Strengthen your network, strengthen your care

As any psychologist in private practice knows, referrals not only work to grow your business—they support patient care, expand your professional support, and deepen your understanding of the wide range of psychological and clinical expertise in your local community and beyond. Still, building a solid network of colleagues and using it effectively doesn’t come naturally for everyone, and the path to success can look different depending on where you practice and what your area of expertise is. Networking can also feel awkward and daunting for even the most seasoned psychologists.

Here are some insights and tips for expanding your support to enhance your practice and reduce burnout.

Early career psychologists or those moving to private practice for the first time may be eager to fill their caseloads quickly at the expense of what’s sustainable over the long-term, a situation that can lead to burnout, psychologists say. Gabby Drong, PhD, an early-career psychologist in Williamsburg, Virginia, has felt under financial pressure to take on a lot of patients at once, but also recognized that ensuring a good fit between her and her patients was key to her practice and well-being.

To help determine fit early on, she offers prospective patients a free consultation before scheduling, which she considers an important time to determine if her expertise aligns with their needs or if they may benefit more from someone with a different clinical focus. “I don’t want to always be scrambling to try to figure something to talk about, and I want to make [therapy] worthwhile for them,” she said.

While it can be hard to pass on a patient when you’re thinking about growing a thriving practice, it is important to view that loss as a gain for your patient and your practice, says Débora Spradling, PhD, who works at a group practice in Dallas. “We are all working together to care and serve our communities the best way that we can,” she said. Building connections with other professionals can help psychologists refer patients but may also lead to reciprocal referrals. Psychologists with strong networks may find that the more they become known in their communities for their work, the more likely they get referrals for patients who are a good fit for their practice.

Each patient can present unique clinical challenges and may reveal where patients and clinicians need additional support. This is where referral networks can shine, experts say. APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct points to practicing within one’s boundaries of competence and using peer consultations to increase your perspective and insights. Your referral networks reduce the pressure on psychologists to know all the answers and help prioritize patient care, says Spradling.

“I have biases and blind spots, and consultation is so important to make sure those are adequately being held accountable,” she said.

Psychologists are trained to be aware of those biases and blind spots since patients come from diverse backgrounds and social identities that may differ from those of their therapists. Anna Joseph, PsyD, a licensed psychologist in Greeley, Colorado, maintains an ethical approach to addressing diverse patient needs in her work as the outreach coordinator for the University of Northern Colorado’s Counseling Center. The university serves a large rural area with many first-generation students, so the counseling center often sees students new to mental health care or needing a higher level of care than it provides. She leans on her broad referral network, which includes identity-affirming providers, specialty providers, and higher levels of care, such as intensive outpatient programs, partial hospitalization programs, and hospitals. Like Spradling, having an extensive network relieves pressure on herself and the center as a whole to meet all student needs.

“Knowing I have that referral network, especially in our own community, and having to find and establish it, helps with the nagging feelings at the end of the night,” she said. “It feels more empowering, more invigorating to know ‘Okay, I got this person connected to the best fit for them’ and that was a pretty painless process.”

As many in private practice know, working solo can feel lonely. Drong recalls the camaraderie she experienced while working at a university counseling center during her internship and how easy it was to pop into another clinician’s office for questions. When she began experiencing the isolation of private practice, she countered it by reaching out regularly to former peers for consultation. Her former colleagues were familiar with her therapeutic style, which made them especially effective sounding boards. Even with few details about the patient, “they kind of have a sense for how I’ve been working with them and give suggestions for things that maybe I hadn’t thought of.”

Joining or starting a consultation group with other clinicians is one way to build both a support group and a referral network. Amy Syper, PhD, a private practice owner and psychologist in Westminster, Colorado, has found that hers have also become trusted colleagues on the business aspects of running a practice.

“My consultation groups have been the most important thing to starting my own practice and building that confidence and excitement,” she said. Syper found hers by connecting with her previous colleagues who were seeking a similar source of support.

Psychologists can start in their immediate network but if they are hoping to expand outward, there are also more formal options at the local, state, and national levels, such as networking events and listservs hosted by the state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations and APA’s divisions. Psychologists may also seek specialty consultation groups, such as those offered by the International OCD Foundation, a large nonprofit focused on obsessive-compulsive disorder education and resources, which run online consultation groups to complement their training.

A longitudinal study published in 2016 showed that therapists can become slightly less effective over time (Goldberg, S. B., et al., Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2016opens in new window). But psychologists who have been treating the same patient for an extended period may want to think through whether they need to transition patients who still need care to different providers.

“Knowing your limits is the key to long-term success,” says Sue Han, PsyD, a psychologist in private practice in Dallas. When providers can understand their limits, she said, they can be more present for their existing patients. She advises clinicians to regularly ask themselves if any of their patients would benefit from a referral to a different clinician or other resource and if they need to refresh their training in any specific areas.

Spradling, who works with a lot of postpartum mothers, says that as a postdoc, her supervisors encouraged her to think broadly about networking, so she worked on expanding her familiarity with the broader community surrounding postpartum mothers, including midwives, birthing centers, pelvic floor therapists, and postnatal acupuncturists.

When Joseph began her work in the University of Northern Colorado’s Counseling Center, she quickly noticed that the center had few connections to the broader community. To address this, she took a proactive and creative approach: She conducted extensive online research to identify potential providers, then reached out to them directly through email and video meetings. Building relationships this way proved especially valuable in a rural area where in-person networking opportunities are limited. It also opened doors for students open to telehealth, she said, giving them access to specialty care providers regardless of distance.

Building out your network takes time and energy but is effort well placed, psychologists say. Spradling also likes to keep in mind that networking doesn’t feel natural to everyone but does get easier the more you do it. “Everyone’s feeling a little sweaty and a little tongue-tied,” she said. “But at the same time, everyone is there for the same thing—connecting with other providers so we can best care for our community.”