WP151 | The 5 Essentials for Starting a Kids Therapy Practice with Melissa Griffing, MS LPC RPT
Here we go, friends! Today, we’re diving into the real nuts and bolts of launching a thriving kids therapy practice! If you’ve ever dreamed of a playroom that’s actually a treatment room, wondered how to navigate parents, paperwork, and school teams without losing your mind, or you’re ready to add kiddos to your caseload the right way—this episode is your shortcut.
I’m joined by my friend and kid-therapy powerhouse Melissa Griffing, MS, LPC, RPT, founder of Wellnest Counseling in Dallas. She’s walking us through the five essentials you absolutely need: minor-ready forms and ROIs, rock-solid confidentiality with parents in the loop, a space that invites play and professionalism, a schedule that works for families and your life, and a referral web that makes you the hub of real change.
We’re talking scripts you can steal, room setup must-haves, custody curveballs, and practical rhythms for school coordination and parent consults. If you serve families—or want to—this conversation will save you months of guesswork and a few headaches, too.
Hit play, take notes, and let’s build a kids practice that’s ethical, sustainable, and wildly effective!
1) Paperwork Built for Minors (and Their Grown-Ups)
Working with kids means your intake stack must go beyond standard informed consent.
Must-have forms & workflows
Minor consent + parent/guardian authorization (follow your state’s age-of-consent rules).
Custody documentation: Always obtain and read the current court order before the first session. Look for who can authorize therapy and whether consent is joint or independent.
Targeted ROIs: Pediatrician/PCP, psychiatrist/NP, school counselor/teacher, SLP/OT, and any evaluators.
18th-birthday switch: The moment a client turns 18, you need a new consent and ROIs—even to speak with the parent or charge the parent’s card.
Pro tip (from Melissa): Train your admin to flag missing legal docs and to pause scheduling until everything is in. It’s kinder to hold the boundary on the front end than to untangle it later.
2) Confidentiality with Parents in the Loop
Kids are your clients; parents are your partners. That tension is where good child therapy lives.
How I frame it with parents (script)
“If I tell you everything your teen says, they’ll stop talking. I’ll share themes, progress, and specific coaching for home. If there’s a safety concern, you’ll be brought in immediately.”
How I frame it with teens (script)
“You have privacy here. I don’t run to your parents with every detail. If there’s a safety issue or something urgent, we’ll loop them in together.”
Bonus nuances
Privileged communication ≠ standard confidentiality. Know your state rules and your duty to report.
Divorced/co-parenting cases: Keep communication balanced. Bias creeps in fast when only one caregiver is talking to you.
Court language: Unless you’re trained for custody evaluations, include a clear court policy & fee schedule that discourages subpoenas.
3) Space That Serves Play (and Still Works for Grown-Ups)
If you’re a play-therapy purist, a dedicated room is gold: low, open shelves, accessible themed toys, sand tray, and room to move. If you also see adults, create a transitional room that can flex:
Couch + armchair + small table (adult-friendly),
Cubbies with bins for toys (kid-friendly and easy to reset),
Easy-wipe rugs and a “mess plan” for sand/art days.
Design tip: Store toys at child height. The invitation to choose is therapeutic.
4) Scheduling Realities (and Boundaries) for Kid Practices
Parents prefer after-school slots, which means your peak hours are 2–7 p.m. Expect fewer morning sessions and build your week accordingly.
Sustainable scheduling playbook
Start new families in daytime slots with a waitlist to slide down into after-school times as they open.
Offer school excuse notes for daytime therapy.
Set a latest session time you can live with (your family dinners matter, too).
Keep a rolling graduation plan so growth doesn’t depend on holding everyone forever.
What I tell my team: “We don’t manufacture availability. We keep clinical quality and personal sustainability. Clients choose from the times we offer.”
5) Build a Multidisciplinary Referral Web
Most child cases are team sports—especially with neurodivergent kiddos. Your results will rise or fall on the strength of your connections.
Network targets
Medical: pediatricians, psychiatrists/NPs
School: counselors, 504/IEP teams
Therapies: SLP, OT, PT, feeding therapists
Testing: psychologists/neuropsychs
Parent support: parent coaches, faith communities, social skills groups
Easy outreach rhythm
Two relationship coffees per month (SLP/OT/psych/PCP).
One school touchpoint per active school-age case each quarter (with ROIs, of course).
A short one-pager about your practice and how you coordinate care.
Bonus Essentials We Couldn’t Skip
Interns multiply impact.
Melissa is onboarding an admin-plus-clinical intern early in their program (per Georgia/Texas rules). Interns can support phones, social media, family resources, and—when appropriate—offer lower-fee sessions under supervision. It’s workforce development, mission, and access all in one.
Custody savvy saves headaches.
Require custody orders up front. Read them. Highlight sections on healthcare decision-making and therapy rights. Document every attempt to contact the non-present parent when consent is needed.
Parent communication cadence.
Over-communicate without oversharing. We like:
Intake with caregivers,
First kid session that includes confidentiality limits,
Monthly parent consults (15–30 minutes) focused on home strategies and progress themes.
