You don’t learn about marketing or sales or technology or systems.

You can be the best counsellor or psychotherapist in the world, but if your client’s don’t know how to find you then you won’t be successful in private practice.

At the start, it took me a while to realise that no one was coming to save me. There was no direct line manager or organisational structures to do any of the heavy lifting on my behalf. No one offering to send me clients or reminding me to do my accounts or marketing. It was all down to me.

And if I wanted to be successful, I had to figure out how to network, create content, build websites, navigate social media, optimise for search engines, figure out your ideal client, learn how to niche down, have a system for file notes and calendar bookings, engage with a professional body, meet their ethical requirements, as well as take responsibility for your own professional development and supervision.

Maybe you also want to build out a team, have a virtual assistant, make money on YouTube or Instagram, sell courses and eBooks, build out a blog, or make affiliate commissions or advertising.

I started out in private practice in January 2021 when I was allocated a small practice for my unpaid university placement hours. I had the opportunity to find my own clients, build out my preferred systems, and explore modalities that are aligned with my approach and that are effective for my clients.

And let’s be honest – there’s not a lot of easily accessible, free and detailed information about business building for the mental health industry.

I’m using old marketing tactics as well as the new stuff.

I read the business books and listen to all the new podcasts so you don’t have to.

I’m apart of business networking groups as well as business development programs so I can stay on top of the trends and best practices.

I experiment with all the software and rank them for their strengths and weaknesses, so you get to pick the right systems for you from the beginning.

Ultimately, I’ve created this blog to collate and house all the information I wish I had access to (all in one place) before opening my practice. 

It’s probably going to be a little while to catch up with the writing of the content that I want to be here, but look around and see the structure and titles so you know what’s coming. If you join the email list, you’ll get all the updates as the new content is published and the blog is fleshed out more.