The Practice of Therapy

ordon Brewer
This episode is brought to you by blueprint health. Blueprint health is a measurement based care platform for mental health providers. You can find out more about them by going to practice of therapy.com/blueprint health. And also this episode is brought to you by therapy notes therapy notes.com, the leading electronic health record system for mental health providers in private practice there who I use in my practice, check them out at practice of therapy.com/therapy notes.

Hello, I'm Gordon Brewer, and welcome to the practice of therapy podcast, where we explore the business and clinical sides of running a private practice. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the practice of therapy Podcast. I'm Gordon Brewer. And this is episode number 220 of the podcast glad you're with me. Glad you're with me on this journey. And if this is your first time listening to the podcast, welcome and hope you'll be sure to follow us or subscribe to the podcast where you might listen to us. But if you're coming back for more glad you're back glad you're with me on this journey. So I'm looking forward to hearing from my guest today, she is no stranger to this podcast. And that is Whitney Owens, and Whitney is the person behind the faith and practice podcast. And Whitney is one of my trusted colleagues and get together with Whitney, very often through our mastermind group that we're in together. And so looking forward to hearing from Whitney, particularly getting to hear from her about the conference that she has put together and as sponsoring called the faith and practice conference. And you're going to get to hear our conversation about just what it means to be faith based practice or a faith informed practice. And just hear more about that, you know, one of the things that I think, is maybe a little bit of a misnomer is that we think of when people think of faith based they automatically think Christian, and doesn't necessarily have to be that way. I think there are people that are out there that are of other faith traditions, whether it be

Muslim, or Buddhist or Hindu or any other Jewish, any not other number of different faith traditions that are out there that consider themselves faith based. And so we're going to talk a little bit about that. You know, one thing I want to say here, and I'm going to go out on a limb here is that, I think to assume that if somebody identifies as a faith based practice, or if they identify as Christian, that it means they hold to a specific way of seeing the world. And fortunately, or unfortunately, I think a lot of the press around Christianity has been geared more towards maybe folks that consider themselves evangelical or more conservative, more fundamental in their views. But there are a lot of us out here that don't quite follow it that way. I really consider myself really a much more progressive kind of Christian. As I've shared before, on this podcast, one of the other hats that I wear is that I'm a clergy person in the Episcopal Church. And so I do have my beliefs, I have my convictions about things. But one of the things is is that at least in my view, is that I feel like God casts a wide net. And there are any another, any number of paths to seeking those things that are greater than ourselves. And one of the things about my tradition in the Episcopal churches were very affirming to LGBT Q issues, racial diversity, and all of those kinds of things. So one of the things about it is just because somebody is labeled a Christian doesn't necessarily mean that they follow a very strict or fundamentalist kind of view of things. So I just want to put that out there for folks. And hopefully, I'm not stepping on any toes by saying saying those kinds of things. But But when he and I are going to talk some more about that and just what it means means to have a faith based practice or a faith informed practice. And so looking forward to you listening in on our conversation, and we're also going to have some information in here about the faith and practice conference that's coming up on April the 21st. And it's going to be in Jekyll Island, Georgia beautiful location, right on the beach at the Marriott there in Jekyll Island, which its beachfront. So I'm really excited about being there being one of the speakers. So just quick plug for that. And if you want to find out more about the conference, you can get a practice of therapy.com/fyp. And waiting, I talked some more about this, but we are offering a coupon code of just Gordon GLR do in and you for the next few weeks for the next two weeks, you can get $100 off your registration if you use that code. So be sure to check it out practice of therapy.com/fyp. And also, before we get to my conversation with Whitney, I'd love for you to check out the free webinars that I've got up and posted now. And if you'll go to practice of therapy.com/webinars, that will take you to a landing page where you can see all of the free offerings in terms of webinars and trainings that we've got out there. I've got one on using Google workspace in your practice. Also, another one on going from solo to group or scaling without failing is the name of that, that particular webinar. And then another one on Managed Care finances or aka you have having an insurance based practice or considering being on insurance panels. So some great popular kind of webinars there. They're all free, they're automated, so you get to pick your time. So check that out practice of therapy.com/webinars. And before we get to my conversation with Whitney, I'd love for you to hear from our sponsors of the podcast. And those are therapy notes. And you can find out more about them by going to practice of therapy.com/therapy notes and also blueprint health. And you can find out more about them by going to practice of therapy.com/blueprint health. But here again, here's here's something from our sponsors of the podcast.

