Janet Bayramyan joins the show to discuss how mentorship in private practice can be invaluable for therapists of all levels of experience. Plus, we dive into why finding a niche is vital in building a successful private practice. Janet also touches on several ways to attract clients, including tips on marketing your private practice to your target audience. Janet knows being a trauma therapist can be a challenging but rewarding career; that’s why we discuss why passion cannot be overstated for therapists and how critical guidance will be on your journey to private practice.
Meet Janet Bayramyan
Janet Bayramyan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Janet works from a trauma-focused and attachment-oriented perspective, supporting individuals and couples through their healing of past and current distressing events. She’s trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Havening Techniques. EMDR and Havening Techniques are psycho-sensory modalities that support individuals in de-traumatizing stressful memories in the brain. Janet sub-specializes in sex therapy, supporting individuals and couples in their relational and sexual wellness by providing effective tools that can support managing conflict and increasing intimacy and connection.
Mentorship: The Key to Success in Private Practice
One of the key takeaways from Janet’s experience is the importance of asking questions and seeking mentors. Starting a private practice can be overwhelming, and seeking guidance from those who have gone through the process can be invaluable. Janet advises that clinicians should talk to different practice owners and explore the pros and cons of private practice with curiosity. This can help clinicians better understand what to expect and prepare for the business’s challenges. Another critical aspect of starting a private practice is having a good accountant and being diligent about bookkeeping. Janet emphasizes the importance of tracking expenses and earnings for running a successful business. Seeking professional guidance in this area can help clinicians avoid costly mistakes and ensure their practice is financially stable.
Niches: How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Attract the Right Clients
One crucial aspect of building a successful private practice is creating a niche. A niche is a specialized area of expertise clinicians develop and market to attract clients. According to Janet, a therapist with a successful private practice, creating a niche is essential for success. She emphasizes the importance of identifying one’s ideal client, understanding one’s mission as a clinician and business owner, and being patient. Janet believes having a niche is essential because it allows clinicians to focus on their strengths and develop expertise in specific areas. Therapists with a niche can provide more targeted and effective treatment to their clients. For example, if a client calls Janet with OCD symptoms, she refers them to a specialist in OCD treatment because it is not within her area of expertise. By focusing on her niche, Janet can provide high-quality treatment to her clients and build a reputation as an expert in her field.
Trauma Therapy: A Calling, Not Just a Job
Furthermore, finding one’s passion is crucial in any career, particularly in therapy. Trauma work, for example, can be emotionally taxing, but for some therapists, it is their passion. This passion drives them to help their clients overcome their trauma and become more resilient. By following their passion, therapists can find fulfillment in their work and make a real difference in the lives of their clients. When creating a niche, therapists must pay attention to the clients they enjoy working with and the theme around those particular issues. This can help them identify their strengths and interests and create a niche that aligns with their passions. Once they have identified their niche, therapists can focus their marketing efforts on that specific area, attracting more clients seeking specialized treatment.
Therapists: Don’t Go It Alone
It is also vital for therapists to be aware of their limitations and to seek guidance and support when needed. This can include seeking coaching or mentorship, attending continuing education courses, or even seeking therapy for themselves. By being diligent about personal and professional growth, therapists can continue improving their skills and providing their clients with the best possible care. Finding one’s niche and passion is crucial for success in therapy. By focusing on their strengths and interests, therapists can create a niche that aligns with their passions and attracts clients seeking specialized treatment. Lastly, by seeking guidance and support and being diligent about their personal and professional growth, therapists can continue improving their skills and providing the best possible care for their clients.
Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer Janet Bayramyan Gordon Brewer
Okay, if you want to do the little blurb
Hi, I'm Janet by Rahman. I'm an LCSW in Los Angeles, California. And today I'm going to talk about my journey into private practice and my journey into becoming a trauma therapist, and I'm excited to be here.
Perfect. Well, hello, folks, and welcome again to the podcast. And I'm happy for you to get to know today, Janet bahrami And am I saying it correctly? You got it? Yeah. Okay, good. Good. So I always I've always had this phobia of saying people's names wrong. So but anyway, Janet, welcome. Glad you're here. Thank you for having me. Yes, yes. And so, as I start with everyone, why don't you tell folks a little bit more about yourself and how you've landed where you've landed?
