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Private practice success is on therapist’s minds—and wish lists—wherever I am these days. Associates want to work in a good paying supervised private practice. Students and trainees want to know what they can do now so they’re in the best position for private practice when the time comes. Licensed therapists want affordable offices, many clients, and enough income to pay their business expenses, have a vacation, and to support themselves financially.
Each therapist wants to have an affordable, successful private practice in a preferred location when the time is right—and everyone wants to know how to make this happen as quickly as possible. LMFTs, LCSW’s, LPCCs, Psychologists, and Associates have many effective, low cost, and practical tools at their disposal to build, develop, or revitalize their private practices. While trainees and students are not permitted to work a private practice, there are many things they can do today to set things up for the time they’re permitted to practice privately when licensed or as a Registered Associate under supervision. The information shared here comes from my full time private practice experience, as well as time spent teaching, training, supervising, and doing private practice coaching with licensed mental health professionals—and lessons learned from interacting with LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, Psychologists, Associates, Psych Assistants, trainees, and students during the past 10+ years while being an active participant in several professional organizations as well as a board member and event attendee. How Do I Get Started? I have no clients and can’t afford a full-time office. Licensed Therapists are smart about private practice. We know how costly it can be to set up an office full time on our own, so we share offices and rent space to each other to defray our costs and to keep each other company. Entrepreneurial therapists sometimes lease a suite with a few offices and then rent them out to therapists full time, part time or hourly—or start a group practice and hire Licensed Therapists on salary or pay a per hour rate to serve the clients referrals that the group practice generates from business marketing efforts. There are many options for licensed therapists to choose from to begin a private practice. Here are some:
Many in the therapist community are under the impression that the most common type of private practice for a Licensed Therapist is a full time one, where they lease their own office. While this was largely true until the early 2000s, the most prevalent form of private practice today is where the Licensed Therapist is employed full or part time at a counseling related entity and has a part time private practice in a shared office or one rented by the hour, half or full day. If you want a full time private practice where you have your own office, you don’t have to start with that. You can start your practice while working full or part time and renting space hourly and then gradually build up your practice. You can increase your office time as your client flow increases. When you have enough clients and can afford the overhead then you can move to a full time practice with your own office if you choose. Many therapists have transitioned to full time private practice this way. How do you find these office leasing or subletting opportunities? Get to know those who share or rent out office space in an area where you’d like to have your practice. While you can look at ads in professional publications or postings on Social Media Websites for Therapists, most offices are rented by word of mouth or through professional connections. Get to know these professionals in your community and before you know it you’ll have the office setting that’s just right for you. Private Practice Success Factors Ultimately, private practice success depends on these six factors: 1. Location of your office—Physical or OnlineIs it where your clients are and can easily travel or go online to see you? 2. Your referral sources, including your website, webpage, and/or directory listing(s) and social media. Can potential clients and referral sources easily find you and contact you online right away when they need your services? 3. Parking—If you’re in a physical location. Video Platform—If you’re online. Is parking easy and inexpensive for clients. If this seems silly, think about places you’ve stopped going because parking is difficult or expensive. Is your video platform easy to access and use? Is it reliable? Does it freeze or lose audio or have tech difficulties often? 4. Knowing your numbers
I hope you’ve found this information to be helpful and encouraging as you create, maintain, or upgrade your private practice. Private practice success is doable but it does take planning, skill, and ongoing effort. I wish you much success in your private practice endeavors, whether online or in person Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping them develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com.
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Therapists want to know the secret to private practice success—filling one with enough clients to pay for the business, support ourselves, take a vacation, and save some money. Private practice success is doable with planning, skill, and the right kind of ongoing effort.
