165. Starting a Group Practice as a Therapist with Rachel Bentley

Starting a group practice as a therapist can feel like a huge leap—but it might be the exact next step you need to create more freedom, alignment, and impact. If you’ve ever felt limited by solo work or craved a bigger vision for your practice, this episode is for you.

In this episode of The Traveling Therapist Podcast, I talk with Rachel Bentley, therapist, coach, and founder of Next Level Private Practice. Rachel shares how starting a group practice as a therapist changed everything for her—giving her more time, space, and the ability to help other clinicians grow. We dive into her journey, the mindset shifts it took, and why this move has supported the travel-friendly lifestyle she now leads.

In This Episode, We Explore…

• Why Rachel decided to transition from solo to group practice
• The common fears therapists face when expanding—and how to move through them
• How group practice can support a life of travel and flexibility
• What it means to build a values-aligned business as a therapist
• How Rachel now helps others do the same through coaching and consulting

Connect with Rachel:
Website - https://www.nextlevelprivatepractice.com
Next Level Private Practice Summit 2025 - https://www.nextlevelprivatepractice.com/summit
Email - rachel@nextlevelprivatepractice.com

Are you ready to take the plunge and become a Traveling Therapist? Whether you want to be a full-time digital nomad or just want the flexibility to bring your practice with you while you travel a couple of times a year, the Portable Practice Method will give you the framework to be protected!
➡️ JOIN NOW: www.portablepracticemethod.com/

Connect with me:

• www.instagram.com/thetravelingtherapist_kym
• www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
• www.thetravelingtherapist.com

The Traveling Therapist Podcast is Sponsored by:

Berries: Say goodbye to the burden of mental health notes with automated note and treatment plan creation! www.heyberries.com/therapists

Alma: Alma is on a mission to simplify access to mental health care by focusing first and foremost on supporting clinicians www.helloalma.com/kym

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:02

I'm Kim Tolson and I'm the traveling therapist. It's my passion to teach therapists how to navigate online private practices and multiple income streams so they can travel the world. I'm a digital nomad with a virtual insurance-based private therapy practice and a multi-six-figure coaching business. In this podcast, I will discuss my journey as a digital nomad. I'll chat with other traveling therapists, and help you navigate the complexities of running an online insurance-based practice. I'm so glad to have you with me on this journey. When you become a member at Alma, you'll get credentialed with major insurance payers in less than 45 days, access to enhanced reimbursement rates, and you can take advantage of HIPAA compliant EHR tools like intake forms, progress notes, and treatment planners. Visit helloalma.com slash Kim to learn more. That's helloal.com slash KYM to get started. Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Traveling Therapist Podcast. Excited to have our guest here today, Rachel Bentley of Next Level Private Practice. Rachel, thank you for being here. And I always ask this question in the beginning: if I have a therapist on, how did you go from being a traditional therapist to a traveling therapist?

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Yes, Kim, thank you so much for having me. So I don't know. I think I've always been a bit of a non-traditionalist or a non-conformist, so to speak. And I do really love to travel and have tried to figure out how do I incorporate some of the work that I'm doing and be able to travel myself or really encourage others to travel because travel for me is really energizing and I've met a lot of cool people in my travels. And so it's always something that I wanted to do. It's just sometimes when we get busy, it's more of a challenge to interweave. But I think it's worth investing the time and energy in to be able to travel.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah. Definitely. And building businesses where we can like try to figure out how to work it in there.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Yeah, try to like integrate the actual business of what we do and to have the travel be valuable in business too and personally, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Yeah, exactly. So tell us about your journey because you started out as just like an insurance-based solo private practice practitioner, and now you've got just this whole amazing thing. So I'd love to just talk about your story a little bit and how you went from here to there and how you sprinkled in some traveling along the way.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