You know, as your practice grows, the systems and processes you have in place will keep your practice running smoothly. That's why it's important to have an electronic health record system that is specific to mental health providers, therapy notes as a complete practice management system. With everything you need to manage patient records, schedule appointments, meet with patients remotely, create rich documentation, and bill insurance all right at your fingertips. Their streamlined software is accessible, wherever and whenever you need it. There are who I use in my practice, and that I mentioned that they are one of the top rated EHRs for mental health providers. Their support is also second to none. So be sure to check them out at practice of therapy.com/therapy notes. And be sure to use the promo code Gordon just GLR do n and you can try them out for two months for free. That's therapy notes.com. And this episode is also brought to you by blueprint health. You know one of the best ways to serve clients in your practice is through measurement based outcomes. In fact, more and more third party payers, aka insurance companies are demanding measurable outcomes. And with more and more emphasis on good mental health. Having a way to measure your outcomes just make sense. Introducing blueprint the measurement based care platform that administers scores and charts, hundreds of symptom rating scales to give clinicians deeper insights into treatment progress. Ultimately, by helping helping behavioral health providers to grow top line, practice revenue, increased clinician satisfaction and deliver more effective care. So be unsure and check them out by going to practice of therapy.com/blueprint health. And by going to that URL, you can also get your first month free. Again that's practice of therapy.com/blueprint Health

Hello, everyone and welcome again to the podcast and I'm so happy to have my dear friend, Whitney Owens back on the podcast. Hey, Whitney.

Whitney Owens
Hey, Gordon, I'm always looking for excuses to hang out with you.

Gordon Brewer
Yes, yes. We always have a lot of fun to talk about a lot of meaningful stuff. And Whitney, if you don't know about Whitney, she's a fellow podcaster. And she has the faith and practice podcast. And so Whitney, as I start, most every podcast, tell folks a little bit about you and where you are and how you've landed where you landed?

Whitney Owens
Oh, yes. And I don't know how much I've actually landed. Sometimes life feels so up in the air, right? Yes. Yeah, so I am a mental health therapist. I've my LPC. I went to a school called Richmond Graduate University, which is small, Christian based program in Atlanta and Chattanooga, we took clinical courses. And then we took theology courses such as like, how do we explain why bad things happen to people issues like that, which are really helpful in therapy, of course. And then after that, I went out to Colorado, I worked at a psychiatric hospital, worked on my hours, supervision, all that good stuff, but a little bit of private practice, moved to Savannah, because my husband is a pastor, and I got in a position here, couldn't find a job anywhere. So I was like, Well, I guess I'll start seeing clients and do my own thing. And it worked. And then I kept moving forward and doing my own thing, and over time started adding clinicians to the practice. So have a group practice. Our 10th clinician actually starts tomorrow. So I'm really looking forward to that. Yeah, yes. And it's a male. So like, I'm full of females on my team. And so I'm looking forward to adding a little bit of diversity to that. And I also did the consulting, I started doing that two or three years ago, consulting group practices, as well as private pay practices based practices, all the things,

Gordon Brewer
right. Yes, yes. And Whitney is one of my one of my cohorts in the mastermind group that we have together. So quick shout out to those folks, your ideal for it. And Jessica Tapana. Got it, you've got, you've heard all of them here on the podcast, and I'm sure you'll get to hear more than we've really been able to share a lot of stuff and work through a lot of things. But one of the things that I'm most excited about is the upcoming conference that Whitney has put together, the faith and practice conference. And it's going to be in Jekyll Island, Georgia in April. And I'm going to be there and long with other lot of other great folks. But one of the things that just in our conversations and and just getting to know, know, Whitney over the over the last several years now, is this whole topic of how do you integrate your faith for those of us that are faith based or have a faith background, whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, whatever, how do you integrate that into your practice and maintain sound clinical work? So we're going to talk a little bit about that today. So we're Anita Tao, as I mentioned that what kind of comes to mind for you?

