The Practice of Therapy

Carrie Bock
Okay. This is Carrie Buck on the practice of therapy Podcast. Today we're going to be talking about marketing your total health practice across your state.

Gordon Brewer
Hello, folks, and welcome again to the podcast. And I'm happy to get for you to get to know Carrie Bach. Welcome, Carrie. Thank you. Yes. And so Carrie is a fellow Tennessee. And so that was, that's sometimes I get that, get that look. But Carrie is a start with everyone. Why don't you tell folks a little more about yourself and how you landed where you landed?

Carrie Bock
Sure, I am a licensed professional counselor in Tennessee, I have a fully online practice with the exception of doing therapy intensives, in person in Smyrna, for people who are looking to take a half day or whole day to focus on some EMDR specific trauma therapy goals. I am an EMDR consultant. And I got to this point of being a having my own private practice and then having an online practice. It was quite a process. I was worked in community mental health for several years, then I was working with children, adolescents and families at that point, then I moved into group practice with a little bit more of a mixture of adults and children. But I really focused in at that point on trauma, and anxiety. And eventually anxiety kind of grew to me also focusing on OCD, when I moved into private practice in five years ago, I just celebrated my five year anniversary for the practice. So that was really good.

Gordon Brewer
Oh, congratulations. That's great. That's great. So yeah, so I know, one of the things we wanted to talk about today is just how you've been able to kind of build your practice across the state. Because you're doing primarily online, online therapy with folks and that sort of thing. So what's that been like for you?

Carrie Bock
You know, it's an interesting journey that I actually started doing. During COVID, I had a hybrid practice, because what happened was, I had a practice in Nashville that I wanted to move closer to home in Smyrna. I was in this gridlock, 45 minute traffic, and it was just so painful on my soul every day to inform work. But I decided, you know, for the sake of my self care, I need to move my practice closer to home. But of course, I didn't want to lose the relationships with the clients that I had developed. Some of them had been with me, you know, for years, because I deal a lot with childhood trauma. And people have complex PTSD. So it takes them a little while at times to get through therapy. And I didn't want them to have to be stuck in that traffic that I was in like, I didn't want to place that burden on them. So I really looked into getting some telehealth training in 2019 receive that training and an offer that when I transitioned my practice to Smyrna and I did have some clients that were seeing me via telehealth at that point I also had, because I just put it out there, I guess on Psychology Today or wherever that I also offered online therapy, I was attracting some other people who wanted my specific specialties and wanted to go ahead and work with me as well. So during COVID, I thought, well, let me play around a little bit and see if I can take this full time because we're already full time here. Anyway, at this point, this is a good time to see if I can source people from other areas of the state. And as you know, in Tennessee, we have in the big cities, we have clusters of mental health providers, but a lot of times in the more rural areas, people have a hard time finding providers or they may have a personal relationship with that provider. So having the telehealth option for them is really nice. So by basically what I started doing was changing around addresses and zip codes on psychology today. That was really the first thing that I did. And just kind of seeing where my clients were coming from that were coming, you know, to see me and some of them come from, like I said, more rural areas where it's hard to access a provider. But I also noticed that there was you know, a larger city in Knoxville area that I seem to be getting clients from So then on cycle All due today, I don't think a lot of people know this. But if you have a fully online practice, you can hide your address. So it doesn't really they're not verifying your address, it doesn't really matter what address you put in there. So if I could pick any old address in Knoxville, you know, pick something right now I have, I don't even know what it's tied to something close to the university, as I have several UT students right now. So that's kind of what I decided to do. And I would say probably about, I don't know, at least a third of my practice is coming out of the Knoxville area. Another thing that's helpful for me about that is the timezone difference, they can get a five o'clock appointment, but it's really a four o'clock appointment for me. So that's convenient as well. I've also played or played around with Google ads. In Google My Business, I do get clients from Google My Business, which is based out of Smyrna. And so the county that I'm in Rutherford County, I do get several clients who have seen me on Google My Business and just went through my website that way, I've also just kind of played around with Google ads, either in different large cities, or just across the whole entire state, just say something about, you know, anxiety, OCD, and that has also brought more traffic to my website, I'm blogging about different issues related to EMDR. And what I do so I have a post on what is the MDR, post on can EMDR be done online. And, you know, I explain how I got into that process and, and work through that. So just trying to also increase my SEO that way, my website, I think, is a big, essentially lead magnet for me to get clients. And so just making that as relevant as possible, having a good front homepage, that's attractive to people and trying to, you know, keep it short and sweet in terms of what I do and what I'm able to provide what makes my practice unique to other people?

Gordon Brewer
Yes, yes, that's, um, yeah, I think there's one of the things about, you know, going into kind of a strictly online or telehealth practice is you do need to familiarize yourself with understanding things like SEO and, you know, finding, finding a way to do like, like you mentioned, the Google, Google ads and that kind of thing. When when you are doing the Google ads, is that something you did yourself? Or did you outsource that?

