Starting a Private Practice

Recorded Webinar
Panelists: Jen Erbe Leggett, M.S.W. '99, LICSW, Ronjonette O’Bannon, Ph.D. ’20, LCSW and Sara Schieffelin, M.S.W. ’08, LICSW 
CEs: None 
Level: Intermediate
Target Audience: Social workers and other social service providers.
Course Delivery Method and Format: Recorded webinar, self study. All courses are hosted on SmithOnline. Login information will be emailed immediately after registration to the email address entered during registration.
System Requirements: Attendees will need access to a computer with internet and the capability to play recorded videos.

Date of original webinar: September 20, 2021 

In this informal panel discussion, Jen Erbe Leggett, LICSW, M.S.W. ’99, Ronjonette O’Bannon LCSW, Ph.D. ’20, and Sara Schieffelin, LICSW, M.S.W. ’08, answer questions about starting a private practice. Topics will include things to know before you start your practice,  balancing business with social work values and how to support the adminstrative side of a clinical practice. 

Topics will include:

• Things to know before you start your practice: business plan, insurance panels, initial marketing
• Focus of practice: mission, different models, niche ideas (full time, part time)
• Balancing business with social work values
• Rates, billing and insurance
• Community: supervision, peer supervision, referrals
• Self-care that speaks to paying yourself a wage, taking vacations and interacting with other professionals

There will be a moderated panel discussion with time for questions at the end.

Registration Fee and Deadline:

$35 (one time registration fee of $5) | Ongoing 

Panelists:

Jen Erbe Leggett, M.S.W. ’99, LICSW, is the owner and CEO of The Leggett Group, a team of 26 (and growing) highly-skilled clinicians dedicated to serving the complex needs of area residents while supporting our work and growth together. The Leggett Group is a general group practice that offers particular expertise in the areas of perinatal mental health, treating racial trauma, and LGBTQIA+ emotional concerns. Jen is an active advocate for social justice for her practice’s clients, and frequently advocates for increased treatment access for all people, and better working conditions for social workers and other therapists. Jen is the Co-chair of the NASW-MA Managed Care Commission, and is a graduate of Smith College School for Social Work. 

Ronjonette O’Bannon, Ph.D. ’20, LCSW, is a psychotherapist at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, and operates an online private practice. O’Bannon imparts over sixteen years of clinical social work practice experience with her students, teaching as a seminar instructor at Smith College –  M.S.W. Program and the University at Buffalo. O’Bannon’s interests include the reciprocal relationship between childhood maltreatment, adult revictimization, criminal justice reforms for women; mental health effects of discrimination and stigma among marginalized groups; and creating interventions that support socioeconomic growth and development among women globally. O’Bannon earned a Ph.D. in social work at Smith College, an M.S.W. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a postgraduate certificate in Trauma-Informed Clinical Care at SUNY Buffalo. Her professional experience includes many years advocating for policy changes for juvenile offenders and destigmatizing mental health care for women of color.  

Sara Schieffelin, M.S.W. ’08, LICSW, has worked with children, adolescents, families and adults in Massachusetts, Colorado and Thailand. She has worked in community mental health and school settings, and currently consults and has a private practice. Schieffelin is a member of the international organization Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and has been teaching motivational interviewing since 2013. She lives with her husband and son in Florence, Massachusetts.