"How a decidedly introverted therapist went from $45,000 in debt to the six figure practice of her dreams!"

There was a time when I was struggling with debt and didn't know how I was going to keep my business going. I didn't know what to do to attract more business and to top it off, I'm an introvert who wasn't comfortable with the idea of running around trying to convince people to come and see me.
 
It all started when I chose to follow my passion and in my mid-30's I decided to become a therapist. It seemed like the ideal job - you set your own hours, have a great office, and get to do something you really love.
 
I went through the licensing process, got my cute little office and decorated it and then I sat in my cool therapist's chair and waited for my phone to ring. Waited. And waited. I didn't think about what it was going to take to build a full case load.
 
When by some miracle, I did get a client. I was often afraid to charge them a decent fee. After all, I wasn't in this for the money. I just wanted to help people.

Well, months and months went by and I went further and further into debt.
 
You know how sometimes you have those moments where you wake up out of denial? Well, one day I realized something very important. I didn't have a business what I had if I was being honest with myself was a very expensive hobby - One that wasn't much fun either.
 
If you can relate then I've got great news for you! Because despite my lack of knowledge and desire to do marketing I was able to go on and build a healthy practice filled with clients that I loved.

I believe we owe it to ourselves, our family and our clients to have successful practices.

 
 
 

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of marketing a private practice?

 

***There's great news, especially if you're an introvert! There are 17 different ways you can build your practice.
 
You have A LOT of choices! There's more to it than running around trying to meet a bunch of people, creating speaking opportunities or waiting for more business to just walk through the door.***

You can have the psychotherapy practice you want—great clients, fabulous work and the income you want!
 
It is simply about eliminating old beliefs, learning some new skills to market a private practice and implementing a successful plan.
 
If you are like most therapists and coaches, you got into this profession to help people but you have bills to pay. Maybe you are tired of managed care or are just starting a private practice.

 

Why didn't they teach you how to fill your practice at graduate school?

 
 

I was really fortunate to find some great mentors who had thriving practices that were willing to answer any question I asked. I think I also purchased every book and course on self-help and marketing that exists! Most importantly, I tested them out to find out what actually worked in the day-to-day practice of real world counselors and therapists.

 

There are 8 key strategies to making your counseling business take off.

 

After testing what must have been hundreds of different ideas I had seen and working closely with my mentors to get their feedback, I ultimately found 8 key strategies that finally helped my business to take off! My phone started ringing, my appointment book filled and I had a waiting list!
 
That $45,000 of debt that I had accumulated began to disappear and I can't tell you how good it felt to watch it melt away. And even though I didn't become a therapist for the money, I can tell you that I did a much better job when I was busy because I wasn't worried about paying the bills or having to work with a client because I needed the money, even if I didn't feel a great connection to working with them.

 

If you didn't learn enough about business at school, you need a mentor who's made it.

The thing that surprised me once I started getting busy was that therapists started interviewing me to see how I had built such a great practice. I was laughing about this with my friend Maria one day when she said "Casey, none of us learned this in graduate school. You need to let other therapists know how to do this."
 
I chose to name my company, "Be a Wealthy Therapist!" because I found that the busier I got, the better I was as a therapist. What happened was that as my stress from running the business and paying my bills disappeared, I was able to focus more fully on the actual work I was doing with my clients.
The demand has grown to the point that my top students have become part of my team and we have helped over 4,500 therapists, coaches and healers to build the practice they really want!

 

 

There are some very simple ways that you can build your own practice...

Are you just starting your counseling practice and wondering how to get more therapy clients?
 
Have you had your practice for a while and find yourself concerned that the money isn't coming in? That you aren't attracting the type of clients you want? You are a great therapist but somehow that isn't translating into money in your wallet.
 
Maybe you are like a lot of us who tried some marketing ideas in the past and they didn't work. It took a lot of energy and it didn't result in the clients you wanted. Besides it felt pushy and unprofessional.
 
Maybe on the bad days, you wonder about your fee. "Is it too high? Should I lower it? Do I need to be on insurance panels?" Some days you question how you will pay the rent.

 

"What am I doing wrong?"