That'd be Yeah, absolutely. So I'll condense the first part of the story a little bit because it could be long. But I started my private practice in 2019, and in that day, I had worked for about 10 years in state government in the areas of child welfare, did some vocational counseling with folks with disabilities. So spent about 10 years in those systems, so to speak, and started my practice really as like an exit strategy to leave the systems because things were so profoundly awful most of the time there. Um, so my goal was just if I can just be a solo practitioner and make an equal amount of money, who my exit strategy, right? And I had done so much relationship building and thought I would be a good one-on-one therapist, and so started the practice and about six months later, COVID hit. And so it just, you know, of course, it changed everything, the way we do everything, and obviously mental health blew up. And when COVID hit, we were a small group of four or five therapists. We had built to that point, and then the demand like grew so much, as we all know, that I felt like, okay, we either have to grow the group so we can serve more, or we have to start turning people away. And it was just at that time, it felt so so terrible to turn people away that I began to grow the group. And fast forward six years later, we are a group of about 40 therapists. So we're a pretty large group practice and lots of trials and tribulations along the this road of growing into the size and sort of managing a group of this size. Um but along along that road, I really wanted to start connecting with other group practice owners. And, you know, I just feel that this work being a therapist is isolating, but also being a practice owner. And so I started seeking out opportunities, conferences, retreats, summits where I could meet other folks. And so that's really when the traveling sort of started. I would say maybe three, three-ish years ago, I started seeking some of that out and started connecting with other people that were also group practice owners and my travels, and that of course helped to build the business. I met some other private practice consultants that have profoundly helped me on the journey. And but that's when the traveling started, and that's also when sort of the evolution of my consulting company next level started, because as I built and began to sustain my group after, you know, all of the chaos of COVID sort of stabilized, people started saying, wait a minute, how'd you do this? How do you manage these logistics? How do you do billing? You know, there were just so many questions that I was sort of unofficially consulting already. And so I thought, well, I have to actually like figure out what my offerings are for consulting, figure out what my pricing, like really put some boundaries around it to try to balance and navigate group practice ownership and consulting. And still, I still continue to see a handful of clients as well. So really that's how next level was born. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

That's so amazing. And you know, people talk about this all the time. And I just wonder for you, like, you get to that crossroads, right? It's like, okay, I've got a full caseload. What do I do? Do I expand? Do I just continue to see like 30 or 40? Do I try to build maybe a side hustle to not have to do so many one-to-ones? So, what was like that decision point for you where you were like, you know, this is looking like it's getting really robust, it's time to expand. What made you decide I'm going to start hiring more clinicians and doing that sort of thing versus maybe just keep your caseload and maybe do a consulting thing? Like, what influenced you to do that? Because I think a lot of people get to that crossroads. And even for me, people say all the time, well, don't you have a group practice too? And I'm like, no, I never wanted to do that. Like I never had the desire to do that. But I just wonder, like for you, what made you decide to go that way and versus maybe the other way with this stuff?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Yeah, I think what's interesting, and maybe this is unique or not, maybe you've heard others say this before, but because we started really growing the practice in this sort of like COVID, chaotic, panic sort of state of the country and the world, I really wasn't thinking a lot about, okay, well, at some point I want to own a large group practice. At some point I want to be a consultant. Like I was really just thinking about how to help people in that moment. And I didn't even think much about, well, but what will it mean when you're a group of 40 versus a group of five? Like, what will because infrastructure had to change. I had to hire people to help me run the practice. And I really wasn't thinking about any of that, which sounds a little bit wild right now.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Well, it it makes sense though. It's that saying, like, build the plane as you're flying or whatever. I don't know how the saying goes, but it's like yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