Whitney Owens
Ah, well I'm actually going to give you an interesting tidbit think you know this about me Gordon, but a lot of people don't mess up mother is actually Muslim. Wow. So Muslims in the family yeah, she she lives in the Philippines now, but grew up that way. Like I remember when she started dating my dad learning about her prayer rituals and things that other rituals that she had. I also remember I'm saying this humorously, but I guess it's not I don't know. But I remember when the Passion of Christ came out in the movie theater. And so my dad at the time was living in Kuwait airways, living in Kuwait, he flew for Kuwait airways, and he had several Muslims with him in the States when it came out. And we all went to the movie together. So it was really fascinating to like, have that experience of hearing more about how they interpreted the Passion of Christ and that experience and then looking at it from the Christian lens as well and and realizing maybe it's not always all that different, sometimes right come together about a lot of different things. So yeah, even though I practice with the Christian perspective, and my clinical work, like I definitely am willing to work with other people and whatever their faith is, because that is what is important, right? It's like, we are helping clients and whatever they bring to the table. And all work that we do with them that moves forward is good work, regardless of what denomination or what faith that you want to put it into. I guess that makes sense.

Gordon Brewer
Yeah, it does. And, you know, what comes to mind for me and maybe not to go too much on the defensive here and this is, I want to, I want to say this with kindness and compassion, but one of the one of the things that I think that a lot People have that or maybe not Christian is have a mis perception about who are Christians and what the Christian faith was Christian faith represent, particularly, I think the lap some of the loudest voices in the United States are people that have a more evangelical, conservative kind of background where a lot of their emphasis is on converting other people to Christianity. And I just want to want to say knowing Whitney and I, we don't necessarily come from that kind of tradition of, of being Christian. Certainly, we use a lot of the Christian language and throw out a lot of the Christian jargon but but knowing Whitney is I know Whitney, and you correct me if I'm wrong, Whitney, but we don't feel like our job as therapists is necessarily to convert a prostitute process Allah ties people in the therapy we're in, we're just there to be present with them. And certainly, our faith influences how we treat people too much to the degree,

Whitney Owens
definitely, you're bringing up such an important point here. Like even when I decided to kind of go into this field at the faith based consulting for practice centers, I was thinking about the name. And I did not want to use the name Christian. And it doesn't mean that I'm not a Christian, it just had so many connotations to it. And what was really fascinating to me, actually, Gordon was, when I finally kind of started marketing myself and explaining the kind of work I do, people who had no faith based at all, they didn't like that they didn't think I needed to be talking about that kind of thing. Or they were judging me because I wasn't overtly saying one thing or another about a certain Christian practice or whatever. And then those that would consider themselves, you know, air quotes, Christians. They didn't like it either. Like they didn't like that I was doing Christian consulting. So it's like, no matter where I went, I kinda was getting ostracized. And I was like, Is this really what our communities have come to? Like? You know, it's supposed to be about welcoming one another and doing good work and being aware of ourselves in the therapy room, right? What is it that we bring to the therapy room into our practices, and we can definitely go into that. But it was just a real challenge in me figuring out how do I define this? How do I describe this in a way that people are not offended that people feel welcomed and cared for? Whatever their faith denomination is? And background? I'm still like, figuring all that out, too.

