If you are new to the profession, still in graduate school, you’ve just graduated or you work for an agency and are ready to make a change, this topic is for you. The great thing about starting a private practice is that you can pretty much start it whenever you are ready. The time is now!
When starting a private practice, you don’t need to go all in right away. If you work at an agency full time but you want to try private practice, you can start a part-time practice on the side. Rent office space from someone and see a few clients. There are a lot of therapists who are in administrative roles at their agency and love it but they miss the clinical aspect of being a clinician. Having a part-time private practice, where you see 1-5 clients a week would be a great option.
If you’re still in graduate school or just graduated, you can take the first steps of starting a private practice by joining Facebook groups, taking courses, networking with private practice owners in your area or connecting with people who are in private practice and learning all about it.
You can start by:
- Watching Videos
- Reading Blogposts
- Writing a business plan
You can start now! I can’t emphasize that enough. Don’t worry about it being perfect. Don’t worry about starting off slow. Just start!
Amanda Patterson is a private practice consultant who helps therapists create business and marketing plans. She’s the owner of a group practice, Caring Therapists in South Florida. She’s the founder of My Private Practice Collective, an online community for therapists in private practice.