Show Sponsor Practice at Scale
I want to give a quick shoutout to our sponsor, Practice at Scale. They are your done-for-you growth team for group practices wanting to scale.
If you’ve outgrown the DIY hustle and you’re ready for serious growth, more leads, better systems, and more, Practice at Scale can help. They don’t just consult; they do the work.
You get a growth team that’s so customized, it feels like you have an in-house team, without the overhead. They help you take the guesswork out of growth.
Want to see what’s working and what’s not in your practice growth? Get a free marketing and website analysis at practiceatscale.co/wise-analysis. It’s time to scale smarter.
Melissa Griffing’s Resources
Links and Resources
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[00:00:00] Whitney Owens: I wanna give a quick shout out to our sponsor practice at Scale. They are your done for you growth team for group practices wanting to scale. If you've outgrown the DIY hustle and you're ready for serious growth, more leads, better systems, and more. Practice at scale can help. They don't just consult, they actually do the work.
You get a growth team that's so customized, it feels like you have an in-house team without the overhead. They help take the guesswork out of growth. Wanna see what's working and what's not working for your practice growth. Get a free marketing and website analysis at practice at scale.co/wise-analysis.
Again, practice at scale.co/wise-analysis. It's time to scale smarter. Hi, I'm Whitney Owens. I'm a group practice owner and faith-based practice consultant, and I'm here to tell you that you can have it all. Wanna grow your practice. Wanna grow your faith, wanna enjoy your life outside of work, you've come to the right place.
Each week on The Wise Practice Podcast, I will give you the action steps to have a successful faith-based practice while also having a good time. Now let's get started.
[00:01:14] Jingle: Where she grows your practice and she don't play. She does business with a twist of faith. It's Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast, Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast.
[00:01:33] Whitney Owens: Hello friends, and thanks for hanging out with me on the podcast. Today we're gonna be talking with. Expert kid therapist Melissa Griffin. And she owns a group therapy practice specialize in in kids and play therapy in Dallas, Texas. So we're gonna walk through what the must haves are for running a kid based practice.
'cause you've really gotta do some of your setup and your understanding differently than you would other private practices. And look, we learned a little bit about this in school. But we don't learn all these details. And so Melissa does a great job of presenting that today, and I hope that everybody's having a great start to the fall.
I am excited. I know that summer, I'm actually kind of sad that summer's ending, but for work-wise it can pick up, it be a little bit easier around the office, um, because more clients are coming in and we're hiring new staff and it's always so much fun to hire new staff. We're actually changed the way that we do our trainings.
And we only, we always bring in more than two people at a time, at least two people at a time, to kind of go through a training together, to kind of a cohort. But this time we've got four people going through training. So we have an intern and a second intake person and two therapists. So I'm really excited about that.
And as I was kind of thinking about what I could bring to y'all today, something new that we're doing is. We've always had interns, but I've never had interns that are in the beginning of their programs. So with the social work program, at least here in Georgia, we can, they can start doing an internship from the very beginning and they really encourage them to, that doesn't mean they're necessarily seeing clients immediately, but it's an opportunity for them to start earning hours, get to know a practice, and so.
We hired this gal and she will be helping out with lots of things around the office. She's gonna be taking calls, she's gonna be helping with social media, helping with the newsletters. She's gonna be doing a lot of stuff and it's a really good idea to bring interns. I know some people kind of get intimidated about that idea, bringing intern into the practice, but it's great.
It's. Well people, you don't have to pay to do things to help your practice, but it's also an opportunity to see somebody working and to decide if it's someone you might wanna hire, um, without having that commitment. It's like a long job interview. And it's also great 'cause you're investing in their lives.
You're teaching them about the clinical work and they need an internship and. They're also able to see clients and provide that service in the community. As a private pay practice, it's also great because I can offer lower cost sessions, so just been thinking about interns and so if you've ever thought about an intern, I would encourage you to consider that more, or feel free to reach out to me if you've got questions about that and would love to kind of chat through what your options are.
But I would encourage you to be thinking about adding interns to your practice. Um, so. Without further ado though, we're gonna jump into this episode with Melissa and we're gonna talk about the five must haves. And setting up a kid play therapy practice.
Alright, I'm excited to welcome you to the Wise Practice podcast. I've got my friend here, Melissa Griffin. And she's pretty fabulous, so I'm excited for you to get to know her. She's an LPC group practice owner, helping families heal and thrive. She's the founder of wellness counseling in Dallas, Texas, specializes in supporting kids, teens, parents through life's challenges.
Melissa brings both clinical expertise, real life experience as a mom of three, navigating deployments, parenting, and running a business. She believes in the power of therapy to break generational cycles and create lasting transformation. So glad to have you on the show.
[00:05:27] Melissa Griffing: Oh, thanks. That was a nice little introduction.
[00:05:29] Whitney Owens: Well, you know, you wrote it or chatt PT, you might, somebody wrote it and it was good. Um, he wrote it. They write all the best. Um, oh man, I'm so happy to have you on the show. So I literally was just, I've been podcasting all day. This is my fifth podcast today.
