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Have you noticed a recurring issue within your clients’ lives? What does it take to turn a simple idea into a business? How can playful, open-ended questions help families connect?
In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok discusses how playful questions can help heal families with the creator of Famgabs, Beliza Perez.
Podcast Sponsor: Alma
As a clinician, you probably chose this field because you wanted to support people in navigating challenges and finding personal growth. But many mental health care providers end up spending almost as much time on billing, insurance, and other documentation as you do in sessions with clients.
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Learn more about how Alma could support you in building a thriving private practice at helloalma.com/joe.
Meet Beliza Perez
Beliza is a young but experienced therapist with a blended therapy style. She lost her father in adolescence and knows the difference that therapy could have made for her at that difficult time. This desire to make a difference in a child’s life has driven her to be a therapist and helps her to connect to her clients. She has followed her calling with excitement and joy.
She is a qualified supervisor for the state of Florida and has been invigorated by helping young therapists gain valuable experience. Her most exciting work has been in her practice in Oviedo with children, siblings, and parents.
Visit Beliza’s website, FamGabs, and connect on LinkedIn.
In This Podcast
- Conducting therapy with kids in counselling sessions
- Creating Famgabs
- Building out the business
- How to build an idea into a business
- Beliza’s advice to private practitioners
Conducting therapy with kids in counselling sessions
[Therapy] conversations with kids; they require a different approach. They also need to know that you get them and you’re there to hear them, there to spend time with them … and be with them in their space. (Beliza Perez)
Beliza explains that it is crucial for the therapist working with kids to give them space. When they feel like they can relax with you, trust you, and feel comfortable with you, they will open up to you much more easily – like adults.
However, you need to meet them where they are at, and that’s done by setting the tone in the therapy room.
You have to be fun, you have to be curious, and you have to be at their level. I think that’s hard for adults; we forget what it was like to be a kid. We forget what it’s like to be 22 sometimes! So it’s hard to approach a child from their perspective because, as an adult, we have so much going on. (Beliza Perez)
Creating Famgabs
While seeing the kids that were her clients, Beliza had so many of their parents, who were desperate to get help talking with their kids, ask her for guidance.
They felt disconnected as a family and sought her advice on how to reestablish open communication with their kids.
[I gave the parents] open-ended questions, because I realized at that time, when I saw their faces, I said, “Wow, they really just need support and help!” Once they started asking the questions, they were like, “Oh my gosh, you opened up Pandora’s Box!” And I’m like, “I didn’t do that, you did that. I just gave you the tools!” (Beliza Perez)
Beliza was able to give parents the tools that they needed to reconnect with their kids, which inspired her to pursue this need and develop it further into a tool that she could share with her entire client base, community, and the world beyond.
Building out the business
Like all business owners, there were times when Beliza was scared about taking this leap in her business! Her group practice hadn’t worked out, and this idea had been swirling around in her thoughts for long enough that she decided it was time to try it out.
The real test came when she paid $1k cash for a large batch of the cards – before they had even sold – because she knew then that she was committing to it.
We had literally paid for something that hadn’t been sold yet! … There’s no turning back, and we’re going to sell the F out of these cards! And I said that through tears and fears and confidence and literally the mix of everything altogether. (Beliza Perez)
Needless to say, the cards have done well for both parents and kids!
How to build an idea into a business
So many steps go into expanding an idea into a business, but the general process that Beliza took included:
1 – To love yourself through this process! Get your confidence, and understand that this is going to be a big wave. Do the things that help you be fantastic.
2 – Start saving, even if it’s $20 a week, so that you are not overly focused on money, which can get in the way of you pursuing your dream.
3 – Speak with people around you and find your best-fit mentors and people who have done something similar to what you want to do.
4 – Document your process; the good, bad, and the ugly. It helps you be proud of your progress and keep your eye on the goal ahead of you, despite the inevitable tough days.
Fall in love with your product … Along the way, I had a lot of people say, “Oh, do this, do that,” and I said, “No, this is what I want … Thank you for the idea suggestion, but this is my product.” (Beliza Perez)
Beliza’s advice to private practitioners
Rather fail and try than never try and never know, so leap into the idea that you have been thinking about!
Books mentioned in this episode:
Rick Rubin – The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Sponsors Mentioned in this episode:
- Get your ticket today for the MHM conference in October! Use the discount code JOE to get 10% off any ticket!
- Learn more about how Alma could support you in building a thriving private practice at helloalma.com/joe.
Useful links mentioned in this episode:
- Visit Beliza’s website, FamGabs, and connect on LinkedIn.
- Apply to work with us one-one-one!
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Meet Joe Sanok
Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners who are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.
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