69 I When Am I Ready to See Myofunctional Therapy Clients? How to Start Before You Feel Ready

Are you waiting until you feel fully ready before seeing clients?
 
 Hi friend,
 
 In this episode, I’m diving into one of the biggest things holding you back… waiting for confidence before you take action. 

If you’ve been trained but feel stuck, unsure, or like you need the full system before you begin, this episode is for you. 

I’m breaking down what actually matters when getting started, how to build your first client experience without perfection, and why momentum beats waiting every single time. 

You don’t need more information. You need movement. 

Grab your ☕coffee and your courage - and let’s dive in! 

Xo, 

Carmen

🌐 The Profitable Myofunctional Therapist™ 

https://theprofitablemyofunctionaltherapist.com

✅ Grab the Trained to Booked Checklist

https://offers.theprofitablemyofunctionaltherapist.com/trainedoptin

📅  Need help? Book a "Get Unstuck" call today 

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Transcript

Why A Perfect System Fails

Free Assessments As A Growth Lever

How To Prep One Session

Three Steps To Start Now

Imposter Syndrome And How To Handle It

Build Your Prototype With First Clients

Take Ugly Imperfect Action

Get Support And Book A Call

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Never be an exact system that you're going to take every client through because every client is going to be different. If you're a burned out, bored dental hygienist who knows that you can't do this forever, or you've already taken myofunctional therapy training but feel stuck on how to actually start, grow, or simplify your business, welcome, my friend. You're in the right place. I'm Carmen, a dental hygienist who once sat exactly where you are. Overworked, physically tired, mentally done, knowing that there had to be more, and wanting the fastest, simplest, most organized path forward with someone holding my hand along the way. This podcast is for women who don't want more information. They want transformation. They want clarity, consistent clients, predictable income. Without building a business that takes over their life, they also want support while they do it. So if you're ready to stop spinning, start moving, and finally make sense of what comes next, grab your coffee and your courage, my friend. Let's build a business that works for your life, not one that runs it, so that you can build a life that you're genuinely bonkers about. Because that's my superpower. Well, hello, friend, and welcome back to the episode. Oh, today we are going to be talking about um when you're ready to see myalfunctional therapy clients, okay? Um, and and how to get started before you feel ready. And the impetus for this episode came from uh coaching recently, which I do every month with my students. And one of the students commented that she was really having a hard time uh jumping in because she didn't know what the full system looked like. So she told me that she um was really somebody who likes to see the, you know, the the the full system, the the whole enchilada, if you will. And she um she just felt like that was what was holding her back. And really my answer to her was that there will never be an exact system that you're going to take every client through because every client is going to be different. And if there is one thing that you can know with certainty, excuse me, in your business, is that there's going to be uncertainty. Okay. No, or very few, I should say, very few of my tons of clients have ever had a linear journey. Meaning we started therapy, we prepared, you know, two sessions for the tongue tie release, and then they had it done and it was beautiful. And then we did the full rehab after, and they went from A to Z in a complete straight line. So that rarely, rarely happens, especially in my practice because I work with some of the world's worst, I would say. Uh, so there's not gonna be a uh a uh a perfect template, if you will, because everybody is gonna be different. So the important thing is just getting started. So what this looked like for me when I was starting my business about a decade ago is I um, so let me back up. So I teach in my programs kind of the structure that we follow is a free assessment. I know there are some programs out there that tell you not to do a free assessment. I would argue that that is a growth lever that is worth pulling on because what happens, yes, absolutely what you do is valuable and your time is valuable, but you're asking somebody to jump into paying for an exam when they might not know anything about myfunctional therapy, they don't know anything about you, they don't know if there's a personality match, they don't know if you can help them. You know, there's a number of different things. And so by giving somebody that free whatever, for me it was 30 minutes of your time, you build that no like and trust factor. And people still come back years later, having met me and did their free assessment and now they're ready to move forward. So I know that there's some programs out there that don't recommend it. That's completely up to you. In my programs, I recommend it until you have a lot of business going on and you just really don't have the space for it. I did uh complimentary assessments for years before I stopped doing them. So, in my programs, the structure looks like a free assessment. Then you move on to the comprehensive exam. Everybody doesn't have to start with a free assessment. If they know that they are on a time crunch or they're um for whatever reason, they don't want to start there, then just bump them into an exam. That's totally fine too. Um, then they go from the exam into therapy. So what I found, and since in this conversation we're talking about being comfortable to get started, uh, what I found was that I had to basically, I'll use the word perfect, but you know, nothing is ever perfect. I would go, I would, I would work on practicing that segment just for that appointment. So if I had somebody who booked a free assessment, I would prepare and practice for a free assessment. Then I would move that person into the comprehensive exam. So then I would prepare and practice for the comprehensive exam. So if you are um, you know, outside of your training, which if you're listening to this, I assume that you've had your training, you just don't know how to get started. That's how I recommend that you do it. And so for me, when I was getting to the therapy part with somebody, I it wasn't that I knew all of the exercises and had them memorized and had them perfected all of that stuff. I would prepare for the session at hand. Okay, so my first client, I prepared for session number one. So when I saw her for session number two, I literally was coming into therapy with two sticky notes. One had the names of the exercises that I was gonna be working on, and the second one had the breakdown of the appointment. So I was gonna spend five minutes on pleasantries and I was gonna spend 20 minutes on teaching, you know, and then I was gonna wrap up and send the email and all that stuff. So I literally went into every session with sticky notes telling me what to do. So it I will tell you this, my friend, it is truly like riding a bike. Once you do that first session of therapy, then session number one is gonna be very similar every time. Okay. Every session isn't gonna be the same, but they're gonna be close enough and similar