WP 49 | Should I Hire Only Christian Therapists at my Group Practice - Live Consulting with Christie Orosz
Integrating Faith and Practice in Counseling
In this enlightening episode of the "Wise Practice Podcast," host Whitney Owens engages in a profound conversation with Christie Orosz, LPCC-S, about the significance of integrating faith into counseling practices. Christie, a passionate advocate for the marriage relationship, emphasizes the importance of alignment in values, especially when it comes to the sanctity of marriage. She believes that the bond between two individuals is foundational for personal health, child-rearing, and professional life.
The Challenge of Defining a Christian Therapist
Christie raises a thought-provoking question: What defines a Christian therapist? While many individuals identify as Christian, alignment in faith-based values can vary significantly. Christie seeks therapists who genuinely pursue an active relationship with God. However, she acknowledges the diversity in how faith is lived out and practiced. The challenge lies in discerning genuine passion for faith from mere identification.
The Balance of Skill and Faith
Drawing a parallel with medical professions, Christie reflects on the dilemma of choosing between a skilled therapist and one who aligns with Christian values. She asks, "Would one choose a Christian cardiologist over a highly skilled and experienced one?" The essence is to strike a balance, learning from skilled therapists, irrespective of their faith, while ensuring respect for faith-based practitioners.
Tips for Faith-Based Hiring
Clarity in Mission: Understand the core values and mission of your practice. This will guide your hiring decisions.
Open Conversations: Engage in open dialogues during interviews. Discuss faith, but also focus on skills, experience, and therapeutic approaches.
Respect Diversity: Recognize that faith is diverse. What's essential is a genuine relationship with God and a passion for integrating faith into therapy.
In Conclusion
The integration of faith and practice in counseling is a journey, one that requires introspection, clarity, and respect for diversity. As Whitney aptly puts it, every business decision is an experiment, and it's crucial to evolve and adapt based on experiences. This episode serves as a testament to the importance of aligning faith and professional values, ensuring that therapy remains a holistic process, addressing both the spiritual and emotional needs of clients.
Show Sponsor
Alma - Your private practice support system
Links and Resources
Married Life Counseling Web Page
Check the podcasts on the PsychCraft Network: PsychCraftnetwork.com
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WP 49 | Should I Hire Only Christian Therapists at my Group Practice - Live Consulting with Christie Orosz
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[00:00:00] Whitney Owens: Going in network with insurance can be tough, such as benefits checks, catering to the insurance company needs of your clients, late payments, or sometimes making less than you deserve. Filling the paperwork out correctly can be time consuming and tedious. And even after you're done, it can take months to get credentialed and start seeing clients.
[00:00:22] Whitney Owens: That's why Alma makes it easy and financially rewarding to accept insurance. When you join their insurance program, you get credentialed within 45 days and access enhanced. Reimbursement rates with major payers. They handle all the paperwork from eligibility checks to claim submissions and guaranteed payment within two weeks of each appointment.
[00:00:45] Whitney Owens: Once you've joined Alma's program, you can see clients in your state of licensure, regardless of where you're working from. I find this particularly amazing when I'm traveling with my family to conferences or to Disney world. Learn more about building a thriving private practice with Alma at helloalma.
[00:01:03] Whitney Owens: com. You can go to the show notes and grab a special link that you can tell them that you heard about this on the podcast. So that's hello. A. L. M. A. dot com. Hello friends and welcome back to the wise practice podcast. So glad you're here. And this is a super exciting time because this is October 3rd. It's the day before the wise practice summit. So if you're listening to the podcast today, thank you so much. And I'm looking forward to the summit this week, which is going to be awesome.
[00:01:54] Whitney Owens: So some of you will probably be meeting me in Savannah live in person. Um, so that's. Wow. Amazing. And so come up to me and say, Hey, I listened to the show this week and that would be really fun. Um, and then those of you that aren't going to make it, it's okay, because there's going to be another one. So I'm really excited about that.
