Do you want to help more people than you can stuck in an office? If you are a psychologist or therapist with big ideas then this is the podcast that will support you to make them real! Visit drrosie.co.uk to join the movement.

Link to Crowdfunder (ends March 30th 2020!) https://natwestbackherbusiness.co.uk/thebusinessofpsychology

Join the Psychology Business School membership here.

The Do More Than Therapy FREE Facebook group

Russ Harris' ACT Made Simple

More info and useful resources at https://psychologybusinessschool.com/

Blog Post

If you are setting up a psychology private practice you need a business plan. And it needs to have more than therapy in it… Many of us stumble into private practice as an add on to an already busy NHS (or other public health) role. It is too easy for us to just assume that all we do is rent a room and use our existing skills. Many talented clinical psychologists, therapists and counsellors are shocked to discover that they don’t make much money from their private practice.

I was in that position a year ago. I had gone full time in my practice and was busy with clients. But I wasn’t making much money, didn’t have the flexibility I needed to fit around solo parenting my two children and most annoyingly I found myself with NO time to do the community psychology interventions I was passionate about.

I noticed I was heading for financial, creative and emotional burnout and invested in business coaching to figure out how on earth to make it right. It was the best decision I ever made and I have put the key learning points into this blog and the psychology private practice business plan workbook (available when the Crowdfunder goes live on March 2nd!) to help make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as me. If you are just starting out you might find yourself feeling resistant or “a bit icky” about some of this stuff. Don’t worry that is part of the journey. You will feel better when you are up, running and helping lots of people.

All too often we set off into a venture without being intentional about what we are trying to create. However you run your practice, whether full time or part time I guarantee it is going to have you working more hours than you ever did in the NHS. The good news is many of those hours won’t feel like “work” at all if you are passionate about the purpose of your practice. So don’t skip this bit if you want to feel fulfilled rather than drained by your work!

The following questions should help you figure out your personal and professional mission:

What is the change you want to create in the world?

What is the change you want to make in your life?

Write out one or two clear mission statements that sum up the impact you want to have for other people. Then write one that puts into words what your work needs to provide for you and your family.

I want to help X (insert group of people you want to help) to do X. I will use my X skills to do this.

I want to create a life that allows me to live my values. The things I value most in life are x, y and z. My business will help me to have more of these in my life by x, y ,...

Links

Please support the Crowdfunder for this podcast and the Do More Than Therapy community! You can find it here.

Also come and join the FREE Facebook community here.

You can find more blogs and podcasts at www.drrosie.co.uk

You can find Hannah on instagram @ChildhoodMinded

on Facebook @HannahAbrahamsPsychologist and on her website www.hannahabrahams.com

Rosie (00:00):

Today, I'm talking to Hannah Abrahams. Hannah is an educational and child psychologist who's worked beyond the therapy room in both the public and private sector, starting out as a primary school teacher before training as an ed psych in 2005. She's been involved in projects that would seriously intimidate most of us, including setting up a school and supporting the community after the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower. Not to mention setting up and building her own private practice. Welcome to the podcast, Hannah, there's so much that I want to ask you about and so much that we could talk about. So let's start at the beginning. What inspired you to leave teaching and become an ed psych?

Hannah (00:38):

Gosh, what a big question, and what an introduction. It actually made me really emotional listening to that. I think I always knew that I wanted to work with special needs children, and in my second year of teaching, it was really made concrete. There was a little boy that I had in my class who had been diagnosed very early on with autism. And we formed a really strong bond and a really good understanding of each other. And I think that absolutely cemented the fact that I knew that I wanted to go and work as an educational psychologist and kind of work in a more systemic way supporting staff and families and working very collaboratively. Yeah, the picture of him and my mind is so clear, but I remember coming into the class one day just going, yep, I absolutely have to follow this. So I think I had an idea from very early on.

Hannah (01:35):

I also did work experience when I was 16 in a school for children who were deaf, and they taught me to sign really quickly. Obviously, I was not fluent. But I think for me it's always been about communication, and interestingly, about communication with people who find it more difficult to communicate in the neuro-typical way. So I think from a really young age, I was really interested in building relationships and building bonds. And I think that ed psychs have an incredible gift of being able to do that in all sorts of different settings. So I hope that answers your first question.

