Starting a Private Therapy Practice: The Pros & Cons
As a therapist, you know there are many enriching settings where you can practice your craft - from hospitals, to government, to private practice.
When you choose private practice, everyone talks about two specific avenues: joining a group private practice or the (oh so scary) option of striking on your own for a solo private practice.
The choice of how and where to practice therapy can have a huge effect on the quality of your life - and it’s a personal choice for everyone.
You might have friends or colleagues who’ve encouraged you to switch from one to the other, but still aren’t sure what’s right for you.
So how do you know if you should start your own private therapy practice?
Working with KMA Therapy since 2008, I know there are pros and cons to both solo and and group private practices. Choosing the right option for you is a highly personal decision that depends on your lifestyle, personality, and interests.
Our goal is to dive deeper than any other article you’ve read with the honest differences between group practice and solo practice.
To help answer this question, we’ll explore:
- Honest pros and cons of solo private practice
- Honest pros and cons of working in a group private practice
- Honest pros and cons of working in BOTH a solo practice and group practice
- Personal factors that are essential to consider when deciding what option is right for you
By the end of this article, you’ll be one step closer to knowing whether to join a group practice or venture out on your own.
The Honest Pros and Cons of Solo Private Practice
What are the advantages of starting a private therapy practice?
- Create Your Own Hours
- Charge as Much as You Want
- Embrace a Sense of Adventure
- Have the Opportunity to Create New Skills
1. You Create Your Own Hours:
One of the best benefits of solo practice is rolling into the office/virtual office whenever you want, on a schedule that’s on your terms (provided you have a full-time workspace!)
Do you want to take Thursday mornings off to do a spin class? You bet! Flexible work hours that don’t rely on sharing offices with other practitioners can be hugely fun and liberating.
2. Charge as Much as You Want:
Since this is your practice, you get to decide on your fee. Woohoo! $300/hour? Sure. $50/hour? Sure. This decision is yours.
Many practitioners find themselves invigorated when they realize they can make more money per session than their hourly rate at a clinic.
These days, you can make more than $100,000 a year as a therapist. Don’t believe us? Read How to Make 100k as a Therapist.
3. A Sense of Adventure:
So many of us want the whimsy of saying we’ve started something on our own.
Many people thrive when they don’t need to collaborate with a team or run everything by a boss.
And saying, “Look everyone, I started my own private practice!” sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?
4. Have the Opportunity to Gain New Skills:
Starting a private practice will require you to be a jack of all trades - from bookkeeping and admin work to customer service and billing.
Starting your own practice is an amazing opportunity to learn new skills and challenge yourself to be more skilled in areas that aren’t therapy related.
What are the disadvantages of starting a private therapy practice?
- Initial Investment
- Financial Instability
- Not Enough Clients
- Overall Heavier Workload
- Less Time to Spend with Clients
- Never Getting to Take a True Vacation
1. Initial Investment:
When I started my private practice in 2008, I didn’t realize that it would take three full years of working full-time to see any of my invested dollars return.
Signing an office space, hiring an admin assistant and other costs like signage, software, and apps make the initial investment for a private practice far more than anyone ever expects.
It can truly knock you off your game.
2. Financial Instability:
A private practice relies on you alone to bring in clients, so you’ll need to ensure your schedule is full to maintain a stable income.
Clients take vacations, forces of nature happen (in the form of snowstorms, heat waves, and yep - pandemics), and sometimes it’s just plain SLOW.
I had many sleepless nights in the early days of my practice when I could see I had a slow week or two coming up.
3. Not Enough Clients:
The number one complaint we’ve received from therapists who’ve started their own private practice is that they simply aren’t getting enough clients, even after the first couple of years.
It can be exciting to receive your first few referrals from a site like Psychology Today. But having a consistent stream of sustained referrals on a long-term basis is unbelievably hard to achieve.
This is especially stressful if you rely on referrals as a source of income.
4. Heavier Workload Overall:
When you start your own private practice, you’re responsible for much more than seeing clients.
