We turn people down.
About one call in three ends with us saying this is not the right time. It is cheaper for both of us to find that out in thirty minutes.
Working for yourself is the normal end of this career.
Therapists who go independent are not the exception in this profession. They are close to half of it, and there are twice as many of them as there were five years ago.
Every figure on this site is linked to the body that published it. See all sources.
Is this you?
- ✓You are a Registered Psychotherapist, not Qualifying
- ✓You have 1,000 direct client hours and 150 supervision hours
- ✓You work at a clinic or agency and keep 50% to 65% of your fee
- ✓You have three months of savings, or clinic days you intend to keep
- ✓You want to own something, not just earn more this month
- ×You are Qualifying, or still require clinical supervision
- ×You want a guaranteed income by a set date
- ×You need a clinical supervisor rather than a business one
- ×You want income from other therapists without managing them
- ×You are not willing to spend about 20 hours of your own time
Adding other therapists.
Most people who come to us want to end up with other therapists working alongside them. That is a second stage, and there is a gate on it.
You do not add an associate until you are turning clients away two months running. What you sell an associate is a full calendar. If the demand is not proven, they sit idle, they leave, and in a profession this small everyone hears about it.
When you get there, we cover the agreements, the split, the tax treatment, the second calendar and how to choose people. It is a separate engagement and there is no point discussing it until your own calendar is full.
Sometimes the answer is stay.
If your clinic keeps 30% and sends you a full book, that is a fair deal and we will tell you to keep it.
On the call we put your real numbers into the model. Occasionally the arithmetic says the split is reasonable and the risk is not worth it. We would rather say that than take five thousand dollars from someone who should have stayed.