Show Notes

Kayla: Welcome back to the Designer Practice Podcast and I’m your host Kayla Das.

Ever dream of running a full time virtual private practice from the comfort of your own home?

As we know, running a virtual practice takes more than just setting up your home office and buying a PIPEDA or HIPAA compliant video software. We need to actually get clients through our virtual doors of our practices.

On today’s episode, I’m chatting with Stephanie McAlister, psychotherapist and owner of Virtual Connect to discuss how positioning your practice so that you and your clients are a good fit can help you grow your virtual practice.

Hi, Stephanie. Welcome to the show. It’s great to have you here today.

Stephanie: Hi, Kayla. Thank you for having me on your show today.

Introduction

Kayla: Stephanie, before we dive in, please introduce yourself, where you’re from, and tell us a little bit about your own practice journey and how you started your company, Virtual Connect.

Stephanie: So, I currently live in Penticton, British Columbia. So just a little bit of background on me. So, I started working as a counselor three weeks before the global pandemic hit. And as a result of that, I started primarily doing virtual counseling. I had seen maybe two to three clients in person and then moved entirely to virtual counseling.

And I learned a lot in that process because I think the traditional image is going into a therapist’s office, having those conversations, meeting in person. And a couple of things that really stood out to me during that process was a lot of people were really reluctant at first to do virtual counseling. And then once we started, as it was kind of the only option, when people were able to come back in person, most people actually went back to virtual because of the convenience, the ease. And something comforting about being able to log on, connect with your therapist at home, then go back to our lives and have that sense of being able to connect with someone, but being able to do it at home.

And so that in conjunction with what ended up being my love for working with private practice, I decided that a Virtual Connect would be a great business to get going.

There really isn’t a big one in Canada that’s taken on doing virtual counseling with people who specialize in different areas. There’s one in the U.S. that are help, but for Canadians, there really isn’t a big practice that abides by each provincial regulations and is able to offer specialized counseling for clients. So, that was where the journey to Virtual Connect started.

Kayla: That’s fabulous. And I don’t know if many listeners know, but pretty much when I started my practice too, I had started with virtual. And I’ve only really done the virtual piece in my practice, as well as my business coaching. And I would agree with you. I think that there was this shift of going back to in person. And I think there are some people who, in person will always be their mode and method of counseling, but it definitely opened a lot of doors for a lot of clients, especially those who find it difficult to access therapy, such as getting on a bus or, actually having to leave work in the middle of the day, or having childcare at home. Like people can access from the comfort of their home, their office space. I’ve even had people in their car, not driving, because that is a condition. They can’t be driving when they’re talking to me. But they might be in their car on their lunch, just sitting in the passenger seat. And this is all really great ways for people to access therapy. And I would agree with you. It is something that I think will continue to stick.

And also, especially for people in rural areas where there isn’t as many therapists or the therapist is in your community is someone that you know or is a family friend and you feel uncomfortable going to that person. Virtual therapy provides this avenue where people can access therapy comfortably. And I’m going to say also confidentially, not saying that is not confidential anyway, but to the client, they may have some fears regarding that. So, a hundred percent.

I love your model. And that’s actually why I reached out to you to be on the podcast, because I think how you are running your practice and how you’ve set up your practice is definitely something that is beneficial for clients and also therapists alike.

Stephanie: Yeah, I cannot agree with you more. And I think that virtual does offer that ability to be living somewhere else and accessing your counselor in a totally different city and even province in some capacities. And I’ve also seen it be really helpful for clients who move. I’ve been seeing them in person and like, “I don’t really want to start over with somebody else. Am I able to keep seeing you?” And having this option has been really helpful.

Kayla: Yeah, I agree. So, I know the topic of today’s episode is being a good fit for your clients. And I know when we spoke offline, we talked a lot about really even the marketing side of things, which we’ll get into.

Definition of Being a “Good Fit”

But first, let’s define what being a good fit means when it comes to private practices. And why is it important, especially for virtual practices to focus on being a good fit with their clients?