You’ll also need to manage:
- Answering phone calls and emails
- Scheduling client appointments
- Customer service tasks
- Bookkeeping
- Marketing
The average therapist will spend 15-20 hours on additional tasks during a a 25-hour client workweek.
This is great if you enjoy admin work, but not so great if you don’t feel like sitting at a computer after a long day of seeing clients.
5. Less Time to Spend with Clients:
If you’re a therapist at heart, it can be hard to know that you’ll inevitably spend less time helping people and more time on the business side of your practice.
This can be frustrating if you love your craft and want to focus on growing as a practitioner.
6. You’ll Never Get a True Vacation, Ever, Again:
As an entrepreneur, I am grateful to serve my community at every opportunity.
I can also honestly tell you three of my most spectacular vacations (including my graduation trip to London UK, a romantic getaway with my husband to Iceland, and a much-needed friends’ vacation to Mexico) were ruined because of traumatic events in the business.
As an entrepreneur, you will never completely shut off. Even if a stressful event doesn't happen while you’re away, you’ll be distracted by the chance it could.
The Honest Pros and Cons of Group Private Practices
What are the advantages of working at a group therapy clinic?
- More Clients
- Financial Stability
- Lighter Overall Workload
- Having a Sense of Community
- Focusing on the Love of Your Craft
1. More Clients:
The number one benefit we’ve seen with joining a group clinic is that you’ll have WAY more clients.
Not only that, but if the clinic has an intake process, the clients you receive will be a much more strategic match.
Alternatively, in private practice, you often feel compelled to see every client who walks through the door.
2. Financial Stability:
Most clinics have long and established connections within the field AND big budgets for advertising, so you’ll likely have a much more stable income.
Joining a group practice is a fantastic option if you like to save money, take vacations, have a family, or enjoy a more abundant lifestyle.
3. Lighter Workload Overall:
With an admin team overseeing your scheduling and taking care of all your needs, you won’t need to work as many hours overall.
After you upload your session notes, you can leave! You might even enjoy a night out with friends and relax.
4. Sense of Community:
You’ll have colleagues! And many will be cool and awesome therapists just like you.
If you’re looking for peer supervision, after-client chats, or a group of like-minded peers to grab a bubble tea with after work, this is likely the better option.
5. Focus on the Love of Your Craft:
As a therapist who wants to continue growing and learning, you need to work in an environment that allows you to focus on being a therapist.
Wake up in the morning, do some yoga, eat breakfast, and then see your clients.
Being a therapist is a beautiful profession - it’s an art and a science that is both enriching and delightful.
I've learned from personal experience that being a therapist is a delicate and enriching art - and it can be legitimately ruined by stressing over the business or worrying about money.
What are the disadvantages of working in a group therapy practice?
- Less Control Over Your Hours
- The Practice Chooses Your Rates
- Your Learning Focuses on Therapy
- You May Not Like Everyone on Your Team
1. Less Control Over Your Hours:
It can be annoying to agree to a set schedule based on the clinic’s locations, available rooms, and hours.
You’ll likely be asked to work evenings and/or weekends - but it's likely you would also need to do this in private practice since these are the most popular times for clients.
The clinic/group practice option is best if you like routines, are structured, and like to leave your work at work.
2. The Clinic Chooses the Per-Session Rate:
Depending on the clinic’s location, authority, and volume, your take-home pay can be less than 50% of what the clinic charges for sessions.
This can make you feel like you’re being taken advantage of and even that you could do a better job running the clinic yourself.
The good news is since you’ll have more clients, you’ll probably make a better salary.
Here at KMA, all therapists who see 22+ clients per week take home over $100,000 per year.
3. The Learning Focuses on Therapy:
From supervision to peer hangouts to learning events, the clinic’s goal is to help you become the best therapist you can be.
So you won’t necessarily get to learn business or entrepreneurial skills the same way you would through starting a private practice.
4. You May Not Like Everyone on Your Team:
In a clinic, you’ll regularly interact with other people in person and online!
