My first year of private practice has been an exciting journey. I have succeeded in some areas, failed in others, and had fun doing it all. Below are my experiences in seven different areas of developing my business. Today I have a giant office, a beautiful view of downtown Tulsa, financial stability, and work on my own schedule.
- Money
I started my private practice with no savings, no clients, and no idea what I was doing. I quickly learned to swim through the waters of self-employment and navigated to a space of financial stability. My recommendation to others is to save 3-6 months of income before leaving their current job. For myself, the formula which led to financial success was paying myself 50% of my earnings, saving 20% for overhead costs, and saving 30% for taxes.
- Marketing
The idea of marketing leads to many thoughts of thousands of dollars spent paying for advertisements. This was my thought and I wasted, yes, thousands of dollars on Facebook and other social media marketing attempts. The return of investment must be considered before just jumping into a marketing investment. My advice to others is to engage in the free marketing available online. What I do now is blogging and posting on multiple social media platforms and being involved in group discussions which lead people to explore your site.
- Professional Boundaries
Having very few clients made me want to invest more time than I did when I had a caseload of 30-40 clients. I quickly learned if you do not maintain strict professional boundaries, your clients will run over you. One of my big boundaries now is if they are more than 15 minutes late, I require rescheduling. The urge is to see the client anyway especially if you do not have another client afterwards. You must fight that urge and maintain that boundary. Another boundary I developed is not answering the phone after hours. I got into a poor habit of answering calls at 6 or 7 in the evening, interrupting what I was doing but anxious to get new clients. I learned returning calls the next morning is equally effective.
- Networking
Unfortunately, there are networking groups in Tulsa that charge for you to be a member. The return on this investment is negligible. I was lucky and did the math before joining any of these groups. There are groups that are free to join and meet at various times throughout the month. The free groups are the ones to attend. Mingle with professionals from other industries and make your name known in the community. Oftentimes, I was the only counselor at networking events.
- Developing areas of interest
Being newly licensed and having only worked mental health inpatient and in a substance abuse treatment center, I was not sure what my ideal client would look like. I have since learned things I really enjoy treating include life changes, depression, trauma, and Borderline Personality Disorder. My favorite modalities to use are Solution Focused, Cognitive Behavioral, and Dialectical Behavioral therapies. Because I am human, I realize my interests may change over time. My ideal client right now is someone committed to change, able to recognize areas that need improvement, and willing to work hard to make lasting improvements.
- Leisure time
Charging more per session means fewer sessions. Fewer sessions means I found myself with an insane amount of free time. From the time I entered college to the time I started my practice, I would have to schedule fun time and I never found myself with nothing to do. Being idle is not something I can tolerate for too long, so sitting around and watching TV was not an option. I find ways to be creative, write/read as much as I want, and meditate regularly. I take time before and between sessions to recharge and relax, making me more effective in each session.
- Other forms of income
I do think relying solely on sessions for income in the beginning is impossible or at the very least, boring. Again, I enjoy filling my time with things to do. A few forms of income I found myself doing include holding workshops, contracting with both inpatient and outpatient companies, and driving for Uber. Since the hard times have passed, I stopped driving for Uber, which although fun, it cut into my family time. I continue other forms of income simply because they are fun. Anything you do for a living should be fun. I say if you’re not having fun then something needs to change.
I highly recommend private practice to all my colleagues in the mental health field. If you are tired of being underpaid, overworked, and undervalued, then private practice is a good fit for you. It will be more work in some areas, but less work overall and WAYYY more fun. Check out my website.
