Hello, my name is Josh Keller, and I am the founder of The Therapist Collective. Thanks so much for tuning in. I thought for this very first podcast episode that I would just spend a little bit of time sharing about why I decided to start The Therapist Collective website, and what I hope for it to accomplish.
I’ve been in private practice since about 2013. It was a long road getting started. I was working full time. and another type of career, and working on my counseling licensure part time. And it was just a real struggle. There were a lot of resources that I leaned on to try and figure things out as I go.
A lot of mentors and relationships that I formed. And over the years, what I’ve realized is that a lot of times being a mental health provider can feel kind of discouraging. Sometimes there’s a lack of inspiration, a lack of know how a lack of connection with other people, and what growth looks like as a therapist is really kind of done haphazardly.
That was my experience. I know not everybody feels that way. But maybe it was just kind of the, the journey that, that brought me to where I’m at now that… That helped me to feel that way. And so, now that I’ve been working full time in private practice what I’ve noticed in the different groups that I’m a part of and in my networks with my colleagues is that there’s still sometimes some discouragement.
Even though I feel like I’m on a good path myself, a lot of the conversations that I have with people you know, there’s just kind of this uncertainty about how to grow my business or how to develop myself as a… As a mental health provider, how do I find my peers so that this work doesn’t feel quite so isolating, especially with COVID there was a lot of changes that people have had to make a lot of people moving towards telehealth only type of practices.
And for those, especially who, who don’t go someplace to meet with their clients I think that some of those challenges. are amplified quite a bit. And so what I decided to do was create the Therapist Collective. And my hope for this website is that it would be a place where like minded people can gather.
Those who are licensed practitioners can share their experiences, their resources, their wisdom, their struggles and challenges. And also receive from other people. And so there’s, there’s three different areas that I feel like the Therapist Collective can really assist mental health providers in.
Advancing their career. The tagline is inspire, connect, and grow. And so, really what I thought I would do is just spend a little bit of time breaking these down. So let’s talk just a little bit about inspiration. When I think of that word inspiration, what it means to me is finding something that spurs you on towards something great.
A lot of times not just in therapy we can get very discouraged feeling like we’re stuck in a rut. Sometimes it helps to have some exposure to some other ways of doing things, or some other possibilities, other opportunities. And so, there’s always something else that could be done that might be more exciting, that might be more fulfilling, that might take your your practice to the next level.
that might help you to feel like it’s more rewarding and fulfilling. And so that’s, that’s the first hope with the Therapist Collective, is that it’ll serve to inspire therapists. Sometimes what I’ve found is that even when I’m working in a situation where I, I might find it enjoyable, I’m, I’m kind of looking for the next way to level up in my own private practice.
One of the reasons that I love being in private practice is that I kind of have the, the say so over my own. Outcomes. There’s, there’s no one else that’s holding me back, but there have definitely been times where I felt like, what do I do next? I don’t even know where my energy should be going, and so I look to others who are building their practices, and I find inspiration from them, and so that’s really the, the main point of, of inspiration is to be able to ask ourselves, what are the opportunities that I could pursue?
Finding a place where there’s exposure to what other Therapists are doing is a huge part of this, so my hope for Therapist Collective is that it’ll be a place where therapists can inspire one another in order to advance their careers, their personal growth their, their capacity as a counselor to whatever that next level might, might be.
The second goal is to connect. As I mentioned earlier, Therapy can be very isolating, and so the struggle is that by nature we don’t really talk about the details of what we do. Confidentiality is obviously very important, and not everybody understands that. And so having a group of people that can really get that and understand the challenges of, of working with people but not being able to, to talk about that at home, like with family or friends you know, that’s a real challenge.
Even in, in group settings. Like, I’m, I’m a private practice owner, but the setup here is, we’ve got kind of a collection of private practice owners. And, in between sessions, we might get into a really good conversation, but be notified, oh, your client’s here, so you gotta cut that conversation short.
And then, maybe, you know, the therapist that you’re talking to leaves, and so you don’t really get to… ever finish a conversation. That can be kind of frustrating. And so a lot of therapists that I talk with find themselves feeling the need to be able to connect with, with other therapists. So one of the purposes of the Therapist Collective is to try to foster some connection through the discussion forums to be able to initiate conversations that can be started, and maybe you return to them a little bit later, or you follow up on what other people have said.
My hope with the Therapist Collective is that this really robust network of therapists will, will find themselves with like minded people who can encourage them when they’re feeling alone, who can understand the challenges, who can support one another, provide referrals if, if necessary. But really be an opportunity to see that there’s a lot of others out there who are dealing with the same things that you’re dealing with.
And then finally, the, the last purpose of the Therapist Collective is to grow. Obviously we are required to do continuing education, and that’s an important part of, of continuing to advance ourselves as practitioners. What I’ve found is that a lot of us who’ve been doing this for a while have some wisdom.
We’ve got some experience. And Being able to share that with others who might feel a little bit lost or unsure as to the next steps that can be really valuable. When it comes to building a career, getting started in a private practice, or even just growing a practice sometimes just having a group of people that you can ask questions like, How do I market?
How do I improve my SEO? What’s the best EHR to use? Why would I choose… Simple practice over, you know, therapy appointment, or Theranest, what are the pros and cons of each? That collective wisdom can be really valuable, and, and in some cases, kind of be a make or break decision for therapists. And so, having a place where people can lean on one another for drawing upon those experiences, I think is just super, super important.
The learning curve is pretty steep when you’re first getting started. Over time, your experience becomes wisdom that other people can benefit from. And so, one of the, the goals with the Therapist Collective is to provide a space where therapists can share that wisdom, either through the discussion forums, blogging this podcast, and, and eventually to have, have actually a place where, where therapists can create their own course that can be sold to other therapists.
And, and those courses, of course, can cover the wide range of… issues or growing a practice or marketing or you know, any, any specific ways that you can grow as a mental health provider. We want to provide opportunities for therapists to share that wisdom. Additionally, we’re going to be offering some different webinars and events.
And as those get scheduled, there’s going to be a place where you can view upcoming events. And this is also an opportunity to, to share things that you’ve got going on as a therapist. If, if there’s a meetup in your area we want to be able to, to have a centralized location where you can search for those things that, that might be opportunities for you to connect with others wherever you’re at, even if it’s a virtual meetup.
So, thanks so much for tuning in to this very first episode of The Therapist Collective. I hope that you find this to be an exciting opportunity. As we’re just getting started. Your support and engagement is, is valued. So, if you have a chance to hop on a discussion forum and post a question or a resource or something that’s exciting to you I encourage you to do that.
If you want to write a blog go to the blog section and, and complete the form to, to become a blog contributor. That would be great as well. If you feel like you’ve got something inspirational to share that you’ve done in your private practice and you’d like to, Record a podcast with me. I welcome that as well.
And then ultimately, if you feel like you’ve got material that would be great for a course, shoot me an email and let me know and we can discuss what that looks like. And I’m happy to walk alongside you as you build that course out and work towards selling it for others to be able to benefit from your wisdom.
Thanks so much for tuning in to The Therapist Collective, where we inspire, connect, and grow.