Mara's comments

Sierra, I look forward to another contribution event. This is a great idea. I do hope you do this again. I agree with Howard ... a bit more structure and focus might make it even easier to help people.

Hi Judy and Bob, if anyone cancels, let me know -- this event sounds great!

Annika, this event was great. Thanks so much for hosting. Well done.

So Dr. X, are you saying therapists shouldn't promote their practices at all? You're right - I absolutely have a vested interest in promoting my practice, mostly because I need to eat and pay my bills like everyone else. :) We have to pick and choose how we do that, in ways that don't bleed outside our professional ethics. If blogging with your true ID doesn't fit your own perspective of these ethics, then it's good you're not doing that. But I think my posts are appropriate and reflect my therapeutic stances (which every therapist has to have).

One thing I've struggled with is the quick-fix appearance of psych blogging and marketing. I loathe it. It's not the way I practice at all. So I'm trying to figure out how to present my work authentically AND efficiently. It's challenging, at least for me, but that's the benefit of networking. It forces me to get creative.

Mara

Fred, I'm a psychotherapist too, and you're asking all the questions I've been asking as I've somewhat hesitantly stepped into blogging. Definitely a work in progress, and I've been so busy finishing up my doctoral curriculum that I haven't made time to keep the blog current. But each time I've posted, I've kept the focus very clear: I'm blogging to provide support to readers and to draw in additional clients. It's not for personal venting, processing, etc. I save that for my pen-and-paper journal and my personal relationships.

Obviously, who we are personally is an integral part of our work as therapists. There are laws and a code of ethics that map out the more explicit boundaries between patient and practitioner, but the more subtle aspects -- e.g., self-disclosure -- are up to each of us, to some extent. Lately, I disclose very little, partly to maintain the awareness that the relationship is professional and not personal, and partly to give my patients undivided focus and attention. This drives some of them crazy (no pun intended!), but especially with patients who struggle to focus on themelves, it's so crucial. I think it helps them feel safe, because they know they don't have to tend to me.

Mara

p.s. Feel free to check out my sites and let me know what you think: www.maraapplebaum.com www.seattlecounselor.blogspot.com

p.p.s. Would you be willing to share more about the work you're doing?

Hey Christopher, check out Tomie Stone, another Biznik member and contractor extraordinaire.

Oh, I'm so disappointed to have missed this, especially since I work on Macs exclusively. How did it go, Dan? Please let us know if you offer this again.

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com www.seattlecounselor.blogspot.com

Karl, could you explain more about what trackback is?

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com www.seattlecounselor.blogspot.com

OK, I've gotten a couple of link requests now, which is GREAT! Now, I'm just trying to figure out exactly how and where to go about putting y'all's links on my Blogger blog. Tips? Thanks for walking me through this...

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com www.seattlecounselor.blogspot.com

p.s. I still have the blog with my name as the address, but I think I'll use the above blog address primarily since it's more likely to get called up by Google, yes?

Yes, you should be able to comment this way. Also, I did some hunting and figured out how to create links in my posts, ala HTML code (which I have to copy, paste, and edit each time because I'm nowhere near remembering this stuff!). So, in the next few minutes, you should be able to click on links to my email and website directly from my blog posts. Yay! Always something new to learn.

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com http://maraapplebaum.blogspot.com

p.s. If anyone's interested in linking blogs (especially health-care practitioners), let me know.

Oh, a question: I have URLs in my Blogger posts, but they're not linking automatically like they do here. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com

deep breath

Yes, here it is! Check my blog out on Blogger:

http://maraapplebaum.blogspot.com

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com

Hey everyone, thanks for the words of wisdom and encouragement. FIVE HOURS A DAY ... holy ... smoke. I know I won't be doing that much, but I think it's worthwhile to schedule regular, finite blogging/online time either daily or weekly. I think I'll try blogging on Blogger and here for a while and see what happens. Your point about investing is well taken, Karl ... it's the same approach I have with face-to-face networking. Relationship. It all takes time.

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com

(and thanks for the website compliment!!)

Phew. This is good encouragement. My consultant has really been pushing blogging, so I just set up a profile on Blogger to finally get my toes into the blogging pool. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at this point and would love to get feedback about how folks began their blogs, how often you post, what seems to draw people to your blog, etc.

Mara www.maraapplebaum.com

Hi Jim and Hannah,

I'm also thinking about starting a blog (I'm a psychotherapist), and the concerns about boundaries are important to me, too. I'd like to have a blog on my website to attract more traffic, and I'm thinking it would be more informational than self-confessional. It'll be good for me to keep in mind the purpose: to invite and support clients. As long as that intention is clear, I think a blog could be really great!

Mara