Be Successful in Private Practice

Are you longing to enjoy the freedom and prosperity that come with private practice, but don’t know how to get started? This article is for you.

Thinking about starting a private practice for the first time can feel really overwhelming. You’ll get lots of advice from people on what to do, and what not to do. Some of it will be helpful, and some of it can create a feeling of overwhelm that leads to paralysis or lack of action towards creating the practice you desire. 

In this article, I outline the five essential steps to starting your private practice. 

Step1: Your offer: Identifying the service you have to offer is the first and most important step. Keep it very simple and direct. 

For example my offer is “couples therapy in person in Winter Park Florida.” That is the main service that I advertise and offer to my clients. Along with this, think about the length of sessions that work with your specific offer, and an initial price point. These things can all change overtime. 

For example “individual psychotherapy online for people with anxiety in massachusetts.”  Sessions are 55 minutes and the fee per session is $175. 

I already know you’re thinking “I can help so many people and do so many types of therapy.” 

For the purpose of getting started choose one. It will help you tremendously when you get to marketing and promoting your practice. 

Step 2: A way to bring in clients: Most therapists don’t receive any training in marketing in graduate school or in their time doing agency work. Because of this, the prospect of having to market yourself can seem like foreign territory at first. A really easy way to get started is with a profile Psychology Today. 

Step 3: A way to meet with clients: Are you planning to work in person, online or both.  If you’re looking to do in person therapy you’ll need  some type of office. Lots of therapists office share and you can likely find an office 1-2 days per week if needed to get started. For Telehealth this will be a HIPPA complaint video platform. 

Step 4: A way for people to pay you: This can be anything from cash to PayPal, to setting up something like Square to take credit cards. If you decide to set-up an EHR system many of them have built in payment processors. 

Step 5: Intake Paperwork: You’ll need to get intake paperwork including informed consent. Some EHR’s like SimplePractice include this. However it is advisable to look it over and ensure that it contains everything you need it to cover. 

Bonus Step: Get liability insurance. 

Once you have these things in order, you’re ready to get started. Some people can get these things together in a day, some a week, some longer. The process depends on you.