Yeah, thank you so much for the opportunity. So I'm in Los Angeles, California, I've been in private practice since 2019. It was always my dream, to become a therapist, to support people in their journeys. To have my own business, you know, I am very much someone that really values freedom and making my own decisions. So I don't know really where to start with my journey. But I think part of my story is that I decided to become a therapist, because, you know, I had, like, probably a lot of therapists my own issues in life that I needed to work out that I'm still working out. And I had, you know, really amazing clinicians that supported me, in my own journey that continue to support me. And I just thought, you know, what I want to give back as well.
Awesome, awesome. Yeah, I think you're exactly right. I think with most of us in this field, we go into it, because we've dealt with some of our own issues and things. And I would say, if we didn't have issues, there would be no therapists. Are there any of us that have gone into it, if we didn't have our own issues, we wouldn't be at it. So that's, that's really, really very true. So I know that you're you're kind of your specialty is working with, with trauma. And that sort of thing is, as you shared with me, but have you always been in private practice? Or did you make a transition alone?
I, you know, I made a transition along the way. I've had experiences working in group practices. During my associate, like pre licensed years, I also worked at a, you know, at an agency type of setting. So I guess I can say, I've paid my dues a little bit. But yeah, I haven't always been in private practice. That's, you know, more of a recent experience for me.
Right. So when you went into the out of when you got out of school, and you went to I'm assuming went into agency work? Was your goal at that point to get into private practice? Or was it more of an afterthought?
Yeah, I mean, I think it was my my goal from the get go. I someone that I didn't know anything about how to run a business, grad school. Of course, they don't teach us that. And when I started, you know, working at an agency, I also wanted to gain experience in private practice. So I actually did link up with a private practice psychologist who allowed me to work with her part time, in addition to me working at an agency, so I was very busy. But I knew that I wanted not just the agency experience, but I also wanted the private practice experience in tandem.
Yeah, yeah. I think that's a great way to do that. I think not to give up your day job too quickly, as I like to say, don't make that transition. So what was that transition position like for you? How did you know when you're ready to do full time private practice?
Yeah, I think I you know, I played it safe for a while because I'm, you know, I'm the sole income earner for myself. So I needed to have sort of a steady thing going on. So I, you know, after I agency work, I became licensed and knew that agency work was no longer for me. So I transitioned into some different group practice work I transitioned into actually did another corporate job as well working behind the scenes at an insurance company. And I'm really grateful for all of those experiences. But again, I realized that it just wasn't for me. I wasn't really happy. And in the group practices, I really learned a lot, I learned, you know a lot about what factors to consider in terms of being in private practice. I also learned what I thought some of the group practice owners did well, and what they also didn't do very well. And so I think I got to see both both sides, essentially. So I did that for a while, until, you know, my caseload started building and a lot of people were asking for me personally, in terms of their requests, so I just knew, Okay, maybe it's time. And when COVID happened, you know, it was, of course, a tragedy around the world, you know, a lot of negative experiences were happening. But I felt like the silver lining was that more and more people were open to going to therapy that maybe wouldn't have had before. So a lot of therapists became so busy during that time during the height of COVID. And so I just, you know, I felt confident, I said to myself, I think I can do this more and more people are ready to go to therapy, they're looking for therapists, you know, they're willing to pay for it, or they're willing to look at their insurances. So that was around the time when I made the full time transition
rolls. Awesome. So I take it that you're, you're more insurance or you insurance based on your practice.
I'm actually a little bit of both I probably self pay. But I have associates in my practice that primarily see insurance clients. Yes. Okay.
Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. So you brought, did you when you made that transition? Did you bring on associates immediately? Or did you do solo work for a while?
That was interesting. So I worked solo for probably about a year, and a lot of referrals were still coming in, which was great, I was happy that a lot of people were interested in therapy. But I had to turn people away, because there's only so many clients that I can see in a day. And I thought to myself, you know, maybe I shouldn't turn people away, maybe I can grow my practice and grow my team so that I don't have to turn people away. And so that's really how that evolved. I also for a while knew that I wanted to be a mentor, you know, in private practice. So that was another factor in my decision making to bring on associates. Because again, in my experience, I had both really great supervisors and supervisors that I felt weren't so great for me. So I knew that I also wanted to give back in that way, and you know, hopefully be a really positive, supportive, educating clinical supervisor. So that was also an important factor in my decision to expand.
Sure, sure. So most of the people that you've brought on, or they've been like, pre licensed people, and you're supervising them through the process as part of your, your practice.
Yes, absolutely. So I take on pre licensed clinician, they work, they work under my license, I'm their supervisor. And they too, are gaining experience in private practice. They too, are gaining experience in trauma work and growing clinically, and professionally, and I'm really enjoying guiding them through that process.
