This Business of Therapy

Tag: Build a therapy practice

  • Promoting Your Practice? 4 Important Questions

    Before deciding how to promote your practice, you need to do some preparation work. This is easiest done by asking four important questions of yourself. These four questions could be called the “4 Ps”: Product Price People Path

  • An Introduction to The Business of Therapy

    The popular workshop “The Business of Therapy: Starting a Therapy Practice” which has been running for 5 years is now available on line from TherapyAcademy.ie. If you don’t have time to attend in person, or the dates or venues don’t suit you, this may the course for you. With a full written course, and covering…

  • The Merits of Working for Nothing

    Working for free is fine, and a valid marketing strategy, as long as we feel it’s our choice. However, it can breed expectation, so don’t take yourself for granted, or you’ll find others will too. The marketing environment has changed hugely over the past few decades. Providing information, samples and services for free is now…

  • Knowing Your Practice: Who Am I In My Work?

    Identity is an issue that is often present in therapy work. The quest to “know our true selves,” or to “be myself,” is a common theme in the therapy room. As therapists, we model being ourselves through our authenticity or congruence, and in this way allow clients the freedom to do likewise. Identity is equally…

  • Are We There Yet? (How Long Does it Take?)

    How long does it take to establish a therapy practice? This a regular question asked at workshops and in meetings with therapists. The answer varies hugely and depends on many factors. The short answer is, you can do the basics in a few weeks. However, if you are starting from scratch and aiming for a…

  • Marketing Dilemmas

    To practice our therapy skills, there must be someone who has a problem, or a question, or a wondering that we can help. We need clients to practice with. There are basically two ways in which to find clients: Someone hires us to see clients that they have available, or We find them ourselves. I…

  • What Sort of Practice Do You Want To Create?

    What Is Your Intention For Your Practice? I wrote recently about taking ourselves seriously as business owners when we have a self-employed therapy practice. In that article, I wrote about investing our time, money and energy in our practice, if we are taking ourselves seriously. The question then arises, “Well, how much time, money and…

  • What Do You Want For and From Your Practice?

    What is your desire for your practice, for your clients, and for yourself? It’s an interesting question, and I wonder how much time you have given to it. How much detail can you create about your desire before you interrupt yourself with something. It might be, “I never get what I want,” or, “It will…

  • Criticism Kills Off Our Desire

    In a recent article about the creative process of setting up in practice, I wrote about how we can interrupt our desire by judging it. Criticism is toxic to creativity, whether it comes from others or from ourselves. I have a big inner critic. Some years ago, I worked with a coach who gave me…

  • Money Shows Up Our Trust Issues!

    Nothing brings up trust issues as quickly or as obviously as money! (Except perhaps sex?) I have had several clients who pay me at the start of the session rather than risk forgetting to pay at the end. I’ve asked about it and the answer is always the same, they don’t trust themselves to remember.…