[00:02:12] Whitney Owens: So you can stay tuned for details on the summit for 2024 and make sure that you are checking your email and social media. It's going to be some awesome stuff coming out in the next week or two with faith based practice center. So I'm really excited to finally be with people in person and knowing that God's going to show up in a big way.
[00:02:27] Whitney Owens: So looking forward to that now. So for the month of October on the podcast, I'm doing something super special where I am doing some live consulting with amazing faith based practice centers. I do tend to find that these episodes do very well because these are people asking the very questions that you are asking yourself and you get the opportunity to see consulting live in action.
[00:02:47] Whitney Owens: I know when I was thinking about consulting, I wasn't really sure how it all worked. And so now you get to kind of see how it all works. So today, um, is going to be episode number 49 and I have my friend here, Christy. Hey, how are you? Christy. Good. How are you? Good. Good. Well, I'm going to share a little bit about you and then we're going to jump into the episode here today.
[00:03:09] Whitney Owens: So just to tell you about, about Christy, um, she is an EFT marriage counselor. She also owns married life counseling in Akron, Ohio. She's the mother of. Four adult girls and two bonus kids. And she's been married for 30 years. She's on a mission to provide excellent marital and couples counseling after years of marital struggles and trouble finding a good marriage counselor.
[00:03:36] Whitney Owens: Thanks for coming on the show, girl. Thanks for having me. Yes. Yes. And we have been working together for quite some time. I helped you when you started your group practice. So that's. A real honor. So I enjoy reading your bio and thinking about that and excited to have you on the show today. So what is your question for the audience?
[00:03:53] Whitney Owens: Big
[00:03:53] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: question right now is trying to decide, do I open up to hire non Christian therapists? Because my mission statement that I worked on way back when I got started with you was to create a team of Christ following, um, therapists. That have a passion for marriage, uh, but I'm having trouble finding, uh, enough applicants to even consider.
[00:04:27] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: So, I know that we've talked before about how I'm pretty niched, um, looking for the licensed professional counselor, the Christian and the EFT. Uh, trained or, uh, you know, at least have that passion and that, that desire to pursue EFT training. So,
[00:04:46] Whitney Owens: yes, yeah, it takes a very special person to meet all those criteria, right?
[00:04:52] Whitney Owens: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is such a good question, Christy. And I think a lot of people ask this question. Basically, we're really trying to figure out, should I hire only Christian therapists or not? And should I open it up to people who don't necessarily call themselves a Christian counselor? Um, to see clients, even though this is your mission, is that correct?
[00:05:12] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Yeah. I think the first thing we really have to decide on is what is a Christian therapist? What does that mean? Yeah. I'd love to hear from you. What does that mean to you? Yeah,
um,
[00:05:26] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: so it's a great question because I feel like a lot of folks that I've interviewed can call themselves a Christian, but we don't necessarily align.
[00:05:35] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: So I don't feel like we have to be fully aligned in how we live out our faith because I think there's there is God's so diverse. Right? And that's I want that. And I love that. Um, I think that what I'm looking for and, You know, how do you, um, filter this out in an interview? I don't know. Like, I want people that have a relationship with God, that that's an active pursuit for them.
[00:06:06] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Um, but that again, that looks different for everybody. And, um, I just want it to be I want to know that that's a genuine, um, passion and desire for them. Um, and, you know, the word diversity too, though, I feel like I was talking to my husband as we were walking the dog 1 night recently. And, um. Just I was just like, just talking, talking, talking about this topic and it hit me.
[00:06:37] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Okay. Um, if I'm looking for a good dentist or a good cardiologist. I'm not going to go out there and, um, well, I, I'm not going to choose the Christian cardiologist over the highly skilled. And trained and experienced cardiologist, so that just kind of came out while I was walking with him and I'm like, oh, my gosh, how do I do this?
[00:07:01] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Because. I can learn from skilled EFT therapists that aren't Christians. I am learning from them. So what's that look like to create a team where there's respect for faith based practitioners, right?
[00:07:21] Whitney Owens: Hmm. This is such a good conversation. There's so much here, right? Well, I appreciate you bringing this up.
