Organizational Testimonials

I have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Miller in various capacities for several years. In each case, the assistance he provided as proven to be of great benefit. He provided valuable feedback that helped form the foundation of my understanding and approach the the interactions I have with my team, at a time when I was coming into a management role. Though I’m now a bit more seasoned in my role than I once was, I continue to rely on Dr. Miller’s knowledge and experience for guidance.   — Brian H.  Engineering Firm

Bryan and I worked together on a difficult relationship issue within an organization. He is thorough in his investigation of issues, thoughtful in his recommendations while being extremely straightforward with regard to the needs of the group in order to build healthy relationships. I would recommend him to any group, organization or business that seeks credible guidance in building strong relationships among constituents across the organization. ~ Ellen D. -- Retired at Presbyterian Church USA

Dr. Miller worked with our organization to help the leadership define their roles and work together better as a team.  Bryan brings a good knowledge of organizational systems, broad experience, and an engaging style to his work and helped us move forward faster than we would have without his involvement. It was well worth the investment!  ~ Cheryl J. -- Business Strategy Consultant, Jones Consulting, Lincoln, Nebraska. 

As the owner of a co-operative art gallery (http://www.noyesartgallery.com) in operation for more than eighteen years I have had extensive experience running a business. Although the business had been built "from scratch," I was finding myself increasingly overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the business and the daily challenges of a changing market and economy. Working with Dr. Miller gave me just the push I need to make changes that will help my business continue to be viable for the next decade. Bryan helped me think through the business challenges that faced me and helped me to get the courage to make changes necessary to continue to succeed in business. This included operational decisions, strategic planning, and pricing--including a decision to raise one of the two rates that I charge the co-op artists selling in the gallery and to increase the fees for "guest artists" who displayed only once a year. These changes provided an immediate increase in cash and a 5% increase in revenue across the board. Although I already had already considered these steps, it was Bryan's questions (and challenges) that helped me overcome the barriers and led me to acting on what I already knew was necessary for the business. Bryan continues to challenge me and his input is an important part of helping me successfully plan for the future. The decisions made with Bryan ultimately reduced the stress I was experiencing and put me on sound footing financially for the future. ~ Julia N. Lincoln, Nebraska.

Dr. Miller is truly the therapist's therapist and the consultant's consultant. He has provided beneficial insight that has assisted me in thinking outside of the "clinician's mindset" in order to see various business opportunities. He has addressed my fears and concerns as I worked through the start-up process and now I cannot wait until one of my proposals becomes a contract! Stay tuned! Monique.Gadson, NCC, M.S., M.S. President, Transforming Visions, LLC Atlanta, Georgia

Training Testimonials

I was teaching college classes full-time (making $28,000 for about 50 hours of work a week) when my husband and I decided to move to a new community.  I called Dr. Miller to ask if he knew of any part-time counseling positions I could apply for in the community. I told him that I would have to work 15-20 hours a week to help support our family.  Bryan talked me into creating a proposal to a local church for Employee Assistance Program-type service (See Bryan's Developing Private EAPs E-book here.), which I did, and it was accepted.  Within two months, I was making about 40% ($11,000) of what I made as a full-time professor for only a 10-16% of the time (5-8 hours a week) –the rest of the time is spent home with my kids!      ~ Bailey R., Lincoln, Nebraska. 

The HSC Consultant Boot Camp opened my eyes to new ways of making money.  I gained confidence as I learned how to work with organizations.  Dr. Miller's "real world" experiences made this better than some "out of the box" training and I'm on my way to my first contract.  ~ Tammy S. Fremont, Nebraska. 

I had been flirting with the idea of consulting for three years and fear was my greatest enemy. After taking the HSC Boot Camp all my fears are gone because the boot camp answered all my questions, addressed all my concerns, and gave me the confidence to trust what I know and research what I don't know. In addition it showed me how to organize everything from my thoughts to the finished proposal. Bryan has a wealth of knowledge and even more resources. One of the best decisions I made this year! After the boot camp I felt like I hit the lottery or just got the deal of the century! In less than 5 weeks I secured a contract and more than made back my investment. Thanks Bryan! ~ Clyde M. Detroit, Michigan.