Carrie Bock
No, I actually did it myself. They're pretty short and sweet. In terms of having a couple of different ads, and then attaching the tracker, I guess, on the website is part as part of it, and Google kind of lead you through some of that a little bit. So I think it would be interesting to see if I would get better results. Maybe if I did hire somebody to do an ad or to. For me, I think part of the struggle with Google ads is they really are they want you to put your location on there. They're a little bit location tied. But I've had some good success. I know that I get a lot more inquiries through my website when I do have ads running versus when I don't. So

Gordon Brewer
yeah. And I think you know, those beginning stages. Not to say that you're necessarily in those beginning stages, but that might be a good return on their a person's investment to kind of invest in something like that. Sure, sure.

Carrie Bock
Yeah. And I mean, if you think about it, even though Google Ads can be kind of expensive at times, but you can adjust the range according to what you would like to spend on the ad, you know, per month. But if you get one to two clients off of it, you're at least going to break even if nothing else. So that makes makes it worth it to me. I know that just in terms of like, the networking with other professionals is also something that I tried to do. Because I used to have a practice in Nashville, I am somewhat networked with some of those individuals and just trying to reach out to people and update them on what I'm doing. Ask you know, genuinely asking them Hey, what is going on with you and your practice? Especially since COVID It's a good time to check in with people like hey, are you hybrid? Are you fully online or in person or, Hey, I saw your your website that you're doing this group that's really great, just continuing to foster those connections for the personal referrals as well as obviously important in our business too.

Gordon Brewer
Right. And the other the other thing too, that, you know, is a theme that we hear across the board just in this whole kind of therapist space is the importance of creating a niche for yourself. Yes, you will say some more about that.

Carrie Bock
Yeah, I mean, I think that OCD specifically has been a really good niche for me as well, because there aren't a lot of therapists who are seeing clients with OCD. And also most of them are very focused on either like a CBT base or an ERP base, where as I see more clients who are struggling with childhood trauma as a trigger to their OCD. And so often I find if we can deal with the PTSD, or some of the early trauma that helps with reducing their symptoms, so I'm approaching it very differently. And I think that's appealing to some people who are looking for a different type of treatment or trying something new for OCD. I have a blog on my website about that, like is ERP, you know, the only treatment for OCD that you can have. So, yes, I think having a niche and knowing who you are, who your ideal client is, what they like, what they don't like, even in terms of how people contact you, I make it pretty easy for people to contact me through the website, because people who have intense anxiety often have a hard time with making phone calls. So if they were to have to get on the phone with me that might create additional distress that would you know, avoid them from actually contacting me.

Gordon Brewer
Right, right. Yeah, do you have set up for yourself like a portal for patient portal or something like that?

Carrie Bock
I do. For I use that more of though, for established clients to fill out initial paperwork and get that back to me. And, you know, record their, their symptoms and reasons for coming in. I also find it helpful, you know, for screening as well, too. If some red flags come up on the intake before I see them, I can give them a call and say, hey, you know, I need to ask more questions about this before we move forward. So yeah, there's there's a whole process, I try to be very upfront with people in the beginning, when they initially contact me, and I will send them an email explaining the days and the times that I work trying to find out, are they looking if they're looking for a specific day or time to please let me know upfront, because I may or may not have that availability in my schedule for people. So it's, it's one of those situations. I think, for me, that's frustrating if I go to a doctor, and then they don't tell you until you get there, right. Like, well, this person is only here on Wednesdays. Yeah. You're like, oh,

Gordon Brewer
yeah, yeah. What, when you're onboarding new clients, what, particularly doing telehealth, how, what sort of things are you finding have been helpful in that as far as forms and all that kind of stuff?

Carrie Bock
Well, I do have a my regular informed consent. I also have a telehealth specific informed consent. And then some, like a PHQ. Nine on there, just like a gad assessment that I use for general anxiety, and just kind of provides me you know, a certain level of overview of information, I tend to the clients that I tend to have to weed out are if there's any red flags about addiction, or a lot of drinking, I don't see clients who have are in like a current active addiction, I've seen several who have, you know, had some length of sobriety and wanted to work through their past trauma, but that's, that's one that I typically kind of will rule out or if it's a situation where there's chronic suicidality, or they're going to need, you know, they might be more appropriate for in person therapy, I will be honest with people about that. And that's why I've kind of shied away from seeing children and adolescents as much on when I switched to online because I think it's just a little better, more advantageous for them a lot of times to be in person receiving therapy, but I saw I put 16 and up on my, on my website for my clients right now. So

Gordon Brewer
yeah, yeah. Do you want as far as the I'm sure people are thinking this, you know, how do you get people to sign the forums and that sort of thing as you as you get the bout to them? They just out what, what's your process on that?

