Episode 9: The Value Of Your Professional Village
How Networking Can Transform Your Therapy Practice
In this week’s episode of the Raise to Empower podcast, I explored the world of networking and its critical role in developing a thriving therapy practice. Networking goes beyond merely handing out business cards; it's about forming genuine relationships that offer support, referrals, and collaborative opportunities. Here’s a deeper dive into why networking should be non-negotiable for every therapist.
Why Networking Matters: More Than Just Referrals
When thinking about networking, one might imagine meeting with doctors or attending formal events. While these methods are useful, networking with fellow therapists provides numerous benefits beyond generating referrals.
Expanding Your Referral Network
A significant advantage of networking is broadening your referral sources. By connecting with therapists who specialize in areas different from yours, you can easily refer clients who aren’t a good fit for your practice. Whether your schedule is full or the client's needs don’t align with your expertise, having a solid network lets you refer clients to trusted colleagues. This reciprocity means therapists who know your niche are likely to refer clients to you as well.
Mutual Support and Collaboration
Networking helps you establish a community of professionals who understand your challenges and can provide support. This can alleviate the isolation that comes with running a private practice, particularly an online one. Imagine having a group of fellow therapists who are just a message away for consultations, collaborative projects, or even just to share a tough day’s experiences. That’s the beauty of good networking!
Strategies for Effective Networking: Building Relationships That Last
Knowing the importance of networking is one thing; implementing it effectively is another. Lasting relationships require ongoing efforts. Here are some actionable steps:
Start with a Zoom Coffee Chat
While face-to-face meetings have their perks, Zoom coffee chats are an excellent way to get to know someone without the need for travel. Use these virtual meetups to introduce yourself, discuss your passions, and explore how you can support one another. Maintain the relationship with occasional emails or additional video calls.
Join Professional Groups
Joining professional groups related to your niche is another excellent way to network. These groups offer events, forums, and activities designed to help therapists connect. Consider joining our Village community for women and mom clinicians to network, refer, and collaborate.
Overcoming Networking Barriers: It’s Not a Competition!
A significant barrier for many therapists is the feeling of competition and imposter syndrome. Remember, you’re not in competition with other therapists, even those within the same niche. There is plenty of need to go around. Each therapist has unique offerings, and clients will choose you for who you are and what you bring to the table.
Embrace Collaboration Over Competition
Instead of viewing other therapists as competition, focus on ways to support each other. Embrace mantras like "collaboration over competition" or "community over competition." These mindset shifts can profoundly transform how you approach networking and foster meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships.
Utilize Tools and Resources
Starting can be intimidating, but I’ve created a comprehensive connecting guide with effective scripts to help you reach out to clinicians, medical professionals, and community stakeholders. These scripts are designed to build strong networking relationships that can fill your practice. Download the free guide and start making connections today.
Moving Forward: Your Networking Action Plan
Ready to take action? Here’s a straightforward plan to kickstart your networking:
Download the Comprehensive Connecting Guide
Follow the scripts and tips to initiate those first conversations.
Set a Networking Goal
Aim to reach out to one new therapist each week or attend a virtual networking event monthly—set realistic, attainable goals.
Join the Village Community
Connect with other women and mom clinicians for continued support, referrals, and collaborative opportunities.
Networking doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By taking it step-by-step and focusing on building authentic relationships, you’ll develop a supportive and robust network that will enhance your practice in ways you never imagined. Let's keep empowering each other through meaningful connections!
Transcript for Episode 9
[00:00:00] Ashley Comegys: You are listening to the Raised to Empower podcast. I'm your host, Ashley Comegys, a licensed clinical social worker with a multi-state online therapy practice. I have a passion for empowering women and mom therapists to break free of the fear, overwhelm, and oppressive systems that hold them back from taking action and building the private practice of their dreams.
[00:00:23] My goal is for you to boldly believe in yourself as a clinician and business owner. If you are looking for a place to learn, practice, building, strategy and skill, while also claiming your own power as a woman and a therapist, then you are in the right place. Welcome to the show. Welcome to this week's episode of The Raise to Empower Podcasts.
