Counseling Tips Want to Start a Private Practice ? Go for It !
Perhaps you ’ ve been working for an agency and fear that you ’ ll soon start to lose your therapy skills . Perhaps you work as a salaried therapist in a large group practice and wonder if your income could improve . Or maybe you are recently licensed and have always dreamed of opening your own office .
Whatever the reason , you ’ ve been yearning to take the leap into practice … but something is holding you back .
The uneasiness you ’ re experiencing might be fear of the unknown , fear of failure , fear of losing job security , or even a vague sense that you just don ’ t have “ the right stuff ” to succeed as an independent mental health practitioner .
If you fear that you would just be impersonating a competent business owner , you ’ re not alone . Nearly every private practitioner I ’ ve interviewed experienced the well-named “ imposter syndrome ” when starting out . It ’ s clear that their negative intuitions were unfounded ; they all were successful .
But you could have rational reasons for delaying your plans . Before you greet that first client in your waiting room , you ’ ll have a wide variety of tasks to accomplish . You may wince as you consider all the puzzle pieces not yet in place .
A suggestion : Even though you may not be ready today , why not whittle down the list of prerequisites , breaking the overwhelming task into bite-sized chunks ? You might admonish a client paralyzed by a formidable task to do this — why not take your own advice ?
Some of these tasks can be completed in just a few minutes . Accomplishing them may encourage you to go toward your dream .
Make a Name for Yourself
Time Commitment : 5 minutes Cost : free
Bill Whitehead , PhD , is coauthor of the book The Psychotherapist Success Guide . As a psychologist , he created both individual and group psychotherapy practices , maintaining them for 30 years . He is currently the CEO of TherapyAppointment , a practicemanagement system and EMR that has assisted more than 30,000 therapists toward professional success .
Your new practice will need a business name in order to complete some of the steps below . Perhaps you ’ ll just want to use your name ( e . g ., “ Jane Smith , LPC ”), but perhaps you ’ ll want to choose a more descriptive name ( e . g ., “ New Beginnings Psychotherapy ”). A creative name is a good idea if you think you may want other therapists to join you some day .
Before you decide on a name , you must ensure that the name is not already in local use . Most states let you check this online via the office of the secretary of state .
Don ’ t Be Yourself
Time Commitment : 20 minutes Cost : free
We ’ ve all heard the admonition “ just be yourself .” This is an occasion when you shouldn ’ t !
Myriad reasons exist for not accepting client or insurance payments under your own Social Security number .
Click here to acquire an EIN ( a new tax ID from the federal government ) for your business online . Though the “ E ” in “ EIN ” stands for “ Employer ,” you need this new number whether or not you ever intend to employ others .
Find a Place to Sit Down
Time Commitment : several days Cost : costs vary
If you are confident that you have a sufficient , sustainable referral stream ( see “ Become a Superstar ” and “ Get Reduced to a Number ” sections below ), you may want to contact a realtor to help you lease an office . This is a complicated process ; download my book ( free ) for more information on office selection and decoration . If you are just starting out , you may want to consider less expensive alternatives :
1 . Find a therapist willing to sublease their existing office to you after hours . This is a common practice . To find willing local therapists , try Googling “ therapy office sublease near me .”
2 . Start your business as an onlineonly practice . All you ’ ll need is a quiet room in your house , a stable internet connection , a good computer , nice lighting , and a HIPAA-compliant video telehealth service . The telehealth service is often bundled within your practice management system — don ’ t buy it separately .
Make Friends With Practice- Management Software
Time Commitment : 2 hours Cost : free to start
A good practice-management system will take care of a vast array of tasks that are drudgery , such as obtaining new client information , online scheduling , sending appointment reminders , charting , credit-card processing , accounting , filing insurance claims , and much more . It ’ s better to learn the system first and establish your practice around it , rather than trying to force the system to fit routines established ad-hoc . I won ’ t be coy about which system I recommend since I created this one .
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8 The Advocate Magazine 2025 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org