Stephanie: Love this question. So, a lot of the values of my company, Virtual Connect, is really based off of making sure that clinicians are paired with clients who on the outside appears to be a good fit, right? It’s one of those situations where until you really get working with a client, it is hard to know if you’re going to have a positive therapeutic alliance. However, there are things you can do to kind of set it up so that you are in a place where the client and the clinician hopefully are a good fit for each other.

And the way that I really focus in on doing that and what that means to me is everybody who I have onboarded as a contractor through Virtual Connect. I’ve asked them, right? I’ve had some extensive conversations of What are the populations that you enjoy working with? What are the populations that you don’t enjoy working with? What are the issues that you feel as though you’re really confident working with and being able to focus in on that. And having that kind of pre-set so that when clients come through and call me, I’m able to be like, “Okay. This practitioner really enjoys grief counseling and enjoys working with teens. And so, these people would be a great fit for each other.” And I find that starting that out, we do our best work when it’s with clients who we feel comfortable and we feel competent and that we know what we’re doing. And also, for clients, if you go to a clinician who feels confident in that area of concern, you’re more likely to have that positive therapeutic alliance develop and grow.

And so that is the importance with Virtual Connect. I think some private practices that I’ve heard of really kind of go down a list of like, “Okay, this person got space for a client. I’ll fill it in” and maybe that works. I’ve not done that. So, I don’t really know. But for this practice, the goal is really to find people who specialize on what you’re looking for. And with the virtual practice that really allows for that because we have access to people who obviously provided that they fit the regulatory requirements in each province.

Maybe your best fit is someone who lives in Ontario and you’re located in BC as long as the registration is there, then that’s perfect, right? So virtual, I think allows for that to be a little bit easier. And also, I see the benefit both for clients and for clinicians because they’re going to be happier working with people who they feel confident working with.

Kayla: I agree with you 100%. And the one of the words that I use on the podcast is your ideal client. And I know for some therapists, that’s like, “Ooh, like, I want to work with everyone. I don’t have an ideal client.” But I love how you frame it as a good fit, because we all know that when we have connections or relationships with anyone, whether it’s a friendship, a therapeutic relationship, a romantic partner. There is a good fit and then there’s not a such a great fit. And that doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with any particular person within the relationship. It just means there wasn’t a mesh there. And that’s okay.

But once we identify what that fit is, we start building that confidence in the clientele we’re working with, and we’re not necessarily going around chasing the next best tool or strategy or therapeutic approach or modality. What we’re doing is we’re actually building on that, and then we’re able to build the confidence to work with that type of client. And once you start identifying that, your clients know and they feel comfortable and that helps with the fit because if they feel comfortable because you’re helping them with their particular problem or issue that they’re experiencing, they’re going to keep coming back. And you’re going to keep having a client that’s going to be super happy and you’re going to be super happy.

Stephanie: 100 percent and I like you brought that up and also therapeutic alliance, as we know, that’s something that is so, so important. And I think any master’s program that you go through that’s brought up so many times that having a positive therapeutic alliance really, really helps to benefit the clients and help them to feel comfortable, right? It’s a vulnerable place going into counseling.

I’m sure many people on the show have also experienced this, having people say to you, “you’re the only person who knows this. You’re the only person I’ve told these things to.” And having that relationship and that connection is so important because we can’t– obviously there’s things people leave out, but we can’t necessarily come to a place of being a counselor if people don’t trust us and have that comfort in sharing what their needs are.

Kayla: And knowing that you can help them with whatever their needs are.

Stephanie: Yes. 100%. Yeah.

How to Tell if you and your Clients are a Good Fit

Kayla: So how can a therapist or coach tell if they and their clients are a good fit for one another or not?

Stephanie: So, I think we know if someone’s going to be a good fit or not, based on kind of the history, right? The background of where is your expertise? Where is your experience? Where you spent the majority of your time working with? And not that that can’t change and mold and shift as we grow as professionals. But starting out with, okay, where has the majority of your research been focused in on?

