All The Tools You Need To Build A Successful Private Practice

Despite all the hardships of the last three years, there has never been a better time to consider taking the leap into private practice. I’ve been a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and teacher trainer for more than 25 years and I‘ve never seen such a demand for counselling and psychotherapy. While demand for talking therapies has always outstripped supply in the statutory and voluntary sectors, it’s now also true in the private sector, with most practitioners having to turn away referrals because of full diaries and long waiting lists.

However, many of the trainees and newly qualified practitioners that I supervise tell me that they regard the road to private practice as being challenging, scary or just downright inaccessible and as a result, they shy away from taking the plunge into self-employment.

Observing this has led me to devise Private Practitioner Preparation (PPP) a comprehensive CPD training programme to help bridge the gap in skills and confidence, preparing those hoping to make the transition to develop and maintain a successful and enjoyable private practice working as a counsellor or psychotherapist, whether it be part-time or full time.

Alongside wide-ranging fear of the imagined complexities of working in private practice, time and again I hear newcomers expressing their concern about the potential isolation of operating in a solitary bubble, without ready access to colleagues.

I’m strongly of the view that it’s no use simply throwing a load of information at would-be private practitioners and hoping that some of it will stick - you need the time and opportunity to explore, plan and develop competencies, devise procedures for maintaining a practice, build in safeguards for both yourself and your clients and receive feedback on your progress.

To that end, The Therapy Hour’s PPP is more than just a training course providing skills and knowledge; it’s also a study of what you require to sustain yourself as a unique individual working in lone environment. The focus is as much on building a community of peers which will see you past the training as it is on learning how to field all the practical challenges of this side of our industry.