[00:05:46] Melissa Griffing: That's, that's a lot.
[00:05:48] Whitney Owens: That's a lot. And I love it.
Um, and I was talking about you on one of the shows, but now I can't remember which one, because I was telling the story about how we met at the a CA conference.
[00:05:56] Melissa Griffing: Oh yeah. I came up to you because I was in a phase of my practice where I was just like distraught and I was like, she seems like she knows what she's doing.
[00:06:05] Whitney Owens: Yeah. I don't know. I, I guess I figured something out, but I also believe in God ordained appointments and God brought you and I'm really grateful that I spoke at that conference to be able to, to connect with you. And I always will remember you walking up to me after the faith as a resource in therapy talk and telling me.
That we can have our faith in evidence-based therapy. And I, I think that's so beautiful and so important. So anyway, you just never know when you go to a conference, the Wise Practice Summit, who you might meet and where that might go for your life. So anyway, glad to have met you at a CA and today you're gonna really bring it with talking about.
Kid therapy. So tell us a little bit about wellness. Like when it started, how it's going, what you, what it's like, and then we're gonna jump into these must-haves for a kid therapy practice.
[00:06:57] Melissa Griffing: Yeah. Okay. So I started wellness in 2021. Uh, fun fact, I was six weeks postpartum and I thought that was a really great idea.
[00:07:07] Whitney Owens: Haha, Uhhuh.
[00:07:09] Melissa Griffing: It worked out, it's fine. But yeah, I, I always loved working with kids and I even like as a, as a high schooler, right? Like I was always the one doing the nannying and I was a camp counselor and, um, my mom's a pediatrician, so she's always done kids and worked with kids. And it's just what I've seen, what's been modeled for me.
Uh, my mom has her own private practice as well, so I went to school with a teacher and then I was like, I don't like being a teacher, but I like the kids and I like talking to the kids about their like feelings and their emotions and their. Drama at school between the groups and all of that. And so that was kinda my big sign to be like, okay, we need a career change.
We need to go to therapy. Um, so we did that. We, I went to, uh, SMU and then, you know, did all the coursework and then got into play therapy and. Then the dream became to start this private practice that I could, you know, build and grow with and have the flexibility to be a mom as well, and to be able to like, you know, go to my kids' things and, and not miss out on that.
So, kind of wanting the best of both worlds. And so I started wellness aptly named because I wanted to, to send the message that we were bringing wellness to Your Nest, whatever that looks like, right? Like, we want, we want wellness there.
[00:08:36] Whitney Owens: Oh, I just love your name and logo and what it's all about. It's beautiful, proud, and I like that.
It's like got some kid focus on it, but it's not like too kid-like, you know, you've still got a professional feel to it, so that's what, yeah,
[00:08:49] Melissa Griffing: what's going for.
[00:08:50] Whitney Owens: Nice, nice. All right, so you've got this kid practice. How long have you had it again? Four years. Four years. That's awesome. Yeah. And then now it's
[00:08:59] Melissa Griffing: a group practice, correct?
It is, yes, we are in the throes of hiring right now, so that's very exciting. Well, and it is exciting and it's
[00:09:09] Whitney Owens: also stressful. Yeah, that too.
[00:09:11] Melissa Griffing: It's
[00:09:11] Whitney Owens: also very stressful. Yeah, I hear you. Um, so awesome. Okay, so let's talk about. Really this, this building a practice that's for kids, I think has some unique things that we have to consider.
So I think you have five different things there for us to look at.
[00:09:28] Melissa Griffing: Yes. Yeah. So there's some, there's, there are some nuances when you wanna work with kids that I think are sometimes touched on in schools, but like not always deep, deep dived into. Um, and I think what I see a lot of therapists do, and, and I, I mean I have to.
I have to be honest, like I work with kids and I'm a registered play therapist, so I'm like, I'm, I am trained in a very specific way to work with kids. And so I think what I see a lot of therapists do is they'll start, they, they work with teens or they'll work with adults, right? And they'll get like an 18-year-old on their caseload.
And they'll be like, oh, that one's so bad. Like I can work with 18, I'd probably do 17. And then they work with a 17-year-old and they're like, oh yeah, okay. That wasn't so bad. I can, I can probably do 16. Right? And they work their way down. But then you have this therapist that's never been trained in working the nuances of working with a child a minor, even though we've got like 17 and 18 year olds that, well 18 year olds are technically adults.
Right. But there's, most of 'em are still at home and you still have to work with the parents. Navigate that and, and there's a lot of just like little things that people don't know about. So if you're gonna set up your private practice to work with kids, there's some things that I think are very important to know about.
Yeah. So should I just go down the list and then we can dive into them? Okay. All right. So we've got, so forms, there's specific forms and ROIs that, um, you'll, you need in your practice that are unique to having minors, minors in your practice. And some of them are like. If you're working with a 17-year-old, you don't need an ROI to talk to their parent, but the moment they turn 18, you do need an ROI to talk to their parent and that whole dynamic shifts.