enough, especially if you study with me, because I teach you a framework, I teach you, I give you my templates, uh, you have all of that information. So there's not a lot that changes. Yes, things about your client are gonna change, but there's also what I call the skeleton. There's a certain order that you're going to teach all exercises. It doesn't matter if it's Susie or Steven, okay? They're all going to learn exercises in a certain order. Some are gonna have a harder time with certain exercises, some are gonna be easier. You might have to bring in and customize it with other exercises. That's to completely to be expected, but you're still not going to teach exercise Z when you haven't taught exercise D, essentially. Okay. So that's what the process looked like for me when I was getting started. It was like just get that first one. So let's talk about three things that you can do to get started. Okay. If you're questioning, if you're ready to start, if you're all of that, this is gonna help you. Okay. So three things that you can do to get started before you feel ready. So number one, let's just talk about it. The imposter syndrome. Know that it's gonna show up. It showed up for me, it showed up for every practicing therapist, okay? Uh, it's gonna show up. What matters is that you receive it, like, oh, you identify it. Yeah, I know you're here. Get in the backseat. You don't get to control the thermometer, you don't get to control the radio station, you don't get to roll the windows down, none of that stuff. Know that it's gonna show up. You're absolutely gonna have moments where you just feel like, who the hell am I to be doing this? I've only, I only took my training two months ago. You guys remember I had my first paying client 12 weeks in, and I've had exactly one person out of thousands ask me my expertise level, my experience, all of that stuff. So if they have questions about that, that's okay. They can ask their questions. And if they don't want to work with you because you're a new therapist, that's okay too. The lady who asked me about my training, I also told her, yeah, I'm just starting out. Um, and that's why you're getting a discount of about paying 25% of what my normal rate will be. So just no, imposter syndrome is going to show up a decade in. It still shows up for me periodically, especially if people come to me from other therapists because you're just curious of like why things went wrong or why that therapist wasn't able to help you. So I always just get this little tinge of like, oh my gosh, I don't ever want to be the person that that gets paid and isn't able to help somebody. So that's number one. Know that imposter syndrome is gonna show up. Guaranteed, my friend. Number two, understand that you are trying to build what I like to call your prototype. So you're just getting started. So if you're wondering, am I ready to see clients? Yes. Because if you feel confident, confident in your clinical skills and you had a decent training and you're not just going out there willy-nilly being a terrible practitioner, then the first thing you need to do is build your prototype. And this is the thing that you're after the fastest. I I want my students to get their first client as fast as possible. My shortest was 16 weeks. So that was just about a month longer than it took me. But um, the whole point is to get that done so you can see, okay, it takes work. What kind of work did it take? Um, where do I need improvements? What processes and systems do I need help with? Where are the weak links? The longer it takes you to get to that first client, the longer it takes you to get to that second, third, fourth, tenth, twentieth, hundredth client. Okay. Each time that you get another client, you're dialing things in. You're figuring out your systems. I always tell my students, yes, I teach systems. That's what I teach, but yours aren't going to be perfect. You're always going to have some iterations for a while. And then, like in my practice, I bet you I haven't changed anything in my business for the last three to five years because I got it dialed in. Everything works, everything's automated, it's hands off. I literally only need to show up to therapy. And that's exactly how I want it. So if it takes you three, you know, three months to do a week's worth of work, it's gonna take you a long time to build your prototype. Um, our program, learn myofunctional therapy in 60 days or less. People are always so interested to know about the 60 days. And I always tell them, you can make the 60 days as long as you want. The program is created for you to get the material, take it in, learn it, and then implement it. So it's just that kind of like phase one. Phase two is the business building, phase one is the clinical foundations and clinical learning. The fastest that you get to that first paying client, then you're gonna be able to figure out what works, what doesn't work, what do I need to do differently. Okay, so get there. Get there, get there, get there. And the third thing that I want to talk about is to take ugly imperfect action. So, my friend, to get started, you have to put the car and drive. Myofunctional therapy is an implementation therapy. Okay, you've got to implement what you have learned. Don't sit on it for six months, don't sit on it for a year. Most of you guys who are coming into my coaching program, it is an execution problem. Okay. You don't know what you're supposed to be doing, which is obviously why you end up in business coaching with me. But also, some of you are coaching with me and you're still not executing on what you're supposed to do. So you got to get the car moving before we could figure out do we need it a little more to the right or a little bit more to the left. So I hope that's gonna help you. Really, the biggest takeaway from this episode is to just get started. Expect that you're gonna take ugly and perfect action. Expect that you're going to have imposter show syndrome show up. That's okay. You've not done anything wrong. It's totally normal. All right. If you need support with this, you have a few different ways you can get it. Number one, the most common is to just jump into a coaching program with me. The best way to do that is book your unstuck call. We're going to um talk about where you're stuck. I'm going to learn about you, your business. We're going to get a plan together because coaching is a six-month package with me. You um you're going to get information, actionable steps, strategy, stuff that you can move forward on, knowing exactly what to do, depending on what season of business you're in, where you're at, all of that stuff. So the best place to start is to book that unstuck call and we'll go from there. Um, that is it, my friend. That's all I have for you today. Go do your homework, get started, and uh we'll be back soon to talk about all things starting, growing, and simplifying your myofunctional therapy business.

Review And Community Invite

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I hope you loved today's episode, friend. I pray that it lifted you up, motivated you, and taught you something. If so, would you stop right now and go to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review? And lastly, make sure you've joined the profitable myofunctional therapist Facebook community. Links to all the goodies can be found wherever you're listening to this podcast. That's it for now. Cheering you on, my friend, and we'll chat soon.