The AAMFT Blog

Your Private Practice Vision for 2025

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy.

Your vision is the heart and soul of your private practice—it’s the why behind everything you do. It’s like the GPS for your business decisions: no vision, no clear direction. Instead, you’re left - winging it, chasing random ideas, and maybe even wondering, "How did I end up here?" But here’s the secret sauce: your vision isn’t some rigid thing you set once and never touch again. It’s alive and ever-changing because, hey, life happens! The best part? Your business is meant to fit into your life, not the other way around.

So, as 2025 approaches, let’s shake things up a bit. It’s time to dream bigger, ditch what’s not working, and craft a vision that feels like a hug for your soul and a rocket for your business. And, this isn’t just for 2025, you can circle back here anytime you feel stuck, drained, or overwhelmed because your vision is what can give you the fuel to move forward and create a private practice you love. Let’s break it down step by step.

Step 1: Permission to Dream Big (and I Mean Big) 

Okay, first things first—let’s get rid of the idea that you’re stuck with what you’ve already built. Just because it worked for you last year (or kind of worked, or maybe didn’t work at all) doesn’t mean it’s your forever plan. You’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to want more, less, or something completely different.

Sound like something you tell your clients also? I thought so.

Close your eyes and imagine your dream practice—no rules, no limits. What does your ideal day look like? Who are you working with? How are you feeling at the end of the day? Let yourself go wild here. You don’t have to commit to anything yet; this is just about seeing what’s possible. So go ahead, give yourself permission to dream, even if it feels a little scary or out there.

Step 2: Check In with Your Body (Yep, Your Body!)

Your body is smarter than you think. It’s constantly sending you signals about what’s working and what’s not. Take a moment to reflect on your practice as it is right now. What lights you up? What makes you want to hit the snooze button on Monday morning?

Notice where you feel energized and where you feel drained. Is there tightness in your chest every time you look at your calendar? Do you feel a spark of excitement when you think about a certain client population? These physical clues are like a cheat sheet to help you figure out what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Step 3: Have a heartfelt celebration!

You might be wondering why I want you to celebrate and from the heart. Too often we reflect, and we move on to fixing things. Before you fix or change a thing, take that information you got from your body and celebrate all the learning and the wins. We bet you can find that something did work for you, even if it was imperfect.

Step 4: Identify What’s Not Working (and Imagine What Could Be)

Now that you’ve tuned in, and celebrated, it’s time to get real about what’s not working. Is your schedule too packed? Are you spending hours on admin work that makes you want to scream? Maybe you’re attracting clients who aren’t your ideal fit. Whatever it is, name it. Call it out.

Then, here comes the fun part: ask yourself, what would better look like? Maybe it’s working fewer hours, focusing on a specific niche, or finally hiring someone to handle the stuff you hate. Whatever "better" looks like, this is your chance to start dreaming up solutions.

If you’ve ever had that feeling of wanting to burn the whole thing down, take a breath and consider making some smaller changes first. With small changes, you can start to find the breathing room you need for a clearer vision.

Step 4: Find Your Dream Team (or Tools) 

Spoiler alert: you don’t have to figure this out alone. Whether it’s a coach, a mentor, a tech tool, or even your best friend cheering you on, support makes all the difference. Who do you need in your corner to make this vision happen?

Our culture loves to tell us that we can figure these things out on our own. But that keeps us isolated and often in a traumatized state. Just like your clients reach out to you, you might need to reach out to someone too to help you take your vision and make it a reality.

Maybe it’s a business coach to help you strategize, a virtual assistant to take admin off your plate, or a therapist to help you tackle imposter syndrome. Identify the tools, resources, or people who can help you bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.

Examples of Re-Visioning Your Private Practice 

We have helped hundreds of thousands of therapists to create a vision for their private practices. We bring this topic up now because the landscape of Marriage and Family Therapy is changing as tech companies and AI come on the scene. Private practice is needed now more than ever, but your vision is what helps you stand out and be seen by the people who need you most.

In recent months we have been seeing more group practice owners switch to solo practices because their bodies were telling them that it wasn’t physically sustainable to carry the group practice work. We have seen solo practitioners move to intensive-only models, no longer seeing weekly therapy clients, and instead focusing on services that get the highest clinical outcomes. We have seen hybrid practices successfully negotiating a better fee from insurance companies. We have seen therapists take a month off from work, save for retirement, and have a schedule that isn’t the traditional therapy schedule but one that allows them to show up to their kids’ events and family gatherings.

