Texas Counselors Creating Badass Businesses

84 Thriving as a Clinical Supervisor: How to Create Your Supervisor Business Plan

May 31, 2024 • Dr. Kate Walker Ph.D., LPC/LMFT Supervisor • Season 3 • Episode 84

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Are you ready to redefine success in supervision? Join us as we unravel the intricacies of building a thriving practice that goes beyond the numbers. This episode peels back the layers of effective supervision, revealing how quality trumps quantity every time. You'll discover the value of fostering robust systems and the transformative journey supervisors embark on—mirroring the growth of their supervisees. As we dissect the developmental phases and share strategies to leverage your supervisor designation, you'll learn how diversifying your income streams can not only augment your impact on the profession but also safeguard against burnout. The conversation promises to be an eye-opener, offering you practical takeaways to revitalize your practice and your passion for the field.

Step into the world of supervision with a fresh perspective, as we dissect the 'Anne's Place model,' a savvy business tactic that benefits both therapists and graduate students. We'll guide you through the nuances of specialized supervision, showing how niche services can set you apart in a saturated market. You'll get a glimpse into the potential of telehealth to bridge gaps in service, especially in places like rural Texas. Our discussion extends to the nuts and bolts of expanding into a group practice, with essential pointers on employee classification and a treasure trove of resources to streamline your journey. Dive into this episode for a trove of guidance that encourages supervisors to innovate, excel, and lead with confidence.

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

Speaker 1:

Hey, it's Dr Kate Walker. I was trying to live stream in our Facebook group but Facebook does not want to cooperate today. So if you are watching this on a replay awesome. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're trying to learn something new. I'm going to talk about business plans for supervisors.

Speaker 1:

So one of the things I think that holds people back from becoming a supervisor because I know you want to do all the things. I know you want to get back to the community. I know that those four walls of the therapy room are kind of crushing in on you, but you don't want to take on another client because your plate's already full. You've been doing this for at least five years. Maybe you're looking for another challenge, but the only business plan lots of us have ever heard of when it comes to doing this job, doing supervision, is adding more supervisees, and that's not a good idea when you're just starting out. Right. Supervisors go through the same developmental phases as our supervisees. We are level one at one time. We are level two at one time. It takes a few hours of supervision before you can start to get really comfortable with the whole process and you develop amazing systems. You're familiar with the OER triad you have, your remediation plan is ship shape. So until you get those systems in place, because of experience and consultation and all the things or maybe you read my new book, the Clinical Supervision Survival Guide, and you're like, oh my gosh, I have all of these great ideas now. Well, until you get to the place where you are super comfortable with your systems, it's probably a good idea not to base your brand new supervision practice on lots and lots and lots of supervisees. You know and I could go into all of the reasons why and I know some very experienced supervisors who have many supervisees and they are killing it. They're doing a wonderful job, but I could also show you all of the systems they have in place that allows them to do the amazing job that they're doing. So if you're going into supervision and you're thinking, okay, the only way I'm going to make money doing this is to have a ton of supervisees, you're wrong and I'm going to prove you wrong in the most gentle, wonderful, nurturing way and I'm going to show you other ways. You can create a thriving supervision practice. Or you can use your S, the designation supervisor, to open up other streams of income, even passive streams of income, even passive streams of income, in your practice. That will complement what you're already doing. It will still increase the impact on your community, but now it's actually going to increase the impact on your profession because you're paying it forward, you're paying it back and you're going to be satisfied. I mean, that's the only way I can put it.

Speaker 1:

I just got back from walking the Camino in Santiago, spain. I mean, I know I'm saying that all wrong. I'm still a little bit jet lagged and one of the things that really became clear to me as I was walking this I think we ended up walking a total of 70 miles in five days is the idea you can't cope yourself out of burnout. All right, if you are already seeing clients and your schedule is full and you want something more because you're burning out. Like I said, the walls are kind of closing in. You know, deep breathing, meditation, they're all wonderful things, but burnout can't be coped away. You have to restructure how you work and this may be one of those episodes where I get a lot of pushback and I welcome pushback because you guys are awesome and you always push back in a way that's constructive and I always learn something. So I might stand on this soapbox for just a minute, though. Always learn something. So I might stand on this soapbox for just a minute, though.