You also need an ROI to. Charge the parent's credit card now because if you charge their credit card without that, you're breaking confidentiality. You're saying your kid is coming to therapy with me and you can't do that without, without the adult 18 year old's permission, even though they were in there at 17.
So. That's something you have to like work in and kind of walk your team through. And then you also need a bunch of ROIs like for working with other professionals. If you've got a kiddo that is seeing a for medical medicine management or we're having trouble at school or we're, we're working with a speech therapist, like it's a very.
Multidimensional team. And so a lot of times there's, there's a way to communicate with all these other professionals to give that best practice. So the forms look a little different. So that's one of them. We kind of touched on confidentiality. That looks a little bit different with your kids and teens too, because.
You've got, again, when you have that 17-year-old turn 18, now we have to talk about what confidentiality looks like. But then we also have the, a dynamic where the kid is my client, right? And they're, I'm seeing them, but the parent wants to be involved and they wanna know what they can do to help their child going through whatever they're going through.
And so we have to, um, navigate keeping our clients, our kid clients' confidentiality, but also making the parents feel that they are involved in the process and they, um, are, are they, they know what's going on in the, in the play therapy room because that's a lot of the feedback I get from parents. Like, well, my kid goes in there and like.
I don't really know what you're doing and I never really get to talk to the therapist. So at wellness we really try to make sure we're over communicating with parents so they don't feel like that.
[00:13:07] Whitney Owens: Yeah, I'm gonna, yeah, I got some things. Um, this is great. So the first one you went to, my ROIs. I think it's important to acknowledge and, and correct me if I'm wrong here, there are some states where Vermont, where someone under age 18 is.
Considered able to consent for their own treatment. Like when I was in Colorado, it was age 16. Yeah. So that would mean that you would need an ROI for a 16, 17-year-old, correct. Correct. Mm-hmm. Okay. So it's important that we're figuring out what's that age of consenting to services?
[00:13:40] Melissa Griffing: Yes, for sure. Yeah, it, it varies by state.
Here in Texas it's, it's 18, so it's just easy. That's an easy cutoff, right? I think actually, I think it might be 17, but yes, it does vary by state. By state. And I learned that recently, somebody told me that, that like 16 year olds or 14 year olds could consent to therapy without their parents' permission.
And I was like blown away. I think that's okay. I think, but yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:14:05] Whitney Owens: Yeah, and, and at least here 14, you get to decide which parent you wanna live with.
[00:14:11] Melissa Griffing: Yeah. That's true for Texas too. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's another nuance. As a play therapist, we do work with a lot of like custody cases and so we have to navigate, say like that.
We have to navigate with the parents with that. Like we don't, we're not trained to say which parent is appropriate for the kid to live with. And so working with divorced families, that's a whole other nuanced ball game that you have to make sure you've got the paperwork, you've gotta make sure the, the custody agreement.
Um, we have a big old thing in there if you subpoena us or take us to court. It's gonna cost a lot of money 'cause it costs a lot of our time basically to go into a courtroom to say, I can't answer that question 'cause that's not my area of expertise. So, so we try really hard not to do that unless you're like trained and specialized in working and that's what you do Most play therapists are just, you know, we just, we just wanna work with the kid.
We wanna deal. That's right. We don't wanna deal with all that.
[00:15:09] Whitney Owens: Yeah. I I'm glad you brought that up. Like when we have people call needing something for custody or mediation or whatever, like Yeah. We refer out and say, Hey, they really need to see someone who specializes in doing these evaluations. Um, and, you know, your, your therapist can't be bi unbiased.
We're gonna be biased.
[00:15:26] Melissa Griffing: For sure, for sure. Especially like in, in those situations, it's usually one parent that brings the kiddo over the other. And so just like working with a couple or like working with like, like the wife or a husband in a, a marriage dynamic, and then you say, well, you probably need marriage counseling, so that's, that's a referral I'm gonna make for you.
But ethically, like, I can't do it because I already have all these biases. Against mm-hmm. Person. 'cause I have your story, your side of it, right?
[00:15:56] Whitney Owens: Yeah.
[00:15:56] Melissa Griffing: Started, so it's similar when you're working with divorced parents in the sense that like, one parent tends to bring in the child most of the time. And so I've, I have a bias, I have a bias against another parent if I'm not careful.
And so ethically, I shouldn't be going into a courtroom unless I'm trained to do that, which I'm not. So don't send me those people.
[00:16:18] Whitney Owens: That's right. So this is a little off, but I think it's a good thing to talk about when someone calls and they're divorced parents.
[00:16:28] Jingle: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:29] Whitney Owens: Do you mandate custody paperwork?
Mm-hmm. Okay. How do you know what to ask for? When to ask for it. Will you keep seeing someone if they forget it?
[00:16:40] Melissa Griffing: Yeah. Oh, it's such a gray area. So our policy is that we won't see the child until we have all of the documents signed and all of the paperwork submitted. And that is, that includes the case, the case or the custody paperwork before we see the child.
We read the custody paperwork. So I've gotten really good at reading a lot of. Different language around custody. And in that paperwork there's gonna be something that says who has rights to bring the child to therapy, and whether those rights are contingent on the other parent's opinion and permission, or if they're independent rights, they don't need the other parent's permission to bring their child to therapy.
