Member Contributor — Douglas Green, LMFT

Improving Your Presentation as a Therapist

Let’s try this out: You’re a well-trained therapist, and your clients love you, but you need to expand your practice and need to break past your shyness and stage-fright to do so.

Or how about: You’re an expert on a particular subject, and want to present about it at conferences, but every time you speak you get tongue-tied and choke.

Or maybe: You’re perfectly satisfied in your professional life, but are supposed to speak at your beloved niece’s wedding in a few months and would rather go through a root canal than give that toast.

In all these situations and more, what you need is simple, but hard to find. A group of like-minded professionals who can work with you and for you, to help you develop confidence and speaking ability. Yeah, there are classes and business groups that teach this, but imagine if there were such an organization made of therapists! And low-cost to boot!

It exists, and it exists in one place on the planet, which happens to be right here in the SFV. Welcome to Toastmasters for Mental Health Professionals.

Founded by SFV-CAMFT member Anita Avedian, when she found Toastmasters groups great for overcoming her shyness but not loaded with people who understood exactly what she did for a living, this chapter has thrived for over a decade, training and helping local therapists improve their elevator pitches, presentations, and even video work.

The group meets every two weeks, and gives all present the chance to practice both prepared speeches and off-the-cuff answers, and share tips with each other on how to do better at whatever you’re trying.

Best of all, the group is made up of nothing but therapists, so you will get the nicest, kindest, most supportive (okay let’s be honest . . . codependent!) feedback you’ll ever get anywhere!

Until the pandemic lockdown, the group’s meetings were all in-person. But now, and likely for the near future, they’ll be either via Zoom or hybrid, which provides two advantages. First, you don’t even need to worry about driving or location.

But second, this also means this chapter can help you work on your online presence – how do you come off on a screen? Are you a friendly warm personality or does your shyness render you cold or unapproachable?

Toastmasters for Mental Health Professionals is the place to find out. It’s friendly, fun, and might change your career or even your life.

Sound good? For more information, check out https://tmformentalhealthprofessionals.com/ or contact me at DouglasGreenMFT@gmail.com. 

Douglas Green, MA, MFT, has a private practice in Woodland Hills and West Los Angeles, where he specializes in helping children and teens live lives they can be proud of. To find out more, you can contact Doug at 818.624.3637, or DouglasGreenMFT@gmail.com. He's also often at our chapter meetings, serving as the volunteer coordinator. His website is www.DouglasGreenMFT.com.