[00:07:29] Whitney Owens: So first I want to say it's okay to look for whatever you want in your business. And just because someone else runs their Christian practice or their private practice differently, and you have something really specific that you want, that's okay. And that can change over time because we know within our business, our business is going to change and evolve.
[00:07:48] Whitney Owens: And so we're going to have to change and evolve with it. I always think everything is an experiment of us figuring out what we want and don't want what works and doesn't work. Okay. So whatever you end up deciding to do here, you try it for a while and see how it goes. Um, so you brought up. We talked about your mission statement, and then we talked a little bit about aligning with the people that you're interviewing and which kind of brought up 2 things that I was thinking about 1st is.
[00:08:18] Whitney Owens: Why is it important that they have the same alignment of view and then, and then like, what does that really mean? And then the second one there was like, how do we actually figure that out at an interview in an appropriate way? Cause you have W2s as well. We know we have to even be more careful with laws and making sure that we are not judging people based on their political views or their religious views or their ethnicity or all those things.
[00:08:41] Whitney Owens: Right. Exactly. Right. Absolutely. Okay. So when you talk about, I want someone who can align with me, what, what are we wanting alignment about? And why is that important? Yeah,
[00:08:52] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: that's a good question. Yeah. Cause even as I say it, I'm like second guessing myself, I think that my number one alignment is that.
[00:09:05] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Passion the priority of that marriage relationship and how important that is for people like some, you know, most of the population wants that 1 significant other to bond and connect with. And you know what that means for children and, um, our own personal health and our occupations. And it's just a big so alignment.
[00:09:32] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yeah. Um, it's fun. I just I'm thinking out loud here that that, you know, that pops up for me as maybe the number 1, um, passion, even above how you, uh, practice your faith or, um, live that out. Um, yeah, and it's a good question. Yeah. Looking for
[00:10:02] Whitney Owens: the alignment. Yeah. I appreciate your vulnerability right there at the beginning.
[00:10:06] Whitney Owens: You were like, well, I'm actually starting to question it right now. Like that's, that's good. Like we all should be willing to like say that and you're saying it on air, which is great. Kind of scary. Yeah. Okay. What I just heard you say was alignment is important to you because you want people to advocate for the marriage like you do in counseling.
[00:10:27] Whitney Owens: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Am I saying that correctly? I think so, yes. And yes, typically our Christian values are for marriage. But I would also say there's probably plenty of therapists out there that believe in the power and importance of marriage that are not Christian, right? Yeah. So, so it's kind of deciphering that.
[00:10:47] Whitney Owens: Is it that you're looking for someone more who believes in marriage is sticking out? It's going to fight for people's marriages or is it more that you want a Christian?
[00:10:57] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yeah, because as I've been thinking about this, you know, playing it out in reality in the office with the clients. Um, I'm not a pastor.
[00:11:12] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: I'm not, uh, I don't even call myself a Christian therapist because I'm that's, it's important to me. It's, it's my number one thing in life. It's how I get through tough times. And I do definitely incorporate that in so much of my work with couples and clients that are Christian. Um, but yeah, um, I don't know again, I'm just thinking out loud, um, in the office and in the practice.
[00:11:43] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: If, um, the therapist that I hire that maybe does not identify as a Christ follower, uh, they still would have so much to offer the community, the, the practice. Even for me, I think I've been thinking about as I've been thinking about this, it's like. Okay, um, let's say I hire somebody who, you know, I would say I am LGBTQ friendly and accepting and, you know, I've got people I'm close to that would be a part of that population and I love them to death, but, um, Um, uh, lost me trying to thought there for a second.
[00:12:20] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Whitney. Um, I want to be able to have somebody in the office here with me to talk about those issues to challenge me in my thinking to, you know what I mean? To be able to, um, really have safety. How about that? Safety and my staffing is important so that I feel safe to explore my beliefs. Um, perspectives how I live that out and somebody else, you know, maybe has a different way of thinking.
[00:12:49] Whitney Owens: Um, , I think I see where you're going here, and I could be wrong on this, but I, um, I'm thinking that sometimes Christianity can have a narrow view or people can view it that way. That's not who we wanna be, but it can be viewed that way and it feels less safe.