Speaker 1:

This is a quote I actually read by Adam Grant today, and you know the idea is you know, maybe we shouldn't cope with burnout, maybe burnout is something where we really need to change how we are practicing, how we're doing business. And so, you know, by the end of this, I do want you to have an idea about how you can use an S, how you can use the supervisor designation to not just increase your income, not just increase your impact on the community and the profession, y'all. I want you to take care of yourself. I want you to think of supervision as a way to combat burnout. So this supervisor designation, what I'm going to talk about is actually from a course that I have called what to charge for supervision. I know that sounds kind of weird. It's like, okay, what to charge for supervision? How does that relate to business plans? Well, because when you're a supervisor, right, and you're a brand new S and you're trying to get those supervisees, you're trying to, you know, open your store, so to speak.

Speaker 1:

I'm making air quotes at the camera. Right now. You have to stand out in a buyer's market. So in Texas, the limitations on supervising via camera, webcam, all of that's been taken away. I mean LMFT supervision is still limited as far as using the phone for supervision right, but as far as using technological means to deliver supervision, the limits are gone, and so what that means is you can have anybody in the state as your supervisee and anybody in the state can have you. So it's not like, okay, I'm in this little town and I only have one choice for a supervisor. I mean, in Texas, you don't have to work where your supervisor works. You can have a supervisor in any part of the state. You can make sure that you're interviewing your supervisor, so it's a good fit. So, yeah, I'm talking to supervisors. Right now you have to stand out. It is a buyer's market. Right now you have to stand out. It is a buyer's market. So I am going to talk about ways you can supervise to stand out, because that is a business plan right, you're wanting to stand out in the crowd, but I'm also going to talk about how you can use that supervisor designation to add income without burning you out. So one of the things they kind of go together is to offer telehealth and to consider a specialty so as your business plan for supervising.

Speaker 1:

In Texas, you know, our supervisees can own and operate their own business, and the podcast that's going out this week I'll have the episode in the show notes it talks about how we can help our supervisees become good business people. Is it required as far as our clinical duties? No, right, but it impacts the relationship if you oh, I don't know forgot to tell your supervisee how to file taxes, or you didn't give them any assistance marketing and they never got clients and so they got discouraged and went out of business. So if you have a specialty, like if this is a second career for you or a third career and you have interest in marketing, or you have a specialty in web design, or you're an amazing photographer and you're able to take headshots and you're able to offer that as a specialty in web design, or you're an amazing photographer and you're able to take headshots and you're able to offer that as a specialty to up and coming LPC associates, that's amazing. That's going to help you stand out in the crowd. So I say offering telemedicine because I still get a few supervisors every once in a while who's like you know they're they. Like. You know I'm not going to offer any of that telemedicine. I want my supervisee here in person so I can lay eyes on them, and there are so many reasons to not have that attitude right. So one business plan, if you're just going to do supervision, is to consider those two things Offer telehealth, offer supervision via webcam and consider a specialty so many of our LPC associates they want to go work with folks with eating disorders.

Speaker 1:

They want to go work with addictions. They want to study EMDR, they want to study all of these specialty areas working with couples, working with couples surviving infidelity, working with the ethical polyamorous community. There are just so many things that our LPC associates are coming out of grad school and they think that they're just going to find their supervisor who specializes, and it's really really hard for them Now and it's really really hard for them Now. We do have the Texas Supervisor Coalition Supervisor Directory where you can list your specialty, and that's a great resource. But I don't know of a lot of supervision directories In fact I don't know of any that will help you advertise your specialty. So, word of mouth, joining groups like the Texas Supervisor Coalition, posting in the web pages, I'm thinking you know I'm not saying it right the social media threads where you can talk about your specialty. That's an amazing way to stand out from the crowd.

