This Business of Therapy

Tag: profitable practice

  • Contracting with a Therapy Client

    One of the first things we are taught in training to be a counsellor or therapist, is about contracting. One of the tasks of the first session with a client is to set out and agree the terms of the contract. Do you commit your contract to writing? It’s not essential, but certainly something you…

  • Help! I Need an Elevator Pitch!

    A therapist client recently asked me for help in writing an elevator pitch. You’ve probably heard how it goes…you get into an elevator, there’s a potential client there, perfect for you, needing what you have to offer, what do you say? You have between 30 and 60 seconds to deliver your message before the doors…

  • The Value of Bean Counting (Or Now’s a Good Time to do a Budget)

    Do you have a sat nav machine in your car? I love mine. Kate (the name of the voice that guides me to where I want to go) is patient, polite, and always helpful. She is completely unflappable, even when I ignore her instructions. She just gives me new ones in her calm, measured way.…

  • Do You have a Niche or Target Market?

    What is a niche market? And do you have one? When first I qualified as a therapist, I was willing to work with anyone, with any issue. With a firm belief that I’d never reach a place where I had more work than I needed, I was desperate for any client that came my way.…

  • Advertising Your Therapy Practice on the Internet

    I recently spoke to David O’Regan, of David O’Regan, Counselling & Psychotherapy, Newbridge, Co Kildare about his experience of Pay Per Click advertising with Google. You know the ones, they come up in little boxes on the right hand side of your screen when you enter a search term in Google. What Is Pay Per…

  • How Can I Promote my Practice in an Ethical Way?

    Many therapists find it hard to put themselves out there. Having been on the receiving end of sleezy, pushy marketing or sales in the past, they are fearful of visiting that experience on others. Mindful that people looking for therapy or counselling may well be feeling vulnerable already, they are reluctant to take advantage. Conscious…

  • Seven Ways to Get Past Procrastination

    Some people don’t believe there’s any such thing as procrastination. Some believe it has a life of its own waiting to ambush everything you ever wanted to do. Whatever your beliefs, there are days when you know there are things that could help you to build your practice, or help it to run more smoothly,…

  • Fees and Mind Set

    Another limiting factor to earning enough as a therapist is our mind set about charging an economic fee. The factors that affect what a therapist is willing to charge will include: What I believe is ethical or moral to charge people who may be in pain, What I believe clients are willing or able to…

  • Earning Enough as a Therapist – Limiting Factors

    Recently, I wrote about the numbers you needed to work on in order to replace your day job with a life as a self-employed therapist. As I said then, in looking at trading a full-time employment position for a full or part time self-employed position, the questions are far more complex than working out the…

  • 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…