There's so many different ways to write it, so you just have to read it really, really clearly. And then based on that paperwork, we make some decisions. We decide if we can see the child with only one parent's consent, or if we need both parents' consent, Bo best practices any. Anyone will tell you is it's just best practices to get both parents' consent and get everyone's signature on all the paperwork.
Um, so we try to do that as much as possible. There has been a couple of situations where we've ethically felt like it was okay to see the child because the paperwork said, you know, mom or dad, whoever it was, had. Complete custody of this child and we did not need infor the informed consent signatures from the other parent.
Or the, the other parent is absent and we can't get ahold of them. Um, we did our due diligence. We tried to get ahold of them. So there's, there's some nuanced situations there that you really just have to use your best judgment and consult a lawyer, of course, but yeah. Yeah, that's helpful.
[00:18:29] Whitney Owens: So, so Melissa, you've got a group practice.
Are you checking every intake about that and reading that paperwork or your therapist or who's doing that?
[00:18:38] Melissa Griffing: So I, I try to check it all. Um, my office manager also checks the paperwork. He's the one that sends out all the paperwork to begin with, and so he'll make sure I've trained him pretty well. Um, on making sure that he knows what to look for.
He's in school to become a therapist too, so he's, he just took, you know, recently he took the ethics course and I, and he was like, Hey, did you know this changed? I was like, oh, no. Thanks for letting me know. So that was helpful. But yeah, it's either me or my office manager. We are checking all the paperwork, making sure that we have everything in order, especially if we're working with a family that.
Is divorced or heading towards divorce because there's always a risk of going back to court. Right. Of that family wanting to change their custody agreement.
[00:19:27] Whitney Owens: Oh yeah. I'm sure we could share so many awful stories. Yeah. Um, all right, so you were, we were talking about confidentiality and that fine line there.
I think that's, I mean, we could do so many nuances on that too. In fact, you know, I. I didn't even know that you could do this, but it's like privileged communication is kind of something different. Mm-hmm. You understand? Okay. And it took me, I didn't know that starting out really, like, I thought it was kind of the same thing, but my, uh, we had a case with a kid who had said some things that potentially were not gonna go well if the parent had known what the kid said in treatment.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, and the child was old enough to make their own decisions on what they wanted shared, and some things went down and the parents got mad at us because we were advocating the, the, the adolescent. And so I had to get my attorney involved. He was like, yeah, we're just gonna redact all this.
Mm-hmm. And I was like, whoa. All right. So, you know, I learned a lot through that experience of like, privileged communication is something different. Mm-hmm. Could, can you kind of speak, you're probably able to speak to that better than me.
[00:20:40] Melissa Griffing: I, yeah, I think again, it's like, it's a gray area. It's nuanced, right?
So as therapists, we are a mandated reporters, so we, we have to keep our clients' safety in, in our, the forefront of our mind above all else. Now determining what we feel is the most safe approach can get a little sticky sometimes, especially if you are working with an abuse situation or. A situation where maybe the parents just aren't in a healthy place and can't respond in a way that would be.
Proactive and beneficial to the child. 'cause remember, the child is our client, not the parent. So yeah, there's a lot of kind of, again, nuanced situations where you as the therapist, you have to decide what to tell the parents. And when to tell the parents when to bring them in. And so like, one of the things that I'll tell my parents in, in our intakes is, is with the older one, with the older teens, I'll say, okay, now listen, I kind of, I like, I, I try to bring humor into it, but listen, if I tell you everything your teen tells me, they're not gonna tell me anything.
And they usually laugh. They're like, oh yeah, you know, you're so right. So, so what I am gonna do is I'm gonna tell you. Big themes that are happening. I'm gonna tell you how you can help and what you can do to help the situation. And then if something urgent happens where I deem that it is important that you know, then I'm certainly gonna bring you in for that.
If it's a safety issue, I'm gonna bring you in for that, you know? But I get some teams that will share that they were at a party and they had. An alcoholic beverage. And so I have to decide, is that something I have to tell the parents immediately or is that going to negatively impact the therapeutic approach?
And so this is where it gets gray when you're working with teams and, and deciding what is the best therapeutic approach for them and the family. Mm-hmm.
[00:22:40] Whitney Owens: Yeah, I appreciate you saying that. Another, another, I like, I like your approach there, kind of getting a laugh out of 'em, you know, and I think that. Very wise, you know, I haven't worked with teens kids in quite some time.
I have other therapists at the practice that do. But um, I used to bring the teen in. Actually, I never worked with kids. I'm not like ever did. The youngest I think I ever saw was like a 10 or 11-year-old. 10-year-old. But anyway, I, I bring the, the teenager in so they hear, so they don't feel like I'm. Got this like special relationship with their parents.
I want the team to always know what's said. And so I will even say to the parents like, Hey, I'll take check-ins, like if you wanna shoot me an email and let me know what's going on, but I want you to know that your child's gonna hear everything you say. 'cause your child is my client. And you know, and I'll say to the kid, are you okay with your parents letting me know what's going on and get their buy-in?
