UpClose & Personal - Arlene Alpert

When you look at these three selections -- Taking care of your clients, Taking care of your business and Taking care of yourself do you see each one as having an equal place in how you run your business or do only one or two feel essential to you? In operating my practice for the last 24 years, I felt really connected to my work when I found that this trio of "care" created a balance, a boundary and a breather between my being and my business.

What I have to share with you is what it took to establish this discipline and then keep it flowing in optimum dynamic order. When I first began my journey as a psychotherapist in 1977 I thought that I was the type of person that didn't take things personally. I also saw myself as organized and since I had a great desire to be in private practice I thought it would be a cinch to fulfill the business side. It wasn't until a year later when I found myself with too few clients and beginning to feel stressed out and discouraged about making it that I thought about leaving the profession. However, since I was still in supervision, as well as in my own personal therapy, I first sought help to sort out what was going wrong with my practice. That was when I found what was missing from running my business successfully: I was trying to save my clients, I wasn't doing anything to promote my business and I wasn't taking care of myself. Because I thought I had the makings of a good therapist (I loved what I did) I listened to others, did some research and discovered, in the process, how to make my business successful. Let me share some of what I learned with you.

TAKING CARE OF YOUR CLIENTS
As a novice psychotherapist I thought it was my responsibility to heal my clients, to "cure" them, so to speak. I thought that if they didn't get better then it was somehow my fault. What I learned was the difference between taking care of my clients and caring for them. That first year I was doing their work for them; I was suffering for them and I was trying to make them change, not only so they would be "okay" but that also I would be. The moment I shifted from 'taking care of' to 'caring', first of all more clients showed up. Then, more of them did improve. They became committed to their therapy; they asked me what they could do to help themselves in between sessions and they patted themselves on the back (not me) for taking control of their lives.

The message for me was clear: give my clients "ownership" of their problems and let them come to me as a guide to help them stay on their path.

TAKING CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS
The next task on my agenda was to go to the library and research business books. I learned the art of marketing myself; I learned how to network; how to ask for referrals; the type of advertising to do, and more. It has stood me in good stead all these years. I will share a couple of helpful hints that worked (and still do) for me:

Networking: Wherever you go carry your business cards (even to the supermarket). And wherever you go look for an opportunity to engage in conversation with someone. Even at the checkout counter you can strike up a conversation about massage in general. Most people love to ask questions about what massage does and that can be a lead-in to talk about your areas of expertise in particular. You need to be your own PR (public relations) advocate. Join your local Chamber of Commerce and get involved in a couple of committees.

Public Speaking: Many massage therapists I have spoken to are nervous about giving talks. I say, get over it. Go to local organizations, such as Rotary, Women's groups, American Cancer Society, and American Heart Association. They love and appreciate professionals like yourself talking about how to get and stay healthy with massage. If you really are anxious, join Toastmasters. It is a great way to get over your fear of public speaking.

Advertising: The most effective (and least expensive way to advertise yourself is to get on the radio and TV. Just call the stations and say you have some interesting research about the latest techniques, etc. in massage. They will be grateful you called. Press releases are also free. You can send them to newspapers when you get a new degree, when you have just taken a special workshop or are offering a workshop.

Marketing: Get a Web Site. You don't have to hire an expensive professional. Today it is easy (if you are computer literate) to design one yourself. You can do it with Front Page. It is not an expensive software program and has simple instructions. In addition, get email if you don't have it already and tell everyone you know to email you with massage questions. Start an email newsletter (or two) Take a look at mine by emailing me at ALPERT10@aol.com and asking to be put on my email newsletter lists &Mac178; they are free. Also, in terms of marketing make sure you have updated business cards and design ones that are eye-catching -- with a logo and your specialty. People really look at, and keep the ones that are unusual. You may want to make them in a size that is different than the typical business card.

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF
Last (but certainly, not least) is how you take care of yourself. If you are last on the list and find yourself at the end of the day (if there is an end) exhausted, irritable and non-communicative with your family (or even your pet), take a look at how you may be stressing yourself out—by leaving yourself out. Here is a way to tell how good you are about taking care of your own well-being. If you are familiar with Abraham Maslow, then you know that he researched well-adjusted human beings to see what made them tick. He discovered the reason they were in that frame of mind. His subjects satisfied their basic needs in a timely fashion. He identified five: Physical, Emotional, Social, Achievement, and Spiritual. Think about what each need represents. Here are some facets of each one. You can add your own to the list:

Physical: Rest, food, shelter, water, sleep

Emotional: Self-acceptance and self-love

Social: Belonging, family and friends, activities

Achievement: Purpose, meaning, a sense of accomplishment

Spiritual: Higher power, inner wisdom

As you can understand from reading through these needs, if you have left any unmet before you start working on healing a client either they will zap you with their negative energy from their unmet needs or you will zap them with your negative energy from your unmet needs—or both!

In closing, I would like to say to those of you that are already following this path and think that you have read and heard all this before, I caution you. I, too, thought that once I knew these three areas of knowledge and skills I was home free. However, it was a harsh lesson to learn that when I let down my guard—when I stopped paying attention to myself or to my business or to my clients, even for a very short time, my practice declined, even my long-term clients left and I suffered. And to those of you that are still searching for ways to make your practice work—believe with all your heart and spirit that in taking care of your clients, taking care of your business, and most of all, taking care of yourself will bring your dreams to fruition.

Email Arlene Alpert