Blog
TSBEPC Has Released Update to Rules– LPC interns are impacted!
This post has been edited to reflect updates about possible interpretations of the new rules proposed by the Texas LPC board and to correct an error. I found out yesterday that the LPC board in Texas has released a new version of the rules and regulations, as of July 14, 2016. There are a couple of changes that will certainly impact LPC interns and LPC supervisors, and I’ve written about these changes before. I’m listing some of the changes below. Please note that you should always follow up at the board’s website for the...
read moreFree support for counseling students & interns at BeginningCounselor.com
You may have noticed that I’m not really posting much here at counselinginterns.com any more. There’s definitely a reason for that. I still care about beginning counselors and interns, of course. And I still want y’all to have support through your programs and internship journeys. That hasn’t changed. It’s not that I’ve lost interest in the cause. Not at all. In the end, I decided that I wanted to change what I’m offering to you—and I wanted to bring you more than I was able to do alone. So, over the past year, I made some big decisions with...
read moreWorking on the business, working in the business
The title of this post is about working in a new private practice, but don’t let that fool you. The same principles apply to your post-graduate internship, if that’s where you are in your journey. Building a practice or starting a clinical internship is like walking a tightrope. Both require thoughtful balance of working on and working in. If you’re just starting out internship hunting or hanging out your shingle, it’s easy to get swallowed up by all the job-hunting or business-building to-do’s you keep reading about online. You’re...
read moreTexas LPC Board Rules & LPC Internship
The Texas LPC board (aka Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors aka TSBEPC) is keeping busy in the new year. The long-time executive director of the board, Bobbe Alexander, recently retired. Sarah Faszholz is serving as interim executive director. TSBEPC also published some significant proposed changes to the LPC rules and regulations in the January 15th issue of the Texas Register. Many of these edits are the same ones they proposed and later withdrew in May of 2015 (check ’em out here). While some of the edits are...
read more20 Simple Tips for Website Design for Therapists
For counseling interns and therapists newly launched into private practice, there’s no scarcity of information out there about building a website. Unfortunately, there’s so much information that I think it’s quite easy for people to get really overwhelmed. So, I’ve put together a list of 20 short tips for website design, based on the experience I’ve gained over the last five years in putting together a practice. I’m by no means an expert on this subject matter, but this is what I’ve learned from the...
read moreThe honest letter that whipped me into shape
Every so often, I sit down and give myself a talking to. On paper. It’s different from journaling. And it isn’t a to-do list or an I did list. It’s something else. It’s part pep talk, part strategy, part intention-setting, and a whole lot of heartfelt, touchy-feely what really matters to me in this lifetime sort of stuff. I wrote myself a letter about five years ago, when I was just launching my private practice. (It’s kind of creepy what I predicted in that letter from five years ago. Just about everything panned out as I had written it.) My...
read moreMy icky marketing mistake
Ugh. I broke my own rule. I did some icky marketing, y’all. And since doing outreach from a feel-good place of service and generosity is a cornerstone of my practice, I admit I feel pretty foolish. Last year, I wrote an ebook. It was all about building a practice from a place of authenticity—about doing marketing that makes you feel good and avoiding stuff that feels sleazy. The book is called Fill Your Practice Without a Fight: A Home Study Kit for Therapists Who Hate Icky Marketing. You can learn more about it here if you’re interested....
read moreHow to stay focused while growing your private practice
Building a private practice can feel like a bit of a jumble. For most therapists, business-building is a new skill set. And as any start-up will tell you, the first year or two in business is intense. Often, there’s not a lot of money to be had, there’s a tremendous amount of work to do and infrastructure to set up, and when you’re doing it all by yourself? For the first time? Well, no wonder it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And distracted. Before you know it, procrastination sets in and the to-do list just grows and grows. (Or maybe that was...
read moreLicense application delays: 13 lucky things to do while you wait
A couple of weeks ago, I was stuck in waiting room hell. See, I had to go down to police headquarters to get fingerprinted. (Sounds much more exciting than it actually is, I promise.) The police headquarters in Austin is depressing. It’s drab and brown, and the glass front of the building is punctured with bullet holes. Yes, bullet holes. The energy of the waiting room was really weird. Of course, if I had to sit behind a desk and collect payments from disgruntled people while gazing at an assortment of bullet holes in the front of my...
read more7 Ways Personal Therapy Can Transform Your Practice
I discovered the inside of a therapist’s office for the first time when I was 13 years old. Eighth grade was a rough year for me. I was in a school with a lot of really smart, high-achieving folks. I was struggling to find my own footing socially and academically. Also, it was middle school. I don’t think this is often cited as a favorite time in people’s lives—the awkward, somewhat anxious bridge between childhood and young adulthood. Or maybe I’m just speaking from my own experience, here. (And that’s a key point of this post—see point #2...
read more