I look at myself and I’ve spent a lot of time counseling individuals who struggle with anxiety. And at the beginning, you do end up looking up a lot of things. And at this point in my practice, I feel like I have a lot of tools. I have a lot of resources, a lot of things that I’ve already researched, looked into, established that I can share with clients. And that ends up being a good fit. Whereas something like grief counseling, I’ve never really been a fan of grief counseling. I’ve done lots of trainings on it. I’ve tried, it’s not really my thing. And so, in that respect, someone coming in looking for counseling to support them with anxiety, I might be a better fit than someone coming in looking for support with grief counseling. Not that you can’t do both, but that might be where the best fit is.

Kayla: I love that. And I think, too, when we think of a good fit. It’s also understanding, are you and the client feeling comfortable? Not saying the clients, especially in the first consult or the first session, they’re probably not going to be super comfortable, because especially if it’s their first time, they may have fears connected to that. But first of all, you’re going to feel comfortable working with a particular client. And then the client is going to start opening up quicker because they can almost mirror that comfort from you is what I’ve noticed.

And I actually would love to hear your opinion on this and your thought on this is, I kind of have in my gut if this is a good fit or not. Sometimes it’s based on my modalities, my therapeutic approaches, but sometimes it’s about even the type of needs that they have. And with that in the first consult, sometimes I may refer out because I think it isn’t a great fit, right? It may be that they’re looking for help with a specific issue that I can’t help with or I might not necessarily have the approach or the method that best fits them. And I would love to hear if you have that gut feeling sometimes too.

Stephanie: Yeah, I would completely agree with you there that there are times where it’s like, “Okay, this is going to be a good fit.” I think those 15 minutes consultations that I know a lot of clinicians do really help to offer that perspective of, “Okay, yeah, we really meshed. I think I’d be able to support this person in what they’re looking for.” And I think that having a group practice really, really helps because then you can outsource, right? You can have that conversation with the client. They’re like, “I’m looking for this, this, and this.” You’re like, “hmm, you know what from your initial message or email. I thought I would be a good fit for you. But actually, I think that this practitioner might be a better fit for you.” And that gut feeling I think would come with that. And so, then you’re able to connect them with somebody in your clinic who is able to offer that support and maybe they are a good fit. Maybe they aren’t, right? I think those 15-minute consultations are super, super helpful because it allows you to kind of figure that out. Is this person comfortable with me?

How Knowing Your Ideal Client Helps with Practice Marketing

Kayla: This kind of goes off the next question is how does knowing your ideal client help with marketing a virtual practice specifically? But I want to also add you have a group practice. So how has knowing your ideal client helped you with your group practice?

Stephanie: Marketing the virtual practice, knowing your ideal client, I think the idea is that I really preface that we focus on finding someone who specializes in what you’re looking for. It’s not a one size fits all approach. Counseling is a very personal experience, and there really isn’t a one size fits all approach. So, being able to market in the capacity of, we find someone who specializes in what you’re looking for and that ties directly into the group practice piece because it’s not just me because I can’t specialize in everything. Nobody can be an expert in everything. So having multiple practitioners gives me that chance to connect people with who they specialize in, connected to what the client is specifically looking for.

Kayla: Yeah, my mind goes right to profits as well. When we think of profitability, if you have a group practice like you do you don’t necessarily lose money by outsourcing, because what you’re doing is you’re likely going to outsource to other members of your team who specialize in that particular area, so you as the group practice owner still has the ability to make a profit.

And then also it helps you with your group practice marketing because now you have, say, Bob, who works in this particular area, Jane, who works in this particular area, Joe, who works in this particular area. So now you’re really opening up your, one, availability, but also the problems or the issues that clients are looking for. So now you’re serving them. And then also you’re serving the therapeutic community as a whole, because let’s be honest, there’s many people and I actually have a contract in my private practice as well. As therapists, sometimes we like to have those contracts on the side, right, to be a part of a group practice. And that helps us gain income, gain clients. So, it really is a win, win situation.

