The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy Field-Based Private Practice
An interview Megan Costello, LMFT on taking the best of Community Mental Health into your private practice. Curt and Katie interview Megan about her very successful private practice that is 100% home and field-based. They talk about how to a field-based practice works, including practical considerations.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.
To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
Interview with Megan Costello, LMFT
Megan Costello, LMFT, is a person-centered behaviorist providing in-home counseling for families in Los Angeles. Megan has provided services to clients in their homes or the community for almost 15 years. Megan started her career as a behavioral technician, providing behavioral therapy under the supervision of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) before she moved into a supervisory role for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) cases (both in- home and school-based cases). Megan continued this work as she obtained her Masters of Science in Counseling at California State University, Long Beach. Megan then added clinical work in community mental health, providing specialized support to children on the autism spectrum with trauma histories. When Megan moved into private practice, she incorporated the best of the in-home and behavioral interventions into her treatment model. She brings practical advice and strategies to her clinical work, providing specialized, comprehensive treatment to higher needs or atypical cases.
In this episode we talk about:
- Megan’s perspective and a new model for private practice
- How to make applied behavioral analysis more person-centered
- The value of being relentlessly client-centered and doing the highest impact work, regardless of how convenient to the therapist
- The types of clients who would benefit more from in-home and school-based therapy
- The benefits of in-home therapy over in-office therapy
- The need to price your services accordingly
- How to create an office in your car
- How to manage your scheduling
- The unique challenges of working in the home, looking at confidentiality, family involvement
- The model that requires family and parent involvement
- Safety assessments prior to going out to the home
- How to assess over the phone prior to starting home-based treatment
- Getting parent buy-in for active involvement in treatment for their child
Relevant Resources:
We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links:
Megan’s website: https://www.megcostello.com/
Megan’s consultation: https://www.megcostello.com/consulting
AND WE HAVE A PICTURE OF MEGAN'S TRUNK ON THE WEBSITE!
The Modern Therapists Group on Facebook
Credits:
Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/
Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/