Spotlight Interview with Gail Reich, LCPC

We spoke with Gail about her journey from group to solo, and how she uses SimplePractice to streamline her practice!

 

Hi Gail! Tell me about your journey:

I worked for a group practice over the last 4 years in addition to a full-time therapy job for a year and a half… and I run a photography business on the side! I hated not knowing about the billing process and not being able to explain anything to my clients, therefore I wanted to be in charge of my own billing once I opened a practice of my own. I also wanted to keep as much money for myself as possible, and why pay someone to do what I can do myself easily with SimplePractice?!

How would you describe that learning curve?

It’s interesting because it’s a forever process. Each state is constantly changing and insurance is constantly changing, both licensure laws and everything involved. I got the most information from listening to podcasts (specifically this one), looking at websites, sorting through some Facebook groups… SimplePractice has some really great resources too! After a few weeks of focusing and diving into learning, it was okay.

What’s your favorite part of being in private practice?

Being successful completely on my own feels like an accomplishment in and of itself. I truly enjoy making all of the decisions and creating a business in my own vision.

Share with us your top 3 tips for getting sh*t done.

1. Create structure (make a schedule and stick to it)!
2. Create a space to do work with few distractions.
3. Remind yourself about long-term goals regarding your business, as motivation.

Tell us a little bit about your experience so far with SimplePractice.

I mainly use SimplePractice for scheduling. My clients, especially the adolescents that I work with, enjoy the text reminders about their appointments. I also keep my notes in SP and I do all of my billing through SP. With everything at-a-glance, it honestly makes my life easier.

I love using simple notes because they allow me to document phone conversations that I have. I work primarily with adolescents so this really comes in handy when I talk to a teacher or someone else my client is in contact with.

Billing is a pretty interesting topic of discussion with clients; it happens to be really empowering for them when they know what’s going on and have a better understanding of my process, especially since I handle it in-house. I’ve talk to other private practitioners who have no idea… they’ll just tell their clients a version of “Call my biller!” or “Wait and see what happens!” and that’s really not fair to anybody. It’s definitely a tricky subject to have a full understanding of, unless you’re in it every day… like I am. My favorite feature would have to be the updated status of insurance claims… it makes billing manageable and not overwhelming.

I also really appreciate the timely and comprehensive support when I have issues. The responsiveness is great, the explanations are great, it makes everything so much easier! Chat is also super helpful for when I need an immediate solution.

Do you have any words of wisdom for the rest of the SimplePractice community?

Yes. Trust the process! Everyone that I know who has started a private practice has been successful and I tell myself that every time that I doubt myself.

Lastly, what’s your vision for your practice?

I want to create a busy practice full of clients that fit my strengths as a therapist. And really, I just want to be damn good at what I do!

Interested in learning more about Gail? Check out her awesome new website here: https://www.gailreichpsychotherapy.com/