PoP Culture, Meet Charline Arends, MA, LMFT, CMHS, Child, Adult, Marriage and Family Therapist

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I sent an email out to folks on my email list (click here to join or learn about it). I said to them that I wanted to feature them on my website. I thought to myself, I know them, they know me, but y’all don’t know one another!

Today I want to introduce you to Charline Arends, MA, LMFT, CMHS, Child, Adult, Marriage and Family TherapistI met her at The Most Awesome Conference. What’s really cool about the conference, is it has given us all a huge network of people that can help us grow! For me, I have all these new people that know about my work and want to be a part of my community. For them, they get all sorts of tips and leads to grow their practice, it’s such a win-win.

Name: Charline Arends, MA, LMFT, CMHS, Child, Adult, Marriage and Family Therapist

Practice: Selah House Counseling

What’s something you learned from Practice of the Practice?

Maintaining health-care. How to market my practice and billing practices.

What is your therapeutic specialty?

I work with couples on the brink of separating and working through past emotional traumas that have created boundary issues for the individual and the relationship. I also work with individuals for people pleasing and other co-dependent behaviors. 

What is an action you took to grow your private practice?

I joined Psychology Today’s Therapist Finder.

Complete this sentence: When I first started a private practice, I…

had little idea of how to market myself or if I could make it in private practice. Now, I have much more confidence and love being in private practice!

How have you grown your income and influence?

I am slowly growing my I come as I become better at billing, marketing, and management. I am only working part-time right now because I have young children. I do get many referrals as I network with insurance s, medical doctors in my community and with school personnel. I also reach out to the community churches and offer consultations and occasional free workshops.

What’s next for you?

I’m taking the step to move into an office in an up and coming part of the city and will be taking my private practice full time with only self pay. I’m working towards solidifying my self pay rate at a level that I can comfortably work 20 client hours a week. I am increasing my social media efforts and that will hopefully expand my reach into the area. The increase in income will hopefully allow me to attend workshops, conferences, learn more about my therapeutic orientation, and spend more time with my family! From that point I will probably focus on what I want to get into more depth with. Most likely it will be couples therapy, conducting intensive workshops, more writing, and maybe looking into some consulting work.

What is one specific podcast or article that helped you grow quickly?

There is an article written by Juliet Austin on finding your niche. This really opened my eyes to the possibility that I could excel professionally doing exactly what I am passionate about.

If every counselor in the world was reading this, what would you want them to know?

Don’t wait to act. There is no perfect time. Make your decisions to proceed in developing, or starting, your practice with ethical considerations in mind. Get the necessary steps in order to serve clients and then START! You can perfect the rest of your business as you go. Don’t get hung up on your worries of presentation and how you think people will receive you. There are plenty of people that need you and your services. Once you realize how valuable you are, you

What are 2-3 resources you love? How do you use them to grow your practice?

Tamara Suttle’s coaching and blog course: I used Tamara’s coaching and guidance to help get me more focused Facebook groups for therapists

Best way to collaborate and connect with other therapists: Practice of the Practice podcast and the Juliet and Austin Marketing podcast – It’s full of up to date tips and content generated by other therapists in the same position as I am in.

Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC

Joe Sanok Private Practice Consultant