At my practice La Luz Counseling, we are constantly looking to hire clinicians to begin part-time with the goal of expanding to full-time within a private practice setting. In recent past, we’ve had a handful of candidates who have applied that already own their own private practice. At first glance, I was extremely confused. I remember thinking: Is this a mistake? Why would someone who owns their own business — in the same exact field — apply to work for us?
So I did what any good business owner would do. I called the candidate. “Am I reading this correctly? Your résumé indicates you have your own company. Can you help me understand the reasons you are looking to build somewhere else?”
The response has been the same. They’re running their own private practice, but not enough clients or referrals to make ends meet. Revenue generation has been inconsistent. In short, their practice is failing and need supplemental income.
Once I get beyond my own ego of feeling offended and insulted, I usually feel concerned… for multiple reasons. Primarily because small businesses are failing. And as a business owner for the past nine years, I want business owners to thrive. I believe in private practice ownership. I believe in entrepreneurship. I believe mental health professionals can and should have lucrative and financially successful roles. I 100% support someone launching their own private practice.
So I took time to listen. And it was all the same story: their client caseload isn’t growing like they anticipated, there is an inconsistent referral base and the lack of revenue generation is pushing them to apply to work somewhere else.
It Doesn’t Make Sense — For Them or for Me
Here’s the hard truth. It neither makes sense for them, nor for me.
How can you take care of somebody else’s baby more than your own? The general focus needs to be on growing their business.
I started asking the same question every time: “If your company were to experience a significant influx of clients next week — putting you at full capacity with a full caseload — would you still be looking to work for me?”
The answer is always no. They’re struggling. They’re desperate. They’re looking to make anything work.
And while that’s understandable, this isn’t for me either. Why would I invest thousands of dollars to bring an employee on board, provide orientation, provide clients within a private pay model, only to have that person leave once their own practice grows? It doesn’t make sense to them. It doesn’t make sense to me.
What We Grow Is What We Focus On
What we grow is what we put our time into. Our time and attention will lead to results. Part-time focus leads to part-time results.
If you are splitting your energy between building your practice and trying to stabilize income elsewhere, you will likely experience divided results. This is not about judgment — it’s about math. Focus compounds.
Better Understand Business and Marketing
My suggestion is simple: better understand why your caseload isn’t thriving. Given the owner is a fabulous clinician (which I’m sure they are) this usually means there’s business insufficiency usually within the marketing category.
Have a game plan for establishing and understanding your marketing plan. Who is your ideal client avatar? The one client who is your jam- you have helped this type of client multiple times through their issues and you are confident in being able to help them clinically. You are well versed in their issues and can easily identify their pain points. You know so much about their life story, you know what type of income they have, what their family of origin was like, what their family system is like now, their goals, dreams, and fears. You know their mental health struggles and can read them like a book.
Next, position yourself as a solution. Where is your ideal demographic hanging out? What do they do for fun? On weekends? What motivates them each day? What is the one biggest fear they have in life? What are their goals and dreams?
Now, what are you doing to get in front of them? Just because we exist does not mean people know that we do. It is very important to play the game and position yourself as an authority — someone that people know specializes in something specific.
You can’t be for everyone. When you try to serve everyone, you dilute your message. When you clarify who you are for, referrals become clearer and more consistent.
Additional Tips for Private Practice Owners Who Are Struggling
1. Build a Consistent Referral Strategy
If your referral base feels inconsistent, ask yourself: do I actually have a strategy? Referral streams should not rely on hope or a Psychology Today profile alone. They should include intentional networking, relationship building, and consistent visibility in the spaces your ideal client already trusts. Remember to only put energy and attention to where your ideal client base would likely be- ie: If I offer Christian counseling to perfectionistic women, then it would be a good idea to get invovled in local Christian networking meetups, meetups where there are high achieving women, or ask to speak at an event for women.
Consistency in marketing reduces desperation in revenue.
2. Treat Revenue Generation as a Core Responsibility
Revenue generation is not separate from your role as a therapist-owner. It is part of it. If you avoid the numbers, avoid tracking conversions, or avoid learning basic marketing principles, you are limiting your growth. Sustainable practices are built on clarity around finances, projections, and measurable outreach efforts. This has to do with Key Performance Indicators- stay tuned for more on that.
3. Position Yourself as a Specialist
It’s very important to position yourself as an authority and someone people know that you specialize in. You are at minimum a MASTER’S level trained clinician. You have had both years and hours worth of learning, education and understanding about the human mind. You are highl informed and an outlier to those around you.
Authority builds trust. Trust builds referrals. If people cannot clearly articulate what you are known for, your marketing message is likely too broad. Clarity creates momentum.
Final Thoughts from a 9-Year Practice Owner
As a business owner for nine years, I genuinely want private practices to succeed- mine and others. I support clinicians launching and building their own practices. But I also believe we must be honest about what it takes.
If your practice is struggling, the solution is not to divide your focus indefinitely. The solution is not to jump ship and gleen off of someone else’s hardwork until your business kicks off. The solution is to strengthen your understanding of business, refine your marketing strategy, and commit fully to growing what you started. What we grow is what we focus on. Remember, full-time attention, offers full-time results- as does part-time attention, which produces part-time results.
Your results will always reflect where your attention has been.