Yeah, I think that's a great way to, for folks that are maybe going into to group practice, that's kind of what I've done in my practice, as well as I've, I've had much better success in bringing on people that are pre licensed. And just kind of helping bring them up through the ranks through supervision, and that, that sort of thing. And I think they're, they're maybe in a way more committed to the practice. Because of that, to some degree, but, ya know, just, you know, as you have already alluded to, I know, with COVID, and the fact that so many more people are seeking mental health care. It's your right, it's been kind of a silver lining to some degree, for us as from a business standpoint, that there's no lack of people wanting to get into see us. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah. So. So if somebody is thinking about making that transition from maybe agency work or working from somebody for somebody else, what would you say would be your, your tips, and also, maybe things that you say, Well, if I had to do over again, I wouldn't have done this or that.
Yeah, so from probably from a business standpoint, if I could go back, you know, I would advise myself at the time to do Get a really good accountant right away, you know, not try and do that stuff by yourself. Because I feel like you know, a lot of us are very hardworking. I know, I'm hardworking, and I try to put all of that pressure on myself. And I've just realized, I can't be good at everything, that's just not possible. So I think having a good accountant that can guide you on the financials aspect is going to be very important. I think, again, from a business standpoint, you know, be very good about your bookkeeping, and just tracking all of your expenses, tracking all of your earnings. Because that's also going to be very important, just in terms of running your own business at some point. And I think the best thing that I would encourage is to just ask a lot of questions, talk to different clinicians, talk to different group practice owners that are willing to talk and share and learn from them, you know, explore that with curiosity. That was the thing that honestly helped me the most is I just asked people a lot of questions around, you know, what are the pros of private practice? What are the cons of private practice? What are some things to consider as a business owner, that really, really helps. So I would just encourage you to be curious and ask a lot of questions.
Yeah, yeah. I couldn't agree more. I think back when I started my practice, I wish I had had sought out mentors around the business side of things. Sooner rather than later. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. So as you're growing your practice, I think you said you are kind of specialize in trauma and EMD EMDR. So how do you? How do you market that? How do you get your clients and that sort of thing?
Yeah, so I think, you know, previously, a lot of it was just through some of the standard practices that I think a lot of us have, you know, go to website Psychology Today, profile, networking word of mouth, I certainly still do that. But I've also realized just the power of social media, and the power of putting yourself out there in that way. So I feel that a lot of my marketing right now really comes from not just some of the other stuff that I mentioned. But being on Instagram being on Tik Tok, being on Facebook, just putting, you know, my message and my name out there, because just the reach, the capacity for the type of reach you can have, is quite powerful. So that's really where I would say a lot of my clients are coming in right now, or at least a lot of people are maybe missing visiting my website through social media. And what I would also say is having a strong Google ranking has been really helpful for me, I again, more and more young people are going online, going on social media, or going on Google to find who might be able to help them. So that's really been, you know, my lifeline, in addition to trying to continue to build my name in LA.
Yeah. So what kinds of things do you like to post about that seems to be working for you.
I just like to share, you know, I'm I'm very much a realist. I'm very, I think, straightforward. So I like to share very straightforward, you know, feedback, very straightforward recommendations online, I talk about, you know, negative thoughts. I talked about, you know, normalization of certain life experiences and symptoms, I really tried to destigmatize trauma and you know, that there's different types of trauma that we can all go through, you know, even with the example of COVID. Like we all went through a collective trauma, I have like a massive shutdown and not knowing what was going on at the time. So I like to just normalize that and just normalize that healing is possible. Everyone is resilient. If you've made it this far, you've made it this far, for a reason. So I really like to share that and just any other themes that come up, you know, recently, we just had Mother's day that passed and how Mother's Day can be, you know, not necessarily a happy day for some people. So I just like to be very straightforward.
Yeah. Yeah. Is that something that either you're doing yourself, or are you outsourcing that?
Both? So I like I said, I don't believe that, you know, we can be good at everything. Right. So social media has also been quite a learning curve. For me. I'm still the one creating all the content, but I have a designer that you know, makes it pretty and you know, uses awesome color schemes and everything. So she helps me with that. But I'm still the person you know, putting the message out there and creating
content? Yeah, yeah, that's great. That's great. So in your work with folks, other folks that are working on building their private practice, what sort of things do you find that you tend to focus most with those for those people?