And so it was more about like how can we help more people, which you know is noble, but also isn't what should be completely guiding the decision making for such a large business, right? Because after the business was big, we had to then go back and build all the infrastructure for a big group. And that was really painful. And I know for some people, they didn't make it through that, right? Because maybe they weren't profitable enough or they were too financially indebted, or they were overpaying their clinicians, or like, you know, sort of whatever happened. So I wish it was like, oh, strategically, I'm gonna remain solo and be a consultant versus be a group practice owner. Because at that time I didn't even realize how much profit we would make or not make. I I just thought, wow, we have to help those.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Um I love that. I mean, I I do the same thing. I get this calling. It's like, okay, everybody's asking me about this. It's like I've got to put it out there without even thinking, like, will people actually buy this? Like, what should the price be? How am I gonna create this thing? It it does just feel like a calling sometimes that you just have to put it out there.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Yeah. And I think one of the reasons, aside from people were already asking me to consult, another reason I really wanted to sort of structure the consulting company was because I thought, wow, I don't want to have someone else go through this. Like, say you're a solo owner now and you say, Hey, I want to grow into a group practice. First of all, what is that vision and why do you have that vision? Look at your whys, look at the impact you're trying to make and have a process. Like first build the plane and then fly the plane, so to speak. And so if I can help someone do that versus the way that I did it, that's another reason that I wanted to do the consulting work.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So, you know, I don't know if you found this, but for me, right, you start talking about stuff that you're doing, and then it starts to attract people and they start asking you questions. Well, how'd you do that? 40 clinicians, oh my gosh. And then it evolves into this consulting business.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

That's really how it happened. It wasn't like this, you know, a few years ago. Someday I'm gonna build the consulting and this is what we're gonna be doing.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

That's cool. So, what all do you do with the consulting and how did you decide? I love talking about this stuff, like the consulting business. What all do you offer? Is it just evolved based on the needs of the people you're trying to help? Could you tell us about it and the structure and that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Yeah, definitely. So it has evolved because this was new terrain for me to think really specifically about like marketing offerings, marketing pricing. It's just different in the group practice where we take insurance and we don't have to really, aside from a copay or a deductible, we're not having these conversations. And so I did work with a marketing consultant that really sort of had this head for, you know, business, not necessarily our type of business, but like I'm a marketing business consultant, and these are the things you have to do. These are the things you can and cannot do. And some of it resonated and some of it didn't. So I'll say now, and I've sort of evolved this over the last couple of years, but now the consulting company really focuses in three areas or three levels of private practice. So I work with the folks that are like just starting out that just want to get a solo practice off the ground. Yeah, very beginning stages, logistics, what do I do? How do I do it? What order do I do it in? So I kind of call those folks like the startup group. And then I also work with what I call the solo plus group, which are the solo practitioners that want to move into group practice and like kind of building that plane before we fly it. And then I also work with group practice owners, but I call this area like the sustain area. So I sort of have like the startup, the solo plus, and the sustain. With group practice owners, I really help them look at sustainability. Um, is what you're doing currently sustainable? Do we need more infrastructure? Do we need more systemization? Because I noticed before I actually define these three areas and the way they're defined on the website that group owners were coming to me and saying, so I have this large group and there's some chaotic things happening, and I'm not quite sure how to navigate or manage this. And so that is typically the work, like helping them. They sort of did what I did. The plane is being built currently, but there's already a current group happening. And so those are the three areas that I focus on in on. And ironically, the marketing consultant told me back then you have to pick one, you can't work with all three.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Oh Lord, I hate that.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

And that was like but I like aspects of working with all three. And so I really do work with all three. And I have a Facebook group, the next level mental health private practice Facebook group, long name. But I started, really started sort of building a community in that Facebook group. And that's sort of where the consulting business started. And I did start paying attention to who were the folks in there, what kind of questions were they asking? And I sort of broke it down into kind of these three levels that I described. Like that's what most people are asking, like one of those three areas.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

I love that. Yeah, just using your audience, so to speak, to guide you along with what you're creating. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

And so I have some different offerings under each category, but those are the the three broad areas that I'm focusing on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

