Canvas Rebel Magazine Interview with Amanda Woodard

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Woodard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amanda , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

I started my mental health practice in 2013. I contracted my practice with another group practice to get going, have supervision, and be a part of a team. I think being a part of a group practice is the best experience that any clinician can get. You have a team of people around you that all have different backgrounds and training and you can learn so much from one another to provide the best services for your clients. Due to a change in the group practice I was working with I decided to move on and go full private practice in 2015. It was difficult getting everything set up to be efficient: a new website, new marketing strategies, new office space, all new expenses, etc. It was risky and challenging in the best way. I ran the practice as an individual practice for 4 yrs, supervising interns and contracting clinical candidates. In this process I realized that I loved having a team again and in Jan 2019 moved from running a private practice to a group practice. I switched everyone to be employees and had to completely restructure the company. From 2019 to 2024 we went from having 1 employee, in addition to myself, to now 12 clinicians, an office manager, and an administrative assistant. We continue to have an internship program that I love and an amazing team to provide support to one another. There is so much I had to learn and I am still learning in this process in regards to what works and doesnt work in running a group practice, the financial risk and reward with working with insurance companies, and keeping up with latest laws changes. My advice for young professionals who might be considering starting their own practice is to first look to see if you can join an already successful group practice that has in person capabilities. When you are surrounded by other amazing clinicians in an office and you have no administrative or business responsibilities you can really thrive as a clinician and have a healthy work life balance. I love my job, I love the company, and I love the team I have and when others ask if they should start their own company I always say “Don’t do It.” If there had been a group practice like mine that I could have joined instead of taking all the risks and stress of running my own thing I absolutely would have.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

A little about me: I’m Amanda Woodard and I run a group practice called Original Path Counseling. I am a licensed professional counselor and have been in the industry since 2010. I started my first mental health position volunteering running Social Skills groups for children on the Autism Spectrum while I began graduate school. My passion now is really for supervising new clinicians. Original Path Counseling has a strong internship program in which we supervise new LPC or LCSW students in graduate school. I am an Approved Clinical Supervisor and I absolutely love teaching this upcoming class of new clinicians. Because of this program we have created a team environment where all of our clinical staff work together to combine our training and share our experiences with one another so that our clients get the best care. Having multiple techniques and theories from a variety of clinicians to pull from for a client’s treatment helps it be more successful than if one clinician was only driving the care of clients with their experience alone.

Any advice for managing a team?

Managing a team of clinical and administrative staff can be difficult. The more the business grows the more staff to manage and the more stress it can create on the owner. However, it can also be the most amazing experience if you view your staff as a team and a collective where you all can learn from one another. If you want to be successful in managing others I think the best advice I could give anyone is to listen. Spend time with your staff asking them what is working, what is challenging, what are their ideas to make things easier and more efficient, and then follow through on what they are telling you. You also need to recognize that in the mental health field we all need work life balance. As a manager you need to know that your staff’s job and your company should not be their priority and their whole life. You want to support and care about your employees both professionally and personally. Our company takes a very team oriented approach. We all feel we can learn from each other and seek feedback and advice from each other. To maintain high morale we have all staff either work in office or hybrid both in office and telehealth. This way we are seeing each other each week and not getting isolated in this field. We have case consults once a week in which the whole team gets to ask about new techniques and ideas for their client challenges. One of my favorite things for maintaining morale is to get the group all together for some fun. Our team goes out of the office and does something together at least once every other month. This is a huge contributor as to why our team works well together, is because they get to know each other outside of work.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?

The best advice I can give when starting a new business is to not go into debt to do so. Save some money to be able to fund the basics of the business to get it going versus borrowing with loans if possible. Then as you begin to grow your business do it one step at a time. Don’t spend money on new ideas or expansion until you have saved the money to be able to implement the additional steps. In the mental health business you can start your own company without office space. You can start working from home and doing telehealth sessions and begin with funding a website and EHR (electronic health record). Anything beyond that you want to save before you do it. One of the business mistakes I see a lot of new clinicians make is to go into private practice without really knowing how to run a business and the operating expenses it takes to do so. If you aren’t sure how to manage money and not go into debt to run a business I would start with reading the book “Profit First.”

Image Credits
Colorado Arts Productions, https://www.coloarts.com/