Maybe your therapist had a full case load of cash paying clients. You wonder "How did she do it? She seemed to have a full practice and she said she never marketed her practice. What's wrong with me?"
 
Well, the really good news is that there is nothing wrong with you. (I love saying that!) Years ago, therapy was a financially sound business venture. Indemnity insurance paid well. Clients eagerly sought out therapy—in fact you weren't somebody if you didn't start your sentences with "My therapist says..."

Times Have Changed And You Know It.

HMOs have replaced those wonderful indemnity insurance policies. Clients who have to pay out of pocket are often looking for brief therapy. This can result in a higher turnover of clients for the private practitioner. Plus there are many more therapists practicing today -- over 64,000 in California alone!
 
The graduate schools have not yet caught up with this change in the business of psychotherapy. One of my clients told me that 5 years ago her professor stated:
 
"Yours will be the first class that needs to market their private practices in order to be successful."
 
Many therapists have - in self-defense and to maintain their case load – decided, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and are now providers on various insurance panels. This has resulted in more clients, more paperwork, lower fees, and sometimes less than satisfying clinical work.

SIMPLE STRATEGIES TO ATTRACT MORE CLIENTS AND BUILD YOUR FULL AND REWARDING PRACTICE!

 

Here are the 4 tenets that the very successful private practitioners know:

 

 

 

 

Stop dreaming about starting the practice you want - or worrying about the one you have.

Make the choice right now to take your future into your own hands! (Isn't that what you tell your clients?) You can be one of the thriving therapists that has more free time and the money to enjoy it! All this while working with clients you adore!

The Most Critical Piece To Attracting Your Ideal Paying Clients

You must decide that you are worthy of being paid a good fee. You can have the practice you want—great clients, fabulous work and a healthy bank account! It is simply about eliminating some old beliefs, learning some skills and implementing the plan.

 

There Is A Way To Make It Fun!

After all the work you've done, you deserve to have the practice you want! The best news I have for you is that I have a way to help you look at building your business in a way that makes it fun and not so scary or icky feeling.
 
I've done it and so have others.

 

 

Do You Fit The Profile For Those Who'll Be Successful?

Here is what to look for:

• You recognize that having a practice is having a business.
• You truly wants to be successful in that business in order to help others.
• You honor your clients and run your practice so that you are energized and exited to see your clients each day.
• You don't want to be completing outpatient treatment reports and haggling with managed care companies for low fees.

 

Do what you tell your clients! Take charge of your own future!

(You can even let go of managed care if you wish.)

I usually teach this information in a 6-month program but I have picked out the high points and condensed them into a 130-page manual and 12 audio CDs.
 
This course will give you step-by-step instructions to build your ideal therapy practice. I hold nothing back and tell you what worked for me and hundreds of other therapists and coaches. After reviewing the course materials, you will have the inspiration and the tools to get your phone ringing!

 

Discover how to:

• Use "bridge beliefs" to resolve those old issues of money and worth quickly so you can increase your income, reduce your frustrations, and even reduce your hours worked if you like!
• Set and negotiate your fee so you get paid easily, happily and well.
• Get past the fear and dread of marketing so that you get to a place of excitement about letting people know what you do!
• Identify your ideal clients so that you will know how to market to them!
• Decide that you will choose your clients rather than them choosing you so that you have a case load that energies and excites you. (And pays you well!)
• Apply a formula for a dynamite response when someone asks "What do you do for a living?" so prospects and referral sources will be asking if you have room for them in your schedule!
• Avoid the "binge" cycle of marketing so you produce a steady stream of new clients—month after month.
• Respond effectively when the prospect asks "Do you have a sliding fee scale?"
• Implement a technique that helped me to acquire 14 clients from just one presentation.
• Develop your specialty to market so that you are seen as an expert.
• Develop an effective marketing plan that fits your marketing personality type. You'll create the schedule and know exactly what to do to get your phone ringing!
• Keep in touch with referral sources and prospects so that your name is the one that comes to mind when they want a therapist.
• Track your efforts and your money so that you know which efforts will keep that phone ringing and avoid those that zap your energy and wallet.