And before we hit record, we did get Eloise a little bit. This is kind of like geeky, like entrepreneurial stuff to anybody listening. If you guys aren't already doing this stuff, you eventually come upon this when you start trying to like offer other services. It's like, how much do I give away for free and how much do I charge people to do this? So I would love if you're up for a talk about that struggle, that decision tree around that. Because it's still, even to this day, a struggle for me. Like, how much do you give away and how much do you charge for this stuff? So I'd love to talk about that to help anybody else that might be in that place now or in the future.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yeah, no, for me, that was really hard. People have always accused me of being overly generous. That's that's an interesting, even in my group practice, right? Because I wanted to kind of offer everything for free because I had been offering everything for free. I had been going to coffee shops to get my brain picked, so to speak. And I had been sharing lots of information with, like, say, close friends that wanted to start practices. And so when I sort of think about, well, what was going on in your head? Like what was involved? What was so hard about this? Actually, I think that when we put ourselves out there, we have a Facebook group or a website and we're offering sort of paid-based consulting services to therapists or practice owners, or maybe any business owner, that when we put ourselves out there, we're gonna get judged at certain times. And I think the first few times I got some harsh criticism or judgment, I was like, whoa, wait, am I wrong? Am I making a mistake? Should I not be charging this much? Or what are other people charged? Or like what I got confused because I thought, well, why would anybody raise a complaint when I am offering a lot of free, valuable resources and content? So I think that criticism sort of like played a role in me hesitating somewhat or second guessing myself or doubting myself. So I think that might be a barrier for folks, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Absolutely. And you know, people don't see a lot of times, I think, all the free, you know, they just see that you're asking for money and it's like, oh my gosh. Like the free Facebook groups, right? Like, I don't know if you've experienced this, but you know, occasionally, right, I'll have a partnership or something, and I'll I'll say add everybody in the Facebook group. And literally, you guys, I mean, this is really a lot of information, but the other day I didn't add everybody because it was something I was so excited about. I was like, this is amazing. I cannot wait to share this. I didn't add everybody, and some guy replied back with the middle finger emoji under my at everybody and was just like basically F you for tagging him in the at everybody. And it's like that stuff. I mean, it takes me like half a day to recover from that stuff still. You know, I'm still a little triggered about it because it's just like, oh my God. First of all, you know, G I don't know about you, but I have eight Facebook groups, and it's like takes so much time and energy and free moderation help and thoughtfulness to be responsive and time to answer questions. It's like so much free energy you put in this to help people. And then occasionally you might ask for a paid product, you know, put a paid product out there, and you get responses like that is just so upsetting for me anyway. And I don't even know how I got down that, but hearing you say that, it just like reminded me of that the other day. I was like, gosh, you know, just an ad everybody, somebody getting tagged when they didn't want to, you know, or whatever, it just re-invokes that response. And it's just it's really tough to find that balance between, you know, how much do I push people or direct people towards like these paid offerings versus, you know, just like, oh, here's another free handout, or here's exactly how you do exactly what you're looking for. You know, I'll put all my my energy into it and not charge a thing for it. You know, it's super, it's really hard.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

I think that it is. And it's almost this like, well, if you're charging anything, you're just money hungry, or you're just trying to make the profit off someone's back, or and you know, it reminds me of like sometimes with therapists that struggle around talking with clients, even if it is insurance-based, about a copay or a balance. If you do private pay at the whole other level, but it's just like, oh, if I ask people for money, maybe they're gonna think something about me or it's uncomfortable, or right. But the reality is, and my actually my virtual assistant that I work with that helps me create content, she said to me, She said, Rachel, like you offer so much free stuff, and if people can't see that, then I guess they're not your people.

unknown 16:50

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Right. And the people that really want the information are gonna be willing to pay for it. And I I'll always tell the story to people. Like, if they're doing a call with me to decide if we're gonna consult, I'll say, I worked with several consultants along the way, and I was happy to pay them for their knowledge because they knew more than I did about a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

And that's there was so much value in me honoring their expertise. Like, I really never thought twice, and I know you have to be in a financial position to do that. I know some people are not, and that that's okay, and they can access the free stuff. But if you are in the financial place to pay for a consultant, there can be so much value. Kim, the other thing we might combat a little bit too is there have been some consultants that maybe were scammy or trying to make the buck, but I think that's in any industry, right? And it I know it's hard for folks to really, you know, are you credible? What are you actually offering? You know, is this actually a value or is it a scam? I know that some people have that skepticism as well.

