Friday, May 4, 2012 at 01:35PM Business Visioning and Planning from christine wucherer on Vimeo.
Contact me for respectful and practical coaching to bring your private practice into the 21st century.
Click here to buy my eBook, "Create a 21st Century Private Practice"
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 02:17PM 
Having a website is a necessity these days. It's essential to have a web presence and a great way to start is with a simple website.
Making your website more than just an on-line business card feels overwhelming to many private practitioners and small business owners.
An essential component of any website is to have a privacy policy. This lets your readership know that you take their confidentiality seriously, an issue that is near and dear to private practitioners.
I just came across an article titled "How to Craft a Privacy Policy for Your Website" on the Social Media Examiner blog. It begins by answering the following question:
Why a Privacy Policy?
As online professionals and entrepreneurs, you know that collecting information on visitors to your (or your client’s) website can help tailor goods and services. It offers insight that previously could only be gathered through expensive research. Today, though, data collection can be easy and inexpensive.
But with this type of information, businesses face a daunting task of protecting the data and telling visitors and/or consumers what will be done with the information. Regardless of whether site visitors read the terms and conditions, companies can’t overlook the creation of policies that set out how such information will be used.
Read the rest of the article here.
Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 04:38PM Understanding what makes us tick as human beings helps create saner lives.
We all struggle with negative thinking and that is because the brain has a negativity bias that was very functional in caveman times. We are in less daily danger than our predecessors. We can go to the grocery store to buy food, turn our thermostats on to get heat, get water from indoor faucets and so on. In general, for many people, basic human needs are easily met.
The brains negativity bias gets us into a lot of emotional trouble. Anxiety looks for content and the stress and strain of modern living provide lots of content for the primitive part of our brain to latch onto. This is a real energy drainer.
Rick Hanson, PhD a neuropsychologist, has written two books, Buddhas Brain and Just One Thing. In his books, Rick talks about current research in neuroscience in an easy to understand way. He gives practical advice and simple techniques that will help rewire the brain towards more positivity.
I am a big believer that 'power is knowldege'.
I interviewed Rick about his work. Take a look.
Contact Chris for help rewiring your brain, improving relationships, creating a 21st century business, finding your passion and developing a more joyful life. I would love to help you live a saner life!
Comments on Rick's work? Comment below.
Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 07:33AM
A big challenge for most private practioners is marketing. We run from it as if being chased by a saber toothed tiger.
However, in today's challanging marketplace for private practices, marketing is becoming essential to having a viable and profitable practice.
Putting ourselves 'out there' in a more visible way is counter-intuitive to the training received as therapists. Trained to facilitate we often hold ourselves back when it comes to self-promotion.
David Diana is an author, business coach, marketing consultant, and licensed professional counselor. His book, Marketing for the Mental Health Professionals, is a great resource for therapists trying to wrap their heads around marketing for their therapy practice.
I recently interviewed David. See what he has to say by reading the interview below.
I recently interviewed David. See what he has to say by reading the interview below.Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 11:37AM 
Listen to Chris talk about using audio files on your blog or website to
give your readers content in a new way. Just click the audio player below.
Do you use audio files on your website or blog? by Christine Wucherer
Resources:
Want help bringing your practice into the 21st century? Send me an email and let's talk about how you can create a thriving and satisfying private practice.
If you enjoyed this post please forward it to others who would be interested. Thanks!
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 12:14PM 
wordle by Chris W.Having a web presence can be a confusing proposition, not to mention a daunting commitment. It can be overwhelming just thinking about developing and maintaining a web-site that stands out from the crowd, let alone using other social media tools to keep your client base engaged in your services, talk about your practice niches and grow your practice.
Yet in today's web-based world it's really important that a private practitioner have an on-line presence. Here are some reasons why:
Monday, September 12, 2011 at 12:00PM 
photo by c. wucherer©Here is a quick money saving tip for your practice. Recently, I added a phone line to my cell phone service for $19.99 per month and switched my office phone over to that line. I kept the same phone number, so clients are none the wiser. My cell phone company handled the phone number switch.
I opted for a free phone. I didn't need a smart phone because I already have one for personal use. So the free phone does the job.
This switch has cut my phone bill by more than half, gives me the abilitly to send and recieve texts with my clients for quickie communication, such as, when they are running late or if I choose to remind an ADD client that they have an appointment.
