It feels exciting to have some good news - and also a bit strange because I think we are all so used to bad or scary news these days. I have noticed myself hesitating when something great is happening in my personal or professional life, waiting for the right time to make any kind of happy announcement. And then I remembered that most of us are also really needing to hear something positive right now. So here it is…
I have started hiring therapists to work with me through Out of the Woods Therapy!
The decision to grow my practice came out of several places. Mostly:
I was tired of telling people, “No, I can’t take new clients.”
It is an incredible honor to receive referrals from various members of the community or to receive an email from someone who wants to work with me. I do have referral options, but often those options are also full.
The need for sex-positive therapy is overwhelmingly high. Most of my colleagues who specialize in this type of work are consistently full.
I really want to be a good boss. This is how I introduced myself when I was in a Zoom class with Mountain Bizworks earlier in the fall: “I’ve had a ton of shitty bosses in my life. I really want to be a good boss.”
What being a good boss means to me is to lead with my values of empathy and viewing vulnerability as a strength rather than a weakness. It means that I desire to create an environment that is nurturing, supportive, and encouraging. I’m still doing my best to be a smart business person in the process of creating this dream - but I reject the idea that being in a position of power automatically means that you treat people as if they are less than human.
And truth be told - I fully recognize that all of the time and energy I have spent on growing this practice has been a healthy coping mechanism for dealing with the burnout I was feeling from the pandemic and the overall state of the world.
So what do I consider most when hiring therapists?
I think about a lot of things, but mainly I am paying attention to whether or not I can affirmatively answer the following two questions:
Can I imagine my current clients liking this person? (This is not because I intend on passing anyone on my caseload to a new person, but rather because I value their opinions).
If I were not hiring this person, would I want to see them for therapy?
Those questions, combined with other practical considerations, are what have driven me to select the folks who will be working for Out of the Woods Therapy. I am so excited to introduce each one of them as they become ready to see clients. We are all doing tele-health for now until it is once again safe to resume in-person sessions.
This has been a big, personal post. I am following it immediately with another blog post to officially introduce Caroline because she deserves her own spotlight.
Thanks for reading!