[00:00:45] If you've been listening to the last few episodes, you've heard me talking about trying to have simplicity in marketing your online practice. And one of the things I've recommended is having three to five strategies that [00:01:00] are what you focus on for marketing. If you do more than that, a lot of times we're just not focusing necessarily in strategies that are.
[00:01:10] Actually beneficial and maybe we're wasting time or even money. So I really recommend three to five that you're really focusing on. You can go back and listen to the last few episodes, I believe, starting even at episode five or six. Listen to all of that recommendation from the beginning. And if you've been listening to the last few episodes, you've heard me suggest two non-negotiable strategies.
[00:01:36] One of them is having a. And the other that I've not really had a chance to talk too much about yet, that I do believe is really vital and, and again, kind of a non-negotiable. Is networking with others about your practice. One of the things I've noticed when I am talking to other therapists about networking, so often what I hear is this idea that [00:02:00] networking equals talking to doctors in their offices or networking with doctors' offices.
[00:02:06] Now, I'm not saying that having a referral source from a doctor is not an option or is not a good option. It could be a very viable referral source, especially depending on what your niche is and the type of doctor you're trying to network with. But I think many of us put a lot of weight into networking with doctors, and we spend money on gifts or even like luncheons to really try to entice.
[00:02:31] And then it doesn't necessarily yield the return that we hope for. I've seen a lot of people put a lot of eggs in their basket with this strategy with doctors and feel really frustrated, kind of like, what am I doing wrong? And I don't think you're necessarily doing something wrong. I think doctors are just really, really hard to get in with.
[00:02:52] And I'll do another episode eventually. Networking specifically with doctor's offices cuz there are ways to do it and it can be a [00:03:00] viable referral source, but it can be a little tricky. What I wanna focus on today is networking, but the importance of networking with other therapists in private practice.
[00:03:11] This is an area of networking and marketing that I think we overlook and is really underrated. There are several reasons why networking with other therapists is so valuable. Now, if you are a therapist who's already in practice, maybe you've been in practice for a while. I want you to think about how many times you've had a potential client reach out to you for services, and either they're not a good fit, maybe they are looking for somebody who treats depression, and that is not necessarily one of the areas you specialize in or you don't have room because your schedule is completely full.
[00:03:49] Or maybe they're seeking, say, couples therapy and you don't work with couples. You have this person who's reaching out. But you aren't able to provide that service for them. [00:04:00] Sometimes we even have clients that we've worked with for a while and maybe the area of focus has changed and we're not necessarily a good fit for them.
[00:04:10] Having connections and relationships with other therapists allows you to easily make a referral or a recommendation to that, either current client or potential. And the same is true in the other direction where maybe somebody else is in practice and it's not a good fit for them. The client that is reaching out to them, and so they know that you specialize in couples and they don't work with couples, and so they're making that referral to you.
[00:04:39] Building relationships with other therapists helps you to have easy places to refer and recommend to either current or potential clients. Whether you've been in practice for a while or are just starting out by connecting with other therapists, it allows them to know you and to think of you as someone to refer [00:05:00] to.
[00:05:00] If you are someone who is just starting out, or maybe you've been in practice for a little while, but your practice is not full. Connecting with other therapists can be an amazing way. To help people know about your practice and to start getting referrals, one of the ways to do that is to connect with therapists who are in a similar niche and if they are full, letting them know that you can take new referrals.
[00:05:26] So, for example, my niche is working with moms in the perinatal period, working with military spouse. And I'm full right now. So if I knew of somebody who had openings and they were licensed in the states I'm licensed in and they had a similar niche, that would be an easy place for me to send those referrals to, and that person would come right to mind when I'm getting people asking for an appointment that I don't have open.
