The 14 Concrete (but not so hard!) Steps to Private Practice: Plus, Six More Steps to Consider: A Guide for Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Licensed Marriage Family Therapists

by Bonnie McKeegan

This guide is a proven strategy for starting your sole practitioner private psychotherapy practice. At the end of Step Fourteen, you'll be set up to see your first client.

This is the stuff grad school doesn't teach you about private practice!

Information in this guide is relevant for LCSWs, LMFTs, and LPCCs starting or struggling with their private psychotherapy practice.

This step-by-step manual is designed to guide you through the 14 steps for setting up your psychotherapy practice, plus six bonus chapters that include information about:

home visiting,
applying to insurance panels,
getting the word out that you are open for business,
Medicare & Medi-Cal/Medicaid,
telehealth,
establishing your professional will,
compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue.

Within this guide, you will find:

Guidance in 14 easy-to-follow concrete and detailed steps, plus six extra Steps
Pros & Cons for decision-making - for example, landline fax vs. online fax
TIPS based on the experiences of successful therapists
Answers to common questions when starting your practice
Encouragement to go for it! Homework to make it happen.
Lots of reading links to help you understand why, why, why the details matter
Links to important websites and resources
Suggestions for marketing naturally through the process of setting up your practice
Appendices: A-K including six sample practice forms
Reference Links & Abbreviation List

Written by a seasoned and detail-oriented California LCSW in private practice and providing consulting to new and seasoned therapists successfully for eight years.

Part consultant, part coach, part mentor, in these pages the author guides you step-by-step to seeing your first client with cost efficiency in mind.

Starting your private psychotherapy practice is like everything else you've accomplished so far in your professional life. It's challenging, but simply a matter of taking each step, one step at a time with intention, while practicing patience and self-care along the way. A little humor helps, too.

Attention LMFTs and LPCCs! You will become Medicare-eligible providers on 1/1/24. Get prepared now. Information in this guide about Medicare Provider Eligibility & Enrollment will be crucial for you to understand.

Best Sellers Ranking (During the initial release five-day free Kindle eBook promotion)
#1 in Psychology Reference (Feb 2023) (Counseling & Psychology)
#1 in Practice Management (Feb 2023) (Counseling & Psychology)

This book was written in response to the many questions the author received from colleagues after starting a private practice with immediate success. Previously titled, A Quick Guide to Starting Your Private Psychotherapy Practice and offered as a PDF only, the guide is now a comprehensive resource manual centered around the steps to starting your practice.

This manual assumes you are planning a sole proprietor practice. If you are considering incorporating or starting a Group Practice, you will need appropriate guidance to add to this guide's how-to and resource information. The author has not included the extra steps for incorporating or how incorporating changes specific details.

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2023