Stephanie: Yeah, I completely agree with you. And I like the point that you brought up about you get to outsource and you’re not concerned about income necessarily by referring out. I think the other really important piece is that as clinicians, there is that balance between this is our living, we’re trying to make money, but at the same time, making sure that the way that we’re engaging and practicing is ethical. Knowing who I’m referring people to is really helpful. And so, while there is that piece of it’s super helpful, from a financial standpoint, because you’re able to refer within your own group practice, from a personal and confidence standpoint, it’s helpful. I know these clinicians. I’ve interviewed with them. I’ve chatted with them. I’ve met with them. So, there’s a different level of comfort as opposed to being like, “Well, these people say they specialize in this area. I think these people would be a better fit for you. Go and connect with them.” There’s a level of confidence in, I know this clinician. I know this practitioner. I’ve talked to them about how they work. They would be a good fit for you. Obviously, you can’t guarantee that but the level of confidence in referring within a group practice where you know the clinicians who are working with you, can be really, really helpful and really comforting to know that the clients that you’re sending are going to more than likely have a positive experience. Obviously cannot guarantee things, but the goal is kind of setting up that positive experience.

Kayla: Agree and I think being a good fit with your client is important regardless if it’s a virtual or in person practice. However, I think virtual practices have a unique need to be a good fit even more. And what I mean by that going back to the marketing standpoint is that when you’re in person, like you have an office in the middle of a complex, people walk past you all the time.

A virtual practice, you’re kind of hidden, right? Except for your website, you’re kind of hidden. So being able to stand out amongst all other practices, virtually or otherwise, I feel that having that good fit or that ideal client positions you as an expert and instead of you competing against one out of a thousand or two thousand or three thousand therapists, you’re really one of one, or one of five like depending on who’s in your area or niche. And I think that’s what the difference is, is that when you’re marketing yourself people remember you for the particular type of– Not even type of therapy you do, but the type of clients you work with. And that’s so important with virtual practices because you are hidden and you want to be found. And the way to be found is to stand out. And the way to stand out is to position yourself different than everyone else, not the same.

Stephanie: Yeah, I really like that you said that and it is positioning yourself differently. And I think the benefit to a virtual practice when the main focus is really on finding the best fit or your ideal client is the idea that because it’s a virtual practice, there is also access to clinicians. Many clinicians, right? Different from, “Okay, yeah, I live in this small rural community there’s maybe five counselors who work here.” I have to pick between one of the five and I might run into them somewhere. From a virtual standpoint, I can pick between one of however many are registered in the province that you currently live in and see who specializes in what I’m looking for.

And that really is the ultimate goal of Virtual Connect, is to grow to a place of having someone who specializes in everything as their niche. Right now, there is clinicians who do specialize in various areas. And as we continue to grow and expand the idea is to really continue to focus in on that and make that a continuous priority for the company.

Additional Insights

Kayla: So, Stephanie, when it comes to running and marketing a virtual practice, do you have any additional advice, insights, tips, or anything for listeners to help them design their dream virtual practice?

Stephanie: I think something that I’ve learned along my journey is a couple really key things. One is having things set up correctly. So, making sure that your website looks good, making sure that that’s operating, making sure that that’s running within the first week of being up and running, there was different technical issues. And so maybe having that kind of sorted out beforehand would be really helpful.

The other thing is business coaching. And finding a business coach who really fit within the realm of knowing counseling and know the laws and regulations yourself. There’s a lot of different requirements when you’re marketing a counseling practice. It’s a health care profession. We can’t promise things. We can’t kind of put it out there to clients like, well, if you come into couples counseling, your relationship will be solved. We can’t guarantee anything, right? We can’t solicit. We can’t message people privately. And I definitely agree that there is a lot of good reasons why those things can’t happen, nor do I think that they should. But with that, the kind of general approaches to marketing have to be really shifted. And so finding a business coach who understands what counseling marketing is and what you are and are not allowed to do. And kind of coming up with things that are helpful, right? And how do you want to present yourself, right? I don’t think we want to present as pushing people or really wanting them to come into the practice. We want to be a place for people to access when they need the support. And when they feel like they’re ready to come into counseling.

The other thing is automating systems, making sure that obviously at the beginning of a group practice, you are not going to have a lot of clients, but having things set up so that you can handle it when you do get an influx of clients or who knows something within what you’ve been doing marketing hits and all of a sudden there’s an influx of clients. Are you able to withstand that? Are you able to deal with connecting those to your practitioners and ensuring that the systems are all set up.