 

12 CDs with the information you need to build a successful practice:

• The 8 Key Strategies to A Fun, Fulfilling and Profitable Private Practice (the Be A Wealthy Therapist Intro Class)
• Top 10 Myths of Building A Practice
• The 7-Point Plan to Improve Your Relationship With $$
• "Do I Really Need To Specialize?"
• "So what do you do for a living?” - Identifying with whom we work and what we help them with.
• Let’s Talk About Websites
• Create A Great Online Therapist Locator Listing
• Increase Your Private Practice Income by Taking Credit Cards
• How To Be Successful At Networking (even if you are really, really shy)
• How To Deliver Your Signature Talk (and end up with a pocket full of prospects!)
• Your Business Card - Your Most Important Marketing Tool
• How To Attract More Cash-Paying Clients – an introduction to the Exclusive Members Program

 

 

If you keep doing what you are doing now, where will your practice bein a year?

Whether or not you decide to order this program is up to you. But I want you to think about the goals you have for your practice. What would an average week look like? How many clients would you see? What types of clients? How would you like to feel at the end of each day? Would you like to feel you are making a difference in people's lives and being well paid for it?
 
Then ask yourself: "What do I need to believe, allow or do to make that happen?" If even one of the answers is: "I need to learn what I didn't learn in graduate school about marketing a private practice," then this course is for you!

 

Let me make it easy for you.

I want you to be totally confident in this offer and eliminate all possible risk. This is a completely guaranteed, money back offer to you.

Still have some questions? No Problem.
Here's some that I'm often asked:

 

"I am just starting my practice. How will your program help me?"

If you want to start to build the practice of your dreams, now is the perfect time to start. In this course we cover how to pick a specialty to market, how to set and negotiate fees and how to build and implement your marketing plan. This is the best time to learn how to build your practice!

 

"Marketing myself gives me the willies! I hate it!"

This is very important – you are not marketing yourself! You are marketing the fact that you help some people reduce their pain. By letting people know what pain you help to reduce, you are giving people hope - hope that they can be out of pain. You empower them to take charge of their own emotions and relationships.

 

"Do I really have to have a specialty? I like seeing all types of clients."

You get to see the types of clients you wish in your practice. I am suggesting you market to a specialty. It makes the most use of your marketing time and budget. You become known as the expert and your practice fills faster. But of course you get to accept as clients anyone you wish!

 

"I tried marketing courses before. How is yours different?"

Our program focuses not only on building a dynamite marketing plan but also on three other areas that tend to keep therapists from reaching their dream of that ultimate private practice.

• We address the old limiting beliefs about money and worth that can keep us from easily setting, negotiating and collecting good fees. Most people see an increase in their income right away as they begin to release some of these outdated beliefs.
• Second, we help you lose that "tongue-tied" feeling when people ask you what you do. You learn to say it in a way that is easy and effortless and prompts people to ask you more about what you do.
• Finally, we make sure the marketing plan uses your personality, talents and gifts. This is not a one-size-fits-all plan. It is more like a buffet. You select the activities for your plan that suit you and your personality.

 

"Will I have to give up my managed care practice? I need it for the lean times.

You certainly want to make choices that are in your best interest. And building a cash pay case load doesn't happen overnight. But there are ways to move toward whatever dream you want – whether it is a full practice of private pay clients or a mixture of insurance and cash paying folks. You get to decide!

 

"How long does it take to build a thriving practice?"

This is a little like asking how long it takes to get from California to New York. It depends on your motivation, desire, action, and knowing what works. I've seen it done in 9 months. I've seen it done in 2 years. This is the beauty. When you know what to do, you can decide how much time you wish to invest to make your dream come true. You are in the driver's seat!

 

So, where will your practice be in a year?

Now is the time to learn the 8 key strategies to have the practice you really, really want.
 
Be a private practice therapist that succeeds! Take charge of your future - your caseload and your income - today! If you have questions, feel free to contact us at 949.309.2590.
 
I wish you great success!
 
Blessings to you,

Casey Truffo, MFT
 
P. S. Don't forget that includes the 130-page manual and 12 audio CDs.

Course is approved by NASW for 14 CEUs for social workers.
Course is approved by CA BBS for 14 CEUs for CA MFTs and LCSWs.