unknown 17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

So it's actually a hard, it's hard. It's hard to figure out how to navigate it all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yeah. And you know, I s I see this meme occasionally. I just saw it the other day. It's that thing around like if you're not willing to give away 80% of what you know for free, you can't expect to charge the other 20% or something like that. I don't remember the exact saying, but it's like, you know, if you're getting into this field, you know, you have to be willing to give away 80% of your knowledge for free to develop that like nurture trust factor with your audience to get them to know that you're knowledgeable, you know, all of that.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Yeah. And that's, you know, I haven't heard that stat, but I'm like, wow, I need to reflect on that. What do I think about that? Because I don't know what my ratio is right now, but I am, you know, I have typically every month I do a free training called Lunch with Rachel. It's on the website as well. And I do some sort of private practice topic, and it's free, and people can show up and, you know, and I know that that's one way that people can see, oh yeah, Rachel's quite credible or knows what she's talking about. But even in something like that, like that takes a lot of time and energy to create the content for that and to be available and to put that in my schedule. And I'm not complaining because I enjoy doing it, but but it is, you know, in facilitation of the Facebook group, like you said, there's so much work that goes in behind the scenes. So exactly.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Yeah, and I hear you. I hope nobody's taking it like we're complaining. It's just it's a hard world to navigate. And I think a lot of people see like other therapists making like money doing side hustles and that sort of thing, but they don't always know like the other side of it. Like it it really, there is a lot of stuff that goes into trying to figure it out. Just like with building a group practice, I'm sure it's like there's so many uh complicated nuances to decide, you know, with with even starting a group practice. I'm sure insurance, not insurance, telehealth, brick and mortar, benefits, no benefits. There's gotta be so many decision points for people.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Yeah, and it's just an ever-evolving and our really for on the practice side of things, we're in a new era now where like referrals are harder to get, so we have to beef our marketing strategies up. It's harder to hire because there's so many folks hiring. So we're in a different bit of a market and position than we were, say, post-COVID. And I have seen some folks struggling with that as well. It's just and our market can change and evolve, and technology can play a role, I think a positive role, but it our market shifts all the time. And yeah, you might think, Oh, I have it figured out, and the strategy I have in place is gonna work and help keep all my clinicians full, and then the tide turns and there's like a new corner to turn to figure out okay, how do we continue to sustain and be successful? And it's the same with solo ownership, it's ever-evolving piece, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Absolutely. Yeah, you would think it would get easier at some point, but it really doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah, I mean time change.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yeah, there's just always something happening, it seems like, you know. And we didn't talk about this at all, but I'm curious, like, as a group practice owner, what do you like? How do you feel about like the clinician that comes and wants to work for you? But maybe they're like, Yeah, but I actually want to live in Spain. Is that cool? Do you ever run into that? I'm you know, I don't usually ask this question, but I just curious, and I don't even know if you've ever dealt with it before. Do you think group practices should should like support that type of lifestyle, or is it so complicated from the group practices like owner's perspective? You know, I'm just curious if that ever comes up for you since we're all the traveling therapist podcasting.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Yeah, well, and I haven't had anyone ask like out of country. I've had folks that like started with us in Michigan and wanted to move to another state. And for me, I I say if you can be mobile and you can work from wherever you want, if your licensure allows for that, obviously there's some logistics concerned. And as far as I haven't had anybody ask out of country yet, but it's I mean, obviously the clinician would have to figure out and I would have to figure out any tax implications of that. But if it were doable on our side, I would support it. If it weren't something that were opening up tons of liability or would put a lot a ton of risk on the practice, because I do think that people should. I'm big on one of the reasons I These businesses because freedom and autonomy is my thing, and I don't want to limit anyone else's. So I would support it if it were, like I said, logistically possible for the practice. That's cool. Yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