I really encourage, you know, if you're new to private practice, and just, you know, identifying what your niche is, like, who we who your ideal client, is, how do you see yourself, you know, putting yourself out there, what your message is, in terms of what you're trying to share with people. So, you know, I very much encourage, like, really understand who you are, both as a clinician as a business owner, and what your mission here is. And, you know, I also encourage that I think it's also important to be patient, because I think that there are some people that have this expectation that like, you know, after a few months, I'm going to have a full practice. But that's not the case. You know, for me, I started in 2019. And it took me two years to feel fully comfortable to officially branch out on my own. So, you know, I encouraged like, don't expect it to happen super quickly. And if you need, you know, in extra income, you can certainly look into side opportunities or other outsourcing opportunities. So I think that's an important message that I would like to remind as well, yes,
sir. I would totally agree with that, in my experience, and working with people over the years, it does take about two years, I think, typically to get really established to feel established enough to where you're on kind of solid ground, and you know, the referrals are coming. And it's going to, you're not having to work quite as hard to build that client base. Right. Right. Yeah. So yeah, as if that, you know, the other other thing that she spoke to that I think might be kind of interesting to hear your perspective is, why do you feel like creating a niche is so important.
I think it's important, because, you know, I'm not trying to rag on generalists. But like I said, I think it's hard to be good at everything. And the best example that I can give is, you know, if a client calls me and says, I want to work on OCD, I have OCD symptoms, I don't feel like that's within my wheelhouse. And I refer out for that I understand the symptoms, I understand, you know, what, what happens with OCD, but in terms of treatment, you know, I don't know that I'm the best person to work with on OCD. So again, I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't, you know, know, different aspects of mental health or different diagnoses. But I do think that it's important to know what you're good at know where, you know, maybe there's some limitations within your clinical work. And I think it's important to also follow your passion. trauma work has always been my passion. I am. Again, it's not that I'm excited for people to have gone through trauma, but I am so excited when people call me and say, you know, this, this situation happened to me, I want to work work on it. i That makes me so excited, because I think it's amazing. I think trauma survivors are so resilient. So niching, in that way is so important. Because when you get those calls, it's it's hopefully not really going to feel like work to you.
Yeah, yeah, that's, that's great advice, I think, is people are figuring out their niche or niche or how we're gonna say that. I think it's important to pay attention to those clients, those patients that you enjoy working with the most, and what is the theme around those particular issues? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. That's great. So well. Janet, I need to be respectful of your time. And I'm so glad we connected and have had you on the podcast. What sort of parting thoughts would you want to have for people just around things that you've learned so far?
parting thoughts? I don't know. I have a lot of thoughts, I guess. Well, when it comes to, you know, the business, the business component, again, like I said, I think it's important to understand your limit Patients always ask questions always ask for help if you can afford it. I think coaching can be great. having mentors, like you said, can be great. And like I said, one foot in front of the other, right? Like running your own business is not for the faint of heart. So it takes time. A lot of growth opportunities can happen. I encourage like, if you have your own limiting beliefs around that, maybe do your own work, go to therapy. I know that I go to therapy religiously and explore my own issues. So I'm going to recommend that Yeah,
absolutely. I agree. I just reminded I meet with my therapist tomorrow. So it's a it's a good thing. And I think we and I think just to be on top of our own clinical game, I think we need to, to be involved in aromatherapy. Couldn't agree more. So yeah. So while Sarah, I'm excuse me, Janet, how how can folks fit? Get in touch with you?
Yeah, so my name is Janet bahrami And you can find me on my website, road to wellness.co. And that's road with the number two wellness.co. I'm also on Instagram and Tiktok at therapy with Janet B. So you can find all of my information, all my content on there. That's probably one of the better ways to connect with me.
Awesome, awesome. Well, we'll have links here in the show notes in the show summary. And, again, thanks, Janet, for being on the podcast. Thank you
Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links!
Janet Bayramyan’s Resources
TikTok
Website
Resources
Use the promo code “GORDON” to get 2 months of Therapy Notes free.
The Practice of Therapy Podcast Workshop
The Practice of Therapy Community
Launch Club
Focus Groups
Listen to other great Podcasts on the PsychCraft Network Today!
Be A Podcast Guest
Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite) for Therapists Users Group on Facebook
The Course: Google Workspace for Therapists
Follow @PracticeofTherapy on Instagram
Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT
Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast wherever you listen to it. Follow us on Instagram @tpotpodcast, and “Like” us on Facebook.