Your Ideal Clinician

Let’s talk ideal clinician. Are you struggling with finding the right therapist for your practice? Or maybe you have had a string of bad-fitting therapists that you have had to let go of or have left your practice?

Don’t let this common problem deter you from interviewing and finding your ideal clinician. There are many reasons that a quality clinician and a good fitting clinician (two separate issues!) is hard to find. Let’s look at the most popular reasons:

• You changed your expectations after hiring your clinician (ex. you didn’t mention marketing at the interview and then told them it was required after they started)
• You didn’t know what you wanted until after you hired someone who didn’t fit your needs (ex. you hired someone who doesn’t see couples and only kids and you’re getting a ton of calls for couples and not kids  OR  you started with hiring ICs and realize quickly that you want W2s and they don’t want to switch)
• You weren’t clear about some aspect of the position (ex. time it takes to grow, marketing requirements, hours to work)
• The clinician does not have a niche and clients are not drawn to them

There are more reasons than above that you may encounter a situation in which a clinician is not a great fit, but these are the most popular reasons I have noticed.

The best way to reduce your likelihood of a bad fitting clinician is to be prepared before you interview and know what you want.

It’s important for you to know a few things before you start your search for a clinician:

• Your expectation regarding experience and licensure
• Your community needs
• Logistics like when you need them to work and how much
• Whether you want ICs or W2s
• If you will require non clinical work like marketing, billing, scheduling their own appointments, etc
• If you will require things like groups, workshops, presentations, retreats
• Your needs when it comes to personality and characteristics of a clinician

So to help you out with the various things to think about before interviewing and hiring your next clinician, download a copy of the Ideal Clinician Worksheet and fill it out! Then use this to write out a job description that reflect what you wrote in the worksheet. You’re bound to find a great fit clinician!

Download a copy of the Ideal Clinician Worksheet

Maureen Werrbach is a psychotherapist, group practice owner and group practice coach. Learn more about her coaching services here: LEARN MORE HERE