The Growing Pains of Private Practice

It is widely accepted among counsellors that it is rare to make a living from private counselling practice. When you consider the sheer cost of qualifying, it makes you wonder why any of us would bother. What does it say about those that would propose to help cure the emotional ills of others and help them live more happily? Why go to all this trouble and expense?

In addition to the course tuition fees, books and so on, there is the requirement to undertake personal therapy, to pay for clinical supervision while in placement. At the end you come out with a degree and title to put on your business card. If I am honest obtaining a degree appealed to my ego and was a huge incentive for undertaking the course but so was the notion of being able to do something worthy. Following qualification, then the next steps were to become a member of the BACP and registered with the UKCP.

Now what? Having qualified, and having got the credentials, the next task was to launch a counselling practice.

• Prepare a suitable room at home, find a room to rent in town, or both. Check!
• Sort out professional indemnity insurance and appropriate property insurance. Check!
• Get a listing on the Counselling Directory. Check!
• Build my own website. Check!

Now sit back and wait for clients who would be inclined to undertake counselling and  would be willing to pay a realistic fee. But even if they are willing, how do they spot you in among all of the others? Networking with groups of other practitioners is useful for professional development but still does not raise your profile among the public. Writing umpteen letters to GPs did very little to boost trade either.

Clearly, we still need more. It seems we now have to be more subtle and use social media to reach a wider audience, but even this has to be done in two characters. My personal page is only open to family and very close friends but my Inner Calm page on Facebook is starting to show encouraging signs of life.

Now that they can find me, how do potential clients know if I am any good?

What does appear to have helped here is to make myself visible "in the flesh" which is what I tried in March at a Mind, Body and Soul festival in Norwich. This has brought a few solid enquiries and has encouraged me to rebook for November and also attend the Mind, Body and Spirit Festival at the Forum in Norwich on 27th and 28th April. There people get the chance to put a face to the brand and get to see in person what I'm about.

Let's not get carried away with the gloom here. Since I began private practice as my main occupation just over a year ago, I have not been without at least a couple of clients at a time, and my work at Off the Record Counselling Service in Norwich means that counselling is paying its way. Working with employees referred by Aviva Health Insurance has also boosted my work load and means that I may well soon reach the limits of my capacity to practice.

While at the Mind, Body and Spirit Fair, I promoted and then presented a successful mindfully-based anger management workshop  and will be promoting more wellbeing workshops at the Forum. These are really enjoyable to do as you can get such a sense of involvement between those that attend. Limiting the group size to just eight is essential to this.

So, over the next year the aim will be to solidify the counselling, develop and grow the workshops and to offer my services as a wellbeing facilitator and presenter to individuals and organisations. Overall, I have enjoyed the challenge of growing Inner Calm through these incredibly tough financial times to a point where it is starting to happen.  Here's to a viable and fulfilling way of working over the longer term future that is Inner Calm.

Do celebrities make depression hip?

I'm hugely encouraged that depression seems to have lost much the stigma that it has had over the years, or has it? There has been a great deal of publicity in recent months arising from high-profile suicides of men who apparently suffered in silence while friends were blissfully unaware just how bad things had become. Suicide is the number one killer of young men, and stress is the number one reason for workplace absence. Losing your job because of stress could make a difficult situation impossible to live with.
Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax and other equally famous celebrities are open about their experience of depression and good on them! Sometimes, it seems that it is utterly hip for a celebrity to have experienced depression. But what if you are an ordinary anonymous bloke with an ordinary job in an ordinary company?
Around 10 years ago I worked for one of our leading technology companies in Cambridge, one of those who could probably count Stephen Fry as a huge fan. For reasons to do with work related stress, which was so badly handled by my line managers, I ended up having a complete breakdown. I can remember hiding in the toilets with my fist rammed in my mouth to silence uncontrollable crying. This was followed by 3 months when simply I could not get out of bed and another 6 months or so  getting myself back to work. What was the approach of this company? To immediately to begin disciplinary proceedings related to my need to be off sick. Once I returned, they could not get me out of the door quick enough!
Despite this experience, I am still hugely proud to have worked for this company and believe that, as an entity, "the company" did not treat me that badly. But an ambitious personnel officer and my line managers definitely made it their mission to get me out, and so they did.
So why does it matter today? Now?
Since this experience, and while still working in the technology sector, I trained as a psychotherapeutic counsellor, graduating in 2010. I am proud that I now work with men and women suffering from depression and can use my experience for the benefit of others.
Often depression in the workplace arises from work-related stress, or the dilemmas of trying to balance work and home life or trying to be a successful career woman and domestic goddess.
On the whole it seems companies today are very supportive, often paying for counselling. However, what is utterly apparent is that too many line managers still see depression in their staff as a sign of weakness or as a lack of commitment. Nothing has really changed.
Likewise, spouses and partners often see depression as personal criticism and become angry. Depression can be very self indulgent, in a sense, because when you are in it it can be tough to see out and to empathise with the effect your depression has on others.
Depression is definitely not hip or trendy but can be downright dangerous if left.
Depression takes many forms, so if you or someone you care for are suffering from depression, first consult your GP but also consider seeing a trained counsellor. You do not need to suffer and talking therapy by a trained counsellor really does works! You can find these through your GP or on http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/. Look for counsellors who are members of professional bodies such as BACP or UKCP as this indicates that they have achieved a professional level of competence and work within an ethical framework.