Marisol Westberg | Niches, Sex Therapy, and Outsourcing | TPOT 172
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Release Date: 04/05/2021
Maureen Clancy | Integrating Diverse Healing Modalities in Private Practice | TPOT 327
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Maureen Clancy has been a licensed therapist and trauma expert for the past 20 years, helping women go through enormous life changes who have experienced childhood trauma. In this episode, Maureen shares her journey of integrating alternative healing modalities into therapeutic practice. She discusses her exploration of various methods such as energy work, acupuncture, and Reiki alongside traditional therapy, emphasizing the holistic nature of healing. Maureen reflects on the limitations of the conventional therapeutic profession and advocates for the incorporation of alternative approaches to...
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Kasey Compton | Journey to Self-Understanding: Insights for Private Practice Success | TPOT 326
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Kasey Compton is on a mission to help business owners find their entrepreneurial confidence. She went from bankrupt to Boss Babe when she took her first company from zero to three million in less than three years without ditching her life to do it. She owns three other businesses that have accumulated assets of over two million and are growing by the day. Her superpowers include cutting through the clutter to identify a strategic starting point, increasing efficiency through systems, and tapping into a person’s highest potential. She helps others by designing maps for their...
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Dr. Jan Carney | Empowering Professionals: The Importance of Public Health Education | TPOT 325
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Dr. Carney is Associate Dean for Public Health and Health Policy, and Professor of Medicine, at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM). She is Chief of the Division of Public Health at the Larner College of Medicine and directs graduate public health education. In this episode, we cover Dr. Carney’s multifaceted approach to addressing various aspects of healthcare and public health. From guiding individuals through the maze of health information to advocating for systemic changes and collaborative efforts, Dr. Carney's insights underscore the complexity of...
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Dr. Connor McClenahan | Crafting Client-Centered Profiles: An Approach to Authentic Engagement | TPOT 324
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Dr. Connor McClenahan founded Here Counseling, which provides a membership model for private practice so therapists can run their own private practices independently while benefiting from group resources. Dr. McClenahan runs a private practice in Los Angeles and Pasadena and has taught, coached, and written on digital marketing for therapists. His new 100-page workbook helps therapists build a strategic marketing plan and grow their practices. In this episode, Dr. McClenahan dives into the delicate balance private practice owners face between self-doubt and sincere empathy. Advocating for a...
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Cameron Schober | Therapeutic Frontiers: Healing Innovation in Private Practice | TPOT 323
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Cameron Schober is an LPC-S and LMFT-S in the State of Texas, primarily practicing at The Hope Place in Mansfield, TX. Cameron’s main areas of clinical focus is treating trauma using a combination of Accelerated Resolution Therapy, psychedelic-assisted integration, and postmodern therapy approaches in conjunction with psychoeducation related to trauma and it’s effects on our nervous systems as well as our lives. In this episode, we talk about Cameron's journey through the realm of therapeutic practices, navigating challenges, and embracing novel approaches to healing. From grappling with...
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Carla Titus | Financial Foundations for Private Practice | TPOT 322
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Carla Titus is a finance expert with over 15 years of combined corporate financial planning, analysis, strategy, and online businesses experience. She provides fractional CFO services and financial consulting to business owners looking to grow their business profitably. Her priorities for her clients are to help them grow profits, have cash in the bank, and pay themselves well so they can build personal wealth. The journey to financial success in any business requires a solid foundation and forward-thinking strategies. Carla, a seasoned financial advisor, emphasizes the critical role of...
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Dr. Liz Lasky | Adapting Private Practice for Modern Needs | TPOT 321
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
This episode covers Dr. Liz Lasky's transformative shift from traditional therapy to coaching, driven by her quest for personal fulfillment and financial success. Embracing skepticism, she champions that therapists can thrive financially while providing valuable services, inspiring others to pursue their dreams. We speak about diverse opportunities for therapists, stressing the need for innovation in the evolving landscape of mental health care. She advocates for balancing roles as a business owner and entrepreneur, believing it's safe to have it all. Dr. Lasky reframes success, encouraging...
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Kristie Plantinga | A Guide to Effective Digital Marketing Tactics in Private Practice | TPOT 320
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Kristie Plantinga is a mental health nerd, writer, and marketer living in Colorado. She is the founder of TherapieSEO—a marketing agency serving therapists and coaches—and —a therapist directory that vets therapists so therapy-seekers can focus on fit, not quality. When she’s not writing about mental health and dreaming up creative content strategies, Kristie can be found snuggling her multiple terriers, sipping a homemade dirty chai, and half-helping her husband cook Lebanese food. This episode is all about navigating the evolving landscape of digital marketing. Kristie emphasizes the...
