The Practice of Therapy

Gordon Brewer:
Well, hello everyone and welcome again to the practice of therapy podcast. And I'm so excited to have with me today, Derek Collins and Derek again is one of those people I met online and uh, Derek has got just a really interesting niche and I'm anxious for you to hear his story. So welcome Derek.

Derek Collins:
Thank you for having me, Gordon. I appreciate it.

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah. So glad to have you here. Um, so as I start out with most everyone, um, why don't you begin by just telling us a little bit about your private practice journey and how you kind of landed where you landed.

Derek Collins:
Okay. So back a long time ago, back around 2004, I was arrested for selling bootleg DVDs and CDs and I was, uh, um, mandated to, uh, doing valuation and go to some, uh, treatment classes because I ended up testing positive for cocaine and I wasn't even there for, uh, a drug charge, but it was a felony charge for the selling of a bootleg DVDs and CDs. And for me to get my criminal history wiped clean. I had to go through court mandated classes and I ended up doing 24 weeks of court mandated classes after I graduated from college. And the first couple of weeks I did. And then I ended up liking it after a while and I was like, hold on, this is interesting. And I already have my degree in psychology at the time and I didn't know what I wanted to go was things.

Derek Collins:
And I said, you know what, when I get myself together I'm going to open a program just like this. Because it definitely changed my life and it enabled me to get into grad school because at the time I was applying to grad school. But if you have a felony on your record, you cannot get financial aid. So because my record was expunged, I was able to get in grad school and my master's degree and the rest is history. I now have five offices where I provide court mandated classes that include anger management, shoplifting, a Sam level one treatment, MRC, family violence intervention program, parenting, and a whole lot more. So that's what I do.

Gordon Brewer:
Wow. That's quite a story. I mean, that's just, um, to me what I love about that is that, uh, um, the fact that you're, first of all that you're vulnerable enough to just share all that. I appreciate that that is just, that's just awesome. But obviously it was very life changing for you.

Derek Collins:
when you, when you, when you went through all of that. Yes, absolutely. Um, it changed my life. Uh, I thank God for that. I'm very appreciative of it and, um, you'd never know how you're gonna end up and, um, through all my life experiences helped me to be successful and in this field and now I hope others get into field and I train other people. How did they get started? Is a great niche to be in.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. Well what, uh, what was really intriguing to me is that I think for kind of your average therapists to get somebody that's court mandated, in other words, somebody coming to us that doesn't necessarily want to come, but they're doing it because they have to, is kinda the kind of clients we tend to shy away from. I mean, it's kind of like, as I tell people that do come to me, that are court mandated, it probably feels kind of like being sent to the principal's office and that they're coming, come into the counselor and they're having to jump through the hoops and do all of that. So it's a, you know, I think it's just amazing that you started this niche. It's obviously just very much needed and very much probably wanted. And, um, there's probably, you're changing a lot of people's lives with it as well.

Derek Collins:
Yeah, absolutely. And you'd be surprised. A lot of my clients end up becoming, uh, uh, private clients after they complete the program.

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah. Yeah. So how did you, um, how did you pull all this together? Because that's a lot of moving parts it sounds like to me. Um, it just as you were figuring all of that out and thinking, okay, I went through a program and us kinda saw what they did, but, um, I'm just thinking I'm a, I'm one of these people that likes to get into to the logistics of things. So how did you start to pull all of that together when the idea Hitchen to go this direction?

Derek Collins:
So my journey, um, has worked as a treatment facility and then a gentleman that worked at the treatment facility with me, he went, opened up a DUI school and later, um, I went to go work for him. He gave me an opportunity to get some experience working in the data DUI school and um, I learned some stuff from him and then I decided to do my own thing, um, after learning from him on how to run a program. And then, um, it took a lot of faith because at the time I was unemployed. I started this business when I was unemployed.

Gordon Brewer:
Wow.

Derek Collins:
Yeah, it was a lot of faith that I wasn't making enough money working as a DUI school or, or, and I had to step out on faith. I say, hold on, I have to make this happen. And uh, I started off just teaching shoppers in classes at first and then I proceeded to add on anger management. Then I proceeded to, uh, get registered with the state of Georgia for their DUI intervention program. And I just kept on adding services, slowly adding services, taking my time. I literally started my practice with a laptop and a broken down printer and um, co-op coworking space. So I tell people my space was only $99 a month maximum that space. And I ran classes and I kept on building and building and then they got jealous cause I had so many clients in there so I had to move out of there and then I got my second and third office and just snowball after that.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. So it sounds like you just really kind of hit, for lack of a better term, just kind of a goldmine because you jumped into something that, that probably most counselors, therapists, that sort of thing didn't necessarily want to do.