You know? Yeah. But also help them see that like, Hey, I'm on your side. I'm not here for your parents.
[00:23:40] Melissa Griffing: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I, I try to take an allied approach. I, so on the flip side right, I'll do an intake with the kids. So I do 'em separately because I want the parents to talk candidly about what's going on.
And then I'll do another intake with the kids, or it's their first session, but I treat it as like a second intake and depending on the age of the teenager. And so I'll tell them, you know, you've got informed, you've got con confidentiality. And, and here I I'm not gonna go tell your mom everything that you say.
I, then you would tell me nothing. Right? And they're like, yeah, I would tell you nothing. And I'm like, exactly. So we kind of go through that. I said, no, but there are a few things I have to tell your mom. And so I walk through that with them, right? Like, where are my limits to, because my job is to keep you safe as well.
So where are my limits? Yeah. So we'll walk through that. But, but again, like, you know, I like, I like, I'll have teens come in and they're like. Well, I, I was at a party and my friend, you know, had some marijuana and we, I tried it and they'll go, wait. And I'll be like, okay, well let's talk about it. Let's see, is it, is this something that I have to share with your parent?
Is it, are you gonna do it again? How are you doing it frequently? Like, what, what does this look like? Right? So we can kinda walk through, is it under your bed? Is it under your bed? Like, I'm gonna find it in your room. Like, what's going on? Yeah.
[00:25:00] Whitney Owens: So, yeah. And when you do that first intake with the child, do you let the child know that you did one with the parents?
Mm-hmm.
[00:25:07] Melissa Griffing: Yeah, I tell 'em I talk. No, I and I, I'll tell them I am gonna talk to your parents, but just know that like, like I'm your ally. I'm here. Like if there's something your parents are doing, and I'll say this to 'em too, if there's something your parents are doing that you're like, God, it's so annoying, and it makes me so mad, like part of my job is I get to go back to your parents and be like, Hey, let's do this differently.
Let's try mm-hmm. Differently. And so the kids like that too, that I get to kind of be their ally. I tell their parents to knock it off every once in a while.
[00:25:35] Whitney Owens: That's right. That's right. All right. What else do you have there as tips and things we need to know?
[00:25:41] Melissa Griffing: Okay, well if you're setting up a practice from scratch, I think something, so two things that are really important to know is how to utilize your space properly.
So if you are a true play therapist purist at heart, right? You are gonna want a play therapy room and we have one designated play therapy room. 'cause we see, I would, I'd say like 80% of our clientele is, is kids. Between four to 10. Um, so it makes sense for us to have one room that is total play therapy.
And we've got, you know, your, if you Google what a, a purist play therapy room looks like, you'll see low shelves, open shelves. The toys are accessible. Everything is at a height where the kids can reach it all. We have a sandbox in our room, gets really messy, but we just live with it. And we've got, you know, the all, all the different themed toys that are specific to play therapy.
Um, so that makes sense for us. But if you're someone who sees kids, but also sees adults, then setting up a space where you can do both in can be a little bit challenging because you want it to feel accessible for the kids and welcoming to the kids, but then you also wanna be able to convert it into this like, mature space for the adults.
Mm-hmm. Just thinking about. Space is another like, nuanced, how do I do this appropriately? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:27:06] Whitney Owens: Yeah, I, I've definitely seen the concept of cabinets. Yep. Yep. Being really effective. You know, bookshelves that have baskets. Yep. You know, or ottomans that open up stuff like that.
[00:27:19] Melissa Griffing: Yeah, we've got, so we have our one designated play therapy room, and then we have what we call like our transitional room.
And so in it, it's, it's set up for like a more like a teen or a tween. Um, but we take adults in there sometimes 'cause so, you know, sometimes we just have to, um, sure. Space allows for, but we set it up so there's like a couch and a table and a chair, and then like we have these cubbies with those baskets in 'em, those, those bins.
And so all the toys are in the bins, but they're still low, so the kids can just pull the bins out and dump out whatever they want. So that one doesn't, that space doesn't feel as mature as our adult space, which is. Just a couch and a chair and a carpet and a picture frame and you know, things like that.
The traditional, yeah, that's
[00:28:12] Whitney Owens: right. Alright. What else do you have there?
[00:28:14] Melissa Griffing: I think that it's really important to understand that if you were gonna work with kids, you are gonna be working evenings because parents don't wanna pull their kids outta school. Hmm. So my schedule looks really different than a new traditional nine to five.
Most therapist schedule looked different than a traditional nine to five. I would say my a, a play therapist schedule looks even more different because I tend to not start till 11 most days. I will get my teenagers that can come off campus for lunch break, and so they'll come during that time. Mornings I tend to use for telehealth for like if I'm doing parent consultations or.
You know, intakes for the first time, but then the bulk of my clients are coming between the hours of two and seven
[00:29:00] Jingle: mm.
[00:29:01] Melissa Griffing: So it is later. That does mean I miss dinner time with my family most of the time, most of the days. So given a take, right? It also means I'm available during the day, a lot of the times to go to my kids' school and volunteer or set up the classroom for the Halloween, you know, whatever party, like all those things.