The options are endless, if you give yourself the time and space to create from your heart, with your body’s wisdom. 

Your private practice vision isn’t just a business exercise—it’s your chance to design a life and business you love. Remember, your vision is allowed to grow and change just like you do. Give yourself the freedom to dream, tune in to what’s working (and what’s not), and don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way. 2025 is the year to create a practice that lights you up, supports your life, and feels oh-so-aligned. Let’s make it happen!

We’ve created a cool tool for you to use with a custom report on how you can make more and work less in 2025. This tool will show you the areas that need some support so you can bring your vision to fruition.

Check them out below so you can start making more and working less in private practice!

- Make More, Work Less (Solo Practice) Calculator

- Make More, Work Less (Group Practice) Calculator

Sliding Scales and Accessibility in Private Practice

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy.

Therapists are helpers at heart. We got into this work because we genuinely care about people and want to make a difference. We all believe in the power of therapy and its impact on not just the individual but also the family and the legacy left by each person we work with. Therapy is something that we want everyone to have access to, but how do we do that within the current context of our healthcare system?

The Truth No One Wants to Admit: Being Underpaid Can Impact Clinical Outcomes

Fees that don’t lead to a livable wage, inconsistent income, and the creeping dread of burnout don’t exactly make for a thriving private practice—or a happy, healthy therapist. And a burnt-out therapist does NOT lead to great clinical outcomes. Therapists who are struggling to live on an unlivable wage also often do not have access to consultation, training, rest, or sustainable caseloads. And yes, all of these impact clinical outcomes.

Bridging the Gap in the Healthcare System

The current landscape of mental health care in the United States is a challenging one for therapists and clients alike. Insurance companies, which are supposed to bridge the gap between care and affordability, often make it harder for both parties. Therapists are grappling with clawbacks—where insurers retroactively recoup payments for services already provided—and steadily declining reimbursement rates. These practices not only undervalue the work of mental health professionals but also discourage many from accepting insurance altogether. As a result, clients seeking affordable care are left navigating a shrinking pool of in-network providers, while therapists face increased pressure to balance accessibility with their financial and professional sustainability. This cycle perpetuates a broken system where both clients and clinicians pay the price.

For years, mental health has been underfunded and overlooked, leaving therapists to play the role of superhero—minus the cape, plus the student loans. The truth is individual therapists can’t fix systemic problems like inadequate funding or insurance barriers. Yet we’re often left holding the bag.

What’s the takeaway? We shouldn’t be the only ones patching the holes in a broken system. Advocacy and systemic change are where the real magic happens.

But what do we do at an individual level? How do we keep helping without helping ourselves into exhaustion? Let’s dig in.

Sliding Scale Fees in Private Practice

Ah, the sliding scale: the DIY solution therapists often turn to when we want to make therapy more affordable. Essentially, it’s a fee structure where clients pay based on what they can afford. Seems simple, right?

Sliding scale fees might seem like the hero we need, but they can come with some sneaky ethical dilemmas. For starters, charging different client's different rates for the same service can make things feel a little… wobbly. Imagine a client paying full price finding out someone else gets the same care for less—awkward, right? It could create feelings of unfairness or even erode trust in the therapeutic relationship.

Plus, therapists are human, and let’s be real—there’s a chance you might subconsciously invest differently in someone paying less versus someone paying your full rate (even if you don’t mean to!). Could resentment arise in the therapeutic relationship if you hear about something that infers to you that the client could pay the fee for therapy? We think it could.

This variability can conflict with the ethical principles of fairness, transparency, and maintaining the value of therapy. The result? Sliding scales can unintentionally slide right into murky territory, making it essential for therapists to tread carefully and consider alternatives that feel fair and aligned with their values. Sliding scales are not always the knight in shining armor they appear to be.

The Ethics of Using a Sliding Scale

AAMFT emphasizes fairness and transparency. If you’re using a sliding scale, it better be clear, consistent, and above all, ethical. This means that if you choose to use a sliding scale you need to remove bias from your process, so that every person that comes through your door gets the same access based on the same factors.

