To Leap or Not to Leap: Deciding If Private Practice Is Right for You
Being scared about starting a private practice often stems from the fear of the unknown and the challenges ahead, which can be managed with preparation and support, whereas deciding you shouldn’t do it usually indicates a deeper misalignment with your values, goals, or current life circumstances that may not be resolvable through overcoming fear alone. Some considerations you need before taking the leap:
Health Insurance: it can be hard to find good healthcare at a reasonable rate, as I tell people close to me “I don’t have a basic insurance body.” I have multiple chronic conditions, I can work in private practice because my spouse has excellent healthcare (thanks Tricare and Blue Cross Federal)
Retirement Benefits: I definitely miss that matching from my corporate healthcare time. We do get some retirement benefits via the Military and the Federal Government via my spouse, I still pay $250/per month for an IRA. Depending what stage you are in, please consider retirement.
Paid Time Off: my health can be unpredictable plus I have 3 children in school and daycare (aka large scale germ factories), I have to consider this in my rate but we quite frequently use my spouse’s PTO during days I have clinical hours (more specifically: I get the kids if they are sick on Monday or Friday, my spouse gets the kids if its Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Business skill sets: private practice requires business knowledge, SOPs, KPIs, etc. You don’t have to have an MBA but you will need to be informed.
Financial skill sets: private practice requires financial knowledge, P&Ls, estimated taxes, S Corp versus LLC. Again, you don’t have to be a CPA but you will need to be informed.
Marketing skill sets: ah the dreaded term to weaken all introverts, again, no degree needed but you will need to be informed
Networking skill sets: now, this might be a scary term, but networking is all about building rapport which I would say therapists do have degrees in, but we can get in our own way since we tend to associate networking with the dreaded marketing.
Clinical skill sets: yep, this one too, you have a literal degree and often times a license to prove you clinical skill set.
All in all, private practice may be right for you, it may be right for you at certain times in your life and not at others. Private practice is not the pinnacle of our career/degree. If it serves you well please go forth and consider our premium membership to help you manage the isolation and overwhelm. If not, enjoy that you have made the best decision for you at your current point in your journey.
