Private Practice Blog for Therapists
Hundreds of articles on building, growing, and sustaining your private practice — written by therapists, for therapists. Not recycled generic business advice.
Costs For NOT Starting A Private Practice
20 mustard yellow charts sat on my desk, all needing to be approved for compliance. I had meeting with clinicians to review cases - cases being people who were struggling and really depending on our agency to help them. There was a complaint at the front desk that I needed to respond to as well as staffing questions. Really? This was it? This is what I spent all my time in school for? I loved the people I worked with, but the work itself was getting so hard.
I remember dreaming about my work. I never envisioned private practice really. I just envisioned the people and being in a room with someone, holding something so sacred that no one else was privy to. I remember wanting to simply help.
Sh*t Therapists Say To Avoid Getting Sh*t Done: Part 2
I LOVE helping people make breakthroughs... I truly do... but I'm going to be honest- I have kept myself SUPER stuck more than once in my life. So today, I thought it would be fun to be a little silly and fun and call out what we say that keeps us stuck from moving forward.
Sh*t Therapists Say To Avoid Getting Sh*t Done: Part 1
A silly title... but a true and real issue. Today we are going to let you into the mind of amazing therapists, who are self-aware enough to let you know the ways they convince themselves NOT to do the things that they know in their heart they need to do to live a happy life and run a happy practice!
Essential End of Year Private Practice Checklist
We are coming to the end of the year. This is a wonderful time to assess, re-assess, get organized, and a make a great plan for next year. So today, we are going to share a checklist of items to assess. Most of these items could be a blog article by themselves, so for today we are just going to make one handy-dandy list as a starting point!
3 Ways and Whys to Practice Gratitude in Private Practice
Sitting down with someone who trusts you enough to share their hearts, hopes, truths, and be vulnerable is quite the honor. Whether you work as a therapist, psychologist, counselor, coach, or what particular modality you use- you know that this work is different... it is special.
And yet, there are some days in the midst of late cancellations, billing nightmares, too empty calendars, suicidal clients, etc. that it is easy to lose focus. So today we are going to talk about 7 gratitude practices you can use in your private practice, and how each can be transformative clinically and personally.
3 Quick Tips For Making Professional Profile Videos with Cúpla Media
A profile video can be a little like a power tool – sure it’s helpful, but for some it feels inaccessible or scary. We get it. These are words we often hear from clinicians:
• I don’t know what to say.
• I don’t know how to make a video.
• I’m afraid it’ll look bad.
We want to help.
A profile video is a short 1-3 minute clip that helps people get a sense of your presence and your passion. Often when people look online for a therapist they’re asking themselves,
“Can this person help me?”
“Will I feel comfortable around them?”
Faith Based Counseling Practices: What you need to know
First I want to acknowledge, this article is about my story, which is within a specific faith. I hope the lessons presented are applicable to any faith– Muslim, Jew, Agnostic, and others. Any and all are welcome to take what resonates and leave the rest.
Second, believe it or not, I have written this blog about 3 or 4 times, each time starting over with a blank piece of paper. My hope is this is the clearest version.
Interview with Vonda
Thank you to Vonda, founder of Nutrition is Therapy, for distilling your knowledge about nutrition and it's role in psychotherapy.
This is a must listen for any therapist who is in private practice and is feeling stuck with their clients.
From Fear to Freedom: Starting a Faith Based Practice
When I was in graduate school, getting therapy seemed like a no-brainer. At that time, the state “bribed” prelicensed therapists by counting each hour of therapy as 3 hours towards the 3,000 hours needed to apply to take exams. So… without any particular crisis in place… I went on the search for therapy…
As I explored my needs, I thought it would be helpful to have a professional therapist who understood my faith in a higher power and wouldn't think I was “weird.” I
Non-Compete Agreements in Private Practice with Guest Lisa
Imagine you join a group practice, as an employee or contractor, and you are asked to sign a non-compete agreement. This means if you leave the practice you cannot create a business that "competes" within a certain mile radius or serving the same clients. These non-competes all vary, but more and more we are hearing therapists being asked to sign them.
You might feel confused, scared, or just too overwhelmed to care because you need the work right now.
I invited Lisa, a Legal Coach® and Attorney, to answer some basic questions about non-compete agreements in the mental health world. Here is what she had to say.
Faith & Private Practice
Faith Based Counseling: Culturally Competent or Unethical?
Treatment plan for client with mild depression and anxiety symptoms.
Short term goals: Instill hope for the future. Identify maladaptive beliefs that exacerbate depression and anxiety symptoms. Replace maladaptive beliefs with more true beliefs. Client will be able to practice emotional management skills inside and outside of times of stress. Client will expand support network and reach out for support more frequently.
Interventions: Cognitive behavioral therapy including bibliotherapy, journaling, affirmation work, and practicing forms of meditation in and out of session. Encourage and support pro-community behaviors and reaching out to support networks.
Personal Crisis in Private Practice
*Trigger warning. This article discusses miscarriage so if that is something that feels hard to read, please stop here.
This month, I was fortunate to be a part of a Love Your Partner Series with Robyn D'Angelo. (You can sign up here for the entire amazing series!) She asked me to share about how to love your partner through a miscarriage. This is the first time I have gone "public" with my story but after my own personal work through my grief, I am finding it helpful not only for me but for others to open up about my journey.
The reason I have chosen to write about it here is because while we share so much about building a practice, we haven't discussed a whole lot about what to do when your own life is in crisis and you are still trying to run a business.
“BST was the best investment I have made in myself. I went from working 45-50 hours per week to working 25 hrs, doubling my income,” Cyndi
What if this really could change everything?
You don’t have to decide today.
Just get on the interest list and we’ll walk you through what Business School for Therapists is, what it includes, and how it’s helped thousands of therapists get their life (and income) back.