[00:13:10] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: It is less safe. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. .
[00:13:15] Whitney Owens: Yeah. And this is like, This is the topic I'm passionate about because that's the whole, whole reason I started wise practice.
[00:13:22] Whitney Owens: So we could be Christians and challenge each other and think differently and not think differently or whatever we need to do. Right. Right. So, so for you, it sounds like you want someone who has alignment with marriage being important. And number one, you know, divorce is a very last resort. Yeah. Right. And then it's really important to you that you hire people that will challenge viewpoints.
[00:13:47] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Okay. Yeah. Uh, in the challenging points with the, in the effort to find truth. And love.
[00:13:58] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Great. So you could definitely, I would, um, of course this will air and you can write all this stuff down later, but like really writing down, okay, these are the characteristics I'm really looking for in a hire. And these are some of them and tailoring your interview questions to meet that.
[00:14:17] Whitney Owens: So it might be, you know, um, have you worked with couples before and have you ever encouraged a couple to not stay married or have you worked with a couple that. You were really not certain what was going to happen and you fought with, you know, you fought hard and you worked with them and they stayed married or, you know, some of those types of questions to ask them about.
[00:14:36] Whitney Owens: Um, and then what are your own viewpoints about marriage, about divorce? Um, how does that impact your clinic? You know, because we're asking for the purpose of does that impact your clinical work? Right. Yeah. And then asking about, have there ever been times that you've been challenged in the way you think?
[00:14:53] Whitney Owens: And how do you handle that? Have you ever had a boss question the way you're doing something and after you thought about it for a while, you really thought differently about it, you know, that kind of a thing. And maybe even within your mission of your practice, when you're doing your onboarding, making it clear that like, this is a place that we can come to one another and ask the hard questions.
[00:15:12] Whitney Owens: And I know I'm your boss and so it's intimidating, but please ask me the hard questions. Yes.
[00:15:18] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, definitely want that team spirit that we're all in this together and I need help just as much as you need help. Yeah, that's, that's the whole reason why I started this whole group practice thing with you last year.
[00:15:33] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: It's like, I'm, I'm lonely in private solo private practice and want a team. So, yeah, I think this whole topic, um, it's hiring non Christians is it's, it feels a little scary. But maybe, yeah, maybe it's a good scary. Um, what's scary about it? Yeah, um, I think just because there's so much upset in the world, it does feel like maybe I'm looking for that safe place.
[00:16:06] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Maybe trying to create that safe place myself. Um, so maybe it's more about my own comfort. Um, but, you know, I've, I've been very challenged over the years in churches and small groups, and I have a very hard time fitting in and honestly, I'm just, again, I'm thinking out loud here, Whitney. Um, it's when I ask questions that.
[00:16:29] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Aren't really welcomed or, um, so it's interesting to think about creating an environment, uh, where those questions are welcomed and we don't have to be afraid because I think that happens a lot in Christian circles. We're afraid to go there. So, maybe in some ways, my desire to hire only Christian therapists as part of what I'm doing, uh, to create my own safety, which.
[00:17:00] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: It's not necessarily so there's a good there's a good safe and there's that good. There's the bad safe, right? The bad safe is to, um, be more. Walled off and protected. Uh, I don't feel a call to that, but maybe that's part of what I've been trying to do. Maybe that's part of my fear in hiring outside of my faith perspective.
[00:17:27] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: I don't know. What do you
[00:17:28] Whitney Owens: think? I think you're. A wealth of insight at this very moment. I don't need to say anything.
[00:17:37] Whitney Owens: It's amazing. Just, you know, sitting and talking about it and just asking a few questions. Like, yeah, you're really challenging and the, oh, just the way you just described. It's like, you're. It's like you're putting a wall around yourself and your practice of Christianity, whatever that actually means, because let's just be honest, Christianity means something totally different now than it did 10, 20 years ago.
