This Business of Therapy

Tag: attract more clients

  • What Horse Riding has Taught me About Therapy Practice Part 1: Eddie Macken and the Ideal Client

    It was clear from the moment I first saw him that he was a master in the saddle. I had no idea who he was, but I knew he knew his stuff. I was mesmerised by his hands, by the way he sat, by the effortlessness of his movements. All the directions my riding instructor…

  • Spending Time ON Your Practice

    A reader of one of my newsletters wrote to tell me of her struggle to find time to work on her accounts. It reminded me of how often we can forget that running a practice is more than just seeing the clients. There are lots of little tasks that need to be done to keep…

  • Where to Practice From? Location, location, location!

    One of the key decisions in starting to practice is where to base yourself. It may seem like you have lots of options, or very few. Here are some ideas to consider, and help you choose:

  • Can the Client Pay?

    Twice recently, while discussing with therapists who might be their ideal clients, the question of clients’ ability to pay came up. Or rather, it didn’t come up. Neither of the therapists in question mentioned ability to pay as a criteria they would consider in forming an idea of their ideal client. And yet, both of…

  • Five Ways to Make your Marketing More Effective

    A therapist client asked me recently to help her create marketing material that would bring in more clients. This otherwise articulate professional found it difficult to put words together into promotional material, in a way that sounded authentic without being sleazy. If you’re going to invest money in getting a brochure or flyer designed and…

  • Summertime and the Living is Easy…or maybe not! Coping With Seasonality

    It’s been a glorious summer, sunshine all the way. But for some practitioners, any summer, and a fine one in particular, is not the good news it might be. For many reasons, the holiday season can result in a fall off of work for counsellors and therapists. Clients feel better, they go on holidays, or…

  • …And Then There Was The Accountant Who Spun Plates!

    In most professions you get the generalists and the specialists. In medicine you have the GPs and the Consultants. In Law you have the Conveyancers and the Criminal Lawyers. You have the local dentist who does fillings and polishing, and you have the orthodontist. In counselling and therapy too, we have those who specialise in…

  • Do you Advertise or Not?

    I often get asked by practitioners, “Is it okay to advertise my services?” And in particular, “Is it okay to advertise on the Internet?” Those in favour of advertising online will argue that we live in a technological age, and that potential clients will reach for their phone, iPad or computer as the first source…

  • Who Minds the Shop?

    A couple of years ago, my therapist had to drop out of the work at short notice due to a sudden illness.  I can still remember the shock of learning that she was going to be absent for several months, and the difficulty I had in dealing with it at the time.  My therapist had…

  • Have You Enough Support for Your Business?

    I was a bit taken aback when a colleague suggested to me during the week that what I was really looking for was support. After all, I teach this stuff, don’t I? As a therapist, I provide support for my clients, usually emotional support, and sometimes the more practical support of looking at resourcing or…