Introduction
Video...
Emotional Freedom TechniquesWhere emotional relief brings physical health
Self help method often works where nothing else will No Drugs Involved ~ High Success Rate
Building a Thriving Practice--Part II
I just looked under Psychotherapy in the San Francisco Yellow Pages. Interesting.
I asked myself, "Who in these Yellow Pages could help me if I had the number one fear in America--The Fear of Public Speaking?" As it turns out, not one therapist in all of San Francisco advertises in the Yellow Pages that they can help this very prevalent fear. In fact, very few specialize in anything at all. The vast majority of these ads are very general in nature and sound a lot like this actual example:
One might think the above represents a list of specializations. However, the list is too long to be convincing. To me, whose problem is the Fear of Public Speaking, these ads say....
That may not be what they intend to say but that is how I interpret them. And remember, I am the customer here. It is my interpretation that counts--not that of the advertiser. My problem is very important to me and I would feel much more confident if I went to someone who specializes in my problem. Why would I choose you if you deal with abuse, depression, divorce and many, many other things that, to me, are irrelevant? My impression is that I'm going to receive a watered down version of what I really came for. If there was a specialist in my problem, s/he would get my call--not you. Fortunately, you can garner the benefits of being both a specialist and a generalist in this field. More on this as this article unfolds.
We don't have to look far for evidence of the hold specialization has in our society. It is all around us and is part of our built in belief systems about how we shop. You go to K-Mart for one type of shopping and Nordstrom's for quite another. You would much rather buy a Mercedes-Benz from a Mercedes dealer rather than from a dealer that sold Mercedes, Oldsmobiles, Motorcycles and Skate Boards. The same idea is true with medicine. You wouldn't dream of having back surgery done by a podiatrist or having an eye exam by a proctologist.
But, for some reason, the field of psychology tends to ignore this obvious leaning by our society. It makes a mega marketing mistake by training generalists and then sending them out into a market place which has been conditioned to expect specialization. While there are a few specializations within the field of therapy, most practitioners seem to adopt a generalist attitude and think they will get more business if they cast a wider net. This may be helpful in very small communities but, for medium to large cities, this is something like the medical doctor who thinks s/he will get more business if s/he claims to take care of everything from flu shots to brain surgery. Not so. The pregnant woman will not go to this jack-of-all-trades. She will go to her ob-gyn. Plain and simple.
To me, the only reason people tend not to go to specialists in the field of psychotherapy is simply because very few specialties exist. In most cases, clients are forced to go to what appears to be a generalist because there's not much in the way of specialized treatment available. From a marketing point of view that is strange, very strange.
I am quite aware that EFT does a fine job on a wide variety of issues and provides a priceless tool for those who prefer to be a generalist. Indeed, you can often get rapid relief for someone's Trauma just as easily as you can dissipate the Fear of Public Speaking. You can also take care of almost everything in between. You know this and I know this. However, most clients still have beliefs to the contrary and it is those beliefs with which you must deal. In time, perhaps those beliefs will change but, for now, to ignore where the client is coming from (specialization) is to have bad breath in the market place. The client will be inclined to ignore you and go to a specialist (if they can find one) for their issue.
This may seem like a dilemma because, although you have the tools to be a superb generalist, you are advertising to a prospective clientele who is conditioned to respect specialists. Properly addressed, this is a major opportunity in disguise. You do not need advanced degrees in business to recognize that you can ethically and properly promote yourself as a specialist and still deliver a wide variety of healing to your client. You can advertise yourself as a specialist in Sexual Abuse or War Memories or Self Image or anything else and attract those looking for a specialist in "their problem." Once you have given relief in this area you have gained their confidence and you can quite easily move into other areas with the same client (and there are usually many such areas). You gain their confidence at the outset by specializing in their problem and then, to the client's delight, show abilities to enhance many other aspects of their lives. Your specialization serves to bring new interest in the door. Your skills as a generalist keeps them as a client.
Specialization helps get your name out there. It helps give you a Premiere Presence in the market place. You are far more likely to get featured in the local media if you have a specialty. For example, someone effectively helping war veterans or improving golf scores is far more newsworthy than even the most talented generalist. If you were a journalist, which category would you choose to cover?
Further, if you live in a medium or large city, there is probably more business than you can possibly handle for most specialties. Within a 1 hour drive of you, for example, how many students are there that would like help with learning blocks? How many people would like relief from the anger that is ruling their lives? How many victims of childhood sexual abuse are right in your back yard? Could you even begin to handle them if they all came to you?
Try this. Pick a specialty--any specialty--and then look in your local telephone directory and see how much competition you have for it in your community. Look hard. How many are there? One, Two, Three, None? Try a specialty like Rape or Fear of Flying or Women's Issues (a bit broad but far better than no specialty at all) and you will see that you have been given a great big business gift. The vast majority of your competitiors are putting themselves out there as some kind of generalist (including those who list only their names) leaving you with just about any specialty you want to put your name on. How obvious could something be? It is like having your own 5 lane freeway with no one on it but a few bicycles and your Greyhound Bus.
However, despite the clarity of this opportunity, I'm not suggesting here that anyone immediately drop their existing widely based practice and go off and specialize in some narrower area. On the contrary, if you already have a satisfying practice you would be well advised to keep and nurture that important client base. In fact, what you can do quite well is be both a specialist and a generalist. You don't need to upset what you are doing. No uprooting is necessary. Keep servicing your existing clientele but gain new ones by promoting yourself as a specialist in some area.
As a start you could let it be known that you have special skills in a particular area (which you do) and see what happens. In fact, it is perfectly ok to have several specialties. Just don't put them all in the same ad. As a trial to see how your ads pull, promote 2 or 3 specialties by running simple ads in some of your local community newspapers/magazines (the inexpensive small ones that reach a few hundred or a few thousand people). It is best to run different ads in different publications. They might look something like this:
John Johnson, MA
Specializing in the Fear of Public Speaking
555-1234
John Johnson, MA
Effective Relief for War Memories
555-1234
John Johnson, MA
Sports Performance Specialist
555-1234
It is perfectly ethical to run ads like this so long as you can deliver on your promise (which you can with EFT). They are short, to the point, and cost next to nothing to run. They also give you a low cost look at which specialties might prove most worthwhile. Give it a shot and don't be surprised if your phone doesn't ring a bit more often. There are also some advertising principles which we will discuss in a later installment but, for now, these straightforward ads should provide you a reasonable beginning.
There is much more to say on this. Part III will carry this idea further.
Cheers, Gary
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