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Malka Shaw | Combating Anti-Semitism: Strategies for Therapists in Private Practice | TPOT 319
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Malka is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey, New York, and Florida. She has been in the mental health field for over 25 years and has successfully run her private practice for the last 15 years. In response to the events of October 7th and the ongoing situation, Malka Shaw, LCSW and Stacey Shapiro, LCSW, have co-founded the Kesher Shalom Project. This initiative, led by seasoned trauma specialists, has trained over 2000 therapists globally. Their training equips therapists with vital tools to aid Jewish clients during the conflict, covering trauma assessments, practical...
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Jason Frishman | Presence and Mindfulness: Balancing Work and Family | TPOT 318
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
has been working for over 20 years to support individuals, groups, families, organizations, and businesses. Jason is excited to bring over two decades of work in offices, institutions, kitchens, farmers’ markets, woodlots, and boardrooms to wild new environments. Whether as a psychotherapist, the creator and founder of JourneyMen, public speaker, thought leader, or narrative consultant, Jason believes that our lives are adventurous, and we can and should be active, engaged authors of our own adventure stories! In this episode, Jason critiques the societal norms that suppress male...
info_outlineIn this episode, Marisol talks about the significance of having a niche as it relates to getting more clients. Also, having a niche can improve your SEO results. For Marisol, she enjoys having sex therapy as her niche. We talk about her journey to becoming a sex therapist and advice for people who are venturing into this space. Later, we chat about the importance of outsourcing when it comes to saving time and money – plus, it can even make you money in the long run!
Meet Marisol Westberg
Hi, I am Dr. Westberg and I am a sex therapist and couple’s counselor in Portland, OR.
I am a board-certified sexologist (ACS), certified sex educator (AASECT), and a licensed couple’s counselor (LMFT).
I am a former Professor in the Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy Program at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. I coordinated the Sex Therapy Track and supervised students in their clinical training. I have offices in both Portland and Seattle but am doing only virtual sessions at the moment.
Sex Therapy As A Niche
Marisol says that the sex therapy niche landed on her lap rather than looking for it. It just started because she was teaching a course on sex therapy. Marisol had never done one case of sex therapy. Interestingly, she began teaching as she was starting out her private practice journey. As soon as she started to focus on sex therapy, her practice started to flourish. With a sex therapy niche, Marisol had a lot more people contacting her; she realized creating that niche was really a way to grow her practice.
Sadly, there's a lot of stigma and shame and all that kind of stuff around the sex therapy niche. When we're training, or when we're going to school, they do teach us a minimal amount of what we should do with human sexuality. Most of the courses in person or online on sex therapy still continue to expand on the human sexuality piece. However, they don't really focus on the therapeutic part, like how we get people to move through their issues?
Moving To Telehealth During Covid
Marisol is a fan of the business side of things. She likes to expand on different aspects of her private practice. So when Covid hit, Marisol saw that everything was going to Zoom. So, it made business sense to stop paying rent. Marisol decided to cut her costs, leave the city, and live on a beach. If you do go out of the country, you save yourself from paying a lot of the income tax because the income you're getting is from a different country. It's $100,000 that you don't have to pay income taxes on.
Making Sex Therapy Effective
It is a complicated piece in sex therapy to address sexual desire. All the interventions presented out there are counter-therapeutic. Actually, it creates more of a problem. Sadly, the solution creates more of the problem. For example, some people with low sexual desire say you just have to push yourself more. They think you just have to find ways to increase your sexual desire and just go do it.
The reality is that these solutions are mostly very gendered. Women are constantly pushing themselves to be more sexual. However, that's just not how desire works. When women push themselves, it creates trauma. In reality, a lack of sexual desire is affected by being tired and being stressed. To solve the problem, women should work on being less tired and less stressed. Women can light candles and do yoga. Slowly touching your partner will also help. Make sure there is nothing forceful going on.
Outsourcing SEO Work
Marisol saw a significant shift in the private practice world with outsourcing. She does all her own website design and social media. However, when she hired somebody to do the actual SEO stuff, that pulled her up in the search results. Some people are just straight out of school and haven't had a lot of time with their website. Yet, they are still number two in Google. There's a lot more to website work than some people can even imagine. A little money will go a long way when it comes to getting your website found. When running a business, it's important to recognize when you can bootstrap and when you can outsource. Sometimes, outsourcing will save you a lot of time and money. Plus, in the long run, it can even make you money!
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Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT
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.