In a CPH Insurance Avoiding Liability Bulletin it was mentioned by Richard Leslie, “My view is that a "sliding fee scale” is unnecessary, unwise and problematic." Most sliding fee scales used by nonprofits and other entities base the fee on the financial condition of the patient. In order to properly implement such a policy, entities must ask for certain information and perhaps supporting documentation, like tax returns. Most private practitioners do not want to get into that kind of detail in their practices. Psychotherapists usually establish fees that they are comfortable charging and stay with those fees until they decide to raise their fees. Physicians and other practitioners likewise establish a “usual and customary fee” and typically do not change their fee for different patients. If the patient can’t afford the fee, he or she can be referred elsewhere."

Sliding scales aren’t a no-no, but they’re not exactly a “yes-yes” either.

Let’s think outside the sliding-scale box and explore some fresh alternatives that keep therapy accessible without leaving therapists feeling like overworked superheroes.

First up, there’s the Privilege-Based Sliding Scale. An example of this would be the Green Bottle Method created by Alex J. Cunningfolk. This spin on the traditional sliding scale puts the power in your clients’ hands. Instead of awkward financial disclosures, clients self-select their fee based on their resources, privilege, and ability to pay. It’s judgment-free, transparent, and as a bonus—way less paperwork for you! This approach empowers clients while taking the emotional and administrative weight off your shoulders. Yet, what will you do if you find that this process doesn’t lead to a sustainable wage? Or, if clients that appear to have more financial privilege are consistently self-selecting for a sliding scale, while clients who are struggling do not?

Then there’s Group Therapy, the ultimate win-win solution. Group therapy gives clients a built-in support system, reducing feelings of isolation while being budget friendly. For therapists, it’s a great way to maximize impact without burning out. Pro tip? Market it as a unique, collaborative feature of your practice—because group therapy is seriously underrated and underutilized.

Another option is Tiered Service Models, which are like a buffet of therapy offerings. You can create a range of options: lower-cost services such as workshops, self-guided programs, or one-off consultations for budget-conscious clients, while reserving your one-on-one sessions for full-fee clients. This approach not only protects your time and energy but also gives clients more ways to access your expertise.

You can also choose to Give Back, as our AAMFT ethics mention, and improve accessibility, changing the system from within through lobbying, advocacy and volunteering at a government level to affect change.

And sometimes, you just have to pass the baton. Build Advocacy and Referral Networks by connecting with nonprofits or other clinicians who offer sliding scale or low-cost options. It’s okay to acknowledge when a client’s needs fall outside your financial or professional capacity. Bonus points for getting involved in advocacy efforts to push for systemic changes like better insurance reimbursements and increased mental health funding—because real change happens when we shift the system, not just our individual practices.

Finally, there’s the all-in strategy of Lower Fees Across the Board. While it might sound like an easy fix, it comes with a big red flag: burnout. If you decide to reduce rates for all clients, make sure you’ve got a rock-solid self-care plan and a realistic client load. Remember, being a therapist isn’t about self-sacrifice—it’s about sustainable care for both you and your clients.

Redefining Accessibility and Sustainability

Sliding scales aren’t inherently bad, but they’re not the only (or always the best) solution. Whether it’s privilege-based models, group therapy, or tiered services, there are plenty of creative ways to balance accessibility with sustainability.

And let’s not forget the bigger picture: systemic change is the real game-changer. So, while you’re doing the amazing work of supporting your clients, don’t forget to advocate for a system that supports you, too.

because at the end of the day, the best therapy happens when both client and therapist are thriving.

Hiring for Group Practice

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy.

We recently received a question from a group practice owner in practice since 2013. They are known in their community as one of the top private practices in their county and in the past never had an issue with finding and retaining great clinicians. Yet recently they have noticed a change in the landscape for employment options for therapists and they asked “Since you are in the of the ‘business’ of mental health, am I the only one seeing this or are other brick and mortar therapy offices struggling as well? I fear that if places like mine go out of business what will there be for therapists to return to if they tire of the online platforms?”

Many years ago, therapists who wanted to work in private practice settings had the option of either starting a private practice themselves or joining one. Fast forward to today where therapists can now work for online mental health tech companies, creating a work-from-home option usually as a contractor but sometimes as a W2 employee. To acquire therapist labor, they offer sign-on bonuses, promises of providing clients and working as little or as much as you would like, and do some of the administrative work of being on insurance panels.