Gordon Brewer
Yeah, yeah. Same for me. It's a it's an ongoing, ongoing kind of thing, a really kind of discovering what it is, I believe, or what it is that I, what values are, hold up, you know, with all of that. And it's, um, yeah, it's an ongoing, it's an ongoing thing. So, yeah,

Whitney Owens
definitely. And I think our business, and we say this a lot, our business is an extension of us, right? It's an extension of kind of my hands in the world, my values, who I am, I mean, your business is your child, that your baby. So not only faith, but everything that we are kind of comes out into our business right at check in and also personally challenges us in our own journeys wherever we're at. And so I think it's really important that we figure out where we are in our faith in good place, bad place, what it is denomination, like, being able to identify it for ourselves doesn't mean we have to tell everyone about it. But figuring out for ourselves because it is going to influence the way that we market it's going to influence we work with our clients, regardless if we identify it or not.

Gordon Brewer
Right, right. Yeah. And I think that the the other side of it too, though, is is by identifying as a faith based counselor on face faith informed counselor, there's a certain niche of people that that's what they're looking for. I mean, they're, they're really seeking out. You know, and I know, in my own practice, I'm transparent about that. But I also make sure that people know that I'm not, I don't have necessarily a faith agenda, or religious agenda with my practice. But if those are things they want to talk about, or need to talk about, I'm happy to talk about those things and have a lot of fun talking about those things. But I'm not gonna, my job is not to try to convert them or make them think any different than they than they do. And, you know, and ultimately, I think, by doing that, that's kind of, again, drawing on my faith tradition. Using these words is that I feel like that's kind of what Christ taught, was you accept people where they are without judgment? And so yeah,

Whitney Owens
yeah, as you were saying that I was thinking the exact same thing like in your and even your other podcasts, the kindness and compassion. I mean, let's talk about someone who was kind and compassionate Jesus. Right. And not ostracizing people and accepting people where they're at and he provided an invitation. He didn't force people, you know. And I think that's so important. Even when I was in graduate school, I did come from an evangelical background. And when I went in, and I was like, go get everybody saved in counseling, you know, I thought I was all bad. And you know, and then I got in there. And I was like, Dang, this is like, not the reason to be going into this field, and really had to change a lot of the ways that I thought about myself and thought about my own fate, and really understanding that that's not how I love people. Right, giving them my agenda.

Gordon Brewer
Right. Right. Yeah. And I think it's, I think it's to is, is that there is there's probably a whole group of, of Christian folk or people that identify as Christian, that are quite affirming and quite progressive in their thoughts. I mean, just thinking about, you know, gay, LGBTQ issues, and all of that sort of thing. There's a lot of us that are very farming of that. And so, yeah, and so it's a different, you know, I guess it all depends on everyone's individual theology, or the way that they think about, you know, their practice of religion. So I but I think that the one thing that I think that I know that Whitney is doing, is really teaching people how to integrate all of that, in a way as she likes to say not to keep being too cheesy, right?

Whitney Owens
Without being cheesy or fake?

Gordon Brewer
That's right. Right. So well, I know, Whitney has got this big event coming up. And I know that there's probably some people that will be interested in finding out more about that. So tell us about the faith and practice conference.