Also, my phone is always with me, so no more calling my answering machine for messages from home. It's light, portable and when used with my bluetooth headset gives me freedom of movement when doing phone session.
What do you think? Let me know by clicking the comment button below.
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 10:14AM 
photo by c. wucherer©I just moved my office to my home and so far so good. I am loving it and my clients are, too. This move took a lot of thought and planning.
One of the dilemmas that I had to solve was the issues of how I wanted to do faxes. I have a three-in-one, printer, scanner, fax that works like a charm. In order to use it, I would have had to put a phone line in, which would be both a decor and cost hassle.
I decdied to go with an on-line fax service and after much research, I settled on Sfax. It's HIAPPA compliant and affordable. I choose the Freedom Plan, which starts with a 14-day free trial, plus an additional 30-days free. After the free trial period, it's $24/yr for 100 faxes/yr, which is plenty for me. They also give you a free toll-free fax number.
Other on-line fax services had monthly plans only and charged for the phone number.
It works great! I even sent a fax to CAQH using Sfax and they accepted it.
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 10:46AM I am an avid reader of science fiction. I have always been fascinated with alternative worlds and the innovative technology used in those worlds. Using the imagination to conjure up such wondrous images and ideas is a real treat.
The development of the internet has brought some of that future into the present. We are undergoing a huge technological shift and it is affecting how business is conducted, including the therapy business.
Over the past four months I have seen a shift in the way I interface with clients. I find that I am doing Skype sessions two to three times a week. There are different reasons for this; a client moves and wants to continue sessions, a client has surgery and wants to meet during the recovery time, inclement weather prevents the client from driving to my office,etc.
This is working well for me and is opening up new possibilities in terms of practice growth that I will blog about in future posts.
Here are some guidelines for successful Skype session:
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 09:49AM 
Are you one of those private practitioners who shy away from taking credit cards? I was, for a long time. My training as a private practice clinical social worker, was in the art of psychotherapy, not in how to run a business.
I learned the nuts and bolts of running a thriving private practice on my own and part of my self-education was perseveranting over whether or not to take credit cards.
For a long while it felt too 'business-like'. I worried that it would be too expensive or too much work. My lizard brain took me down the path of worry about the change. In retrospect, I laugh at all the Sturm and Drang I put myself through.
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 08:26AM Do you know what you do for a living? "Of course," you say, "I am a psychotherapist and help people solve their problems."
But what types of people do you help and why do you help them? Do the people you help become true followers? Do they become clients for life?
Do you have subgroups (or tribes) your business relies on? Have you figured out how to connect with these groups?
The Group by Grezegorz Toririski, Flickr
Here is an interesting article from the Social Media Examiner blog that talks about market segmentation and developing tribes to make sure you are delivering value to your followers in order to build customer tribes.
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 09:24AM 
jjpacres,flickrI thought I would share how I have simplified my note-taking and documentation of client sessions. It's a simple process and the time it saves frees me up for other endeavors.
I take notes in session then scan them into my laptop using Paperport at the end of every session. I have a folder in My Documents called Client Notes and in that folder I have individual client folders. I put the scanned notes into the individual client folder.
I also scan in billing documents, intake information, medication notes. Anything pertaining to that client gets scanned in.
I also print on-line receipts and receipts that I scan into my computer from both home and work to Paperport, to cut down on clutter in files.
Comment below and let us know what do you do to simplify your documention process.
Friday, July 22, 2011 at 11:41AM
alancleaver_2000 flickrI just discovered hushmail, an email service that let's you encrypt and digitally sign your emails. No more worries about confidentiality when emailing clients. They have a free option and a business option. I went for the business option. Try it out and see what you think.
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 10:51AM 
I am big believer in visioning. It hard to get where you want to go if you don't know where you are going. I think you will agree that life is too short to not know where you are going.
When it comes to building a private practice visioning is key. It's important to see with your mind's eye a thriving practice that shines with the values, beliefs, energy, income and ideal clients that you so dearly want.
A first step in building a thriving private practice is to do the visioning work. Visioning is a process that is both reflective and active. It involves sitting quietly to allow what you really want to float to the surface for capture. It also involves writing, talking and goal setting.
Essentially, visioning is the first step in building a dynamic, usuable and doable business plan. It's the fun part!
What do you think of visioning? Have you tried this process in building your private practice?
Click the comment button below - I would love to hear from you.
