Shownotes
Why you should specialise - old gold that is still important
Welcome to this week's episode of the Business of Psychology Podcast. This week, we are doing a bit of a cheeky rerun of one of my favourite episodes, which is episode number 38 on why every psychologist and therapist should have a specialism.
I recorded this episode almost two years ago, but my passion for specialising has only grown since then, and that's because since I recorded this episode, I've supported over 100 Psychologists and therapists in Psychology Business School, and the thing that has changed the game for pretty much everybody that I've worked with closely has been getting clear on their specialism. I can literally see the overwhelm lifting off people's shoulders, when they get this clear in their mind. I also see their marketing skyrocket, and their ability to control their practice. By that I mean working with the people that they want to work with, saying yes to referrals that they want to take, and getting other projects off the ground (if that's what they want to do as well, like online courses and books); their ability to do all of those things and to take that control of how their business looks, really takes off once that specialism is clear. That's my story as well; I share a bit of that in this episode. But I couldn't believe in it more strongly having seen it work for so many other people since I recorded this episode. So I wanted to bring it back to your attention and to bring it back round.
I also wanted to let you know that we are running our specialising workshop again. This has been our most popular training. I've put on a few free workshops on different topics over the past couple of years, but the specialism workshop where we help you to nail down your specialism and plan what your practice might look like for the next year, off the back of that, has always been our most popular training. I've been on maternity leave for the past six months or so, but I am really excited to come back with a bang and put on another free workshop on specialising for you guys. There will be a couple of dates and times to choose from, so if you head to the link in the show notes, you'll be able to register for that. I'll make sure that that's there for you by the time this goes out. So that's very exciting! But for now, here is episode number 38 of the Business of Psychology…
Why every psychologist and therapist needs a specialism
This week in the DMTT membership we are looking at business planning and specifically planning out what projects we are all going to be working on in 2021. In writing the materials for the course I realised how crucial it is to be clear on your specialism, the projects you want to work on and the ideal clients for each project before you start to even consider creating products or services or marketing.
In this episode I’m going to talk to you about:
- Why you need a specialism and why you might not know what it is yet.
- How a specialism is different from your ICA but how it helps you find them
- Why thinking in “projects” will help you to plan a private practice that feels more professionally fulfilling.
PP makes it easy NOT to have a specialism as insurance referrals can be broad and we often want to take EVERYONE because we are scared of not having enough work. There is also the imposter syndrome… In the early stage so of my practice my imposter syndrome was so huge that I literally told people that I had no specialist skills and actually refused to see anyone who might require any kind of specialist. Even now when I get an email from a prospective client who says they have chosen me because I am “an expert” in birth trauma I feel like replying saying “oh no you got it wrong, here are the contact details for a REAL specialist”
BUT I have learned that, even if it feels uncomfortable, a specialism is vital because it:
- Helps you to avoid burnout/overwhelm because you can focus all of your activity on one subject. All your CPD, all your marketing, all of your resources are all on one topic. Doesn’t that sound less overwhelming?
- Provides the reassurance our clients need (wouldn’t you rather see a specialist when you are struggling?)
- Helps you build authority, credibility and an audience who trust you enough to buy products and services.
- Helps you identify your ideal clients (ICAs) for your services.
Your specialism is the problem clients are most likely to want your help to solve.
Examples of specialisms versus client groups
Think about some very successful psychologists and therapists that you have heard of. Bessel Van der Kolk - the trauma and the body guy. You know what his specialist subject is but when you look across his career he has applied that specialism to a whole host of different client groups/ICAs.
A specialism can be quite a broad thing as it is about the struggle that people are facing. Through your career, you might help lots of different client groups that all share a similar struggle. For example, if your specialism is trauma and the body you might start your career helping veterans, move on to helping people who have been through birth trauma and further down the line help healthcare professionals who worked on acute wards during COVID-19. The time and energy you have put into the CPD and research associated with your specialism can be applied in many different ways to different people through your career.
