Staving off the Isolation of Private Practice – PerceptA Therapeutic & Training Center, LLC

After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and friends, I found that I was dreading coming back to my fairly new, and relatively isolated private practice. I knew that I had to find a way to tap into my resources, and add richness and value to this awesome field and career choice I had worked so hard to achieve. In addition, I wanted to find opportunities to grow my business. So, today, I made a list of things that I needed to do. Here they are:

Create or join a support group for mental health professionals who are in private practice. Specifically, start a meet-up group of mental health professionals in private practice, for support and resources.
Get in touch with former classmates, professors, and mentors, who provided such valuable support to me in the past, and who could certainly provide a source of strength and empowerment, during these beginning stages of private practice and the inevitable uncertainty that goes along with such a time.
Keep attending continuing education courses, but also look to network with other mental health professionals during those times, and talk about the services I offer, and discuss any opportunities for collaborations in any area.
Be more actively involved in my professional associations. Contribute to professional journals, offer own expertise and professional experiences through presenting at seminars and trainings.
Start preparing for the opportunity to present at one or more of the annual professional conferences. All to help stimulate my intellect, contribute to the field of mental health, and provide exposure to my business.
Exposure, Exposure, Exposure! Use every opportunity to tell the community about what my business is about, including offering free trainings at local churches and community centers.

Wow! I have lots to do! I hope this list is helpful to others in private practice. If you are in the Baltimore area and would like to join a meet-up group for mental health counselors in private practice, please contact me @ 443-992-1796. Also, if anyone has any other ideas, let me know. Thanks.

~Chioma Anah

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Chioma Anah, Ed.D., ATR, NCC, LCPC, ACS

Dr. Chioma Anah is the Founder and CEO of PerceptA Therapeutic & Training Center, LLC, Maryland. She holds a Doctorate of Education (EdD) in Counseling Psychology, is a NCC & LCPC- Maryland, and has over 15 years experience in the field of counseling working with adults and adolescents. Dr. Anah is also an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS), a Board-Approved Clinical Supervisor in the State of Maryland, and a credentialed Art Therapist. Her research interests and topics include supervision, racial & social justice, the psychology of racism, racial microaggressions and multicultural issues in counseling.

The Man In The Arena Theodore Roosevelt (April 23,1910)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows great enthusiasm, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." -Roosevelt (1910)

Multicultural Counseling

"As a clinician of Color, I am deeply connected to social justice and multicultural issues in counseling. The emergence of the multicultural competence movement in counseling has been the direct result of the growing recognition of the negative psychological consequences and impact of oppression and racism in the lives of People of Color. More recently, many counselors have been working to identify and utilize more effective interventions to address these issues in multicultural counseling and bring about social change. The cornerstone of my practice has been to address these issues in my work with clients from diverse backgrounds, as well as in my role as supervisor and educator in the field of counseling." - Dr. Chioma Anah, 2012

Chioma Anah, Ed.D., ATR, NCC, LCPC, ACS

Multicultural Counseling

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