Carrie Bock
Yeah, I won't schedule them until they fill it out. I've found that it's too stressful for me trying to wait and make sure that they do it ahead of time so that they're all told that in the initial emails kind of as part of, this is my practice, this is how I work. You have to put a credit card on file in order To schedule, it's, you know, it's not gonna be charged until they come in. But that's part of the process that they're told up front. And then hey, you're responsible for Self Scheduling, I don't, you know, I do reoccur some of my clients if they have scheduling difficulties, or if we want to make sure that they're going to be coming in every week. But other than that, if for clients who are kind of coming in a little bit more sporadically, or aren't really sure they're somewhat ambivalent, then I allow them to schedule that, for me, has cut down on no shows tremendously. I remember being in group practice and getting a lot more no shows in probably second session is the most common that people don't show up for either first or second. You know, sometimes they'll make the phone call on Tuesday, say they want to come in on Thursday. And then by Wednesday, they've talked themselves out of it, especially clients that are dealing with anxiety, issues with self doubt. So by making I really love the deep, long term relationships with clients, I'm not a, you know, short term solution focused want to see a bunch of new people all the time. So I've really had to craft my practice to make sure that, that I'm attracting those types of people. And I noticed the people that in the past, I've had to chase down to get paperwork filled out, those typically aren't my ideal clients that are wanting to do that deeper level of work, they're really wanting just kind of a quick fix or something more, you know, just tell me what to do and get out of here. So that helps helps me tremendously as well. Just, I've had to learn little things, you know, being in business five years, just, I've had a try stuff out and, and I've found like every time I got angry, really it was like, Oh, this is so frustrating for me. I changed some things so that I wouldn't get so frustrated and

Gordon Brewer
tired. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Great, great advice there. So with the with the fours? Do they sign them online? Or do they? Do they do mail it back and forth? Or how do you do? What's your process for that?

Carrie Bock
No, I use simple practice. It's been the best for me. So they electronically sign everything. They can also take pictures of like their insurance card. I'm only on one insurance, right now. They can take pictures of their insurance card and upload those. They need to so yeah, it's it's very user friendly. And people have enjoyed the portal, I think they enjoy the Self Scheduling because it's, there's no mystery. It's very transparent. I found in the past, you know, someone would give me a call on the phone, it's like, well, you know, Can I can I move my appointment from 10am to 2pm? You know, it's like, no, I have somebody at 2pm. That's not going to work, you know, but you spend a lot of time going back and forth with those types of phone calls. Where can you see me next Tuesday? No, next Tuesday, I'm out, you know, whatever. So now they just pop on there. And I know, some clinicians are like, Oh, I can't give control over my schedule like that. But it's, it's what works for me to read, it actually reduces an enormous amount of stress and phone calls that I have to be on so Right.

Gordon Brewer
Right. Yeah. It's, um, excuse me, it's, I think one of the one of the things is really having a good onboarding experience for people when it does, I think help with that. Retention. And also, you know, keeping, you know, keeping them engaged with you. And in getting getting counted. They're holding them accountable for the things they need to do for their therapy. So, yeah,

Carrie Bock
yes, because it's, it's to me, it's somewhat of a low level ask to have someone to go through and click a few forms before they see a provider. I mean, I've figured that's pretty standard for anywhere that that you go, whether it's whether it's a primary care or the foot doctor or for mental health, you know, there's going to be paperwork or forms to fill out. So it's like, if we're not taking that step, is that a client that's going to really be committing to like doing their homework for therapy? Or are they really going to be wanting to dive into things? Are they going to show up for their appointment? You know, right,

Gordon Brewer
right. Yeah. Well, that's great. So Carrie, tell folks about your podcast and and all of that.

Carrie Bock
Yeah. This is another way that people have found me to connect with my practice in terms of marketing as well. I have a podcast called hope for anxiety and OCD. And it's really focused for Christians who are struggling with those disorders to reduce shame, increase hope and develop healthier connections with God and others.

Gordon Brewer
Yes, and we'll have links here in the show notes of the show summary so you can access her podcast. Yeah, so Hey, Carrie, I want to be respectful of your time tell folks how they can get in touch with you and where they can find you.

Carrie Bock
Sure, so my practice is called by the well counseling, like the water source. And it's that name.com. And then also, the broadcast is hoped for anxiety and ocd.com. So, either of those for the podcast, we are also on Instagram and Facebook, if people want to follow along. And we have a free download on the podcast website of a relaxation, audio, if people are interested in that, too.

Gordon Brewer
Yeah. So again, we'll have this in the show notes in the show summary for people to to find all that. So any any parting thoughts, Carrie?

Carrie Bock
No, I would just encourage people to really find what works for you like making your practice your own, you can get great ideas from other people or from podcasts. But as you work with it, and you you will know like your your body and your emotions will tell you, is this working for me or is it not. And then, when we're in private practice, we have the freedom to change things to make them work for us. So that's a beautiful thing. And I've changed a lot since I've started. So don't be afraid to change, you know, if you need to, if you need to niche down or you need to stop seeing a certain population. It's okay, you can do it.

Gordon Brewer
Right. Right. Yeah. And that's a you know, I think that's, in a nutshell is the I think for those of us in private practice, just the autonomy that it brings, is really what drew us to private practice to begin with. Right? Absolutely. Yeah. So well, Carrie, thanks again for being on the podcast and hopefully we can have another conversation soon. Well, thank

Carrie Bock
you so much.