2022 Fearless Business Plan for Therapists

There’s a lot of fear being passed around in therapist circles right now. Some of that fear is being used to do a cash grab. Some of that fear is being used to shame therapists. Some of that fear is being used as excuses for poor behavior. Some of that fear is being used to keep therapists feeling numb, overwhelmed, and burnt out. And some of that fear is keeping successful therapists and group practice owners from fully connecting to their success and their options.

2022 is the year to let go of the fear!

We understand that’s easier said than done. So, we have a plan for you. Whether you’re a successful group practice owner trying to mitigate the fear of your current or future employees, or you’re trying to manage your own fear as a business owner, we've got you.

Step #1: Let’s Get Honest About Where You’re at Right Now

A LOT of therapists have had trauma stirred up from the last few years, and they’re making decisions and reacting out of that trauma. They’re bouncing between fight, flight, fawn, and freeze. What does that look like in private practice?

Freeze:

Therapists feel numb, depressed, and overwhelmed. Checking out on their phones, scrolling social media, documentation way behind, feeling like there aren’t enough days off or vacations to possibly recharge. They may think it’s depression. However, for many, it’s a burnout response to being on the front lines of fear, anger, death, loss, and so much more for years on end.

Fawn:

Therapists who are saying “yes” to anyone and everything. They know they can’t possibly take on more, yet they find themselves saying “yes.” Everyone else is the priority, their schedule is overrun, and they’re seeing WAY more clients than they know is healthy. The people-pleasing feels like it’s at an extreme, but they can’t figure out why they’re stuck in the pattern.

Flight:

Therapists are fantasizing about anything but their current life and business. It feels like the only way out is to burn it all down and start over with something else, or somewhere else. Therapists who used to LOVE therapy are looking at coaching, podcasts, and online courses, and some are deciding to leave the profession. But it isn’t out of pure inspiration or a plan — it’s literally because they feel pressure to escape their day-to-day life. The problem? They’re feeling so activated that they can’t complete projects or take the steps necessary to completion to actually have any meaningful relief. So, they end up doing MORE when what they really want is LESS.

Fight:

Therapists who are beautiful advocates by nature are suddenly in fight mode 24/7. The silly conflicts they used to be able to scroll past now pull their energy and attention. There’s no place that feels safe to recover, shore up, and get energy for fighting the good fights. Being in fight mode makes almost every task and to-do feel impossible, and nothing works the way it should.

If you or your employees are in one of these modes or bouncing between several, you won’t do your best work, get your best outcomes, or be able to sustain this work.

Yes, this work is heavy. Yes, there’s trauma out in the world that we’re impacted by, but we need a way to find a sustainable path and plan for moving forward.

Step #2: Let’s Create a Plan to Get into a Sustainable State

No, this doesn’t mean we all have to be walking around like zen zombies ignoring that there’s a LOT of hurt happening in the world. But this IS a realization that we can’t sustain living in this activated mode, whether it’s triggered by burnout, global trauma, systemic racism, or a whole host of other issues in the world.

It’s time to stop replicating what isn’t working and start regulating our nervous systems again. And, from a regulated nervous system, we have to start to determine what a healthy life and business looks like today. Your caseload capacity may have changed. Your financial need may have increased or decreased. Your employees’ needs or desires may have changed.

Unfortunately, burnout and trauma are systemic problems in our profession. You aren’t going to fix this issue with a vacation once a year or a bowling party to increase employee morale.

We need to look at the day-to-day and make shifts there to create a system that’s sustainable.

So, for you and any employees you have now in the future, we need to get clear about what a sustainable caseload is. What is a livable wage in your area? What kind of clinical work is “easy” for you even if it isn’t easy for others? Relatively simple changes of who you work with, when you work, and how much you work can have huge impacts on your body.

The truth is that those trauma symptoms aren’t meant to make your life harder. They’re actually meant as guideposts to help you navigate what changes need to be made! And the more you ignore your body’s wisdom and intuition, the louder the symptoms will get.

Step #3: We Need to Align Our Business Plans with Sustainability

A sustainable business plan is one that leaves every employee with a livable wage (including you), and energy left over at the end of a workday to be with family and friends. A sustainable business plan sees every person as a human first, and not simply as a commodity — the same way you see your clients as humans first.

And yes, that may mean that we need to rethink the low-paying insurance plans that leave you with a 0% profit margin or maybe even a negative profit margin.

You may need to say “no” to trying to create a for-profit business that replicates the nonprofit sliding scale that had over 5 million dollars in grant funding to make that sliding scale possible. You may need to take a deep dive to determine if you want a nonprofit and what it would take to get grant funding to create what you envision.

Have you run your numbers? We did a training on Group Practice Finances last week and what numbers to understand and track, and most people attending were not tracking any of them! And many of them hadn’t even heard of those numbers! Even if you’re not a group practice owner, solo practice has some numbers to run, too.

You can’t create a sustainable business plan by simply picking a random number out of the sky or comparing it with the therapist down the street. That therapist might have a second income, be in crazy debt, or have a trust fund (yes, these are all common).

We need to take ownership and start to learn about business finances and business numbers because money and time are simply finite resources. They’re NOT related to your value as a human. You’re truly priceless.

There’s no one-size-fits-all business plan for therapists

And to be honest, that’s good! Just like there’s no 100% effective treatment plan for a client or the perfect meal that everyone will enjoy. We’re all completely different, with different needs.

What about you? What was your takeaway from this post? Share it in the comments!