7 Tips for Making the Mental and Emotional Shift to Private Practice
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 9
- 5 min read
Samantha Crapnell is founder of Training for Counsellors Ltd and practitioner-facilitator of professional qualifications and continuing professional development events to support the training and ongoing development of counsellors and clinical supervisors.
With the rewards of personal and professional growth, professional autonomy, and lifestyle flexibility, self-employment can be an enticing prospect. There is plenty of guidance about the practicalities of setting up in private practice, but not so much on the mental and emotional preparations. This article gives a brief overview of what is involved in being a solopreneur counsellor and steps that you might take in mental preparation for your own move from employee to solopreneur.
Solopreneurship
A phrase I came across after I became self-employed was ‘solopreneurship.’ A solopreneur is an independent entrepreneur who runs a business single-handedly. Ironically, counsellors in private practice rarely consider themselves to be entrepreneurial, even though they often remain the sole driver in their business.
One of the biggest shifts in moving from employee to self-employed is a consideration of ownership and responsibility. As an employee, even with autonomy, there are things that you do not have to consider that, suddenly, on becoming the solopreneur practitioner, come into awareness. You are the cleaner, receptionist, accountant, marketing manager, and CEO. Oh, and none of that earns money, so there is also your day job, therapeutic practice.
Making the shift
Regardless of where you are in your journey towards solopreneurship, these 7 tips are tried and tested from setting up my own private practice, expanding into new areas, and 7 years of supporting counsellors to set up their own private practice.
1. Be honest about your skillsets
It is sometimes easy to minimise the size of the role that you are leaving behind. How many times have you heard, or even said, “I’m just a __ counsellor”? To remove the ‘just’ from this statement, write your ACTUAL job description. Beginning with the sentence, “Everything my job as a counsellor involves is” respond to the following prompts:
Include the essential tasks and the discretionary tasks.
Include the things that get noticed and those that do not.
Include the skills that you bring to your work.
Include the characteristics that you bring to your work as a whole person.
When you think you have finished, ask,“And what else?” and add this to the list too.
Finally, if you were to bring all of this to your solopreneurial venture, is there a chance it could succeed?
2. Make a contract with yourself
As a counsellor/psychotherapist, you are used to agreeing contracts with your clients. Doing this with yourself can be powerful. There is not a right or wrong way to do this, but this was mine:
“I am going to be the best manager and the best member of staff I ever had.”
Ten years in, I am still guided by the same promise to myself. As someone who can be self-critical, the idea really acknowledges those parts of my Self that I take to my work.
3. Define your fee
It seems like little brings the imposter syndrome to counsellors as quickly as trying to work out how much to charge for their services! However, working out what to charge can be both uncomfortable and liberating. A simple staged process can bring objectivity to the decision-making.
Look at counselling directories to find counsellors and psychotherapists in your area. Here you will find out what they are charging and how they are marketing themselves.
Assuming you are in work that is providing you with a sufficient income, divide your gross wage by the average fee rate.
This will give you an estimate of how many hours you need to be seeing fee-earning clients (i.e. not voluntary or reduced fees) to earn approximately the same as you already earn. Bear in mind that 24 client hours roughly translates to a 36-hour working week once you have included admin duties, attendance at supervision, and completion of development activities. Finally, when you are ready, do more specific calculations accounting for all costs and incomes.
Agree the wage that you will pay yourself
A common question I am asked is whether it is necessary to get a business account. Whilst it is not essential, there are benefits:
It is easier to keep an eye on the running costs of your business when those transactions are in a unique account.
Paying yourself a wage maintains a consistency that aligns with the idea that you will be your own best manager and member of staff.
By honouring your fixed wage, even in more lucrative months, you can work towards creating a buffer for yourself so that you can pay yourself sick pay or compassionate leave when you need it, work towards growing your business over time, or allow for significant CPD activities to develop your practice.
Find connections before you set out on your own
Solopreneurship can feel isolating sometimes. Clinical supervision, whilst essential in private practice, is not sufficient. Joining a community of practice or creating or joining a peer supervision group can be helpful to your business and to your self-care. Knowledge sharing, making referrals, talking about the challenges of setting up and sustaining practice, and signposting interesting training topics are all part of a healthy private practice.
Use your clinical supervisor
The professional bodies have, through their ethical frameworks, determined clinical supervisors as the experts of private practice (BACP, 2018; NCPS, 2021). Still, many counsellors who decide to become self-employed do not make the most of their clinical supervisor. Reasons I have heard include feeling ‘cheeky,’ ‘protective,’ and ‘afraid of being advised against it.’ Notice how all these ‘reasons’ are based in feelings? Counselling is a business, and part of success in business is about using your resources. Chances are your supervisor will want to help you succeed in developing your business.
Let yourself get excited
Journal about it. Talk about it. Vision board it. Get emotional about it. Daydream about it. Design your logos. Visualise yourself welcoming your clients to sessions where you have decided everything. Get excited about all of it!
Closing thoughts
The timeline for moving into private practice is different for everyone. These mental shifts towards solopreneurship are part of the process and may happen incidentally. Bringing mental and emotional intentionality into this process is joyous and will help you build the resilience that you draw on during your start-up. Wherever you are in your journey towards private practice, I wish you all the best.
A 33% discount is available on Training for Counsellors’ “Vision Board Your Private Practice,” a creative alternative to business planning. Coupon code: BRAINZ
Read more from Samantha Crapnell
Samantha Crapnell, Training Facilitator, Counsellor, Supervisor
Samantha Crapnell is a training provider also in practice as a counsellor, clinical supervisor and executive coach. Training for Counsellors Ltd was created so that counsellors can access alternative routes into and develop within the counselling profession through inclusive education and continuing professiona development. Specialisms include anti-oppressive humanistic practices working with children, adolescents and adults, neurodivergence and solopreneurship.