Whitney Owens
Yeah, I think thank you, Gordon for the opportunity to talk about it. I am super looking forward to this, I've always wanted to host a conference. But I just, I guess the field that I want for this event is a place where people can rest and relax, and also have community with other people. I have some words that have kind of come to me as I've been kind of planning this out the words of acceptance, community, and fun. That, you know, just like we're talking about this place of accepting one another, we're not going to judge each other for what our beliefs are. And what we do, like we're just going to accept one another. Because it's in that place that we we find ourselves that we find community, and we can learn from one another. And that's where we have fun, right is when we enjoy one another enjoy one another's company. So it's a conference that we're not going to judge what people are doing. Or if someone doesn't want to go to an event, they want to go lay out on the beach and go lay out on the beach, like that's totally fine, because this has been a year of haziness like, and even as we've come out of COVID, we're coming into all these other problems. It's like the problems didn't stop, right. And I hope that this is a time where we could kind of reflect and we're gonna have some cool people there. Like I look forward to learning from these people myself. And so I'm looking forward to that time, but the conference is going to be April 21, through the 24th. That's a Thursday through Sunday, we're going to check in Thursday night leave Sunday around lunchtime, it's going to be on Jekyll Island, Georgia. And to tell you the truth, I'm a beach snob. So I've picked a beach that was beautiful. And the hotel is new, it's it's less than a year old. I've stayed there overnight. It's beautiful. It's right on the beach, like there's a boardwalk just for that hotel beach just for that hotel. They have bikes that you can rent, I actually did do that when I was there and went on some bike rides. They have the towels, chairs, all the things that you want to be able to lay on the beach. But we will get into the actual conference material. So the conference is going to be made up of three tracks. One is Faith in Action, faith and business faith in counseling, faith and action is how do we do skills with our clients in session that are somewhat faith oriented. So for example, Amanda Landry, who, you know, as well, more, she's going to be coming in teaching five yoga poses, I believe, and three meditations that you can do with your clients. We have someone else who's going to do brain spotting, we have someone else who's going to do how to use music to help clients that have ADHD. So a lot of experiential stuff within the conference. That's the faith and action. Also, side note, is Amanda's going to be doing beach yoga to that as well. Yes. And then we also have the faith in business and that's where actually you're coming in Gordon, right and teaching a little bit about that. And so we're gonna have people that are a lot of amazing consultants are gonna be doing some of that business stuff. We have you Jessica Tapana, from simplified SEO, consulting Daniel from private practice elevation and your father, he's gonna be talking about website design and copy and bringing in your client. Jane Carter's also going to be there who's a coach that does a lot of good faith integration kind of work. But anyway, the faith in business so how do we run our business and then there's faith in counseling and that's going to be more of the integrative piece of how do we bring faith into the therapy room and how to We use that. And we have, that's actually the majority of the talks that we're going to be having. So if you're a practice owner, or even if you have clinicians, or you want to just work on clinical work, like you would have a place to do that as well.

Gordon Brewer
Right, right. Yeah. And it's, I think, knowing the hat thing, kind of in the background, whereas I've seen Whitney put this together, I'm really looking forward to it just for it to be just a very relaxing, kind of, of conference really a time for rejuvenation, which, you know, where it's happening right after Easter, too. Yes. So that's, I think, for a lot of folks that are, particularly for those of people like me that also wear that clergy hat sometimes that that's a good week to kind of let down because you've been kind of building up through till Easter three left, but tell folks how they can find out more about the conference.

Whitney Owens
Yeah, so you can get to the conference website is practice practice.com backslash faith in practice conference, you can see the tracks all there's a PDF there that you could click on, you can see all the speakers what they're going to be talking about. So um, I just feel really honored for the caliber of people that have agreed to come and speak at this event. I know, Gordon, you're going to be hosting a happy hour. Yes, correct. That's good. Yeah. So the practice of therapy, we'll be doing a happy hour. That's right, we are going to have happy hour at a Christian conference. I'm using my air quotes here. But it for any faith based people. And actually, just to be honest with you, there are definitely people that are coming that wouldn't consider themselves a faith based practice or faith based practice owner, like I mean, that's who the conference is kind of tailored to. But I think a lot of people will just benefit from the community and from being together and learning from one another. So you can go there. And then if you click on the link to purchase, we have a special deal just for Gordon's listeners here today. If you put in the promo code or code, Gordon, you will get $100 off the tickets tickets are typically $349. So you'll get it for 249, this deal is only going to be for two weeks. So that's going to end on the 21st of March. So just make sure that you go ahead and go in there, we have about 35 to 40 tickets still available. So make sure you head in there and grab one of those tickets before they're gone.

Gordon Brewer
All right, and we'll have those links in the show notes in the show summary. And also, I know that I've got a pretty link already made for the conference. And it's practice of therapy.com/nfip. So yep, it's already it's already up and in place. So So Whitney, what are what are some of your part parting thoughts here, just thinking about this whole idea of integrating faith in your practice and are having as I like to refer to it as a faith informed practice? Mm

Whitney Owens
hmm. I'm sure I have different thoughts on different days. But I'm thinking I'm thinking at this moment, just don't think about it so much. Like we do need to be aware of our own views and what we bring to the table. But maybe we should be a lot more open to what God looks like and where he's active. And you know, he's active obey, I believe he's active all the time and everything that we do, regardless if we use a religious spin on it, or if we don't use religious spin on it, I have a I have a dear friend who is actually Catholic, she converted to Catholicism, believe it or not, that's like a big undertaking. And she had a provider, a therapist who was not faith based at all. And she said she learned more about God meeting with that therapist than any other therapists she'd ever worked with. And, and so it's not really about having to identify ourselves a certain way or having to think so much about it. Just Just be who you are. Be loving, be kind, and God will be active in those moments.