Speaker 1:

So if you're a supervisor listening to this, or if you're thinking about becoming a supervisor, don't just think about your designation, your S designation. Think about what kind of a specialty can you offer the associates and charge for it. Now I'm of the school and I'll talk about another business plan here in a second, where I don't want to price myself out of the associate's ability to pay. Right, they just finished grad school. They may have a ton of student debt, student loan debts, but if you're going to mentor someone into having their own private practice and you have an expertise in marketing or graphic design or SEO or any of those things, you can charge accordingly. You can require more supervision meetings. So in Texas, for an LPC associate, they must meet with you for a minimum of four hours per month. Lmft associates every single week.

Speaker 1:

So if you're offering a specialty and you say, well, okay, as long as your developmental level is one, you're a beginner, I need you to put in six hours of supervision until you meet this criteria on this assessment. Then we can talk about reducing it. So in that way, you're able to stand out from the crowd, you're able to make additional income, you're able to make sure that you're providing a really needed service to those grad students who are coming out hoping they can find the supervisor who has the specialty that they need. So private practice, mentoring, having a specialty in an area like EMDR or couples or addiction or eating disorders or something like that. And then, of course, offering telehealth, especially if you're wanting to reach rural Texas, if you're wanting to get supervisees who are willing to go deliver services in underserved Texas.

Speaker 1:

Now, the model you've heard me talk about before. I am not a tax specialist, I'm not an attorney, I'm not going to tell you the right way to do this or the wrong way to do this, but I call it the ends place model. And if you are one of those therapists who you know you're burning out anyway, you have it up to here and you're like Kate. I cannot add one more thing. Well, one of the things to consider is looking at your office and the times when you're not using it. Okay, so let's say Saturday morning, right? At least I hope you're not using it on a Saturday morning. I'm just going to guess here. So let's imagine you have Saturday from noon to three wide open. Saturday from noon to three, wide open.

Speaker 1:

Well, tell your LPC associate to be right, because this is before you guys agree to be supervisor and supervisee, let them know. Hey look, I will let you use my office and see clients. I need you to donate three direct hours a week and if you can donate three direct hours a week, you can use my office. I'll help you get clients. Then I will give you free supervision, all right. Now what happens when those clients come in? Well, those clients are coming to your practice. This isn't your associate's practice, this is income that's coming into your practice. All right. So you're following me. If this is a cash-based exchange, right. So let's say you're offering services to this associate's clients on a sliding scale and let's say, for those three hours on a Saturday you make, let's say you charge $30 per session for that associates session. Right, for those clients, three times 30, that's $90. That's what you would have made supervising this associate.

Speaker 1:

But now look at your community. Right now, your community has had three families helped. Your supervisee now has three direct hours of private practice experience. Now you may say, yeah, but Kate, they're never going to get all their direct hours if they're just working in my office three hours a week. Want them to go out and get the majority of their experience and their hours at a hospital, at an agency, someplace where they're going to see other diagnoses, get other experience with other site supervisors, have that colleague experience. So, yeah, you want them to go get the majority of their direct hours outside of your office, but if they can donate those three direct hours, that's 12 direct hours a month, right? Three a week three times four is 12. And you're getting income from their clients, right? So this, let me be clear this is not your associate's practice, right? They're not renting office space from you. They're simply using your office space to see clients that are paying your practice to see that associate, right? So by doing that, yes, you are making income, but your associate is getting free supervision. So again, I call that the Anne's Place model. I love that model. It just works out so well.