Five Key Tools for Private Practice Success
1. Your Introduction What you say or write when introducing yourself online or in person is a very useful tool for letting people know who you are, where you work, who you work with—vital info for those looking to employ you, refer clients or have you as a therapist. You may be surprised to learn how many therapists introduce themselves by just saying their first name—not where they work or who they work with as clients. How can people find you or know who they can refer without this info? Say your full name, license or professional status, type of work, office location or work place, and who you work with—or would like to. This gives people the right information to connect and refer. Introductions don’t have to be fancy, just key information delivered in a calm, friendly, professional manner: Eric Hernandez, Registered Associate MFT, at the West Hollywood Counseling Center where I counsel gay men and their partners under the supervision of Dr. Aaron Cohen. Lisa Chan, MFT Trainee, with School Counseling Services. I counsel middle school students and their parents in Silverlake. Tina Martinez, LCSW is my supervisor. Matt Samson, student at Pepperdine’s Encino Campus. I’m interested in working with men and anger management in the Culver City area. Jen Harvey, Licensed MFT. I work at Harbor House in Van Nuys treating adults with addictions and have a Telehealth/private practice in Sherman Oaks working with teens and their parents.. If you’re typing the intro online, list your website last, so people can click on it. Getting the word out about your services is a community service. Make sure your community knows how you can be of service to them—and how to find you when they need your services. 2. Your Business Card, Email Signature or Online Profile For in person interactions, your business card, including your email address, is a good marketing and connecting tool for clients, colleagues, referral sources, other business people, and professionals. Online, your email signature or social media profile info is your business card. Licensed therapist’s business info:
Your email address is a must. Clients, colleagues, and others want to be able to connect via e-mail, text, phone. Use a business, not personal, email on your card. Save time, make a good impression, by not having to write it on the card. Make sure the printing is large so it can be read quickly and easily. Associates and Trainees wanting a business card including this information should check with their supervisor and the organization they work for about their requirements. For an Associate or Trainee business card for networking, I recommend the personal calling card format:
You can pass the calling card out to colleagues and others so they can contact you about jobs, organizations or other information. I don’t recommend you give it to potential clients, just use it for networking purposes—it makes a better impression than writing your info on a piece of paper. 3. Your Contacts, Referral Sources & Resources Who you know, those who know you, and those who refer to you are a valuable resource in filling a practice. Building your contact list, email list, referral sources, followers, and resource list is a long-term project. Start today! Students who start this will have a good head start—don’t wait until you’re licensed to build the list of people who you know, who know about you, and the work you do. Who’s on your contacts list? Colleagues, licensed and pre-licensed therapists you know, counseling centers, current and former supervisors, graduate program instructors, business people you do business with, medical and dental professionals you do business with or refer to, friends, family members, neighbors, members of your church/temple/mosque, members of organizations you or your family belong to, social contacts, community contacts, etc. Online these are your social media contacts—followers, friends, members of the groups you have or belong to. Each is a potential referral source for your practice. Find a way to keep contact and keep them current on you and your practice. Whenever they send you a referral, thank them with a handwritten note or an e-mail or even a call—no client name necessary so confidentiality isn’t an issue. 4. Your Website or Other Online Presence You’ll most likely need some online presence to maintain your practice since most clients who are willing to pay or use their insurance find therapists online. Think of your website or webpage, blog, podcast, TikTok, YouTube Channel, FB Page, Instagram, etc., as your online office. Ask any therapist with a thriving practice—most will report a high percentage of clients come from sources online. Think about it, people save time by searching online. Give prospective clients a website or other page to become informed about services. Even if they find you in a directory, prospective clients will look at your website or other web presence before they contact you. Many therapists think a website is expensive. This is not the case. You don’t need to spend a lot for a website to attract clients. However, you do need at least a page or a few pages/videos/audios for clients to find or check you out when they’re referred. Clients like to see a picture or video, read something about you, your services—and e-mail you from your website. If you are going to have enough paying clients, having a website or page is a necessity. There are many free or very low cost services for creating a professional looking website. It’s fairly easy, no coding necessary. Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, and others provide these. Check them out—ask colleagues or friends about their experiences. If you decide to pay for a website, contact therapists you know who have websites you like—ask who designed it, what they paid—or search online and see who designed the websites you like, then contact them. If you are pre-licensed—especially if you’re a student—I suggest you have at least a page with your name, license status, contact information—with your own domain name. If your page says that mentions or counseling you’ll have to include a supervisor’s name and information. If you don’t want a webpage or think that you can’t afford to spend any money, consider a blog. Blogs are free at Blogger.com—you can direct people to that to check out your practice information. TikTok, FB, Insta, YouTube are free, too. 5. Your Online Listing in a Paid or Free Directory Having a listing in a few online directories helps. Do consider that paying for a directory listing can be a good investment in reaching potential clients. Clients find you when you’re listed in a therapist directory since they advertise and promote aggressively so they’re first in online searches. If you don’t want to pay for an online listing like Psychology Today, there are many free directory listings. CAMFT and AAMFT Clinical members have a listing as a membership benefit. Listings are also not limited to licensed therapists. Many sites have pre-licensed listings, but you must include supervisor information. I hope you’ve found this information helpful and encouraging as you create, maintain, or upgrade your practice. I wish you much success in your private practice endeavors. Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping them develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com. Talking with clients about therapy services, cost, and payment—and the importance of making and keeping regular appointments—is a vital part of therapy. Finding the right words to use professionally and clinically to convey the value of these services and the appropriate cost, timeframe, and involvement—is key to the success of every therapist’s private practice.