Rosie (

As this episode goes live this is your final opportunity to support the crowdfunder for this podcast and the Do More Than Therapy community. If you know we need to step out of the therapy room and start making bigger impact you belong in this community. Become a founding member and start to make the change you want to see.

Feel like you've got a book in you? The Crowdfunder has you covered bag yourself an amazing self publishing workshop for just £25 here.

Missed the deadline? Don't worry head to drrosie.co.uk and you can still get a place.

You can buy "Brighter Futures", Lucy's amazing book here.

www.theyarethefuture.co.uk.

Facebook @tatfwellbeing.

Instagram @tatf_drlucy

Twitter @DrLucyRussell.

https://learndobecome.com/

Rosie (00:00):

Today I'm talking to Dr. Lucy Russell. Lucy is the clinical lead for a successful child psychology group practice in Buckinghamshire called Everlief. If you follow her online, her passion for reaching parents of school-aged children is clear, and she's done an amazing job of reaching more families with the book she co-wrote with her colleagues, Brighter Futures. Brighter Futures is a book that I'm really happy to have my hands on before my kids hit school age, and Lucy is here to tell us how she made it all happen. So Lucy, hi and welcome to the podcast.

Lucy (00:31):

Hi.

Rosie (00:32):

Can you start by telling us a little bit about what inspired you to write the book and who it's intended to help?

Lucy (00:40):

Well, okay, what inspired me, like you, wanting to do something more. I do face-to-face therapy, and I enjoy it, but I wanted to do something more that reached a wider audience of parents and also something a bit more preventative because parents come to me when they've hit crisis point pretty much. So I was looking to do something that helped them before they got to that stage. And also the families that come to our clinic have suggested writing a book over the years, and so finally a few of us got round to it and wrote that book.

Rosie (

Thank you for listening and I hope you found it useful to reflect on boundaries. In my opinion the world needs our expertise at this time so I ceryainly plan to keep working but I also think it is important to work differently, protecting our boundaries and our own mental health as much as possible. Doing more than therapy has never been so important. That is why I am still shouting about the Crowdfunder which ends on Monday 30th March at 2pm.

Join the movement. Commit to doing more than therapy by checking out the rewards we have on offer on Crowdfunder:

https://natwestbackherbusiness.co.uk/thebusinessofpsychology

Missed the Crowdfunder? Sign up for a workshop or join the free community at:

www.drrosie.co.uk

Do you want more support to build a practice that does more than therapy? Come over and join the community at www.drrosie.co.uk

Check out the upcoming self publishing workshop for the Do More Than Therapy members at www.drrosie.co.uk

Catherine France, insurance expert: https://www.catherinefrance.com/

WriteUpp practice management software (affiliate link because I LOVE it) https://writeupp.com/default.aspx?refid=7168

Zoom video conferencing software www.zoom.us

As psychologists, therapists or counsellors we are very lucky in that it is possible for us to build what is known as a “cockroach” business. Basically this means we often don’t need much investment to start up as our skills are valuable. This also means we are less likely to run into financial trouble than a business like a hair salon that requires lots of loans at the beginning. BUT however frugal you are there are still costs associated with running a business. If you are not careful these can creep up on you and lead to a disappointing end of month.

It felt quite scary for me to write this as I know that I don’t always make perfect financial decisions. However, I have learned a lot the hard way and I wanted to share that with you so here is a break down of the costs I have discovered on my private psychology practice journey.

You need to register for self assessment with HMRC. This is very easy on the direct.gov website. If you are a sole trader you just tell HMRC and away you go. Keep good records of any money you spend and save every receipt and this is incredibly easy. I fully recommend software like FreeAgent which allows you to link to your bank account, explain every transaction as you go and upload receipts. There are lots out there but FreeAgent came free with my Natwest business banking and was very easy to use. Others that I have heard good things about are Xero and Quickbooks. The advantage of these is that when it comes to submitting your tax return you can do it with the click of a button. You could also just snap a photo of any receipt and/or screenshot email receipts and save them into a google drive folder. Self assessment for a sole trader is actually incredibly easy if you have kept good records of your transactions. I am going to get an accountant on the podcast to talk about it but honestly, I am mathematically challenged and have never struggled. Ltd company accounts are another beast all together so if you are a Ltd company or social enterprise don’t try to work it out yourself, get an accountant.