[00:17:58] Whitney Owens: Sure does. Yeah. Right. Right. And so what I'm also hearing from you, it's not really so much about, do I hire Christians or non Christians as if we can put people in categories. It's right. It's about hiring people who have your, your morals. Or ethics as well, you know, for, for how we do therapy, how we honor the marriage and how we honor one another through difficult conversations, and we still show respect and acceptance for one another, even when we disagree.
[00:18:30] Whitney Owens: Right. Right. And that's what you're, you're just describing this idea of being in church and bringing up the hard question and feeling disrespected or feeling like it's not heard. Right. And you want to create the opposite within your practice.
[00:18:46] Whitney Owens: Oh, yes. This is why we're doing it right here.
[00:18:50] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: That was so well said. Yeah, because part of my critique for the church is We create circles that become clicks that are not attractive to the nonbeliever because it's not about loving others. It becomes about my own personal comfort safety. Um, I'm doing life, right?
[00:19:13] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: As opposed to actually loving other people. Well. Mm hmm. Yeah. I'm glad it's recorded because you just said a lot of good stuff
[00:19:21] Whitney Owens: there. I don't have to go back and listen. Yeah. I never remember what I say. Um, actually we had our wise practice meeting, um, this week. Okay. I can't remember if you, were you in there?
[00:19:35] Whitney Owens: Oh,
[00:19:35] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: I
[00:19:35] Whitney Owens: missed it on Wednesday. Okay. Okay. Well, you can go back and watch if you want, but, um, we actually talked a little bit about this topic, um, cause somebody was talking about their mission statement and hiring within their practice. And I was reminded, one of my really dear friends. Is very devout Catholic, but she said the best therapist she ever had was an atheist.
[00:19:55] Whitney Owens: Wow. Mm hmm. Really? And she had gone to a lot of Christian counselors. Yeah. And, and I think it just speaks to that. Well, first it speaks to a lot of things first that. All good work is God
[00:20:06] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: is right,
[00:20:07] Whitney Owens: right. God is in everything. We're the ones who say he's only in one thing or another. Everything is sacred in Christ.
[00:20:16] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yeah. Um, that's so well said. Yeah. And I do. I've said that all truth is God's truth. If it's true, it's his. Yeah.
[00:20:25] Whitney Owens: So, and someone who comes into our practice and does an interview and says they're a Christian. Can still totally do terrible things. Yeah. Right. Right. So we really have to wean out more of that, that moral part and a caricature really when we're interviewing.
[00:20:46] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yeah, yeah, and you're reminding me, you know, part of my story with my husband is we always looked for the Christian counselor. That was our number 1, uh, um, criteria. I believe they all meant really well, and we did get some good work, but at the end of the day, they were not trained to do couples work and, um.
[00:21:10] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: You know, couples work as hard and you're working with two individuals at the same time. Well, really, I say you're, I'm working with three entities at the same time. Husband, wife, and the marriage. That relationship, there's a cycle that happens in that marriage that, that they create together. And so it's very nuanced and difficult and challenging.
[00:21:32] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: And so, you know, part of what I've thought of over the years is maybe that was my problem. I went with the Christian counselor instead of the one that was well trained in couples therapy. And so, so am I shooting myself in the foot here? Um, uh, just. Being not not being more open minded to the possibilities of who I can work with and do good work
[00:21:58] Whitney Owens: with.
[00:22:00] Whitney Owens: Yeah,
[00:22:02] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: even as I say, I feel a little anxious, so I get a little, I don't know why that's really bugging me. Yeah.
[00:22:09] Whitney Owens: So you have that fear there. It's different than the way you've been trained to think.
[00:22:14] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: It's different from how I've been trained to think and it's different from that I had that ideal. Maybe, maybe my mission statement was too ideal, idealistic, I don't know, uh, going back and re evaluating.
[00:22:25] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Well, I definitely think every practice should re evaluate their mission statement. And I do think we have an idealistic way of thinking what our practice is going to be like for sure, or what faith and religion is going to be like, yeah, yeah, I can share a little bit about my experience. And hopefully this would be helpful to you.
