork tab. Enjoy. Can you recap the five tips for us?
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C
Yes, absolutely. So number one is education. You know, if you're just starting out, you really. Well, I was going to say it at the end, but I'll say now I have a working with couples 101 course that's free that you can sign up for right now. And the last part of that is sort of giving you some next steps. And so do but start by reading the books, listening to podcasts, listen to the couples therapist couch podcast, and then going to some trainings. But get some education. And then two is support. You want to talk to more experienced therapists, join some peer supervision groups, really reach out to the community. That's sort of related to number five, which is the networking, but I think it's different. It's more personal. On a personal level, you really want to develop some people you can ask questions to. And then number three is your personal self, yourself as a therapist, working on your own relationship, going to your own therapy, making sure you're doing your work. Number four is the marketing and niching and how you're really selling yourself. And then five is networking and connecting with others. And one more thing about number five in the networking. I guess it was about three years ago I was looking on Facebook for a local therapist group where people connect, and there wasn't one. And so I started one. It's a local. I actually live in New Hampshire. I'm an hour from Boston, but the area I live in is sort of its own kind of small community. And so I started a Facebook group for New Hampshire and Maine therapists in the coastal area. And it's been amazing to me the last three years how every time I meet a new therapist, they're like, oh, you're Shane. You're the leader of that Facebook group. And it's incredible to feel like all I did was start. It's super easy. If all of you right now, after you listen to this podcast, should go and find out if your community has one of these groups and join it right away and start being really active in that group, answering people's questions and talking to people. And if there isn't one, start one. Start one for your own community. And at this point, I think there's like 400 therapists in there, and we all sort of like, it's such a valuable resource. We all give each other referrals and we get to know each other better and we figure out who works with which types of clients, and it's really helpful.
- [25:04]
A
That's awesome.
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C
Yeah.
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A
What do you want our listeners to take away from today's episode. Shane.
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C
Well, I think a huge part of it is about that I want people to acknowledge their own fear. If they're not really identifying a niche and they're not and they're feeling afraid about moving forward with some of the things I'm talking about, I think it's probably coming from a place of fear and I want them to have more confidence so they can step into having a more successful practice.
- [25:40]
A
Nice.
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B
Well said and giveaway. We are going to have that on the Show Notes page so folks can just go to the Show Notes page if they would like to grab that. So next week we hope that you guys join us for Lynn Louise six strategies for ensuring self care is baked into your business plan. And again, this is another request from you guys. So we're always looking for ways to really fulfill what podcast topics you are really wanting to listen to. It's really cool to have someone from Startup Nation family be our podcast guest. We look forward to having you listen to that podcast next time. Before we go, we want to do our Startup Nation Superheroes shout out.
- [26:21]
A
You're getting tongue tied on all those S's.
- [26:23]
B
I think it's the recording of so many podcasts and the tech issues. They've got me today.
- [26:27]
A
Yes, they've got you. Yeah. So let's take a moment to do our Startup Nation Superhero shout out. We just want to say we're so grateful for your listenership and we appreciate each and every one of you and it's so helpful to be able to hear that the content that we're producing on each episode speaks to you because that's ultimately why we're doing. What we're doing is because we really want to inspire you along your journey, wherever you are, from startup to mastery. Today's superhero shout out is from leannethepoo and she says this is such a great podcast, full of information and helpful tidbits. Such a huge help with creating a private practice and we hope you are finding lots of inspiration in these episodes because that's why we do what we do. It's so helpful to get these little emails and when you guys subscribe and rate and review our show, it really helps our episodes to get out and impact even more people and be able to help them with creating their private practice and then growing their practice. So thank you so much for the shout outs.
- [27:23]
B
So make sure you guys check out Shane's information, everything on the Show Notes page and don't forget to join us on Facebook if you want to hang out with a really cool group of therapists that are changing the world as well as we pop in there as well. So thank you guys for allowing us to inspire you guys from startup to mastery and we'll see you on the next podcast.
- [27:41]
A
Thanks for joining us on the Private practice startup. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, free training, attorney approved private practice paperwork, and so much more.