Derek Collins:
I'll say this, there's a lot of them actually out here in Georgia is highly competitive and a lot of people want to do it out here. There is roadblocks. There's hoops you have to, there's things that they, uh, things that are put in place to make it hard for you to get in this industry in Georgia. But they have time. If you jump through all those tools, you do what you need to do a can be profitable for you. But at the same time, what a lot of, uh, therapists struggle with is marketing. You have. And that's not something that's taught in the schools and graduate schools, how to market your services. And that's one of the things I'm really good at. I'm good at, I'm good at advertising. I'm good at putting myself out there. Um, and your clients cannot find you on their phone. You can forget about it.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. So what have you found that was helpful in that, I mean as far as your marketing strategy, how do you, how do you approach that?

Derek Collins:
So my marketing strategy is to get number one on Google, you have to be one or, or on the first page of Google. So when someone types up alcohol and drug evaluation, my name pops up first. Okay. I need a PSAP evaluation for the DLT. My name pops up first and somebody, um, types in Shabazz in class, uh, near me. My name, my agency pops up first. And then I literally have multiple websites. So you might see, you might see an out of town giving away some of my secrets. Literally on the first page of Google, three different websites that I have. So no matter what, you have to come to me, I try to do it. I try to dominate the market. They're not asked to go.

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah. Was the SEO something you learned on your own or something you outsourced?
Derek Collins:
A bow is something. So it made, it is of I'm starting out on your own and not having any, you have to figure things out. So literally I was just trying to like be at my computer and it's a study, different things on how to get people in the doors. Um, um, at the time I was promoted to prove to my parents that I could be a good provider. And at the time I wasn't married to her. So I was like, I got to do this. I gotta make this happen because if I don't become a good provider, she's not going to marry me wisely. Blah, blah. So I got to figure out as SEOs though, I got to figure out this court mandated stuff. So I worked on it. I outsource, um, uh, my SEO. You can go to SEO clerks.com. That's a great website you use, outsource your SEO. You could use the hall.com. I use them for local search. Excuse me. Um, um, you want to have a WordPress site if you can, but it's not necessary because that helps you with SEO. Um, most of my sites or websites or we websites it all at the same time. My main website is a WordPress site because it's a stronger website for SEO. And then lastly, you want to have a Google business page and several of those that can game.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. Yeah. So are the majority of the referrals you get through your, through your websites?

Derek Collins:
Yes. I would say about 90% of my business is through my website SEO or, um, the other part is just word of mouth. Right. But yeah, all my clients through website, they are my are my, are, my clients are age between 18 and 30, and the first thing they go to is their cell phone to lose pain though. That's what they do.

Gordon Brewer:
Right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's just amazing to me that you figured all this out. I mean, it's just, um, because that, this, the stuff you're talking about is the stuff that most, most therapists, counselors don't really know about it. They're really intimidated by, but you, you really took it upon yourself to learn it and just kind of bootstrap your way into it, which is just absolutely amazing.

Derek Collins:
Yeah. Oh

Gordon Brewer:
no, I was just gonna I was just curious. Um, were there ever times during all of that that you got discouraged and thought, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna do this or it's not gonna work or

Derek Collins:
anything like that? Yes, absolutely. When I first started the business, I was told I was too young to do this work by a probation officer. I was going to their office to go tell them, Hey, I'm in the area, these are my services. And I was told by the PO I was way too young to do this work. You don't belong here. And then the guy was legit. And, um, um, that was, uh, uh, a time where I had to make a decision, am I going to go right or am I going to go last? And I decided to, you know, write in and say, Hey, I'm going to do this. I don't care what this person is telling me. And I would be discouraged and I'm going to make it happen. And that's what I did.

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah. Go ahead. No, I'm sorry. I interrupted.

Derek Collins:
Yeah. Now I'm still in business, five offices later in a highly successful and um, you know, I got the last laugh.

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah. So how long did it, just thinking about how you pulled all this together, what kind of timeframe are we talking about?