If it’s an amazing clinic, this can add a sense of camaraderie, fulfilment and purpose to your life.
However, if the team or the director is BAD, this can significantly alter your experience.
Can I work in a group therapy clinic and start a private practice?
Absolutely. Many therapists choose to work in a group practice or clinic and run a small private practice on the side (sometimes even completely online!)
This can give you a taste of adventure while maintaining the stability and community that comes with working in a group practice.
Which is better for me - working in a clinic or starting a private practice?
Both working in a clinic and working independently can be rewarding paths for therapists.
While there is no “one size fits all” answer for your journey as a therapist, here are a few helpful questions to ask yourself to determine which option might be right for you or if a hybrid of both makes sense.
Ask yourself these questions to learn if you should work in a group therapy practice or start a solo practice:
1. What are your goals as a therapist?
Are you the type of person who thrives on learning about therapy? Do you want to immerse yourself in a culture of therapy? Or do you like the sound of blending your therapy abilities with a different and new skill set?
Some people want their learning to be centred around therapy, while others want to learn entrepreneurial and business skills.
If you want to learn more about being the best therapist you can be, a group practice is likely better.
If you want to learn more about business, marketing, and entrepreneurship, a private practice is likely a better choice.
2. What is your preferred lifestyle?
Do you want to leave your work at work? Or are you the type of person who is constantly thinking of work and strategies on how to build?
If you’re the type who needs both physical and mental time off, a group practice is likely the better option.
But if you’re ok thinking about work constantly (and love it!) then the entrepreneurial path could be right for you.
3. Do you value a sense of community?
Many of us need in-person connections with colleagues and friends. And many of us don’t. Which type of person are you? Do you thrive when you feel the energy of positive, uplifting people?
If you want to be around friends and colleagues, a group practice is likely better for you.
If you want to be more independent and are ok with long shifts alone, a private practice could be better for you.
4. How much money do you want to make?
While most people start private practices because they believe they can make more money, the reality is that therapists ironically make more money when in a group practice.
Thousands of other solo practitioners are competing for clients and attention, and we’ve witnessed that most of them aren’t able to fill their practice.
So if you’re looking for a stable income, a group practice is likely a better fit.
If you don’t need the money or have a partner who makes a stable income and is willing to support you for a few years while you invest, a private practice could be a better fit.
5. Are you already leaning toward a particular practice or entrepreneurial pursuit?
For me, it was never even a consideration. I was built to be an entrepreneur, and even though I LOVED being a therapist, I ALWAYS knew I was an entrepreneur first. It’s in my blood.
Listen to your body. Listen to the feelings you have inside. You know yourself better than anyone.
If you’ve found a clinic or group practice you love, check it out! Try to get an interview. Ask friends or colleagues if they know anyone who works there. Go for a visit! Heck, even become a client. Energy is everything.
If you feel compelled to a certain place, go there. You’re going to help people no matter what, so you might as well do it in a place you love.
Next Steps for Choosing a Group or Solo Therapy Practice
After reading this article, you know as a therapist, you have many options for choosing a place to practice and share your art and healing with the world.
Whether you work at a clinic or embark on a private practice, you can pat yourself on the back for helping people and doing it with compassion and kindness. Good for you for doing all the research you need!
At KMA Therapy, we are a group therapy clinic with five in-person locations in Toronto. We have the most AMAZING team!
Our environment is focused on therapy learning and growth, enabling our therapists to focus on their craft - on being the best therapists they can be.
We cultivate a healthy and happy team environment through peer supervision, hangouts, and fun learning events.
If you’re interested in applying for a role here at KMA and starting your journey with us, visit our careers page or reach out to our amazing recruiter Tre Reid at tre@kmatherapy.com
Looking to learn more? Check out these resources:
- To increase your income, read: How to Make Over $100k as a Therapist
- To improve your job search, read: How to Find a Job as a Therapist in Toronto
- If work is stressing you out, read: What is Therapist Burnout - and What to Do About
