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Meet Dr. Jennifer Rhodes
rapportrelationships.com and JBRpsychology.com
Where do you practice and how long have you been in practice?
I currently maintain a private practice in Menlo Park and San Francisco, CA. I’ve been in practice since July 2011. This practice is a part time practice as I am currently in the process of launching a dating and relationship consultation and coaching business.
Where did you go to graduate school and what specialty area was your degree in?
I graduated in 2008 from Yeshiva University. My degree was in School and Clinical Child Psychology. I completed my internship and first post-doctoral fellowship in Infant and Preschool Mental Health.
Can you please describe what professional activities you engage in and if you have any specialty areas? If you have any specialty areas can you describe what is involved in it?
My current practice focuses on child forensic psychology. I belong to a couple of forensic consultation groups and try to focus my work on children ages 0-5 that have been affected by divorce. I am a trained custody evaluator, mediator and parenting coordinator. Currently most of my forensic practice involves providing therapy for young children of divorce.
During the other half of my week, I am in the process of taking coaching classes and working with coaching clients who are having difficulties with dating. I enjoy the freedom that working with coaching clients offers and find that this is a good balance with my more intensive psychotherapy clients.
What are the most salient positive aspects of your work and what is your favorite professional activity?
I really enjoy the flexibility of my schedule and the ability to take clients who I believe I will work well with. Learning how to run a private practice has been an excellent source of learning and has helped me plan my new business accordingly.
What is the most creative or successful thing you’ve done to build a thriving practice?”
Coming up with the idea that I do not need to do traditional psychotherapy as a new psychologist. The freedom to think about all of the possibilities of how to use the tools of my profession has not only been a professional growth experience, it has helped in my personal development as well.
What is your least favorite part of being a professional and why? What (if any) are the negative aspects of your work?
Administrative work and billing. These are the mundane tasks of running a small business but the highly necessary ones to do on one’s own.
What advice would you have for somebody considering private practice as a career path?
I never thought that I would enter into private practice this early in my career. I am glad that I did. It was an entry into learning more about entrepreneurship and self-employment. I’ve learned that the overall flexibility of being in private practice outweighs the struggles to get started.
What do you like about being a TPI Member?
TPI was where I received the support and consultation needed to think about other possibilities for my practice. I enjoy hearing about what other professionals are doing in the field and the emphasis on skills needed to run a successful small business. Learning about how other psychologists and mental health practitioners have successfully leveraged their skill in their practices is always inspiring.
Meet our very first TPI member…
Vanessa Schaeffer, PsyD.
Where do you practice and how long have you been in practice?
I have been practicing in Gainesville, Georgia since 1999. Prior to that, I worked as an independent contractor in a Chicago-based practice.
Where did you go to graduate school and what specialty area was your degree in?
I received a Master’s Degree in Community and Family Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University (1990) and my Psy.D.at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology (1994). I interned at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and completed a Fellowship at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
Can you please describe what professional activities you engage in and if you have any specialty areas? If you have any specialty areas can you describe what is involved in it?
My primary professional activity is therapy. I do an occasional evaluation when I find the reason for the evaluation interesting. I work as a generalist, but a few of my interests involve grief therapy, working with individuals with terminal illnesses, and couples and marital therapy. My Fellowship involved a good deal of medical psychology as well as experience with behavioral disorders in children and adolescents.
What are the most salient positive aspects of your work and what is your favorite professional activity?
There are truly so many positive aspects of my work – there is great diversity involved in working with different people for different reasons. Doing therapy requires a resiliency that strengthens me both personally and professionally. Practicing the lost art of listening facilitates connections for people who often feel completely disconnected and this is quite rewarding. Therapy is my most favorite professional activity – to be successful you must come renewed each and every day and this is a mental and spiritual discipline that challenges me in so many ways.
What is the most creative or successful thing you’ve done to build a thriving practice?”
As insignificant as it may sound, I return my phone calls on the day that I receive them – I do not expect anyone to wonder if I will respond to their messages. This has proven to astound and impress people and has helped me stay constantly busy. When I began my practice I sent letters to every single primary care physician, pediatrician, school counselor and clergy member in the county where I currently practice. I was invited to speak to a meeting of all of the county’s school counselors and that was a great entry into the local system. Most of my referrals still come from these original sources, as well as from patients themselves. I also consult with other professionals that I respect and desire to emulate.
What is your least favorite part of being a professional and why? What (if any) are the negative aspects of your work?
Maintaining the “sustained empathic inquiry” requires a great deal of stamina and as such, it can be a difficult job at times. Dealing with individuals who are very disturbed or who are suffering from great distress can be stressful. Being a successful therapist requires an enormous amount of self-care and life balance. My least favorite part of being a therapist? PAPERWORK!
What advice would you have for somebody considering private practice as a career path?
Be well trained and find mentors who are willing to encourage you and share their wisdom. Have your own therapy so you really understand how profound the process can be. Seek balance.
What do you like about being a TPI Member?
I find TPI to be an incredible source of information and encouragement. I love the interviews with the authors. It is empowering to have colleagues want to help me succeed. It helps knowing that those colleagues understand the challenges involved in private practice. It was an honor to be the very first TPI member. I’m so grateful to Steve Walfish for being my mentor and beyond that, my dear friend.