The other thing is being patient. It can be discouraging when you’ve put in all this work, you have the idea, you have the plans, you have the dream, you know how you want your practice to fit. You’ve done the research, you see where this is a need but exactly what you said, people need to hear about you. And I think that that’s been something that has been one of the harder things is getting more well-known making the name something that people know, like, “Oh, yeah, I can access counseling at Virtual Connect.”

And coming up with a name in general, I picked Virtual Connect because I thought it sounded very fitting, a virtual place to connect, self-explanatory there. But doing all of those things and really having the patience because it does take time to build clients. As we’re recording this, I’m in the beginning stages of the practice and working towards finding avenues and finding ways to get clients to come into the practice and marketing myself. And how do I want to look? How do I want to appear as a practice? I think those things are really, really important. And the goal, hopefully, this will turn into the dream of what I see it being in the next five to so years.

Kayla: Something I’d like to add is regulation. You mentioned this kind of briefly earlier, but it’s making sure that when you are practicing virtually, that you’re regulated to work in that particular area. So, if you’re in the States, that you have a license in that particular state that you’re working in, and then in Canada, that you are registered or that that particular province doesn’t necessarily have a regulation, or you are able to practice based on what your credential is.

And I think that that’s really important because when we think of virtual practice, sometimes we’re thinking– I’m just thinking social work now. Social workers need to be registered in most provinces. Fortunately, a lot of provinces have either discounted or even free registration for virtual social workers but some don’t. But of course, depending on your credential, whether you have a master’s of counseling, whether you’re a psychologist, whether you’re a social worker, you will have different kind of routes to regulation. And you’ll also have different standards of practice, depending on the province that you’re in. So, it’s important to really be aware of some of those things when you’re starting that virtual practice, because that is going to keep you aligned with the regulation in that province.

Stephanie: I completely agree. The ethics and the requirements by each province is so important to be very aware of it and to know. For the virtual clinic, I’ve hired everyone who is a psychotherapist so far. So that is where I am most familiar. And I myself am a psychotherapist. I have a Masters in Counselling.

And just as a bit of a general overview there are certain provinces that are registered and regulated and there’s some that are not. And so, in those provinces, people who are registered with the Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association. Are able to see people because there technically is no requirement for registration, but in the provinces that do currently hold regulatory bodies, it’s really important to ensure that if a client is coming from, let’s say, Ontario, that whoever they’re working with is registered with the CRPO for ethical and environmental standards, legal and liability reasons. It needs to be that way. And so that’s also a piece of it on my website. You’ll see if you click, let’s say you’re looking for a practitioner in Ontario who specializes in grief counseling you’ll see everyone who is registered and able to do that show up so that people know who they’re able to pick from. Because there are those ethical standards and as clinicians and practitioners, we need to be aware of them because clients don’t know. They don’t know the difference between the CRPO and the CCPA. Maybe they do. But regardless, it’s our job to make sure that our clients are informed and are making an informed decision along their entire journey of counseling.

Connecting with Stephanie

Kayla: Really great points. So, Stephanie, if any listener would like to learn more about you and Virtual Connect, where can they find you?

So, if anyone wants to check out Virtual Connect’s practice, you can go to virtualconnect. ca. We’re on Instagram at virtual_connect_counselling. And also on Facebook at Virtual Connect. Or you’re able to scroll down to the show notes and click the link to check out our website. And if you have any questions about anything that I brought up today, or in general about the practice, please feel free to reach out, send me a note, and I’d be happy to chat with you.

Kayla: Amazing. So, to check out virtual connect, head to virtualconnect.ca. And as Stephanie said, you can simply scroll down to the show notes and click on the link as well.

Conclusion

Thank you, Stephanie, for joining us on the show today and sharing some helpful tips to position our virtual practices so that it focuses on being a good fit for clients.

Thank you so much for having me and I was happy to share the journey of Virtual Connect and what the clinic’s values are.

Kayla: Thank you everyone for tuning into today’s episode and I hope you join me again soon on the Designer Practice Podcast.

Until next time, bye for now.

Credits & Disclaimers

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