[00:22:44] Whitney Owens: But when I, when I first went to graduate school to be a Christian counselor, you know, I went to a Christian school, we had theology classes, and I thought I'm going to become the most amazing Christian counselor and everybody's going to get saved. It's gonna be awesome. Right. That was like the most arrogant thing I could ever think.
[00:23:00] Whitney Owens: And thank goodness the Lord knocked me upside the head and taught me otherwise. And realizing that Jesus never forced anyone into his faith and he invited people on the journey and they had a choice in the matter. So that was very important for me to understand as a therapist, because that's what we're doing with our clients.
[00:23:19] Whitney Owens: Right. Yeah. Yeah. And then when I first started my private practice, I kind of. Thought and started the group, I thought, okay, I'm going to hire Christian counselors and we're going to be this Christian practice. And I was like, what does that even mean? Like what we're talking about right now? Like, what does that mean?
[00:23:34] Whitney Owens: And what is actually important to me? I think the most important part to me was that clients who had a faith background can feel comfortable and accepted exploring that background and make it into part of their therapy. Now, I would like to have therapists that thought faith to be important in their lives because it's important in my life, but more important than that is I want a therapist who can say, Hey, I can help navigate this with you.
[00:23:59] Whitney Owens: I can help direct you in this and I'm open to talking about your faith, Christian or not in counseling and how that's going to help you in your life because I believe that's going to bring healing. And so that was how I started hiring people based on more of those criteria. And naturally we have become a faith based practice because.
[00:24:17] Whitney Owens: In the interview when we ask, Hey, we, and we put this in lump it in with a lot of questions. But one of them is if, if you were to get a client to come in from a church was referred by a pastor and wants a faith based perspective and their counseling, you feel like you could provide that. Now we get a lot of different answers and people have a lot of questions about that, but those that can't.
[00:24:36] Whitney Owens: Oh, they get so offended. I mean, boom, like they, well, that's not what I am. And I'm like, uh, I didn't even ask you what yours was. I didn't ask you what you believe. They immediately just take it as a personal attack. And, uh, you know, they put you in a category and I'm like, okay, like, I'm glad that you showed me this because you would not work well with Christian clients.
[00:24:59] Whitney Owens: Do all my therapists go to church every week? Do they all abide by a religious code? Absolutely not. Do I go to church every week and abide by a religious code? No, no, do I live my faith authentically and radically? Yes, well said. Yeah. Don't know if that's helpful to kind of hear that perspective and my, my thoughts changed over time into what it looks like to be a faith based practice.
[00:25:24] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yeah. Yeah. That, that is helpful. And it reminds me of, um, I think we've talked before about, um, how this journey of business and creating a group practice, it's a very spiritual journey. And I feel that I feel like the Lord is. So pushing me out of my comfort zone, pushing me out of my, my nice, neat little box that the idealistic ways I tend to look at things.
[00:25:52] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Uh, so definitely is a growth process for me as I do this, this work of building a group practice and, um, waiting and being patient and having my faith challenged for sure.
[00:26:07] Whitney Owens: Yeah, I think another important thing to mention here is. That no practice is better or worse because of the amount of their faith that's integrated, you know, a Christian practice is not better than a practice that does not align with Christianity practice.
[00:26:25] Whitney Owens: That is, um, more overt, you know, praying in their sessions and very biblical passages and stuff is not any better or any worse than a more covert faith based practice. And so, even though we're kind of having a conversation about that, I just wanted to make it clear that hopefully. People that are more overt in their faith, don't hear this and think that we're saying, no, don't be that.
[00:26:47] Whitney Owens: And that people who are just exploring and trying to figure out what that even looks like, that they don't feel like they have to be something either. Like it's totally free to whatever you feel like the Lord is leading you into.
[00:26:58] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Yeah. And there I'm hearing you say, um, that you're kind of revealing our human tendency to put God in a box and think this is how he works and you can't put them in a box.
[00:27:11] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: And I love that you just kind of highlighted that because. It's true. And I think maybe sometimes even some of my own perfectionistic idealistic ways come into play there of how I think things should look. And that's probably where the fear and discomfort comes from is getting pushed outside of my comfort zone, which is good and healthy because it's growth.