I just always curious, like from the group practice owners' perspective, because we get those questions in the traveling therapist group all the time. People are like, Well, I want to work for a group, I don't want to have my own practice, but can I do it from you know Australia or whatever? So I just I always wonder about that.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

I believe I don't know this for sure. What I've been told is here in Michigan that the folks that give us our license here that they won't allow therapists to live outside of the country and still practice. So it may be a state-by-state rule. Now please don't quote me on that. That's just what people have told me. I've never done anything weeks research. So I don't know that. But if somebody, I mean, if it could all work legally and logistically, I would definitely support it. And and this reminds me of we we also have interns in our practice, and we have really, you know, the colleges and universities here that we've worked with have said, if you're willing to let the intern be completely remote, like you're a you're a huge asset. And we have because particularly our leadership team, we are all remote. We work in different parts of the state, and I don't think that we have to come in and sit in an office space together to be productive. And so, yeah, I'm all about it if it works, and it works well for the therapist as well, of course.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

That's really cool. Because we get that question all the time, too. Like, can I do my supervision hours from spade? And we're like, okay, we have to check with your license licensing board. And then there's some insurance companies that actually say to be able to bill, like for the intern billing, supervisory billing, that you have to be physically present with them in the building at the time that service was delivered. And that's state by state, insurance by insurance. But that's always an interesting topic that comes up too.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Yeah, like figuring all that out.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Yeah. Oh my gosh, the logistics. Totally get that. So before we hit record too, we were talking about you're you have expanded your traveling a little bit and use sort of retreats and summits to travel internationally. I think you said, did you say Ireland and somebody somewhere else you also have to do that?

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Yeah, so I did come to Ireland this year, and I'll be going to Scotland here in the summer.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

And it sounds like maybe that encouraged you a little bit to develop what you've got coming up in in Michigan, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Yeah. So I feel inspired when I go on these retreats. And this was my first time flying internationally this year, which was awesome. Just this awesome experience. So I've done some retreats and summits in the states and really felt, I guess with any of these, whether it be in the states or international, just being around other people that do similar work, private practice owners, consultants, I always feel like this energy. And I feel like we just sort of feed off of each other and inspire each other. At least that's what I hope for. Not like the we're in competition with each other stuff, but the like, hey, let's build community and build relationships and learn more about each other. So I've had so many of great experiences and just felt so like connected and energized in the travel that this has been on my mind for a couple of years, but I'm finally doing it this year. I'm gonna host a private practice summit in the fall in Grand Rapids, Michigan. So I have my, you know, my little self-doubt part of myself going, okay, is this gonna work? But I really want to try to bring people together in that way that I felt connected in some of my travel and helping all private practice folks at all the levels, right? And and that's another thing when we think about people just starting or thinking about starting, or our solo to group folks or our group folks. We very rarely sort of integrate or talk to each other or get to know each other. Um, even some of the private practice specific conferences I've been to, typically it's group owners, which is great. They all have value as well. I don't mean that. But just to bring us all together to build community with each other is my motivation for the summit. But yeah, we'll also have 30 plus speakers and CEs, and there will be learning and but I'm just hoping for that community building as well.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

So when is it? Where is it, and how do people sign up for it if they want to do it?

SPEAKER_00 26:05

It will be at the end of September of this year of 2025. So September 29th and 30th. It will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And it'll be in person at a hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. And I just want to add up for folks that haven't been to Grand Rapids before, it's a really cool, like diverse city with just like so much culture and art happening. The reason that I chose to have it at this time of year in Grand Rapids is every year they have a huge art exhibition called Art Prize where folks from all over the world sort of enter into a contest, so to speak, and the top three artists win pretty big money. The art exhibits are spread throughout the downtown area. It's just it's such a cool, cool time to visit the city. And in Michigan, it will still be pretty nice weather at that time. So I just wanted to add in that was my like thinking about timing for the summit. But folks can find out more about all of my offerings and the summit at next level privatepractice.com. That's the summits right there at the top of the page, and along with the rest of the offerings.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

