Nov 18, 2019
An interview with Michael Blumberg, LCPC, about mental health care as a basic human right. Curt and Katie talk with Michael about the tension between access and therapist financial stability. We look at ideas to support access while being thoughtful about your own financial needs.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.
To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
Interview with Michael Blumberg, LCPC
Michael Blumberg is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and group practice owner in the Chicago suburb of Glenview. Michael founded and manages Glenview Counseling Group, a multi-disciplinary psychotherapy group practice, where he treats clients with OCD & complex anxiety and manages the daily operations of the practice. Michael also co-founded a business focused solely on the business aspects of group practice ownership called Group Practice Builders with his friend and colleague Maureen Werrbach. Together they plan and facilitate an annual conference called the Group Practice Owners Summit which draws attendees from across the US and abroad.
In this episode we talk about:
- How Michael defines Mental Health Care as a Human Right
- The idea that all people, regardless of ability to pay, have the right to be emotionally and psychologically well
- Pushing back against mental health and wellness as an extravagance
- The conflict between access and running a private practice
- The concern that if this is a human right, clinicians might be conscripted into service
- If large organizations can’t make access available, how can small therapy practices do anything?
- Ideas for how small therapy practices can make a difference in providing mental health access
- How to make the choices in how much you make, how you increase access
- The importance of individuals making these decisions for themselves based on their own needs.
- Advocacy as another way to increase access and work in prevention
- The tension between access and time or financial stability for individual clinicians
- The Starfish Thrower
- How the education system promotes sacrifice by the therapist
- Do what YOU can do and be thoughtful about it
- How to get creative and dismiss preconceived notions of what SHOULD be done
- The balancing act if you open yourself to the idea that you should personally provide access
- How these principles fit into the #moderntherapist ideas
Our Generous Sponsor: The Therapist Leader
The Therapist Leader was created to assist therapists developing their businesses beyond the one-to-one model in a strategic and sustainable way, using a three-pronged approach, Refine | Scale | Lead:
REFINE your practice in way that leverages your money, your time and your life in such a way that leaves room to grow your business idea.
Then SCALE your new business idea in a way that is aligned with your values, your lifestyle and tunes out the noise of a busy online world of get rich and overstated marketing promises.
And LEAD your business well. Leadership doesn't have to be scary and leadership shows up in many ways in your business growth journey. Getting equipped is empowering and essential.
Get your free CEO Workbook and accompanying e-course at TheTherapistLeader.com which will walk you through 5 key shifts to make to grow the business of your dreams.
Relevant Resources:
We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:
Group Practice Owner’s Summit: https://grouppracticebuilders.com/summit-2020/
Glenview Counseling Group: http://www.glenviewcounseling.com
Relevant Episodes:
Connect with us:
The Modern Therapists Group on Facebook
Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2020 (and TR2019 Virtual Conference)
Who we are:
Curt Widhalm is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is a Board Member at Large for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Adjunct Faculty at Pepperdine University, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more about Curt at www.curtwidhalm.com.
Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant. As a helping professional for two decades, she’s navigated the ups and downs of our unique line of work. She’s run her own solo therapy practice, designed innovative clinical programs, built and managed large, thriving teams of service providers, and consulted hundreds of helping professionals on how to build meaningful AND sustainable practices. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more about Katie at www.katievernoy.com.
A Quick Note:
Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.
Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.
Stay in Touch:
https://www.facebook.com/therapyreimagined/
https://twitter.com/therapymovement
https://www.instagram.com/therapyreimagined/
Credits:
Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/
Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/