Dr. Amy E. Keller is a Doctor of Psychology in Psychoanalysis and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has a private practice in Pasadena, California and is the author of Get Real, Get Going: The Definitive Roadmap to Starting the Private Practice of your Dreams.
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Want to open your private practice, but think grad school didn’t prepare you to start a business? You’ve come to the right place! Let us help you navigate the uncertain road to your first private practice client. Whether you are just out of grad school or have years of experience as a licensed clinician, the step-by-step plans, action items, and practical wisdom in GetReal, GetGoing will help psychotherapists and other healing professionals build thriving practices in no time.
GetReal, GetGoing offers practical, opinionated, concrete advice on everything from managing critical deadlines to building a long-term client base to securing an office space. This book will provide you with real-world examples, anecdotes, and valuable lessons for every step of your professional development. So, GetReal, GetGoing today to make your private practice dream into reality!
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About the Authors
Dr. Amy E. Keller is not someone you would expect to have a Doctor of Psychology in Psychoanalysis and to be a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is an avid skier, motocross rider, and semi-professional salsa dancer. Her joie de vivre and wanderlust have led her to live in countries such as Israel, Egypt, Mexico, Greece, and Costa Rica.
Dr. Amy does more than sit back and nod - she actively engages with her patients and becomes their personal cheerleader. Her psychoanalytic training and unorthodox “Transformational Therapy” gives patients the understanding and communication skills needed for positive, long-lasting change in their relationships and their lives. Her patients describe her therapy as effective and fun!
Dr. Sarah B. Sneed is a licensed psychologist, writer, and leadership coach, with over twenty years’ experience helping entrepreneurs, health professionals, artists, and executives achieve their professional goals while finding peace and purpose in a demanding world.
Dr. Sneed earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia, where her training concentrated on family systems theory and developmental psychology. She received training in coaching through the College of Executive Coaching in California. Her approach integrates the competence-based, systems thinking of her formal training with practical knowledge gained through life experiences in family business, growing her private practice, raising her family, and watching Star Wars.
Advance Praise for GetReal,GetGoing
“Take notice. This is a rare find, a niche book especially crafted for the beginning therapist contemplating the Herculean project of starting a private practice either now or in the near future. Keller and Sneed have given us a lively, readily readable and marvelously practical stepwise roadmap for this often time near overwhelming task. And it is perfectly crafted for the complexities inherent in today’s practice world such as insurance panels, record keeping, ethics issues, and confidentiality to name just a few. It will be best suited for any aspiring private practitioner but especially so for those planning on a transition from agency work to the daunting prospect of his/her own private office. I strongly recommend it.”
Warren R Procci, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine, 64th President of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and Vice-Chairman of Wagner College’s Board of Trustees
“The problem facing many graduating psychologists, therapists and even psychiatrists today is that they have very little, to no training about the business side of their chosen profession. Many teaching institutions and instructors lack the knowledge and experience of providing such information and support to those who want to turn their passion for helping others into a thriving business. GetReal, GetGoing provides the insight and the essential tools that are necessary to take the next leap in one's professional career. By blending inspirational support with honest facts, Doctors Keller and Sneed approach aspiring private practitioners in a down-to-earth fashion that is simultaneously approachable and completely free from condescension. You may be reading a book, but you’ll feel like you’re having coffee with your successful future self! The fastest way for self-growth is to take the experience and recommendations of these two experts in order to by-pass making mistakes and by incorporating their ideas and successful formula into your own growing private practice.”
Daryoush Jamal M.D., Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, Addiction Medicine Specialist, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, USC School of Medicine
“An excellent book – easy to read with practical insights from real world experiences. Drs. Keller and Sneed writing with wit and humor touch upon essential information throughout the various stages of professional development with the ultimate goal of having a thriving therapy practice.
In 2016, a good friend and I decided to open a group practice office. Equipped with 20 years of experience managing behavioral health services in the nonprofit sector, and all the technical know-how from Business School, the myriad tasks necessary to starting the business were still daunting and, at times, overwhelming. Having this book during that time would have been helpful: chapter by chapter I could have just checked off the tasks that I would have needed in order to set up the company. So, I would heartily recommend this as a must-read and an indispensable resource for any early-career practitioner/entrepreneur!”
Joseph Ho, PhD, MBA, VP/CFO, Ferrer & Ho, Psychology Corp
“This is an excellent private practice therapy primer about business! Younger therapists often lack experience in anything other than their clinical training and GetReal, GetGoing will save you from yourself. This book is exquisitely well-organized, easy to read and one to continuously refer back to over time. It would be super if clinical training curriculum planners would pick this up for their syllabi. It’s just terrific for a good kick-start to a successful business.”
Patricia Giermann, PsyD., LCSW, Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, Consultation and Training and Supervisory Analyst
“This book is so easy to follow. I love it that Drs. Keller and Sneed do an overview - then signpost exactly where they’re going and in what order- and let the reader know exactly what to expect. Impossible to get lost. I love that, and love that you lay it out. I wish I had this smart, effective roadmap when I started my journey. So nice to know that others now do. Great job doc’s!”
Barry Eisen, Speaker, Hypnotist, Personal & Business coach
“While working on building my own private practice I experienced several challenges. I was very happy to find a book with the answers I needed. After reading GetReal, GetGoing I feel so much more knowledgeable about marketing and the minor details of running my business. I particularly liked the examples from other professionals and that the authors were personable in sharing their hobbies, interests, and personal stories. It made me feel like Amy and Sarah were my colleagues or friends who were encouraging and motivating me to build a thriving private practice. It feels great to feel inspired again.”
Stacy Morhar, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
“Dr. Keller and Dr. Sneed’s book is well-written, well-organized and has a wealth of knowledge. Whether you’re new to private practice or a seasoned professional looking for help in expanding your practice, this is the book for you! This book should be part of graduate school curriculum as psychologists and psychotherapists are usually ill-equipped for the business/marketing side of private practice. Reading this book will help with the motivation you need to get out there and build a practice tailored to your needs.
I love the practical how-to tips for marketing your private practice business. Dr. Keller is an expert in the area of marketing yourself as a professional in private practice. Dr. Keller was a mentor of mine. She motivated me to get out there and have the confidence in myself, that my services were something that the community needed. She not only helps with the business side of running a private practice – she helps with the confidence building us therapists lack when it comes to marketing our business.”
Jennifer Sandoval, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist
“What a monumental undertaking… Soup to nuts, floor to ceiling GetReal, GetGoing covers every conceivable issue one might have when kicking off a practice and opening a brick and mortar office. I’m dumbstruck by the detailed research, concrete steps, resource material, and the relevant quotations, the encouragement cheering readers on, by those much smarter than myself.”
Andrew Mirisch, Producer and Screenwriter
“As an MFT graduate school professor I see first hand how daunting it can be for graduate students facing the road ahead toward licensure. My practicum class consists of students who always have questions about the business of becoming a therapist. I think GetReal,GetGoing would make a fabulous graduation gift to help students develop a roadmap for success in the field of psychotherapy, whether their dream is to be in private practice or to find employment at an agency. I wish I'd had this book when I was starting out! The authors really go into the nuts and bolts of navigating the road to licensure, how to build a successful practice and/or find employment. I love how the authors use a flexible approach, taking into account the impact of circumstances and personality. Reading this book will help budding therapists develop a mind for business, something lacking in most MFT graduate school programs! Excellent resource!”
Martha Carr, Psy.D. LMFT