Speaker 1:

In fact, I hope some of my former supervisees, if they hear this podcast, that they comment on it, because I still get comments from them that it was such a relief to be able to have free supervision and we had oh gosh, I want to say at one time we had three offices in Montgomery County and we were able to deliver services and it was such a great impact on the community and my supervisees they weren't you know. They were still able to get a ton of hours because I said no, no, I only want 12 hours a month. I don't want you. Yeah, just because you can do more, I don't want you to do more, I still want you to get the majority of your hours in other settings. So it was a great balance. They were able to dip their toe into private practice. I still was able to make income, you know, as I would have if I'd been charging them for supervision, but the community was helped, my supervisees were helped. It was a win-win-win. I love that.

Speaker 1:

Another thing that folks can consider is hiring their supervisees If you're a supervisor and you're interested in growing. So remember, a second ago I was talking to the supervisor who just had a few hours available in their office. Right? Not a group practice owner Anne's Place can work for the single practice person, right? You aren't in your office 24 hours a day. I hope so. Anytime you're not using those hours, that works great for the Anne's Place model.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you are the person who's like, nope, I'm ready to grow, I'm ready to have a group practice, you're going to want to listen to some of our podcast episodes from our group practice summit presenters. Last summer we had some great presenters. I'll put those links in the show notes as well, so you can hear how to create a policy and procedures manual, how to create an orientation, how to make sure you're classifying your supervisees correctly. I promise it's easier than you think and it's a great business model. It's not hard to do what we often hear about, and this is sort of well, not sort of.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to be, let me be very clear. We are going to dive into this this year in the Texas Supervisor Coalition. I'm going to get a speaker to come in and talk to us more about labor laws, because when you hire someone, it's really not hard on the front end if you've set it up correctly. What's hard is if you've made mistakes like misclassifying people, and then you've got to pay taxes and then you've got to worry about cleaning up all this stuff on the other side. So having or hiring your supervisees is wonderful. It's a great business model. It's a great way for those of you who want that big practice, so that you can cut back on your client hours and you can sort of let this practice impact your community while you're able to kind of fall into more of the manager role. It's a wonderful business plan. It's a great way to have income and to, like I was saying, impact everyone. But you've got to do your homework on the front end. So what would that be? Things like you know. Visit your community's chamber of commerce. They have small business development volunteers who will sit with you and help you develop a business plan.

Speaker 1:

Listen to my podcast about 1099 versus W-2. Sign up for our speaker this year who's going to talk about how to make sure you're not misclassifying. Sit down with an accountant and talk about how you want to be structured right, accountant, and talk about how you want to be structured right. Do you want to be an LLC, a PLLC, a 501c3 nonprofit or an S-corp? Right, there are tax benefits. So, again, wonderful business model. But you've got to do your homework on the front end so you're not cleaning up messes on the back end.

Speaker 1:

But we need you to hire those supervisees. We need associates who, just like I always say they're too important to lose, to go in and out of business or to be working in a place that's not classifying them correctly or who's not teaching them how to pay quarterly taxes or something like that. So let's review the three business plans that I'm talking about today for supervisors. So I kind of combined three at the very beginning and this was about standing out in the crowd, because Texas is a buyer's market for supervisors offering telehealth, considering a specialty and private practice mentoring. So those types of things are really going to help an associate choose you. So if you're ready to take on one, two, three associates and you just want to make sure you stand out from the other supervisors offering telehealth, offering a specialty or offering private practice mentoring and charging accordingly is a great business model.

Speaker 1:

The Ann's Place model, right, requiring your supervisees to give you three direct hours a week in exchange for free supervision. And then, of course, those of you who want to grow that group practice, do your homework and hire your supervisees. Just make sure you classify them correctly and you get some mentoring through your small business development and your chamber of commerce and great resources like this, right, kate Walker, training Texas Counselors, creating Badass Businesses and the Step it Up membership, where every Tuesday you could be right here asking me questions, because at the end of the training I hit pause on the recording and then we just open it up for questions. And when Facebook is cooperating, then I'm even live streaming that in our closed Facebook group. So that's what I'm going to do right now I'm going to hit pause on the recording and see if we have any questions. Thanks for listening.