How to Build a Referral Engine Without the “Hustle”:

PATRICK MARTIN, LCSW
Many therapists reach out into private practice, focusing on individual work. But what if you could take that same passion and reach your community at a larger scale in a meaningful way? That’s exactly what we’re talking about today with our special guest, Ruth Robles, LMFT, CEO and owner and founder of the SOL Center here in wonderful Glendora, California. Pride of the Foothills, and she’s also a Reiki Master. She’s going to talk to us about how she has integrated holistic care into her therapy practice to help more people in the community.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
Yes. Yeah. It’s exciting. And I’m happy to be able to have you here, show you my space and get to share with the community about the center, what it’s all about.

PATRICK MARTIN, LCSW
I understand you came from FSP. For those who don’t know, FSP is full service partnership, which is a really high level of care. You’re dealing with a lot of trauma, a lot of crisis, oftentimes around the clock. And you did that for some time, right?

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
Yes. Five years. I think doing FSP, since it was the highest level of care in my mind, I felt like I can only come down from here. So as private practice, we get to choose the kind of clients we want to service and what we want to specialize in. I also grew up experiencing trauma as a child myself. So being in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, low income—that always continues to be something that is big in my heart. This is why I feel like that was the foundation of me building the center: being able to be one of the few therapists in the city that still offers insurance.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
It’s important for me that as a clinician, I continue to still be able to be accessible to our community and to everybody. That being low income, I do accept all forms of, most forms of Medi-Cal and any other HMO or PPO plan so that I can continue to, as a way, give back. Because I remember in those times, if I didn’t have insurance, I wasn’t going to be able to afford to see a therapist.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
My goal was always: how do I set myself apart from every other traditional therapy office in the area? I became a Reiki Master about six years ago. That is something that just came to me; I think it chose me. It has been pretty fascinating to help people in a natural, more holistic way to find balance and regulate the nervous system.

PATRICK MARTIN, LCSW
That is definitely kind of a “unicorn” in the private practice space—someone who takes both Medi-Cal and HMO. That’s not an easy lift. I know there’s a lot of red tape with Medi-Cal, but the fact that you want to make sure that nobody falls in the cracks is a big deal.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
I moved from county to group practice, and I think that was a good stepping stone. I was able to learn a lot from the biller. I kind would have her teach me, “Okay, how do you do this? I want to learn”. I took what I felt would be helpful for me when I opened my center.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
One thing I definitely would recommend: don’t box yourself. I initially thought I just needed one little office, but now I’m in a bigger center with four offices. It was great that it kind of happened. My goal was to become a supervisor or have a therapy center.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
My husband developed some bad anxiety and was having panic attacks, and that started to take me into this holistic focus. He didn’t want medication, so I started to dive into natural ways. He is a geologist, so rocks came easy for him. That’s where I have my passion: learning about what healing rocks would be helpful. I have them here even for clients—amethyst for sleep or hematite for when you’re feeling overstimulated.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
With my teens, I tell them it’s not that you have social anxiety; you most likely are an empath and you’re absorbing people’s energies. When I help them understand that, it’s a game changer. Most of us in the healthcare industry are in that field because we have a big heart. As an empath, we naturally absorb energy without realizing it.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
Reiki is derived from Japan and connects life force energy. It brings balance to the body by releasing blocks of energy. I did it not realizing it would help my dad when he passed. My hands brought him comfort. Now I have a bigger passion to do this because I feel that when I do this work, my dad is here helping guide this.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
When you become a Reiki Master, you’ve done the four levels. I did a 3-4 day retreat for the attunements. But the key is that you have to keep practicing. It is something very healing for both the person doing it and the person receiving it.

PATRICK MARTIN, LCSW
How do you know when to incorporate Reiki or other holistic care versus traditional evidence-based practices?

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
It just varies. For me, it’s all about intuition. If talking isn’t really going to help, let’s calm the nervous system. I’ll go get a mat, we’ll go to the center where my bowls are, and do a 20-30 minute session. The bowls really help to remove any blockages that the body’s taken on. You just need to surrender and allow that to happen.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
I created a hub where it’s a one-stop shop. I offer therapy here, but the other four rooms have other holistic practitioners that do shaman work, yoga, and aromatherapy. I love it that clients come here for different modalities. I am a big believer of: “Teamwork makes the dream work”.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
Connection is the key. I’ve been more intentional with going out there and taking my cards. Be selective with where you want to go. For me, being a bilingual therapist, my focus was to reach my community. Now my goal is reaching out to the schools because I am passionate about helping kids.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
I service a lot of college kids here from Mount SAC, Citrus, APU, and Pomona. The biggest piece with them is stress and burnout because society tells us we need a degree and status to be successful. I disagree; I have many important people here and it’s not always the case. Be careful what you wish for because everything comes at a cost.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
I would consider myself a perfectionist, but the losses I’ve experienced put a different perspective in me. We’re here to bring joy, not to be suffering and working hard all the time. Fear is always going to be the first emotion that will greet you, but if you push that out of the way, opportunities and freedom are waiting.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
Once things started to go good, I had to get help. I have a biller and I have someone that helps me with social media. Before, I had to take on all that and it was a huge burnout for me. Now it’s good to have a team approach.

PATRICK MARTIN, LCSW
One of my favorite quotes is: “Your work is somebody else’s play”. If we can learn to outsource the things that don’t fill our cup or aren’t in our “zone of genius,” the sooner the better.

RUTH ROBLES, LMFT
This is the community room. January will be our winter solstice sound bath. The bowls represent the chakras, which are propellers or energy centers in our bodies. Because we’re made out of water, the vibration creates a ripple effect within our body to bring that alignment back.

PATRICK MARTIN, LCSW
If anyone wants to learn more about the wonderful work you’re doing, they can head over to your website at soulcenterroute66.com.