Am I Ready For Private Practice As An Associate Therapist?

Assess your strengths and areas you thrive/your gifts

• Assess your areas of growth, continued challenges, and weaknesses

• Working on and refining areas of growth, continued challenges, and weaknesses

• Awareness and active exploration and management of scarcity, anxiety, worthiness, shame, guilt, and money mindset issues/core beliefs you hold

• Understands and is comfortable with the reality of opening and building a private practice. Takes anywhere from 10-16 months to have a full caseload (depends on what you consider a full weekly caseload is)

  • Click here to read my post blog titled How Long Does It Take To Get A Full Caseload?

• Is okay making limited income in the beginning stages of business (0-9 months)

• Comfortable with making variable income based on the seasons of the year (e.g. summer is slower so take vacation then, fall is busier so working more) and/or due to client cancelations

• Has a partner/spouse, savings fund, and/or disposable income in the beginning stages or is okay working part-time or per diem to supplement income in the beginning stages when you are building a caseload

• Comfortable with consistent and ongoing networking with other colleagues (talking about themselves and reciprocal building relationships)

• Comfortable with consistent and ongoing professional marketing with whatever method that they prefer and works for them and their ideal client such as : Google ads, Google My Business, SEO, blogging, social media, networking, a good website, writing a book, presenting workshops, going on podcasts, etc.

• The traits and skills needed to be in private practice include, but not are limited to:

  • Identification of values and goals of your business (Why do you want to open a private practice. Who will you serve? What are your business values? What are your personal values?)

  • Go getter, self motivated and proactive

  • Active learner

  • Problem solver

  • Financial literacy

  • Strong clinical skills and judgement

  • Evidence based practice

  • Strong foundation of basic counseling skills

  • Customer service

  • Marketing and advertising

  • Adaptable

  • Okay with taking risks

  • Patience

  • Organized

  • Communication skills

  • Self awareness and insight

  • Okay with taking risks

  • Self confidence

• Assessing your comfort with being a business owner and everything related to owning a business.

  • This can include: marketing, advertising, having your income directly related to bringing in new clients consistently, paying for your own health insurance, paying your own and taking out your own federal taxes.

• Assessing your comfort working with clients long term vs. short-term (e.g. crisis work)

• Finding a good fit supervisor who can help you with both clinical and business related issues and meeting with them weekly

• Continually learning, researching, studying, etc. due to being isolated in a private practice setting vs. working for an agency which has support and training embedded already in it such as grand rounds, case consult, group supervision, etc.

• Referring clients out if supervision, consultation, studying, researching, and ongoing learning is not helping you

Those Who Tend To Thrive & Be Attracted To Private Practice

• Valuing freedom and autonomy to make their own choices such as setting your fee, scheduling, time off, etc.

• Valuing flexibility of working for yourself such as modifying your schedule, modifying your fee, taking as much time off as you want, working overseas, being 100% telehealth, being 100% in person, hybrid scheduling, etc.

• Wants to work less and see less clients per week

• Wants to make a desired income that is not offered in group practice or agency (e.g. six figures)

• Does not like working for others

• Embraces the challenges of being a small business owner

• Enjoy the nitty gritty parts of business such as taxes, renewing licenses, etc.

• Are confident in who they are

• Are congruent (inside matches the outside)

• Are authentic to who they are

• Practice assertive communication vs. passive, passive aggressive, or aggressive communication

• Have a beginner’s mind vs. believing they know everything and are an expert

• Are comfortable making mistakes

• Are comfortable taking risks

• Can repair and negotiate relationships after disagreements/ruptures/conflicts

• And more

How Many Years of Social Work Experience Do Need to Start a Private Practice?

National Associate of Social Workers (NASW) recommends a minimum of two years of post-master's experience in a supervised clinical setting.

Group Practice vs. Private Practice

• Group practices are a good option for those who:

  • Want to have greater ability to make more money than in an agency setting

  • Want traditional benefits offered such as health insurance, time off, etc.

  • Want to provide therapy, but not deal with the administrative and marketing aspects of therapy such as returning emails and phone calls, marketing, advertising, etc.

  • Do not want to be business owners

  • Want to have a team of other people to work with and consult with (rather than working alone)

  • Who need more business, supervision, clinical, administrative, and ethical support

  • Who are more anxious, fearful, apprehensive about going into private practice

  Agencies such as hospitals, schools, colleges, and community mental health clinics are a good fit for those who:

  • Want traditional benefits offered such as health insurance, time off, retirement fund, pension, etc.

  • Want to know exactly how much they will make annually

  • Want to work for a certain agency due to their history, value, reputation, etc.

  • Want to serve a particular population or presenting symptom

  • Want to work with the public and those underserved

  • Want to have a team of other people to work with and consult with (rather than working alone)

Click here to read my blog post titled Private Practice Is Not For Everyone.