I’ve had quite the year running my counselling business…
Hello everyone!
I’ve had quite the year running my counselling business…and it’s been some time since I last connected – I apologize for that! A lot has been going on!
For those of you who might not follow me on social media, I have had quite the year.
When I was posting more frequently to you previously, I was on my first maternity leave, and had some time to play catch up on sharing the information I have in my head to those who are interested 😊
However, as I geared up to go back to work, I changed some programming for my business and then hit the ground running – back to work full time with an agency, and working in my business in the evenings again – only this time with a toddler.
As much as I was working to balance it and keep this going – wouldn’t you know it, we were blessed with another pregnancy! That also mean less energy and time for me – so my blog writing was the piece that took the first pause.
Now that I am on my second (and final!) maternity leave, I am so thrilled to be back here, sharing information with you about topics and I am passionate about.
One topic I really want to bring forward was how actually to find a counsellor. I am redirecting folks weekly on how to find a counsellor, and hope that this bit of information might be helpful for anyone in BC looking for some help.
When looking for a counsellor, there are a few ways to go about it.
- Google – you type in something like ‘counsellor Chilliwack’ and see a whole list of folks who practice in Chilliwack – yahoo! You’ve started with a list. However, now you have to go through all of their websites to see if they work with the concerns that are bringing you to counselling. This is a lot of time, and might be even more of your time if you reach out to them and they share that they are currently not taking on new clients.
- Word of mouth – now while this is an excellent way to find a counsellor (as they come vetted by someone you most likely trust) – however they too might not work with the concerns that bring you to counselling, or taking on new clients, or even so they might not be able to take you on because of a conflict of interest with the person who referred you (not always but it happens).
- Look someone up from a directory – this can be a bit of work as you also have to read through websites/profiles and contact them to connect. HOWEVER, directories also have a space where the therapist can note if they are currently accepting clients, waitlisting clients, or not accepting clients. This aspect alone can save you quite a bit of time and browsing just by ruling out who cannot help you at this time.
To help you find someone who is a good fit, I want to bring your attention to my college directory – BCACC, which stands for the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. It’s a lovely website for counsellors registered in BC (the BC regulation body). It also has a really great updated find a counselor tool to help folks find a good fitting counselling. By using the filtering process, it can really help to narrow down your search in finding a good fitting counselor for you and your needs at this time. I’ve put a picture here as on the blog to give you a reference on what that will look like but just to go through it. It really is this wonderfully updated program that really helps to narrow down the search you can go off by whether or not you want to see someone online or in person, which community you want to see them in, and it also has a great new feature of folks who are currently not accepting clients, waitlisting clients, and actively accepting referrals. So when you’re looking for a counsellor I would really recommend choosing the actively looking actively accepting clients or the waitlisted options just because it will then weed out anybody who’s not currently taking on new clients.
It will help to really narrow down that the people that you are searching for are indeed able to take yours on their caseload in some capacity in now or in the upcoming months.
Another great option is if you have any funding in particular so if you’re coming through ICBC or First Nations Health Authority, or Crime Victim’s Assistance Program. There is a way to funnel through and also make the list smaller to be able to prioritize who accepts those services and those funding sources so that you’re not having to do the hard work of asking everybody you phone or e-mail trying to see if someone will take that funded session for you.
Once you’ve clicked and selected all the options that you’re interested in, and things that are important for you in your search, it will give you the candidates that are best suited for you, if that person exists in the request that you’re asking.
One thing that can happen is that the list can be zero options. If my list shows nothing, it might mean going back to the filters and noting anything there that you might be willing to compromise on or is there a different way of asking for what you need.
For example, sometimes you might be really particular about the specific issue you’re having and clinicians who could support you maybe noted the generalized version, instead of the specific topic (ie they might have chosen stress as a generic option but you’ve chosen workplace stress). Another option is also opening you search for anyone who’s also waitlisting clients as well. Waitlisting can be as short as a couple of weeks and as long as a few months, depending on the practitioner, so it’s really about allowing yourself that opportunity to have an option available if it OK that you wait a little bit in order to seek those services.
The last piece could be assessing whether you are willing to go virtual or outside of your community if your request was in person, or in town only. By broadening your location options, it can really be helpful to help you find a good fitting counsellor.
As always, I encourage everyone to shop around for counsellors- fill out their intake forms, take a look at their websites, and if they have any videos on there or social media platforms in which they share information. Take a look at them see if this is a person that you want to sit next with and you want to start talking about your personal experiences with. Your counsellor should be someone you feel safe with, or at least someone you are willing to create safety with; someone who seems knowledgeable enough for what you’re wanting.
Another piece that might be helpful in determining a good fit, is if they offer that free 15-minute consultation, then you can always contact them up and ask them for to schedule that or to look on their website and to see if you can schedule that yourself. That way you also get an opportunity to chat with them and see how you feel about working with them.
Folks too will offer on initial assessment option. Now this is a paid appointment, however when you talk with those clinicians if you decide it’s not a good fit or maybe they acknowledge that they’re not the best fit for you, that session it’s not a waste of time but a great piece of information gathering. That is because the clinician can then provide you with other resources or names of folks that might be better suited for you so you’re not walking away empty handed.
Once you have found somebody to make an appointment with, follow through on that and give yourself the opportunity to connect and get to working on the concerns that are bothering you.
Now I’ve said this before in previous posts, but if you’re in that appointment and it doesn’t feel comfortable, or you are not really feeling a connection with that person – don’t waste your time, and don’t waste your money (funding). Cultivating a really good relationship with your counsellor is very important because that’s going to be the foundation in which you’re going to get the most benefit and the most support no matter what other options you’re looking for in the therapeutic setting.
If you have any questions or if you’re looking for some referral sources you know I’m happy to support your journey and offer options to connect with!
…Stay tuned, and watch your emails as I have got some really awesome things in the works coming soon! I have a couple of freebies, courses, and handouts that I’ve put together and I’m just doing the back-end pieces to make them available.