[00:05:54] Connecting with therapists who have been in practice for a while. And have [00:06:00] that similar niche can be a great way to let them know, Hey, if you have people reaching out that you can't take, or it doesn't fit with your schedule, I'm available. It can also be great to connect with therapists who are what I call like niche adjacent to yours.
[00:06:14] So for example, if you work with children, Connecting with therapists who work with couples or even teens or in the perinatal population or with moms. Those are therapists who they themselves aren't necessarily seeing young children, but they are working with clients who may have connections to someone who is needing a referral for their child for therapy.
[00:06:41] I know a lot of people who do work with teens, and maybe their sibling needs to be seen for therapy, but that current provider only works with adolescents, and so they would need a referral out. So by you connecting with them, that allows them to have an easy referral source. There are [00:07:00] so many providers right now that I know who have completely full practices and are turning away clients, and there are also a lot of providers that I know who are needing more clients, and I feel like this is an easy problem that we can solve through networking, by referring out to therapists who need clients and that are in a similar niche or are in a niche that is adjacent to ours.
[00:07:26] Can really help that other therapist and it can help us with not feeling like, okay, I need to just take on more work, or, I don't know where to send this person. And for those who are needing clients, by reaching out to therapists who are full, helps us to refer to you and helps you to get your client base filled.
[00:07:45] One of the other amazing benefits of networking with other therapists is being able to expand your knowledge. I want you to think how many times have you been working with a client and something comes up that you aren't as familiar with, or isn't necessarily in your [00:08:00] skills or your wheelhouse. For example, maybe you are working with a client and they have had a child recently diagnosed with autism.
[00:08:13] And they are having a lot of questions about this and are struggling to know how to access services or they aren't sure kind of like the language to be using or what to expect, and that's not something that you necessarily have training in. Having a network of other therapists who are there to support you, that you can turn to and say, I'm struggling working with my client around this issue.
[00:08:39] Can you provide either some consultation or help give me language or where I can turn to for additional education or training can be so helpful. Having a network of other women therapists who are there to support you clinically and consult with you can be so invaluable. And it's great to be able to know that you can just reach [00:09:00] out to them and ask questions and they will have your back.
[00:09:03] This work is hard that we do, and we may be experts, but there are times when stuff comes up that we've either not seen or feels really heavy and we just need to process with somebody or to have another set of eyes on the case for us to be able to explore things with. And so that network can provide that for us that we.
[00:09:24] People to turn to that they can help support us in our knowledge, help us stay up to date on whether it's techniques or research or training that's available. The other thing is that while working for yourself in private practice is amazing, it can be really lonely and isolating at times. I love working for.
[00:09:47] It has amazing benefits, and I always am such an advocate when somebody is wanting to dip their toe into the world of private practice. It's awesome. You don't have to answer to anyone else. I never have to ask [00:10:00] somebody to take time off if my kids are sick, if I'm not feeling well, if I wanna go on vacation.
[00:10:06] You're in total control of your career. I love it. I never wanna work for somebody else ever again. However, the truth is though, it can also be really isolating and lonely, especially if you work from home and maybe you have a completely online practice like I do, you're really isolated, right? Again, I love my practice being online.
[00:10:30] It works for me. I don't know that I will ever wanna do it another way. But I miss having someone down the hall to be able to consult with or have what I kind of call like those water cooler moments to be like, whew, that was a really hard session. Having a network of fellow women and mom therapists that I know that I can go to and get that support and connect with and receive encouragement from.
[00:10:54] It can make working feel less isolating to know that you're not alone, right? That [00:11:00] there are others who are in this work with you who are supporting you. Even if we don't necessarily work together, that we have each other's backs, that we are there to encourage and to cheer each other on.
[00:11:16] We've all been told we need to network in our private practice, but no one actually tells us how to do it or what to say. Enter comprehensive connecting effective scripts that expand your networking community and actually fill your online practice. This free guide will give you effective scripts to connect with fellow clinicians, medical professionals, and community stake.