I am obviously not a qualified accountant and you should speak to someone qualified about your specific circumstances. As a guideline however, most people seem to agree that setting aside 25% of your earnings in a separate account specifically for tax is sensible. If you are like me you will have a lot of allowable expenses that may mean you don’t need everything you save for your tax bill but I wouldn’t try and work it out. Just keep 25% back from the beginning and enjoy the bonus if you don’t need it all.

Professional website - £1000. This can be done MUCH cheaper but having a rubbish website can really undermine your credibility. Your site will also be crucial if you want...

In this interview with Dr Kate Quinn I learn how, alongside a hectic NHS role, Kate built a community of "metal heads" who use heavy metal music to process and deal with their emotions. As a self confessed mainstream kind of girl I was fascinated by the science behind using metal music in this way. It makes total sense that music that speaks to your emotions would be more effective than generic music that is SUPPOSED to be relaxing (but just makes many of us want to visit the bathroom).

Kate also tells us the HOW. How she managed to take this from an awesome idea to a movement that is helping thousands of people. It is inspiring stuff but also worth grabbing a note pad (or your phone) to take a note of some of the practical steps Kate talks us through.

I hope you'll enjoy this podcast episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Are you a psychologist or therapist who wants to make a bigger impact by getting out of the therapy room? If so come and join the Do More Than Therapy community at www.drrosie.co.uk

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5* review wherever you get your podcasts and share the episode on social media. You can tag me on facebook @DrRosieGilderthorp and instagram @rosiegilderthorp

I make this podcast for you so your feedback shapes future episodes and keeps me going too!

You can find Kate on Facebook @heavymetaltherapy

Instagram @heavymetaltherapy

Twitter @HeavyTherapy

I also hugely recommend checking out the blog and resources at www.heavymetaltherapy.co.uk

Ever wanted to know how to write a book that people will actually READ? Got a mission to help more people in 2020 but not sure how to make that happen? Or do you have a burning writing project you just can't get DONE? This episode is full of actionable steps you can take to make your dreams of authorship come true.

Book on to the Do More Than Therapy self publishing workshop with Tim on 24th April here: https://drrosie.co.uk/product/self-publishing-workshop/

You can find Tim at https://stonehampress.com/

In this episode of the podcast Tim shared with me his personal journey into self publishing. Starting out in IT, needing a career change following the loss of his wife and unleashing the creative writer inside of him WITHOUT waiting for permission. Tim's story is inspiring as it exemplifies the opportunity we have in 2020. We no longer need to know the right people or wait for someone to "take a chance on us". We can spread our messages when we feel ready to through self publishing.

Tim beaks down his top tips into these key areas:

Tim explains the advantages and disadvantages of traditional publishing and self publishing. He tells us that people use books in many ways, as business cards, reputation builders, for prestige and (often less successfully) for money. This part of the podcast is a MUST listen if you are undecided about whether to self publish or go the traditional route.

Tim warns us not to start writing without knowing where we hope to end up. He has lived the reality of the fear of the blank page and gives us some helpful tools to consider such as Scrivener for getting a detailed plan together for the book before you write a word.

Tim talks about his experience using National novel writing month to write his books quickly and avoid writers block. The community aspect of it sounds very appealing given how isolating writing a book can feel.

Finally, Tim talks us through the best ways to get a book read by others including ebook marketing through Amazon, using physical book shops, google search and conferences.

And there is SO much more to this interview. Tim provided a wealth of knowledge and has much more to share so if you know there is a book in you and you want to get started then book the self publishing masterclass with Tim at https://drrosie.co.uk/product/self-publishing-workshop/ The workshop is taking place live on 24th April 2020 but if you have missed that date or you can't make the time you can still access a recording and the resources.