5 Myths About Running a Private Practice
5 Myths About Running a Private Practice
You’ve likely landed on this article because you’re curious about the myths you’ve heard about running a private practice—perhaps about how it’s too difficult, costly, or time consuming to build up. Maybe you believe that running a thriving practice is only for business-minded people or entrepreneurs. None if this is true.
In this article, we’ll break down the 5 most pervasive myths about what it takes to run a private practice, while weaving in some practical advice about how to do it.
Myth #1: Prospective patients won’t be able to afford treatment if I charge what I deserve based on my training and expertise.
The truth: Many clinicians don’t realize that many individuals have out-of-network benefits included with their health insurance plans. This means that their insurance plan reimburses them for healthcare services they have paid for out of pocket. Even if their plan does not reimburse them the total amount, they are still much more likely to be able to afford the total fee you deserve to earn.
For example, if a patient has out-of-network benefits where they are reimbursed 50% of what they spend, and you charge $200/session, they will be paid back $100. This is the same cost to the same patient if you charge $100 and do not inquire about their out-of-network coverage. Looking at this example, your fee schedule for services is worth considering carefully.
Myth #2: It’s really complicated to run a private practice, so I need highly specialized business knowledge or training if I want to do this.
The truth: Running a private psychotherapy practice is one of the simplest, lowest overhead business models out there. You don't need too much more than basic budgeting knowledge, basic business information (which you can find in our self-paced online course, The Complete Private Practice Toolkit!) and a really good accountant that you trust and who understands the ins and outs of this field.
Myth #3: A formal marketing strategy or branding is the best way to get referrals.
The truth: Promoting your private practice is all about human connection. After all, you’re a therapist, not a marketer. As clinicians, we’re offering a human service—not selling car tires or any other physical product. Other business models or marketing strategies don’t apply to our services so neatly because the same rules for promoting home appliances, for example, just don’t apply to this field.
So how do we advertise? Here are a few ways:
Use professional and email contacts to send out a practice announcement (more info on this & email template in our online course)
Personally connect with other clinicians in your physical area or areas of expertise; this includes connecting with other colleagues who may be working with you on your cases
Skilled clinicians are usually fully booked. Find therapists who have similar expertise to you who are fully booked. Make a genuine connection with them and ask if they would be willing to send along their overflow of client requests in a kind, respectful way. Be sure to thank them and be professional—don’t overask, and be sure to return the favor in ways that could be meaningful to them.
Listing yourself on Psychology Today Therapist Finder
Join 1-2 professional organizations such as APA, etc., and list yourself in their directory
Don’t use Google Ads. They’re confusing, expensive, and too broad to get new clients
List your business on Google, however, especially if you have a physical location
Myth #4: I need to create a session schedule that is tailored to what people need.
(e.g., I need to work late evenings or Saturdays).
The truth: Creating a schedule that accommodates clients’ schedules better might be tempting, but if you do, you'll end up with a schedule that is at the whim of others' desires. In this scenario, you’ll likely be working at times when you'd rather be attending your own personal life. Choose a schedule that works for you, and trust that there are referrals that can make these times work with their schedule. The good news is that this has never been easier since telehealth came onto the scene, and expanded exponentially in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Create the schedule you actually want, not the schedule you think you have to have to be successful with your private practice. Having a structured schedule actually helps you create healthy boundaries with your clients and with your relationship to your work. Trust that you will find clients who can work with your schedule, because the ones who can accommodate your schedule are out there.
Myth #5: Having a social media presence is essential for modern clinicians in private practice.
The truth: It is not necessary to have a social media presence for most private practices. Unless you have a huge group practice with multiple locations, or unless you want to become a thought leader/influencer in wellness and mental health, social media is not an essential tool to generate client referrals.
Trying to generate client referrals through a social media presence is most likely a waste of time and energy. It can take years to build a meaningful following, and there is no guarantee that the people who follow you will become a client. Additionally, it can increase professional liability risks to connect with clients this way, so unless you have very specific reasons for needing a social media presence, we would go so far as to recommend that you don’t create that TikTok account to find clients.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of myths out there about what it takes to build and sustain a private practice, and we have debunked a few of them here. Many more are taken apart in The Complete Private Practice Toolkit online course. There, we give lots of practical information about how to build and manage a successful private practice to help sustain your life.
The truth is that it isn’t rocket science to run a thriving private practice. Even though almost none of us were taught the basics of running a business while in school to become mental health clinicians, that doesn’t mean that a private practice is outside of our grasp. It very much is within view.