[00:11:38] To build strong networking relationships that will help fill your practice. In this guide, you will get tips and tricks for building relationships that will lead to referrals in your practice. Real life examples of messages used to connect with referral sources and customizable plug and send scripts for your specific practice needs.
[00:11:56] So download your free script guide today by going [00:12:00] to bitly slash comp Connecting. Hey, hey. Now if you're sitting here listening, going, okay, Ashley, like, I get it. I see that networking is important, but when am I supposed to have time for this? Especially if you are running a practice, if you have kids, it can be really hard to find time to add something else.
[00:12:22] Maybe you don't have kids and you're like, I'm just really busy. That's, I get it. That's, it's hard. Right. When I first started my practice and I was told about networking that like it's this important thing to. When I thought about networking, I saw it as going out and pounding the pavement that I needed to stop by offices, drop off brochures and business cards.
[00:12:45] I needed to have lunch dates, maybe even go to like a networking event. Those kinds of things take a lot of time. It's not just a drop and go, which if you've listened to some of my other episodes, sometimes I approached it that way and that wasn't [00:13:00] necessarily great. It really is about building that relationship.
[00:13:03] But even that, right, like even if I say I'm just gonna go drop something off. That's not necessarily quick. I have to get in my car, I have to drive somewhere else. I have to find parking. I have to make sure that I have somebody to take care of my kids during those times, right? Like it's not as simple as just getting in the car and going somewhere.
[00:13:21] It takes time. It can be really daunting trying to figure out how am I supposed to fit this additional thing in? And I want you to get creative here for a minute and just kind of go with. I know for a lot of us, our preference may be to meet with someone in person. I've heard from a lot of people, I'm over Zoom, I'm over the screen, and I get it.
[00:13:43] But you can actually build a strong relationship with someone even online. I'm a big fan of what I call a Zoom coffee chat. It does not have to be something where you get all dolled up, where you have to drive somewhere where it has to be like this [00:14:00] hour long thing. You don't have to leave your house, you don't have to travel.
[00:14:04] This is just a chance for you and this other person to begin building a relat. When I do Zoom coffee chats, especially at the beginning of forming a relationship during our first meeting, a lot of times what we'll do is just start to get to know one another. We each kind of share a little bit about our practices, share what needs we have, and then talk about how can we support one another.
[00:14:29] If I need to refer somebody to you or you wanna refer somebody to me, how do we do that? And then we continue to keep in. With some people, we have continued to schedule like a monthly coffee chat to kind of continue to check in. For others, it may be an occasional email just to say, Hey, thinking of you, how's it going?
[00:14:49] And if I am sending someone their way, I always will let them know. In building that relationship, we know enough about each other to continue to reach out to one another and to [00:15:00] feel comfortable to refer a potential client to each other. The key thing that I think we have to remember when we are seeking to network with other therapists is that it's not simply about kind of a drive by here's my info, send me a referral.
[00:15:14] I think a lot of us like to think of it like that I exchange this business card, that that's going to be the thing that gets me a referral. And I know even some of us, myself included, it can feel really awkward to have that initial conversation and so we kind of shy away from. But if we want to have that connection, if we wanna have referrals, if we wanna have support, it really is about building relationship, getting to know that other person, helping them to know who we are.
[00:15:48] And relationships take time and it has to be mutual. And I think that's one of the things that a lot of times we forget, is that if we're wanting somebody to send us referrals, we also have to care [00:16:00] about their needs. If you are seeking referrals, you need to learn what this other therapist needs and have a genuine interest in them and about their practice.
[00:16:11] Networking with other providers can be a great way to build connections, and it can sometimes lead to even bigger things like collaborating on projects, knowing that you have someone to cover for your practice for things like an emergency family leave or even maternity leave. Having these relationships with other therapists who understand what it's like for you as a woman, as a mom, as a business owner, as a therapist, can.
[00:16:38] Provide support for you in multiple areas of your life, and these relationships can support you long term, and you need to think of it like that when you're going into building these relationships. This isn't just an initial, here's my business card, the relationship is sealed. We need to look at [00:17:00] how can we support each other in our work.
