This Business of Therapy

Category: Starting a Practice

  • How Do I Earn Enough as a Therapist so I Can Give up the Day Job?

    Good Question. And on the face of it, this is an easy one to answer: Have sufficient clients paying you a sufficient rate to give you what you want to earn. So if you want to replace a €30,000 a year job, and if your expenses amount to €5,000 per year, you will need to…

  • Look At What Technology Can Do For You…

    The technological age has brought many changes, and not all of them are positive. Relationships changing with the advent of mobile phones, social media and instant information. The old ways are dying out, I hear people say, we aren’t talking any more, we pay more attention to virtual friends than real ones. In other words,…

  • Referrals and Referral Fees

    Referrals are probably the most common way that therapists and counsellors get new clients. Many of them come through personal recommendations, from colleagues, friends, existing or former clients, or through other professionals, such as doctors. Sometimes more formal arrangements are in place, where referrals are made in return for a fee or other consideration. Typically,…

  • Can I Earn More In My Practice Without Working Extra Hours?

    The subject of money can be a thorny one for practitioners. With lots of talk about recession and redundancies, therapists can find it hard to charge an economic rate. One way of earning more is to work more hours, but if that’s not possible, here are some tips: 1. Increase your rate per hour. A…

  • Where Do I Start?

    Being the one who  runs the practice, as well as the one who provides the service, means that sometimes there’s just too much to do in the available time. I’m sure you’ve had the experience, I know I have; the to-do list that just keeps growing no matter how fast or efficiently you clear the…

  • Need to Attract More Clients? Just Ask

    I was in the bank some time ago and a woman who was trying to encourage me to buy a pension gave me a box of mints with “Just Ask” written on it. It reminded me of how complicated we can make the whole looking- for-clients thing. Earlier this week, a friend who was thinking…

  • Help! I Need A Room, Fast

    Help! I have no where to see my client. I need a room, and fast! This was the dilemma my friend found herself in when first started her practice. She had a willing client, but no therapy room. Here are a couple of ideas we came up with:

  • The Buck Stops Here

    Many therapists setting out in practice for the first time have closed their doors and gone back to working for someone else within three years. Not because they’re not good therapists, not because they aren’t helping their clients, but because they had no idea what it takes to run a business. I learnt this lesson…