Beyond the Couch Testimonials

"I also want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your book. It is just the    crutch we cowards need. Ironically, I had a monkey-wrench thrown into my job situation yesterday, and I really find myself thinking more and more about consulting." 

~ Sheila B., Corinth, Mississippi. 
 

"Therapists often struggle with a moral dilemma- whether to seek employment in a setting that will serve the under-served and possibly limit their earning potential, or find employment opportunities that offer a higher income, but which force the therapist to remain trapped in a privileged system. Bryan Miller, PhD, addresses this moral dilemma in his book Beyond the Couch: Turning your behavioral health degree into cash without losing your soul. In this 302-page book published by Council Tree Press (copyright 2012) Miller shares what he has learned about the world of consulting and strongly encourages Family Therapists to explore their options for increasing their income and professional freedom. . . ." "Miller's prose is uplifting and does well to propel the reader to view a wider professional horizon. As Miller states in the book's conclusion, "Consulting is an adventure." Miller makes the adventure seems like an exciting goal by creating a road map for the beginning consultant to follow." Except of an independent review in the Oregon Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (OAMFT) Newsletter by ~Lauren R. Disner, Communications Co-Chairperson, OAMFT Student Rep (Lewis & Clark MCFT program) 

In Dr. Miller's book "Beyond the Couch," the introduction was mind grabbing. If the intent of the introduction was to inspire, he achieved the intent. After reading the introduction I . . . told other therapists about the prospect of doing business consulting . . . I even talked to the CEO at my place of employment and asked for a consulting task . . . . The strength of Dr. Miller's book was its utility. Everything written in the book had its usefulness [for example] Dr. Miller did not give examples of theories . . . unless he also demonstrated how those theories were going to achieve the bottom line, becoming a consultant. Because of this, the book offered a quick reference to any question that I had while I was completing my own consultation project. . . . The last problem that I had with being a consultant was the financial aspects of the matter. Dr. Miller hit the nail on the head when he referred to therapists as people who ask themselves the minimum they could be charging, instead of what they need to charge. His worksheet on figuring fees was a cognitive shift for me. I had never considered the business side of collecting fees . . . . I certainly had never considered that fees are not just a number pulled out of thin air. I was, as Dr. Miller assumed in his book, simply thinking about the smallest salary that I could survive on and then figuring fees from there. . . . As a therapist I do not have any background training in business. I always thought that I was thinking like a businessman by simply thinking about ideas and how to charge for them, but apparently that is only a small tip of a large iceberg. In reading the chapter on finances and starting a business, Dr. Miller opened my eyes to a new way of thinking that I had never considered . . . . If I had never read this book, I would have never changed my way of seeing business, simply because I would not have known that another way was out there. I'm very thankful for the advice and perspectives in Dr. Miller's book. Before I read the book, I was burning out in the family therapy field. I had begun to wonder if there was another direction that I could go. I was wondering what my degree had to offer to other fields and organizations. Dr. Miller opened my eyes to a variety of possibilities .. . . . "Beyond the Couch" was not just a "how to" book, it was a book that broke down ill-conceived self limitations. In school, the therapist . . . is trained to see past the constraints that the family imposes on themselves, but ironically the therapist is not trained to see past the constraints that they impose on themselves . . . . The results of my [first] consultation project demonstrated that I was able to conduct business consulting with just the knowledge learned from being an MFT and the knowledge gleamed from Dr. Miller's book. I will forever be appreciative that the field of business consulting was introduced to me. Until this time, I feel as if I have been staring past a lattice fence, wondering how to cross into the next field of opportunity. I had glimpses of how systems could be used in other endeavors, but I was unable to put the small pieces together into a full picture until now. For me, this book has shown me a gate that, according to Dr. Miller's book, was present the whole time. 

~ Eric J. Fort Smith, Arkansas. Review of Beyond the Couch. 

