Ashley Comegys | Moms Building Online Therapy Practices | TPOT 143
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Release Date: 08/31/2020
What Growing a Group Practice Really Takes | Whitney Owens | TPOT 453
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Growing a private practice takes more than adding clients and hiring therapists. It also means learning to delegate, trust your team, and let go of doing everything yourself. In this episode, Gordon Brewer welcomes back Whitney Owens, founder of Water’s Edge Counseling and Wise Practice Consulting. Whitney shares her journey from solo therapist to group practice owner, including the challenges of building a leadership team, navigating staff turnover, and creating systems that support growth. Gordon and Whitney explore how confidence develops through experience, why clear values matter in...
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How Therapists Can Practice What We Preach About Mindfulness | Debi Trent Brown | TPOT 452
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Therapists spend a lot of time encouraging clients to slow down, practice mindfulness, and become more aware of what they need—but practicing those same things in our own lives can be much harder. In this episode, Gordon talks with Debi Trent Brown about mindfulness beyond meditation, the importance of creating small moments of joy, and what it means to live more authentically. They explore how the “rules” we pick up from family, culture, and society can quietly shape our choices, why pausing before we respond can help us better understand ourselves, and how consistency—not...
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How to Make More Impact Without Adding More Clients | James Marland | TPOT 451
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
What happens when being “successful” in private practice starts to look a lot like burnout? In this episode, Gordon talks with James Marland about the three traps that can keep therapists stuck in one-on-one work: the clock trap, calendar trap, and couch trap. They unpack why being fully booked isn’t always the same as being free, and how tying your income, time, and impact entirely to client hours can eventually become exhausting. James also shares practical ways therapists can begin thinking beyond traditional one-on-one work through workshops, courses, trainings, and other resources...
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Supporting Postpartum Moms Through Private Practice | Hannah Short | TPOT 450
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that the work we feel most drawn to often has some connection to our own experiences. That doesn’t mean our story becomes the center of the therapy room, but it can absolutely shape the populations we care about, the problems we notice, and the kind of practice we want to build. In this episode, I talk with Hannah Short about how her own experiences with eating disorder recovery and postpartum helped shape her clinical niche. We also get into thoughtful self-disclosure, creating a practice where clients feel genuinely understood, moving from...
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Branding Your Private Practice: How to Stand Out and Get Found | Ritu Riedweg | TPOT 449
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
When therapists think about branding, it’s easy to immediately think about logos, fonts, colors, and websites. But your brand is so much more than what your practice looks like online. It is also the feeling people get when they encounter you, the story they associate with you, and ultimately, whether they feel like they can trust you. In this episode of The Practice of Therapy Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Ritu Riedweg about personal branding, marketing, and what therapists can do to make their practices easier to find and easier to connect with. Ritu brings an interesting...
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Working With High-Risk Teens in Private Practice | Katie K. May | TPOT 448
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Working with high-risk teens can feel overwhelming, especially when self-harm, suicidal thoughts, emotional dysregulation, or repeated hospitalizations are part of the picture. So how can therapists provide both compassion and structure without letting fear drive the treatment? In this episode, Gordon talks with Katie K. May about working effectively with high-risk teens and their families. Katie shares why validation matters, how therapists can provide strong clinical leadership, and why caregiver involvement is such an important part of the process. They also discuss proactive safety...
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Why Rapport Matters More Than Ever in Private Practice | Nora Anger | TPOT 447
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Building rapport isn’t just about helping clients feel comfortable. It can play a major role in whether they trust you, open up, and keep coming back. In this episode, I sit down with Nora Anger, LPC, to talk about building stronger therapeutic relationships in private practice. We discuss what clients really want from their therapists, common reasons they leave therapy, thoughtful self-disclosure, creating safety and trust, and how to balance compassion with challenging clients when they need it. Resources Mentioned In This Episode Meet Nora Anger Nora Anger, MS, LPC, is a...
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Is Your Private Practice Too Dependent on You? | TaVona Denise | TPOT 446
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
What happens to your private practice when you step away? In this episode, Gordon talks with TaVona Denise about what her Private Practice Vitality Report revealed about owner dependency, burnout, delegation, and the systems that keep a practice running. They explore why hiring more staff doesn’t always create more freedom, how to tell if your practice still depends too heavily on you, and the simple 30-day question that can uncover exactly where your systems need work. If you want to build a practice that can grow without requiring you to be involved in every decision, this conversation is...