However, today many therapists are finding that they must spend significant time and energy to reset a client’s, or prospective client’s, expectations for therapy with regard to cost, frequency, duration, participation, and involvement in the therapy process. As a result of these challenging money-driven clinical conversations, many therapists have reduced their rates significantly—and are undercharging and being paid too little for therapeutic services. Unfortunately, it is a common misperception that charging as little as possible is the best strategy for attracting new clients and filling a practice. However, undercharging and underearning can seriously harm your practice if you are mainly providing low-cost offerings to clients—you and the work you do aren’t valued by many of these low-paying clients, you still need a lot of clients, and any new client makes very little difference to your income. If you’re in private practice you have a responsibility to work with enough clients who can pay your rates and keep you and your practice solvent so you can do the work you were meant to do instead of spending all your time and energy trying to fill a practice. Therapists are tired of undercharging and underearning. They want to work less, earn more—and make a bigger difference. More and more therapists are seeking out clinical and practice coaching so they can take charge of clinical money conversations and refocus them on the value, relief, and life/relationship/health changing/enhancing, conflict/anxiety/depression reducing benefits that clients are seeking from one-on-one therapy work with a trained professional—and they charge more and are paid accordingly. Their income increases, they attract more clients, they fill their practice. Therapists deserve to earn a good living for the work they do. The Wording You Use Can Make Difference in Your Income As in any clinical endeavor, the words you use to describe your services do make a difference. In this case, the amount a client is willing to pay for therapy with a trained professional—and in order to receive the desired result/relief/outcome. Yes, the meaning your words convey can either increase or decrease the amount of money you are paid for therapy. You’ll find that most people will pay in full and out of their own pocket for your services, when they believe you are the professional who can give them what they want—and the wording you use to describe your services conveys that. Money Talk: Words & Phrases to Consider Here are some examples of words that can make a difference in income when a clinician talks, writes, or communicates about therapy or money matters—and how and why these words can affect the perceived value, and subsequently, the amount a person is willing to pay for the therapy services provided by a clinician. This information applies equally to face-to-face conversations in real time or virtually, to emails, texts, social media postings, and what’s printed in marketing materials or is on your website. Each one of these words and phrases can have a direct effect on the amount a client pays for your clinical services. As you read the following information, be sure to remember:
1. Help, Support, Advice, Listening, Guidance Many therapists, clients, and lay people refer to therapy as: help, support, advice, listening, guidance, appointment, etc. When it comes to the amount of money a client is willing to pay for each of those ‘services,’ the perceived value and worth is low since these are things that non-professionals—friends, colleagues, neighbors, parents, siblings, online forums, etc.—can, and do, provide. Exceptions to these are: professional help/support/advice/guidance. These have a higher perceived value of worth to clients. Contrast the words: help, support, advice, etc., with the following ones that have a higher perceived value and worth: session, service, psychotherapy, counseling, treatment, recovery, consultation. Now combine them: psychotherapy session . . . therapy session . . . counseling session . . . psychotherapy services . . . therapy services . . . therapeutic services . . . professional services . . . depression treatment . . . anxiety treatment . . . bipolar treatment . . . trauma recovery . . . professional consultation . . . etc. These terms mean business. They are definite and professional—and position you as trained and capable professional of delivering the services they need. Other terms can be added when appropriate: licensed, certified, approved, supervised by, etc. Yes, clients will pay you more for your service when these words are added. Here are two examples of lower perceived value wording: my services, services I provide. However, when you add other words to those phrases you come out with higher perceived value: psychotherapeutic /psychotherapy services I provide. Add another certifier to that and you then have the highest perceived