So. Just where your priorities are. Mm-hmm.
[00:29:25] Whitney Owens: And so, um, I think it's so important that you said that because a lot of therapists, even, even here at Water's Edge, when I'm hiring people to see kids, when I say, Hey, I need you to work evenings, they're like, I don't wanna work evenings. I'm like. Well, you're not gonna get kids.
No. Yeah. What do you wanna do then? So curious what you'd say about this. I actually currently have a, a child therapist. She's right there in the next office. She's so great, such a great therapist. And, um, she stays consistently full 'cause she's great. And now she can't get people on her schedule because people, well, basically clients will say, well, I can only come at these times.
And then she will say, yes, but you need to come every week. And those times are full. And so what would you recommend in a situation like that? 'cause now she feels like she needs to work even later to be able to provide more opportunity.
[00:30:17] Melissa Griffing: Yeah, that is the curse of the play therapist, right? We we're kid people we love, we're we're people.
People we're people pleasers a lot of times too. And a lot of times we like, we get it 'cause we have kids as well. We're moms or dads ourselves. And so I think, I think it's really important to set your boundaries with when you're gonna work and then understand that like, that confidence that you have in yourself.
Like if you know you're a good play therapist and you say. I only have one and 2:00 PM available right now. That means you're gonna have to pull your kid out a little bit earlier from school one day a week and people will come. You'll find, you'll find that person who's willing to do that. And then the other kind of trick we've started implementing, not trick, but you know, tactic we've started implementing in our office is, we'll, we'll tell people, listen, we only have daytime availability because if you think about it.
Afterschool availability is maybe three depending on the time that your kid gets outta school. Some it's 2 55, some it's three 30, some it's 3 45, right? So maybe 3, 4, 5. If you're willing to work six to seven, that's four hours, right? That's, that's three or four hours. If you work five days a week, that's only 20 spots.
15 to 20 spots. I'm not working five days a week 'cause that's a lot of not being home for dinner time. So you really have to set your boundaries and just like hold strong to it. And then we tell parents, we've only got daytime available right now, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna stick you there as soon as we have somebody, you know, transition off, graduate from therapy, however you wanna call it, in the afternoons, we'll we'll move you there.
But our new people have to start during the day. And then we move our, our longer term clients down when we have the availability. And a lot of parents are okay with the. Temporary daytime availability, which also makes a nice flow because then it's like you really get comfortable with, you know, graduating your clients.
I know that can be, that can be kind of hard sometimes when you're worried about getting new clients on your caseload. I'm just like, oh, I can't let anyone go. 'cause. Then I'd fall below my sessions per week and all of that. But if you have this like kind of flow going where it's like the two o'clocks are moving down to the four o'clocks and then you're sticking a new client there, it makes a really nice kind of wait list flow situation.
I like
[00:32:41] Whitney Owens: that. Yeah. No, that's really great. And. And actually I ended up giving her the advice that you just said. So I'm glad that, I'm glad that we said the same thing. I mean, my advice was you don't make yourself available for, for them. Mm-hmm. You, you say, this is when I work and they make themselves available.
You're the one offering them a service. It's not like I call the doctor's office. Yeah. I mean, right. And I say, well, I'm available at four o'clock on Wednesday, so I, or I'm available at six o'clock. I expect him to stay, you know?
[00:33:11] Melissa Griffing: Yeah, I think, and I think it's, it's a little bit different 'cause my mom's a doctor, right?
So I think it's she's, and she says things like that and I'm like, yeah. But I do understand that it's a little bit different. 'cause we are seeing these people weekly. Weekly. Whereas with a doctor, you're like, you go like once every six months. So it's, you can take off school once every six months. So, so I get it.
But we also, like, I'm sure you guys do too, we offer doctor's notes or, or like. You know, tardy notes, things like that. So they're usually excused absences.
[00:33:41] Whitney Owens: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
[00:33:43] Melissa Griffing: All right, so you've got
[00:33:44] Whitney Owens: one more there I
[00:33:45] Melissa Griffing: think. Yeah. Well, um, okay, so on the note of doctors, right, professional connections is gonna be super important when we're talking about doing a play therapy practice because there's, I can't tell you how many kids I see that are in the.
Neurodivergent category. And when we're neurodivergent we typically have, you know, comorbid things going on, right? So, oh yeah, if we have an A DHD kid, there's probably some sensory stuff going on. We need a little bit of OT therapy, we might need some speech therapy. And so having those professionals that you can kinda.
Reach back into your back pocket and be like, oh, you know what? I know this great OT therapist, I know this great speech therapist. That's one of our values is being able to connect people with where they need to go. Even if it's not with us. We just wanna make sure that, that we're getting people where they need to go.
So I think when you're a play therapist, you network needs to be a lot bigger than mm-hmm. Average therapist. Mm-hmm.
[00:34:46] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Well I can resonate with that on so many levels. I mean, having a special needs daughter mm-hmm. That has been so complicated to know, like, who are all the people she needs to be with?