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The Systems Your Private Practice Needs to Run Smoothly | Lisa Permar | TPOT 445
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
A private practice can look successful on the outside and still feel exhausting behind the scenes. Clients are showing up, revenue is coming in, and everything appears to be working, but the owner may still be answering every question, fixing every exception, following up on loose ends, and carrying far too much of the practice in their own head. In this episode, Gordon talks with Lisa Permar about the small, repeated friction points that quietly drain a practice owner’s time, attention, and energy. They explore how everyday tasks around intake, scheduling, billing, documentation, and team...
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Private Practice Money Mistakes That Could Be Costing You | Margo Masri | TPOT 444
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Your private practice may look profitable on paper, but does the money actually feel available? In this episode, Gordon talks with Margo Masri, founder of Heartfelt CFO and Tax Services, about the financial decisions that can quietly create cash flow problems for private practice owners. They explore the risks of over-hiring, ignoring taxes, taking on office space too soon, and trying to grow without fully understanding the costs involved. Margo also shares why practice owners need to know what they personally need to live on, build financial systems that can grow with the business, and...
info_outlineIn this episode, Ashley Comegys gives us the basics of building an online practice. We talk through some of the challenges of being a full-time virtual therapist and how clients react to telehealth during COVID-19. Stay tuned as Ashley explains the process behind getting licensed in several states and the importance of flexibility during these uncertain times.
Meet Ashley Comegys
Ashley Comegys is a licensed clinical social worker with an online therapy practice that helps women with anxiety navigate life transitions, grief, trauma, and loss. She has been working with clients online since 2014 and loves the ability to work with clients who may not be able to make it into a traditional office for therapy. Through cross country moves, and a growing family, Ashley has built a successful online practice, working with clients in Louisiana, Hawaii, and Colorado. Ashley is passionate about helping other mom clinicians build their own online therapy practices so they can have the time freedom and flexibility to have a career and raise their family.
To help moms get started with building their online practices Ashley has created a free guide called The ABCs of Online Therapy: A Quickstart Guide for Mom Clinicians to Take Their Practice Online. You can download the free guide at bit.ly/momABCguide.
Telehealth During COVID
The reality is, schools can shut down at any time. Working with clients online will give you the flexibility and freedom that a brick and mortar office doesn’t provide. For example, do you share an office space with someone else? Then you may be limited to which hours you can go in there. Working with clients online, you have the flexibility to work around your schedule and your childcare. It cuts down on the extra time for commuting too! No one knows what the outcome will be from COVID; it’s time to pivot and adjust your expectations and find success in online practice.
Flexibility with Clients
Clients have been willing to be very flexible during COVID. There are a lot of moms who understand the importance of being flexible. Even those clients who aren’t moms, they understand the need to be flexible. Nothing is normal right now. Some days we can work from home, while other days we need to be in the office. Ashley has very understanding clients.
Adjusting Your Schedule
When you need to make adjustments to your schedule, Ashley says that it needs to be an upfront conversation. Tell your clients the situation and prepare them for possible changes. Also, be willing to have options for your clients. For the most part, our clients are also going through difficult times too; they understand and relate to you. Communication is critical during these uncertain times.
Getting Licensed In Several States
Getting licensed in several states happened organically for Ashley because she kept moving around. As a military spouse, it’s hard because each state is so different. The only beneficial thing is that Ashley’s application went to the front of the line in Hawaii. Compared to some applications, the Hawaii application wasn’t too bad. Most of Ashley’s clients are in Hawaii, even though Ashley lives in Louisiana. Plus, Ashley works with military families that moved to Colorado. So, she got licensed in Colorado – it was a simple process compared to other states.
Marketing Your Private Practice
Get a good website! That will be a significant source of referrals for your practice. When you market to too many people, then you’re marketing to no one. Think about your physical location. That will be the most accessible place to start marketing. A website will be the easiest way for people to find you. Plus, you can still have a lunch meeting with someone in your area that is a natural collaborator with you. That way, you can connect with other counselors and get a referral source.
Starting Your Virtual Practice
Get the basics in order. Figure out what is the EHR system that you are going to use. There is a variety of systems out there, which one will be best for you? After you get the nuts and bolts, you can start picking up the phone and finding clients. Ashley has a free guide to help you get started. You can find it here: https://bit.ly/momABCguide.
Being transparent… Some of the resources below use affiliate links which simply means we receive a commission if you purchase using the links, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for using the links!
Ashley's Resources
The ABCs of Online Therapy: A Quickstart Guide for Mom Clinicians to Take Their Practice Online
Ashley's Website
Ashley's Facebook Group
Raised To Empower
Email Ashley
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Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast wherever you listen to it. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn, and Pinterest, “Like” us on Facebook.