Before reading this book . . . the concept of using my skills as a therapist to build a career as a consultant never crossed my mind. It's also something that I am quite sure that I, a non-sales, non-aggressive, non-abstract type person never would have naturally been drawn to . . . My confidence flees when I enter gray area. Exploring uncharted waters isn't even a temptation to me. However, the case . . . which Dr. Miller presents in his book is quite compelling and breaks the process of becoming a consultant, the work of consulting, and the details involved down enough that even I started to be able to envision it as a valid career option. All in all I feel like Dr. Miller's book captured the process . . . very well. My experience matched his description and his examples and guidance thoroughly prepared us for what we encountered in practice. I was impressed with the level of comfort I felt in the process and I feel that it was due to the preparation his book had given me. Like I mentioned above, I had never, nor would I ever have considered becoming a consultant a viable option for me before reading "Beyond the Couch." But the convincing way Dr. Miller builds the case that with a small amount of preparation and education, a therapist can easily make the jump to consultant because of the skills we already possess and the practical way in which he explains the intricacies of the practice. I genuinely feel that it is within my reach to add consulting to my career. This is no small feat because, honestly, until I actually tried it, I was very skeptical. Dr. Miller managed to give me what I needed in his book -- a vision for what a consulting practice would look like. In a pleasant conversational style his words drew perimeters around what was all gray matter in my mind before while simultaneously leaving open the possibility for limitless expression of the basic consulting principles he described. ~ Molly Hansen -- Piedmont, Oklahoma 

When I first picked up the book . . . I had no idea what to expect. As a "newby" [student] I was especially hesitant about this text. I am not even to the couch yet! How can I begin to think about moving beyond it? The first thing that caught my attention was the dedication page. That may sound silly, but there was something inspiring about it. Especially because I was entering the endeavor of reading this book with some level of skepticism, my impression that the author was humble, kind, and a dreamer allowed me to put aside my doubts. I connected with the author . . . and was able enter in . . . without a negative perspective that might deter me from the message. This good impression continued. Bryan was able to create the feel of a dialogue between himself and the reader. Because he continued to speak to the reader in a way that addressed him where he was at, the author proved that the reader was, in fact, his intended audience. He did not write this text for the highly experienced, highly business-minded individuals. Indeed, he wrote to individuals with the skills and experience of an average professional. Because the author was able to clearly express this point, I felt that I had been given permission to put aside the lingering feelings of inadequacy and intimidation. I could actually see myself in the role that the author was beginning to describe, and as the author continued to define the occupation, my interest continued to increase. I went from thinking that I was just going to suffer through a reading assignment to being genuinely excited about learning more! One of the major points that the author made in the text as he laid out some of the characteristics of a consultant is that the individual must be authentic. I find it very appropriate and fitting that the author described this as a key attribute of a consultant, because, as I have been saying, that is the key characteristic that stood out to me while reading this text. The author did a wonderful job at, not just stating the importance of authenticity, but of illustrating the value of authenticity throughout his writing and instruction. The author found a way to successfully model the characteristics that he encouraged in the reader without the reader having to be in his presence. I imagine that this is no easy task, but the author did it seamlessly in a way that never seemed forced or fabricated. It is apparent by the method that the author used to present the material, that he knows his strengths and unique traits, and he has discovered a way to express those to clients and students alike. It is also obvious that the author is, indeed, an expert in the field of consultation. The level of trust that was established in the beginning of the text was successfully and consistently maintained throughout the work. As the book progresses, the content of the material transitioned to some . . . weightier matters. Because of this, one might be inclined to think that the reader could get bored reading about various monotonous details, like how to write a proposal, compose an impressive cover letter, or develop a fee structure; however, this author was able to maintain the conversational tone that kept the readers interested and engaged. Assumingly I would say that anyone could write a book to explain a job or field in which he or she participates. Many of these books would probably be valuable resources for someone seeking information about whatever field he or she hopes to enter. However, I would dare say that few could so masterfully describe and embody the characteristics being described as beautifully as the author of this text was able to do. From the dedication at the beginning of the text, all the way through to the final words written to the reader as he is sent off to experience the adventure of consulting, the author managed to address the reader with a certain level of comfort and ease that effortlessly established a lasting impression of authenticity and trustworthiness. The text felt like a personal conversation with the author, and the genuine tone that was felt by the reader proved exactly what the author set out to prove: that one really can turn his or her behavioral health degree into cash without losing his or her soul. ~ Jenna L. -- Huntsville, Alabama Coaching