That's cool.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

So you said 30 CEs and well, we'll have 30 speakers, but right now we will have at least 12 CEs across the two days. Yeah, so six per day. So we were approved for social work, the social work Michigan folks approved, and we're working on NBCC right now. We're pending for NBCC as well. That's a whole other process we could probably have another episode about.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

I just did that for I have a course that I like co-created with Dr. Lisa Lovelace, and we just decided, like, oh, we should offer CEs for this. And I've got all these courses, and I was like, why haven't I done this for all my courses? But then I realized like there's actually some work to do it. It's not that easy, especially the ASWB, right? Like getting the social work.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Social work seemed to be a little tougher. So, and I I actually am an LPC, I'm a counselor, so it made it even tougher for me to get ASWB approval. But I did, um, I network a lot with our local NASW, the national social worker folks in Michigan. They're actually good friends of mine. And the NASW in Michigan has approved the summit. And my understanding from them, folks need to check on their state, but usually when one state's chapter approves it, all the states will accept it. So I feel good about that. And as an LPC, I'm working through the NBCC process, but that in itself is a whole other story. I have single program approval so far, and I'm working on getting the provider approval so I can approve the summit for myself. So that's pending. I anticipate it will be approved before the summit starts, but that's been a whole other like frontier to try to go down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

My friend Megan Guttle, she's also a Michigan native. I don't know if you know her, but she runs the Thrive, the Thriving Therapist Facebook group, the Thrive Summits and all that stuff. I remember like I was on the committee to help with like the the CEs like a couple summits ago. Yeah. And it was kind of wild. Like you had to do the exact right wording for every like if there was a period missing, they'd send it back and tell you you had to correct this and that, and a hyphen here, and there had to be the same hyphen had to be on the website. Like it was like very tedious. I was super surprised about that.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Yeah, and I what the social worker NASW shared with me is the NBCC is even more strict. Now I don't know. They would maybe they would each say each other are strict, but like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

But NBCC I think it was the NBCC that was given a lot of the feedback. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, not to cut you off.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

No, no, I'm sorry too. I I just have to give a plug to NBCC though, because they did work with me and it was just a few little tweaks to get my single program approved. And so I made it through. I know sometimes it's hard to make it through. It may depend on sort of who's reviewing it and such. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Yeah, exactly. Well, you are doing so many amazing things, and thank you for just coming on and telling everybody about it. I think that summit sounds so cool. So you already have the speakers for the summit. Is it sort of like just like all different types of private practice stuff?

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yeah. So the speakers are up on the on the summit landing page on the website. And the way that I'm thinking about it or my vision for it is that we have a mix of like clinical and business development for private practice because again, we want to attract people at all levels, people just anyone that wants to come together as private practice folks. So you don't have to be an owner necessarily, you can be just working in private practice too. Because we're going to give and we're gonna have quite a few sessions about you know alternative income streams, for example. But we're gonna be looking at the clinical and the business side and really trying it was sort of a wild experience because I had so many folks apply to speak, I had to turn quite a few folks away. So I'm excited about our lineup and the people that we'll have there, and just us all being in a room together at the same time is gonna be awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

It's so cool. Well, thank you for sharing all this and creating such amazing things for therapists. There's just, you know, you said something earlier about like we should all collaborate, not be competitive, and that sort of thing. There's just so much need out there. So it's just really cool to hear just you building and putting all the stuff out there into the world. And I'm sure the listeners will appreciate that too once they go take a look. Rachel, thanks for coming. Thank you so much for listening to the Traveling Therapist Podcast. For show notes, links, and downloads, head over to traveling therapist.com, where you'll be able to learn more about my journey, the courses I've created for you, and other exciting resources to make your dreams become a reality. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share with your traveling therapist friends. Subscribe to the podcast, and if you love this episode, please leave a review.