value: psychotherapy conducted by a licensed psychotherapist/clinician. What word or terms do you, and your clients, prefer—or use—to talk about or describe the services you provide? Which would you or your clients pay a higher amount for? 2. Ask, Get, Take, Accept, Charge I ask $ . . . What I ask is $ . . . How much do you get for a session? I can take $ . . . The fee I accept is . . . I charge $ . . . What I charge is . . . What do you charge? Are you asking or is it the cost? Are you asking or is it the price? Be professional and definite: “The cost is . . ." not “What I ask is . . .” State what the cost is for. “The charge/price/cost for/of the 60-minute session is . . .” Here it’s important to remember that a client doesn’t “give you money,” a client pays for services rendered. You earned the money by providing services to the client—services provided by a highly-trained professional as we have quite a bit of education, training, skills, and experience, not to mention licensure or supervision by a licensed person. Therapists deserve a fair rate of professional compensation. Here are some alternative words and phrases to consider when stating the prices for services in your practice. Using these terms positions you and the services you offer as confident and of high value and worth: The PRICE is . . . The COST is. . . The RATE is . . . The AMOUNT for that is . . . The session price is . . . The session cost is . . . The session rate is . . . The Price/Cost/Rate/Amount/Charge for that service is Decide for yourself what fits you, your clients, and your practice best. Try a few of the phrases out. See what fits you best. 3. Free, discounted, reduced, lower “No charge,” “no cost,” and “complimentary” are better terms for practice success than the word “free” which seems to mean to people that your services aren’t worth much and they should expect to receive all your services “for free,” all the time. Discounted, discount, and reduced rate are popular words but aren’t the best for practice success as they train people to always ask for “a discount” or reduction. A better choice in wording is “special” price/pricing or “introductory’ pricing, “a special offer” or even, “a limited time offer.” With these words and phrases, people associate your services as something of worth that are available at this pricing for a limited amount time. Sometimes people ask if you have a “lower” fee or if you will “lower” the fee or even, “What’s your lowest fee?” Some better alternative words and phrases are an “adjusted” fee or “special pricing” or “professional courtesy” pricing or even “college student, unemployed, etc.” pricing. It’s important for mental health professionals as a profession to not train people to expect us to always reduce, discount, lower or charge the lowest fees just because a client wants but doesn’t actually need an adjusted fee. It’s important that therapists, as a profession, maintain a reputation for being paid well for the good work they do—work that’s worth every dollar they’re paid. It’s not a good thing for therapists to be known for charging the lowest rates in town to anyone who asks even when they don’t need a price adjustment. 4. Fee Scale—Prices, Pricing, Rates, Fee Range When talking numbers around the amounts you charge for your services, most therapists find it’s better received to refer to pricing, prices, and rates, as a “price range” instead of a “fee scale.” Using the term “price range” is associated with “a range of services and pricing.” People seem to understand that concept easily. “A price range” connotes choices and options whereas “fee scale” suggests some type of ranking or judgement. That’s enough for today about money matters and getting paid. Try a few of these out and see what happens. Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, is in private practice in Santa Monica where she works with Couples and Gifted, Talented, and Creative Adults across the lifespan. Lynne’s been doing business and clinical coaching with mental health professionals for more than 15 years, helping them develop even more successful careers and practices. To learn more about her in-person and online services, workshops or monthly no-cost Online Networking & Practice Development Lunch visit www.Gifted-Adults.com or www.LAPracticeDevelopment.com. |
Lynne Azpeitia, LMFTFor 10+ years Lynne Azpeitia has helped therapists to live richer and happier lives through her workshops, private practice, clinical, and career coaching, and her practice consultation groups which train, support, and coach licensed and pre-licensed therapists, associates, & students how to create and maintain a successful, thriving clinical practice and a profitable and sustainable career, Archives
July 2024
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Lynne Azpeitia, LMFT (310) 828-7121
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