Cali Estes evolved from therapist to helping other therapists build their brands. Cali’s The Addictions Academy is for those who want to transform, innovate and evolve in their practice. Her Academy offers the following programs

• Masters Addiction Coach (6 month program in Recovery Coaching, Family Recovery, Food Addictions and Gambling Addictions)
• Case Management Training
• Mobile rehab
• Ethics training
• Business marketing and branding
• Rescue Rehab (helps treatment centers streamline their income and train staff)

Cali teaches ethics training because she strongly believes in an ethical practice and will only work with people who run an ethical practice. According to Cali, the industry has sharks, tuna and dolphins. Sharks are those that prey on others’ weaknesses and steal others’ clients. The tuna don’t like to work for much and expect everything to come to them, while the dolphins share their clients. For a thriving practice, swim with the dolphins and not the sharks. In the industry, there’s enough clientele for everyone without picking off other therapists’ clients.

Some therapists make the mistake of thinking that everyone is a prospective client; the truth is, not every client fits with every therapist, so therapists much assist each other in finding the right client fit, not be overprotective and conniving. It is when therapists work together that they become a community of dolphins and not sharks. Those therapists who have a niche practice tend to have more success in their practice than generalists. There is less competition in the clientele pool when you cater to a very specific demographic.

Success in practice doesn’t come from complete selflessness and sacrifice. Cali implores therapists to practice self-care, as they cannot serve others until they serve themselves first. You can serve others and be able to pay your bills at the same time. Having enough money to live on and helping others is mutually exclusive.

What people consider failures in practice are not always what they seem if you shift your paradigm of thought. If you learn from the experience, then it’s not a failure. If you’re a tuna and learn nothing, then you’ll always fail; there’s always a lesson to be learned.

Cali’s two main tenets for success are: make it happen and you can do anything. In order to do anything, you have to be the dolphin and not the tuna, and go out and get what you want. You can do anything if you persevere. The most important indicator of a successful practice is perseverance.

For more information on Cali and The Addictions Academy, visit http://www.theaddictionsacademy.com.

Continue on to podcast here:

http://thrivingtherapypractice.com/podcast-1-swim-with-the-dolphins-not-the-sharks/