About Dr Brooklyn Storme, PhD

When I first began my private practice over 30 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. In fact, I was just so proud of graduating and couldn't wait to get started. So that's what I did. It wouldn't be until I walked away from the safety and security of an endless stream of bookings and referrals at the medical clinics I was working at, that I realised I knew almost nothing about business. 

Having signed my first lease on a serviced office at the Quest Building in Frankston, a low socio-economic area but also my home town, I remember sitting there in front of the computer and wondering why the phone wasn't ringing. "Where were the all the clients?"

Reaching out to former referrers (aka, GPs) was a nightmare. They refused to send referrals my way on the grounds that I was "selfish and greedy" for charing a fee instead of bulk billing and "who did I think I was to charge a fee when they don't?" One GP sent me a handwritten fax that read, "I'm going to make sure your business goes under! How dare you charge for sessions!" I've still got the fax somewhere.

Even just writing this now and recalling it sends shivers down my back. 

So, if they weren't going to refer to me anymore, where on Earth was I going to find clients?

And so began my 'WTF do I do now?' era. This was characterised by a lot of Googling, joining all the online communities, downloading all the free things and basically trying to get a load of free things from other people who'd more likely than not, paid for them, "Does anyone have a template they can share with me for ....?" And of course nothing changed. Well, that's not true. The changes included a rapidly diminishing sense of confidence and a rapidly increasing sense of self-doubt, coupled with thoughts of "what have I done?!" It was abundantly clear that for the first time in my career, Imposter Syndrome had finally entered the chat.

To be completely honest, this period of the business was kind of like hurtling downward on the Luna Park rollercoaster in St Kilda. I was sweaty and terrified most of the time, praying for it to somehow come to an end.

And then something changed. Has that ever happened to you, where all of a sudden, you just 'knew' you needed to do something, that you had to bite the proverbial bullet and as one of my first coaches used to say, "suck it up, Buttercup"? Well, that's exactly what happened. It was a weirdly memorable experience. I remember the panic and anxiety just suddenly and without any warning leaving my body and a wave of calm taking hold instead. It was as if I'd turned into Wonder Woman, hands on hips, levelling her gaze and ready for action. 

So I call this part my Wonder Woman era. This was when I admitted I had no idea what I was doing and that I needed help, like yesterday. So I started putting the word out and eventually found recommendations for different people that could help me. Every one of them costs thousands of dollars and I had no idea where I was going to find the money. But, in true Wonder Woman style, I had decided I was already doing it and so with the determination already there, the next question was 'how'?

I barely had two cents to rub together but not getting help was no longer an option. I had entertained going to back to paid employment and the thought of it filled me with dread and just amplified my determination to figure things out. The coach I wanted to work with was $5K and she had payment plans. But I couldn't even afford the payment plans. It was so embarrassing. What I ended up doing was going to her and saying, "Hey, I want to do this and I know it will help but the payment plan is beyond me. What can we do?" and she said, "I'm sure we can figure something out. What's your budget for professional development?" And I was like, "um.........", I didn't want to tell her that a) I didn't have a budget, let alone a line item for my PD. I told her I could manage a few hundred dollars a month. Luckily, she agreed. And that's how I started sorting the business out. 

But....she didn't specialise in private practice. 

In fact, a lot of the things she taught me were things I couldn't use ethically in the business, you know, things around marketing. But, I did realise that I liked getting support. So, I went on and had other coaching and then did courses and all the things. None of them was perfect or exactly what I needed but I was able to take a bit from that course and put it with something I'd learned in the coaching and piece things together in a way that would work for me. 

I got referrals and bookings and within the first 8 weeks of being in my own space, was almost fully booked. But the coaching and courses continued for years - right up until today (I'll always be doing courses and coaching but I know what to look for now). 

This went on for a few years until I entered my  'truth' era. This is when I became aware of the two-tier system in Psychology. It was my dark night of the Soul and resulted in such a strong sense of incongruence with my values, that I made the decision to walk away from my career of over two decades as a Psychologist and Supervisor. I wasn't entirely sure what was next but I was absolutely sure this wasn't it. 

I moved over into the counselling space but shortly after, other Psychologists started to ask me if I could help them transition out of the profession too. And that's really what sparked my passion for private practice business coaching. I went and got a bunch of certifications and qualifications and then started helping other women to create private practices that better aligned with them. Initially I helped Psychologists, then Social Workers came, then Counsellors, then GPs and Psychiatrists, then Play Therapists and then the complimentary medicine practitioners. It just kept growing.

I quickly realised this is what I love doing. And so I focussed my energy on helping women therapists to start their business or to 'fix' it, to find clients, to pay themselves and all the things. And I haven't looked back. That was...

Until my neurodivergent era... 

So in November 2024, I got tested for ADHD to kind of 'prove' that I didn't have it. But the joke was on me because not only did I have it, I also had ADID, giving me a grand total of ADD-C. On top of that, it turns out I'm also Autistic. 

What nobody tells you about getting tested is that you need to prepare. And by that, I mean if someone had said, "Hey, if it comes back that you are neurodivergent, here's what you can expect". There really needs to be some kind of pre-testing counselling. 

When I got the diagnoses, life unexpectedly just kind of spun out of control. In a way, I think you could say I grieved. There was shock, denial, bargaining, anger, and eventually, acceptance. My whole life flashed before my eyes and things started making sense. Of course, because this news was so big, it was a lot to process. So much so in fact, that my body decided the processing was best done being horizontal. I was so sick, so lethargic, couldn't really think straight because my brain was just so foggy and I wound up being mostly bed ridden for the best part of 6 or 7 weeks. I look back on this time and choose to see it as my body just needing me to be still while it sorted itself out, releasing things it didn't need anymore. 

It was during this time that I realised I needed a different way of working. A way of working that didn't require me to be on Google Meets for an hour a time and that didn't require a massive energy commitment. I wanted to help my clients but without the dread that comes from knowing there's a 1pm appointment in the diary (because things like that can ruin your whole day!). 

And that's really how Practice Momentum was born. 

I created a way of working that let me help clients without doing big 1:1 sessions every month or locking down my diary, without it being a course or a membership and without being trapped by other time commitments.

I wasn't sure how my new approach was going to be received because it's the total opposite to how therapists are used to accessing support. But I just knew that if I was going to continue to helping people with their practices, I needed to do it in a way that worked better for me. So, I started to let people know about it and within the space of a few weeks, about 12 people joined. Over the next few weeks, another 7 joined. And then I closed the doors.

At the time of writing this, we're about 6 months into the program and the women just affirm for me every day that this is exactly the model of business that works not only for me, but also for them. In fact, a bunch of them credit the speediness of their results (like, one of the ladies hadn't paid herself in her pp for 3.5yrs but after a few weeks inside Momentum, had started to! And even more exciting, before her first 90 days had even finished, she was asking me what to about clients that she didn't have capacity to see! She wanted help with waitlists!) to the way that I'm working now. 

And I am so thankful. 

So that's what I mostly do now, work in Practice Momentum. I have other things too like Supervision and a couple of courses but mostly it's all Momentum. I love it so much. 

Now if you've made it this far, thank you. I totally appreciate this was a big read. But I wanted to be honest, open and transparent with you about how I got to where I am because you should know, especially if you're looking for someone to help you with your practice. The other thing you should know is that I trust in your ability to make decisions that are right for you. For that reason, I don't sell you things. I do absolutely let you know how I can I help if I can and share with you what's available. I'll also answer any questions you might have about things I have that are available and that can help you. But I won't sell to you. If it's right, you'll know it.