And they're all at different places. And you know, that, that, you know, even knowing what therapy she needs was hard. Oh yeah. Time to figure out. And then finding all that, you know, you're really just figuring out your right team. So I think you're totally right. You've gotta have that variety more so. With working with kids and establish those relationships, go out to lunches, make those connections.
[00:35:21] Melissa Griffing: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I think when I, like across the board as a therapist who started a business, and we don't go to school to do learn how to do business, right? We learn, we go to school to learn feelings, and then we have to run a business. I think that. That was something I was really surprised about, that I had to network as much as I did, and what networking is is like.
Go to lunch, have a conversation, make friends, right? Like that's, and at its simplest core, that's what it is. And so I don't think I understood how much I was gonna have to do that, and then how much more I was gonna have to do that with different disciplines. Mm-hmm. As therapist.
[00:36:03] Whitney Owens: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
Well, this has been great. So much good. So much good information. And I know I'm gonna need to close it up here. So before we do though, I know we've been working together, we met at the conference, we started doing some consulting together. And so could you and, and I want you to share mostly 'cause I think everyone should do consulting.
It doesn't have to be with me necessarily, but it's, it's so beneficial. So can you share a little bit about your experience in consulting and how it's been helpful for you and your business?
[00:36:32] Melissa Griffing: Yeah. Um, I think. I, I've done a lot of consulting through the course of my business and I was just, I was just telling you before we turned the recording on, right, that I think there's something really unique about this dynamic.
Like there's something that's working here that's really special. Not only is Whitney, you just a very good business. Owner, right? Like you, you've got that business mind that I think a lot of therapists struggle with. And certainly I, I mean, I'll speak for myself, like that was something that I struggle with.
And so being able to bounce ideas off of you and be like, can I do this? Is this okay? Like, it just, you're, it's like you're my confidence outside of my body that I don't always have for myself, uhhuh. So I think that is one of the like biggest things that comes with consulting. Is as a business owner who doesn't really know what you're doing.
'cause you are like, yeah, I I'm gonna start a business. That sounds fine. You don't always have that confidence. So it's nice to have somebody to do that to, to bounce those ideas off of. I think also it's nice to see where you are and like. Where that's where I want to be. And so it's like, okay, it can happen, but then like the details is my last little thing.
I know I'm going keep going on. I could sing your praises all day. I think I, yeah, I Voxer d the other day and I was like, I think you're magic. Every time it's like, I'm pretty sure this is what's going on. Every time you tell me to do something, it works.
[00:38:04] Whitney Owens: Sure.
[00:38:04] Melissa Griffing: But I think like that, like that's part of it, right?
Is like, okay, we're gonna do it this way, and you're. You're explicit with how it's going to happen and like what you're like really good at giving steps that are actionable and that you can actually do. And I think that's been something that's been very different for me. It's like, it's not this like, okay, well we have to get to this place, uh, with this financial number and, and we've gotta hire these people.
It's like, okay, but how, and you've given me the how in a lot of ways. Um, so I think that's been super helpful. Thank you for that. Yeah.
[00:38:41] Whitney Owens: Well, and I, I, I say this all the time. I think God brings the right people at the right moments and, um, you know, listening to the Holy Spirit and what he's leading and guiding us into when we're choosing the people we work with.
And that might be from clients to hiring, to consulting, you know, and, and then just trusting that process. And I, I definitely agree that God has a hand in this. Consulting relationship and, and as you know, I was at my max of people and I broke my rule and took you on and I'm really glad that I did. Me too.
I am so glad. That's great. Well, this has been fantastic and so well informed. And then Melissa, you're gonna be at the summit and just. When this comes out, it'll be just weeks away. So I'm looking forward to that and being with you there. And uh, if anybody wants to meet you in person and talk kid therapy, you'll be there.
[00:39:35] Melissa Griffing: I'll be there. I'm excited. It's, it's gonna feel like a vacation too, so.
[00:39:40] Whitney Owens: Mm, for sure. And wait until you see that hotel. You're definitely gonna feel like you're on a vacation. So
[00:39:45] Melissa Griffing: I did. I did definitely book an extra day, like, well, I'm gonna stay here an extra night. Oh good. 'cause I
[00:39:50] Whitney Owens: am too. Yeah. And actually that's when I get to have the most play time.
Yeah, when the conference ends and I can be like let out a little bit of a, even though I love it, but at the same time I have to like keep all my ducks in a row, you know? Alright. Well thank you so much again for being on the show. Yeah. Thanks for having me.
[00:40:13] Jingle: So click on follow and leave a review and keep on loving this work we do with Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast, Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast.
[00:40:31] Whitney Owens: Special thanks to Marty Altman for the music in this podcast. The Wise Practice Podcast is part of the Site Craft Podcast Network. A collaboration of independent podcasters focused on helping people live more meaningful and productive lives.
To learn more about the other amazing podcasts in the network, head on over to site craft network.com. The Wise Practice podcast represents the opinions of Whitney Owens and her guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only, and the content should not be taken as legal advice. If you have legal questions, please consult an attorney.