[00:27:36] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Um, spiritual
[00:27:37] Whitney Owens: growth. Yeah. It's great. So where are you now, Christy, when you think about hiring and your, your question, do you feel like we've answered it? I
[00:27:50] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: think so. I'm going to have to continue to pray about it and, uh, work on my own. Um, yeah, my own, my own fears and apprehensions. That, that rise up, but yeah, I, I think that, um, this will be a podcast I go back and listen to, um, because I think so much was just said that I really want to ponder and explore and talk about more with my admin, uh, cause she's a great supporter and, um, yeah, I'm becoming more comfortable.
[00:28:26] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: For sure. With that thought becoming more clear.
[00:28:31] Whitney Owens: That's great. We're good. Ability. Yeah. Did you have any other questions surrounding this topic?
[00:28:39] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Uh, probably just that, that topic of hiring because, uh, because I am so fine tuned in my niche, even with EFT to find EFT therapists, um, I'm getting more clear about, you know, losing 2 counselors, uh, is helping me become more fine tuned and clear about what I want and don't want, so how to find that EFT therapist, uh, besides indeed it.
[00:29:08] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: So I've done postings on indeed and linked in, and I just this morning started exploring universities in the area to look at the interns. And again, how do you find EFT therapists or EFT minded folks who want that training? So I'm just kind of exploring
[00:29:33] Whitney Owens: a couple of thoughts here, definitely making it very apparent on your website that you do EFT at your practice, because people might Google specifically for EFT when they're looking for jobs.
[00:29:44] Whitney Owens: I would get into local groups or statewide groups of EFT therapists or nationwide groups where EFT therapists are talking. I would attend EFT trainings, try to meet people at the training. Um, see if they're interested in coming to work at your practice. That's great. Yeah. And I don't know all the details about getting trained in EFT, but I'm assuming that you have to get some hours under somebody, right?
[00:30:10] Whitney Owens: So are you an EFT trainer?
[00:30:13] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Not yet. No. Well,
[00:30:15] Whitney Owens: there you go. That's what you need to get because then people are going to come to you and you can basically decide who you want to hire and who you don't want to hire.
[00:30:24] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Oh my gosh, that's great. Yeah.
[00:30:26] Whitney Owens: Wow. Mm hmm. So I think those are all good ideas. I mean, LinkedIn is, you know, a good place to try to, to try to get people.
[00:30:34] Whitney Owens: Um, but yeah, those are some ideas.
[00:30:38] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: That's great. Those are very good ideas. Yeah.
[00:30:40] Whitney Owens: Great. Yeah. Mm hmm. Well, Christy, you are a part of the wise practice membership community. Could you share a little bit about why it's important to you and how it helps you? Mm.
[00:30:52] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Very important. I just block off that hour on my calendar every week and, uh, show up.
[00:30:58] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: And, um, I'm there almost every week. I wasn't there this week. I forget why. Um, probably because we just got over a wedding. Uh, my daughter just got married. So, but yeah, the, the wise practice community is fabulous for asking questions. You've created a safe place. Uh, lots of great resources. Uh, there's really so much.
[00:31:18] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: In what you offer. I can't even get to it all. So I know that it's there when I need it. Um, I love meeting other people and hearing their stories and knowing I'm not alone. That's a big deal. I don't want to feel alone in this work. So yeah, you've created a great community. And, uh, and if I miss a day, I don't have to feel guilty.
[00:31:38] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: Um, so yeah, it's, it's good. I
[00:31:42] Whitney Owens: appreciate that. Well, you're a special part of the community and it's been really a pleasure to hang out with you and interview you and, um, you and all the other practice owners teach me all the time. So I'm learning from you just like you're learning from me and, uh, God's doing good work.
[00:31:57] Whitney Owens: Yes, ma'am. So, well, thank you so much for being on the show. And I think this is going to be super helpful for many of us as we move forward in our private practice. Thank
[00:32:06] Christie Orosz, LPCC-S: you so much, Whitney.
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