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Do you need some flying monkeys?
Maybe you’re familiar with the story The Wizard of Oz. Specifically, there’s a green-skinned witch with a pack of flying monkeys that she sends out from time to time to do her bidding. Yeah, I know. I know. I can hear you saying it now, “What? Flying monkeys?” “Wow, Ann has really gone off the deep end.” Hear me out. Flying monkeys are the way of the future Ok. It could be true. I might be a bit crazy. If I look at one more West Elm arm chair for the office lobby I’m working furiously to furnish, I may go completely cuckoo....
read moreLesson #462—Embracing your mistakes!
I really blew it last week. I had a session scheduled with a client Monday morning—the same time we always meet. And I forgot to show up. Fortunately, the client called me about ten minutes into the appointment. I was able to rush over to the office and see her. But this brings up an important lesson about – you guessed it—mistakes. Embracing your mistakes I began seeing clients as a graduate student back in 2005. In eight years, I had never no-showed a client—until last week. My appointment planner is like a piece of my brain. Anything I...
read moreThree mistakes LPC interns can learn from
Well, here goes… I’ve decided to specialize—again. No, not in my own practice. My people-pleasing specialty remains. I’m talking about my supervision services. I’ve decided that I need to specialize there, too. I’ve decided that my supervision services are going to be tailored toward students who aim to be in private practice. Let’s hope it doesn’t blow up in my face. (Ok, ok—I know I’m being dramatic.) Really, I don’t think it will. Because I know a lot of you are looking for help building up a practice during your internship. I know many...
read moreMy expensive mistake
Yikes! I’m just now realizing that I made an expensive mistake for the past two years. It’s one I could have easily avoided. And it’s probably cost me thousands of dollars already. Let me tell you what I did, so you can avoid making this mistake, too. What I did wrong So what was this big mistake of mine? I didn’t do enough market research. Ok, before your eyes glaze over, let me explain. What I mean by market research is actually quite simple. It means knowing what other people are charging in your area for the same service...
read moreBeware of warm body supervision
Receiving quality clinical supervision is so important for new therapists. In fact, it is a requirement for independent practice for every mental health license I can think of in the US. That tells you just how important it is: it is a best-practice standard. So what happens if you end up with a warm body supervisor? A warm body supervisor—what’s that? It’s just like it sounds: your supervisor is just a warm body who signs off on your hours. It’s really sad, actually. Most supervisors don’t start off as warm bodies. They usually started...
read moreCounselor licensing requirements: your questions answered
Are you confused about the counselor licensing requirements for your state? Or maybe you’re partway through your LPC internship, relocating to a different state, and need to know what you’re walking into. If you need to get all your facts straight, you may want to visit www.counselor-license.com It’s a one stop shop online that provides all the counseling licensing requirements by state! Just remember: when in doubt, contact your state licensing board directly for the final word. After all, licensing boards do change rules,...
read moreHow to interview for a private practice placement
Why do you want to work in a private practice as an LPC intern? Do you want more autonomy? Are you looking for more experience in this unique clinical setting? Maybe you want a chance to develop practice-building skills within the shelter of your internship. These are all good reasons to pursue placement in a supervised private practice during your internship. But before you go about getting a site, you’ll need to interview with several supervisors who offer this unique training opportunity. Here are five questions to ask during your...
read moreSome advice for a new therapist
Not long ago, my supervisee asked me for some parting words of wisdom. We were wrapping up our work together, and she wanted a sort of top 10 tips list as she ventures into post-graduate life. I talk and write about this stuff all the time. Yet this list was still tough to come by. How to narrow it down? How to come up with pithy yet helpful statements about this amazing profession? Well, I took a stab at it. If I really had to get things down to the basics, here’s what I would suggest: 1.) Read (or re-read) Yalom’s book The Gift of...
read moreLearning from my mistakes
No matter how good of a therapist you are, if you don’t take good care of yourself, you won’t be in the profession very long. I learned this firsthand during my internship. Let me tell you a little bit about what I did wrong. I worked two jobs during my internship. The first was a full time position at a community mental health center. The second was a part-time position in a supervised private practice. In my job at the community mental health center, I was working with children and families. I did not have much training in working...
read moreYour attitude matters
So far, we’ve talked about a few important components of your internship: how to find a good site, ways to secure a great supervisor. But the key component in your internship is you. That is to say, the best site and supervisor in the world won’t count for much if you don’t bring your best to the table. This doesn’t mean that you need to be a perfect intern. Or that you have to have stellar clinical skills. Or have been the best in your class. Simply put, it means that having a good attitude will get you a long way. And that taking pains to...
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