[00:17:03] One of the challenges that I myself have experienced, and I've also seen this with many other therapists, is the struggle to not feel like we are in competition with each other or maybe we're even experiencing imposter syndrome. This is something I absolutely have experienced firsthand at various times in my practice at different times when I'm wanting to reach out to somebody.
[00:17:28] Or even when I'm thinking about going in a different direction with my work and I see somebody else's doing it, when we are struggling with feeling like we're in competition or experiencing that imposter syndrome, it can keep us from connecting with others or even just making that initial step to reach out.
[00:17:46] And so I really want to take a moment to challenge this spot and this belief that we're in competition with other providers. The reality is that if someone is in the exact same niche as [00:18:00] us, they're not our competition. I know it can feel like that, but I promise you they're not. They are not your competition.
[00:18:09] There is so much need in this world, especially after the collective trauma everyone has had the last three years. There is enough work to go around, even if someone is providing the same type of therapy that you. If someone is going to work with me as their therapist, it's because they connect with me and who I am, and it doesn't matter if you are in that same niche that someone won't want to work with you, they're going to work with you because of who you are and because of what you offer.
[00:18:41] Each therapist is different and offers a different approach, style, or experience, and we have to believe that we each have something unique to offer and that people will choose to work with you because of who you are, and people will choose to work with me because of who I am. We are not in [00:19:00] competition with one another.
[00:19:01] I know how hard it can be to just let go of these feelings of imposter syndrome or seeing someone else's competi. And so when I have those feelings creep up, what I try and remind myself is two little mantras of collaboration over competition or community over competition. Rather than seeing somebody as my competition, how can I collaborate or support them?
[00:19:26] How can I create community with them? We all need. We all do, and I promise you, again, there is so much work to be done that we don't need to be afraid of each other. It is more important to lift up other women in the work they're doing instead of feeling jealous or seeing them as competition. There are enough people in this world that tear us down as women that we don't need to be doing that in our field.
[00:19:54] Because also, let's be real, there can be some really judgemental therapists in our [00:20:00] field who truly do see others as competition, and so I want to encourage us to flip the switch and view others as community and support and truly lift one another up. We can do this and we don't need to be afraid of one another.
[00:20:18] I hope this episode has really helped you to think through the benefits of networking with other therapists and the value that it can truly bring to you. So if you're wondering what you can do now, there's two things. One, you can download the free comprehensive connecting guide, which is linked in the show notes and it gives you more specifics and details and even scripts on how you begin reaching out to other therapists so it doesn't feel intimidating, cuz I know it can feel a little overwhelming of where do I even.
[00:20:50] Set either a weekly or a monthly goal to reach out to a specific number of new therapists each week or each month and use these [00:21:00] scripts as a guide. This is you starting that process of building these relationships. Then the second thing is if you're saying, you know what? I'm ready to have community.
[00:21:10] I'm ready to have connection, but where do I find that? I encourage you to check out our village community. It's a place for women and mom, clinicians to network, refer, and collaborate with one another. We have networking events, guest experts, trainings, and more. So if you're interested in finding community, you can learn more about Village by going to bitly slash village therapists or use the link in the show notes.
[00:21:36] Regardless of whether you choose to use either of these resources, I just encourage you to start taking action, begin seeking out other therapists, and begin building those relationships. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen here today, and I will see you back here next week. Thank you so much for listening to the Raise to [00:22:00] Empower podcast.
[00:22:01] Check the show notes for all links and resources mentioned in the. If you found today's episode helpful or inspiring, be sure to share it with your therapist friends, and don't forget to subscribe to the show and leave your five star rating and review. It truly means so much to me and will help us get our message of empowerment out to other women and mom clinicians, and I'd love to connect with you in our Facebook community.
[00:22:24] So check out the show notes for the link or head to Bitly slash raise to empower to join us. I'll see you back here next week.