Derek Collins:
Um, to start a program?

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah. I mean just from a, I'm just thinking about, you know, you came up with the idea just kind of like, okay, I'm going to do this. And then really in terms of when did it really just start to, I guess grab hold and kind of take off and you got the momentum from it.

Derek Collins:
Okay. So, um, my first, my first three months in business were the scariest months of my life. I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know what I was doing, but I was easily making 100,000.

Gordon Brewer:
Yeah. Wow. That's incredible.

Derek Collins:
Easy, easy. I was, I was doing extremely well, but I knowing what I was doing, I knew what this was like eight years ago. So I know exactly what to do, how to start a program, how to, you know, um, and I was doing it not knowing what I was doing. You know, it, it was extremely profitable.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. Well, your, your story sounds similar to mine in that, um, you learned a lot of stuff the hard way and now what's great is you're, you're starting to share all that information with folks and teaching others how to do what you've done. So you want to talk a little bit about your training programs and what you've got available to people that are maybe interested in going into something like this.

Derek Collins:
Yes. Um, I have, uh, uh, certify area asthma specialist training. So if you want to get certified in anger management, I learned how to use anger management groups. I'm having, um, actually a free training coming up in March, in the March, March 28th and 29. All the assets that the people that come, they pay me $100. So I can cover the cost of the supplies and the venue and I'll train you for free and you can come to the training that will be in Atlanta, Georgia. Also, I have a therapist shop listening and at that addiction specialist training. So if you want to learn how to teach, uh, court-mandated classes, I highly recommend that you sign up for this training. It is extremely profitable to provide these classes in your area. And then also we'll have a training program where I teach people how to start their own court mandated program and I have different tiers.

Derek Collins:
I can go, go to my online training where they get coaching from me and I can help walk them through the process from a to Z and um, make things easier. A lot of people are, unfortunately, they're scared when they want to work in this journey, but there's nothing to really be fair. Um, um, there's a lot of people doing it and unfortunately, um, for some people they only do it in part time. So that makes, that makes room for people that are serious, that want to do this full time to Excel. And that's one of the reasons that's one of my keys to success is that I do this full time. I don't do this part time.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. Yeah. And I think that's a big leap for a lot of people is that it's a scary thing to kinda jump off into going from the security of maybe having a regular quote unquote regular job working for an agency or whatever, and then jumping into just being self employed and all of that. It's just a huge, huge leap for people. But you're exactly right. If you, if you know what to do and you know the tools, it's just absolutely rewarding as it can be, um, to, to do all of that. So, so Derek, tell folks, um, what the best way to get in touch with you and find you online.

Derek Collins:
So the best way to get in touch with me is several ways she enjoyed it. The court made a court mandated training group on Facebook. Um, that's court mandated training on Facebook. You can also go to the diversity center.com. That's my website. You can email me@dcolumnsatthediversitycenter.com and if you want to watch more about how to start a court mandated program, you can go to court mandated training.com and sign up for the webinar.

Gordon Brewer:
Okay, awesome. And we'll be sure to put links to all of this and the shows summaries in show notes so people can get easy access to that. So Derek, I want to be respectful of your time, but what if you had anything you wanted to say to folks that are embarking on something as huge as you've done, what would you want them to know?

Derek Collins:
Um, I would tell him, believe in yourself. That's number one. The only battle that you're going to have is with you. Once you conquer that battle, everything else is easy. So, um, I believe in yourself. I know that sounds cliche was a hundred percent the truth. Um, Gates your self-esteem, uh, take chances and live in doesn't exist because we only have one life to live as we know it, so I choose to live in.

Gordon Brewer:
Right, right. Well, you're right, right. Well, that's a, it's so, it's so inspirational to hear you say all that. And um, you know, you, it sounds like your mantra is a little bit like mine. You've got to be persistent and consistent with what you do in order to succeed. And so, yeah, it's a, you're living proof of that. I appreciate it. Yeah. So, well, Derek, I'm so glad you connected with me and so glad you've been on the podcast and be sure and folks to check out Derek's stuff and learn more about him cause he's really got some great stuff going on. And, um, he's one of those people that has, like, I, like I said earlier, has learned a lot of the hard way and it doesn't have to be that way for you and he can help you out with that. Okay. Thanks, Derek. Thanks for joining me. Appreciate it. Yeah.