Private Practice & Your Life

Let’s talk about your private practice within the context of your life. Not how to fit your life around this entrepreneurial venture. Not what you have to give up in order to succeed. I hate that shit, as you know.

I want to make a few assumptions about you. You are a person with beautiful, amazing, interesting things going on. You have interests beyond counseling. You have reasons you want a more flexible schedule and more money. They don’t have to be grand, but how you want to spend your time and money is important and valid. They’re yours to spend.

It’s easy to get on the hamster-wheel of chasing success, especially as you learn more and more about starting a private practice. Especially when the phone isn’t ringing very often yet. Especially as those fears of failure swoop in.

You’re going to succeed if you keep working a solid plan, putting one foot in front of the other, and taking care of yourself. All of those things need to happen for true success. You can’t be scattershot or unintentional. You can’t push pause for too long. You can’t forgo your own well being.

If you do those 3 things, you will have the time to devote to your non-work life. If you don’t have much of a non-work life because you’ve been busting butt at an agency for so long, it’s time you get one.

What we get to do for work is sometimes breathtaking. It’s an honor to do it. It’s incredibly rewarding. Doing it in private practice is even better. AND you have a real non-work life to attend to.

No matter where you are in practice-building this week, I urge you to go have some fun. Be present. Connect with someone outside of the field. Lay in bed longer than you “should.” Leave your phone in another room. Don’t let the private practice stuff take over or you’re no better off than you were in an agency.

Build your practice like your clients are watching.

That’s all for this week. I’m going to go hang with my family. Let us know what you’re going to do in the comments.  

 

Allison Puryear is an LCSW with a nearly diagnosable obsession with business development. She has started practices in three different states and wants you to know that building a private practice is shockingly doable when you have a plan and support. After retiring her individual consultation services, she opened the Abundance Party, where you can get practice-building help for the cost of a copay. You can download a free private practice checklist to make sure you have your ducks in a row, get weekly private practice tips, listen to the podcast, hop into the free Facebook Group. Allison is all about helping you gain the confidence and tools you need to succeed.