BUT each project you work on through your career will be targeted towards specific ICAs. This helps hugely with marketing and making your message clear for the people who need to hear it and also reduces the overwhelm for you.
Why your specialism might not be what you think it is
Personally, I think the way that NHS services are structured often does not help us (or clients) in the best way. To me, it doesn’t make sense to have services such as “adult mental health” when the only thing the people using the service have in common is that they are 18-65. The reality in most services I have worked in is that psychologists and therapists within those teams will naturally develop specialisms that focus on a particular kind of struggle clients might face. You get to know that Sue is good with anger and Ben is great with trauma.
I think it is helpful to think about specialism in this this way when you are planning your private practice as one thing I have noticed in the Do More Than Therapy community and other groups that I am in is that people can get stuck in thinking that one particular client group or set of ICAs IS their specialism. For example, people can understandably get very worried that if they specialise they will then ONLY get to see a certain type of person. That can feel limiting and can make us feel incompetent when a client comes along that is outside of the client group we are used to working with.
Instead, if we pick a struggle as our specialism and think of our work in terms of projects that are targeted to different ideal clients we can evolve over time and take on different types of work over our careers while continuing to build our specialism and authority.
Taking my practice as an example. My interest has consistently been in helping “non-typical” people deal with trauma. Initially, I worked in prisons and the people I saw were often “non-typical” because of their forensic challenges and often learning disability. Then I worked in a LD team and focused on positive behaviour support for people who could not articulate their trauma verbally. Then I started working with birth trauma and mothers particularly mothers that are having a second baby after a traumatic first birth. This could seem like a lot of jumping around in my career if you think in terms of client group. However, there is a thread that brings them all together and that is what I consider my specialism.
Finding your specialism as a psychologist or therapist
If you aren’t sure what your specialism is or what it should be then think about the following areas:
- What have you published research on / what are your research interests?
- Where have you received the best client feedback
- Where do you have the best access to clients (existing audience and networks)
- What is your most exciting work
- What was/is your NHS specialism
A note on being a local specialist
You can, of course, have a “local” specialism and be known as “the psychologist” in your area. Many people have very successful private practices that way and I would strongly encourage you to build the local side of your business when you need clients fast. BUT if you want to do work outside the therapy room a local business won’t give you scope to build a big enough audience and people won’t see you as having as much authority as someone specialised in a particular area.
I’d love to know your thoughts about specialising and any struggles you may be having with this so as ever please do get in touch I’m at @rosiegilderthorp on instagram or you can find me in the Do More Than Therapy free Facebook group as Rosie Gildertrigg
I hope that has given you a chance to reflect on your specialism and how you might use it to plan out what you want to work on and achieve in 2021.
If you’d like to think a bit deeper about your ideal clients (and how to find them) then you can listen to my podcast episode on the ideal client avatar (for mental health professionals here).
LINKS
Webinar registration link: Create your overwhelm-free practice: Define your specialism and find your focus in this free, one-hour training
Episode 19: How psychologists and therapists can use an ideal client avatar to co create and market their services
Instagram: @rosiegilderthorp
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Mentioned in this episode:
Free Client Checklist
Do you sometimes wake up at 2 am worried that you’ve made a terrible error that will bring professional ruin upon you and disgrace your family? I’m laughing now but when I first set up in private practice I was completely terrified that I had “missed” something big when setting up insurance or data protection. Even now, three years in, I sometimes catch myself wondering if I have really covered all the bases. It is hard, no impossible, to think creatively and have the impact you should be having in your practice if you aren’t confident that you have a secure business. BUT it can be overwhelming to figure out exactly what you need to prioritise before those clients start coming in. I’ve created a free checklist (plus resources list) to take the thinking out of it. Tick off every box and you can see your clients confident in the knowledge that you have everything in place for your security and theirs. Download it now - the link is in the show notes.