Gordon Brewer
Right, right. Yeah. Good. I couldn't agree more. So, alright, folks, so be sure and check it out practice of therapy.com FRP. But if people want to learn more about you, Whitney, how can they get in touch?

Whitney Owens
Oh, yeah. Thanks. Um, you can just shoot me an email. It's Whitney at practice of the practice.com We'd love to be in touch with you.

Gordon Brewer
Okay. Well, this is a little bit shorter episode, but I think we covered it. Well, don't you Whitney? Hey, there's

Whitney Owens
nothing wrong with being short and sweet. Right? That's

Gordon Brewer
right. That's right. It's, it's kind of like okay, here's a here's a church joke I'll, I'll close with. So, you know, I grew up even though I'm Episcopalian. Now, I grew up in the Baptist Church and there was always this joke. That what does it mean when the pastor gets ready to preach? And he takes us watch often sets it up on the pulpit. I don't know why it may doesn't mean a damn thing. So right I could go on forever. But the short and sweet app, I guess, good. So let's get on. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, Whitney for being on the podcast Good.

Well, I'm so grateful to Whitney for joining me for this particular episode. And hope you'll join us at the conference, I think it's going to be a fun conference. And it's just knowing Whitney's attention to detail. She's putting a lot of great stuff together and just thinking about this particular conference, and that she wants it to be very relaxing and rejuvenating for people. And that's one reason she's keeping it, keeping it small, it's only going to be limited to 100 people. So you better get your tickets here soon if you want to come and the location couldn't be any better. And, again, I'm just grateful to Whitney for being part of my life. And that I get to, as we mentioned, we get together with our group of consultants a couple of times a month, and they are just such a support to me and just, I learned so much from them every day. And Whitney is really a good consultant. And she really is got a lot of expertise around things not only as in faith based practices, but just in running a practice in general in the business, how to make it a good business for yourself. So be sure and check it out, you can go to practice of therapy.com/f IP, and use the coupon code Gordon, when you check out for the next two weeks to get $100 off your your ticket for the conference. So be sure to check that out. And also big thanks to our sponsors of the podcast therapy notes, you can find out more about them by going to practice of therapy.com/therapy notes and learn more about them. And then also, if you'll use the coupon code Gordon, just gr doe. And when you go to that page, you can try them out for two months for free. And then the other one is blueprint health. And I'm so glad that they're part of this journey with me blueprint health as a measurement based clinical platform for your practice that helps you really see the work that you're doing. And if you'll go to practice of therapy.com/blueprint health, and you'll get to try them out for one month for free just by using that URL. And, again, thanks for being with me on this journey. And oh, by the way, be sure to check out the webinars I've got up there. So I think you'll find them helpful practice of therapy.com/webinars and see what we got to offer that will be free training for you. So take care, folks, and we'll be talking with you again next week. Glad you're with me on this journey. Oh and be sure to follow us and subscribe to the podcast wherever you might be listening. And also leave us a review. Let us know how we're doing. So take care folks. You have been listening to the practice of therapy podcast with Gordon Brewer, part of the psych craft network of podcasts. Please visit us at practice of therapy.com For more information, resources and tools to help you in starting building and growing your private practice. And if you haven't done so already, please sign up to receive the free private practice startup guide at practice of therapy.com. The information in this podcast is intended to be accurate and authoritative concerning the subject matter covered. It has given what the understanding that neither the host guests or producers are rendering legal accounting or clinical advice. If you need a professional, you should find the right person for them.