Starting a private practice has been one of the most stressful, scary, and vulnerable things I’ve done this decade. I’ve seen plenty of therapists discussing the ins and outs of starting a practice, but most have been white therapists. And while those posts have been somewhat helpful, I’m finding my experience to be different. 

I started my own business! As a first-generation Latina! And with that came a few things I haven’t seen mentioned about the journey into private practice. Here’s my experience in hopes that other therapists can feel validated and/or prepared in jumping into this work. 

#1: I wish I knew it would stir up my “money stuff.”

To be fair, I was warned. I had the privilege of working for a group practice prior to starting my own private practice (PP), and we worked on exploring our “money stuff.” My money story is the relationship I have with money and it became exposed in PP.

Being a therapist is the primary part of this work but being a business owner and entrepreneur is another big part: I had to explore the feelings of discomfort that came up in discussing my rates with clients; the feelings of anxiety that came up in following up with clients whose payments were declined and accruing a balance; the feelings of guilt I felt in increasing my rate upon licensure upgrade and questioning my worth. 

All of these feelings and thoughts were rooted in my money story, and I found myself wondering if other therapists in PP struggled the way I did. (There were! But our money stories are different and our “money stuff” shows up in different ways.)

#2: I wish I knew how much I would confront shame and vulnerability.

Shame and vulnerability are one of my biggest specialties as a therapist. So it tracks that as soon as I started PP, I noticed how much shame and vulnerability showed up. Shame and vulnerability showed up from the smallest pieces (wording on my website) to the biggest pieces (marketing myself)!

As Brené Brown says: vulnerability is risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. Starting a new business while in a recession as a BIPOC therapist in a white dominated field checked all of my vulnerability boxes. I had to pull hard on my values and courage in order to show up and practice vulnerability in PP (even now!). 

What helped me the most in this area was being aware of my shame triggers. Through therapy and supervision, I continued to explore those shame triggers and ways they manifested in PP. I’m a big advocate of therapists who go to therapy! I’m also glad I had the support of family, friends, and colleagues who helped pull me out of the water when things felt too deep.

#3: I wish I knew how much I would need to save.

It's a good idea to have savings accumulated before you ramp up in your new business. I recognize this is a big privilege to ask of therapists who are in a field that is largely underpaid and underfunded (a longer conversation for another blog post!). But building a caseload might take months and unexpected life events may happen while you are building income. 

Different therapists might have different experiences but I found that the biggest expense in starting a PP was not the start-up costs. My biggest expense was being without a steady income for months while I built up my caseload and not knowing when that would start changing. Because I wasn’t in a place to save a lot of money, I secured part-time, seasonal work to supplement my income temporarily. That might not be the answer for everyone, but be sure to consider these factors when planning your preparation for PP.

#4: I wish I knew what to expect when it came to DIY private practice.

Because of my limited savings for start-up costs, I opted to DIY a lot of my PP preparation. This meant I did everything myself including my own website and bookkeeping. The creative process of creating my own website and understanding the basics of bookkeeping was extremely stressful! Everytime I looked at Quickbooks, I short-circuited. 

If you’re savvy with website building/graphic design or accounting basics, this may be smooth sailing! But if you plan to DIY a lot of your business with minimal experience in these things, be sure to do plenty of research prior to starting. And if you have funds to pay for a professional to build your website or run your books, don’t hesitate to get help.

In the end, I’m glad I DIY’ed my process. I’m able to understand all aspects of my business and how they come together. I do wish I’d had more help that would’ve saved me a lot of sleepless nights, but I’m here to tell you it’s possible!

#5: I wish I knew how much I needed community!

As a Latina, I come from a collectivistic culture: I’m used to community and collaboration. PP can be an isolating field, and I really missed having a team to chat with. And it was important to me that I collaborate with other professionals who also worked primarily with BIPOC x LGBTQIA+ clients or who also held those identities. For me, there’s safety and understanding in working with these other professionals to consult and chat. 

Building a community of other professionals is possible and important! It might take some leg work on your part to reach out to others and find folx who value similar things as you. For me, this meant joining professional Facebook groups, reaching out to colleagues for lunch & coffee dates, and offering to create consult groups. All of this in an effort to surround myself with a much-needed professional support system.

So much stress went into this work, but it has been so rewarding to run my own business!

I hope these 5 points have been helpful to you for your experience in setting up or considering private practice. If you’re interested in hearing more tips, stay tuned for more blog posts every week.