4 Things I’ve Learned After 4 Years in Private Practice
On New Year’s Day in 2020, after several months of wondering if I could do it and anxiety about what would happen if I couldn’t, I woke up and decided that it was time to start setting up my private practice. I had no experience of running a business, but I knew that I didn’t want to work for anyone else again, and I was determined to give it a try and learn as I went along.
Like the rest of the world, the Covid pandemic threw a massive curveball at my plans, and I had to adapt and change almost immediately, still not really knowing what I was doing but giving it a go regardless. There have been lots of challenges and unexpected hurdles to overcome in the years since, but I’m delighted to still be here, doing a job I love and growing in all sorts of ways.
In this post, I’ll share 4 things I’ve learned in the 4 years I’ve been in private practice, in the hope that it will encourage and inspire you if you’re thinking about taking the leap too.
If you’re on the fence about starting, just start
You can spend weeks or even months convincing yourself that it’s “not the right time” to start, but the reality is there will never be a 100% right time, so you might as well start where you are and go from there. The wonderful thing about private practice is that you can change anything at any time, so if you realise that something’s not working for you in the way you want / need it to, you can change it.
Although it took me several months to build up the resolve to finally start my private practice, once I decided to go for it, everything snowballed from there. My first clients started working with me within a couple of months of launching (unfortunately, the first Covid lockdown coincided with my initial setting up, so I had to adapt and change my plans almost immediately!), and I got involved with local online networking groups, which gave me opportunities to meet different business owners from all sorts of sectors.
There isn’t a “right way” to get started, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed and have no idea of the potential options, I’ve created a free checklist that covers the key things I did that you can view and download here. Feel free to share it with anyone you think will find it useful.
You are your business, prioritise your wellbeing
One of the biggest lessons I learned in the first year of private practice was how important it is to prioritise my wellbeing. After working solidly without any time off for 8 months, I was exhausted and alarmingly close to burnout. I realised that I needed to be proactive about making sure I took regular breaks, and this is when I began scheduling my leave in for the following year in advance. You can read more about how I manage holidays here if you’re interested.
I now take at least 1 week off after every 8 weeks of client work, with extended breaks (usually 3 weeks) in June / July and December / January. This seems to fit with my natural energy pattern, but you might find that you need a break more or less regularly than this; the frequency itself doesn’t really matter, as long as you are taking time off.
Running a business takes time and energy, and it’s easy to allow it to leak into your personal time at the expense of other things that bring you joy. Make sure you’re covering the basics (sleep, eating well, regular exercise, social time, getting some fresh air, etc.) as an absolute non-negotiable, and keep up with hobbies, classes and groups that you enjoy.
The whole point of working for yourself is that you can make your business work for you. If you have a class that you like to attend every Monday morning, you’re allowed to schedule clients and other business stuff around it. Ultimately, setting your business up in a way that enables you to keep doing the things that bring you joy will reduce the chances of you becoming resentful of it. And remember that if something is no longer working for you, you’re allowed to change it!
Consistency is key
It’s common for therapists to panic in the early days if they haven’t had lots of enquiries through in the first few weeks, but it’s important to remember that it takes time to build a business. Therapy isn’t the sort of thing where we want quantity over quality anyway; instead, we want the right clients for us as individual therapists, rather than taking on anyone who is looking for therapy because we want to earn some money.
If you follow me on social media or have had a nosy at my website, you’ll likely have noticed that I’m usually at full capacity and unable to take on new clients for extended periods of time. I’m very fortunate to be in this position, but it hasn’t happened overnight; it’s taken time and energy to build a reputation that means people want to work with me.
The most useful piece of advice I can give you if you’re looking to start a private practice is to be consistent. This means putting in the effort to do consistent marketing on social media and / or blog posts by updating them regularly. It also means being consistent about regularly getting involved in local networking opportunities so that other business owners get to know, like and trust you, and begin to recommend you to people in their network who may benefit from therapy.
You’re unlikely to reap the rewards immediately, but don’t be disheartened. Keep showing up and giving people reasons to work with you, and you’ll attract clients who want to work with you, and that you want to work with.
Other people want to help and support you
The support I’ve had from other people over the last 4 years has been incredible, and I wouldn’t be where I am now without it. I had no experience of running a business before setting up my private practice, but so many people took time to sit down with me and answer the many, many questions I had about it, and helped to put me at ease!
When I started telling people I knew about what I was doing, they were so encouraging and enthusiastic. My peers and supervisor were great at giving me ideas for things to think about that I hadn’t considered, and for believing in my professional abilities. Friends and family were fantastic cheerleaders, sharing social media and blog posts with their networks, showing up to events I was participating in, and generally being awesome soundboards when I was stuck.
As much as I love working for myself and doing the work I do, it can be stressful and frustrating at times, and having people around me to vent to and get advice from has relieved so much pressure. There are aspects of running a business that are not my forte to say the least (cough accounts and tax returns cough), so working with people who are experts in these areas means that I can focus my energy on the thing I’m good at: therapy!
Ultimately, if you’re feeling stuck and overwhelmed and have no idea what to do about it, asking for help is often the best place to start. In my experience, people want to help in any way they can, and taking the first step of letting them know what you’re struggling with will set you on the path to sort it. Even the biggest messes can be sorted out with the right help and support, so don’t let shame and embarrassment get in the way of asking for it.
If you’re a therapist looking into starting a private practice, or you’re already established in your practice but want to explore how you might refresh and / or change how you do things, I can help. I offer 1-2-1 or small group options, depending on the type of support you’re looking for, and we can discuss whether one-off or ongoing support would be best. If you’re interested in finding out more about this, send an email to emma@emmapooleytherapy.com, and we can go from there.
At the time of writing this post, my caseload for therapy clients is at full capacity, so I’m not taking on new people. If you’re interested in working with me when space becomes available, keep an eye on my social media pages (@emmapooleytherapy on Facebook and Instagram) and my website for the latest updates.