If you graduated from a master’s counseling program, and completed your internship hours, let me tell you – you got this. You have more than enough experience to help others. Of course, one or two additional focused trainings in your area of expertise will not hurt, but you already have more than enough proof for that good old imposter syndrome: you already have great counseling skills.
Now, having covered that you are more than good enough, what about the next steps in your career? As you know, it is not enough to study and train, it is time to do this for real. By doing this, you will not only be changing your client’s life for the better but will also start earning some income. However, that is much easier said than done.
If you go out to apply for counseling jobs, the sad truth is that most of them will be looking at your experience rather than your skills. Even if they offer you a job, they treat you as a fresher and offer you a basic salary that is not even enough to pay off your students’ loans. So, what should you do?
Some people lose heart and give up on that career, while others decide to become a Private Practice therapist. That is the path I have taken myself, I and have not looked back since. I’m being paid at least five times more than at an agency, I get to choose my hours and my clients, I don’t have the politics associated with a workplace, no boss to answer to, and I can take a vacation whenever I want (which I do).
However, a counseling private practice does come with its challenges. The main challenge is that while you have the education and the skills to become a therapist, you probably do not have the experience or the knowledge in starting a new business, marketing it, and running it. I bet that during these 3 years of your counseling master’s program you were lucky if you got one brief workshop about private practice. You need guidance on how to become a private practice therapist and how to start and manage your business.
Even if you have made up your mind to become a private practice therapist, you will not get the needed exposure simply by leasing up an office, giving out some business cards, and sitting in your office waiting for the clients to knock on your door. To be successful in business, you need to be found by your target clients, attract them and make a connection with them, and finally turn them into paying. There are service providers such as business coaches, private practice accelerator programs, web designers, tax accountants and accountants, and marketers, who can help you in building your business with the following specialized services:
- Creating a robust business structure
- Identifying your target clients
- Turning your visitors into potential clients
- Building and improving your web presence to get connected with the clients and make you accessible
- Writing marketing content for your business to make an impression on your potential clients
- Creating online advertising campaigns to so that you will be found on search engines
- Implementing SEO tools and strategies to rank high on search engines
- Positioning you as an expert in the field
If you are thinking about how to become a private practice therapist, then you can hire the services of these experts and gain popularity in the market to emerge as an expert.
That being said, everything you need to create and maintain a thriving private practice is not rocket science and you can pretty much do everything on your own, once you have a proven step-by-step system, and you’re getting help with implementing it all, instead of getting overwhelmed. The most comprehensive private practice accelerator, and probably the most affordable one as well is the6figurepractice There are plenty of free resources in there as well, and quite extensive amount of success case studies.
The more seen you become, the more clients you are likely to get, and the more prosperity your business will be able to accumulate. The thing is, you don’t have to suffer through trial and error, or get paralyzed by all the options out there, you can simply be guided through it all, and be surrounded by a community of private practice therapists how are going through the same process!
A good place to start would be to take the 22-minute free crash course about all the different marketing strategies that you’ll need to build a successful private practice!