So now that there are more options than ever before, how do you as a group practice owner stand out, hire and retain great staff so you can continue to provide great clinical outcomes to your clients?

First, we want to say that this group practice owner is not alone. Many group practice owners have found hiring to be more challenging because of the landscape of multiple options for clinicians. We want you, the group practice owner to be more agile so you can continue serving your community, clients, and staff. Being a group practice that offers clients to a clinician is no longer enough of a draw for hiring. Let’s look at what you want to be clear about when showing what you offer to potential new hires so you can create a private practice that truly thrives.

Stand out In WHO you serve

Many tech companies take a serve-all approach. We believe that group practices that serve within their scope and expertise, will find they get better clinical outcomes, reduce the burnout of their staff, and be known for the good work they do. Group practices that stand out in who they serve have not only a great benefit to the client but also to the clinician.

The focus on who you serve will influence trainings, supervision, and overall culture of the group practice. For example, one of our coaching clients is highly specialized in divorce and mediation. They focus on hiring therapists interested in working with couples and those who want to gain special training in divorce and mediation. Their therapists benefit from the specialization and can really hone their skills in this area.

Stand out in HOW you serve

Some group practices choose to stand out in how they serve their communities. Again, this is a benefit to the clinicians they hire because the clinicians get a more specialized approach in their supervision and trainings. We know of practices that focus exclusively on IFS or EMDR. You appeal to clinicians who want to really develop their skills with the modalities that are of focus in the group practice. Other options for clinicians don’t typically offer this kind of focus. They provide the clients, but not necessarily expert case consultation or training.

Stand out in WHAT you offer to your staff

To run a group practice, you need to pay your staff well. As one of the lowest-paid master's degrees, group practice owners have an opportunity to shift the narrative and value their staff’s well-being. When you take care of your clinicians, you are also taking care of their clients. We would much rather see a well-rested, low-stressed therapist than one that is overrun with clients and burning out.

So, what are some things to consider offering clinicians who you want to hire beyond just paying them? Let us help you stand out even more as the best option for therapists when it comes to choosing their private practice setting options.

Health Insurance - This is beyond what many tech employers offer clinicians, but it is necessary for your clinician’s well-being that they have access to health care.

W2 vs 1099 - By the federal definition of what constitutes a 1099, it is very rare that group practices can hire a 1099. If you do hire a 1099 contractor, you are outsourcing your business to another business. What does this mean for you? It means you have no say in how the therapist provides treatment. You cannot provide anything for them to do their job either, think about laptops or office space. As a 1099 contractor, the therapist is responsible for using their own resources to take on the work you provide. But with a W2 you do have more control, and not in a sense of abusing power, but to work together to create better clinical outcomes for clients. W2 status protects the therapist with labor laws and is in that therapist’s best interest.

Vacation & PTO - We all need breaks, but often if you are a therapist, taking a break means you don’t get paid. If you aren’t saving up for vacation or sick leave, it can be financially disastrous for many. This is why so many therapists never take time off even though that leads to massive burnout. As the group practice owner, you can support your staff by setting aside part of their pay for vacation and sick leave. It can be such a relief for clinicians to not have to worry about how they will cover this expense. This means your clinicians are more likely to take time off and your clients benefit too, because again, we love a well-rested therapist.

Supervision and Training - In other private practice settings you will not find this offered to clinicians. Clinicians are expected to seek out these things on their own. Value your knowledge and the collective knowledge of your team by offering supervision and training. Not only does this improve clinical outcomes, but it can improve group practice culture, clinician confidence, and satisfaction as well.

As a group practice owner, you aren’t here to create a practice that just churns people through the therapy door. You genuinely care about the outcomes of the clients and the satisfaction and joy of your clinicians. It may take some financial planning and support, but standing out from other options is your best bet to attract the right kind of clinicians who value the work that you do.

Need more support on your group practice? Check out our free training library where we have training exclusively on group practice financials.

The Private Pay Private Practice

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy.

The landscape of private practice has evolved rapidly since we have been coaching since 2010. We now have tech companies and directories that therapists can work for, online therapy software and companies, laws shifting for providing therapy across state lines, insurance companies that are changing how they do billing and so much more. Yet, even with these changes, the options for structuring your private practice remain to be - private pay, insurance-based, and hybrid.

Private pay practices have a cash fee and do not involve third-party payors in their practice at all. They may provide a superbill, but it is up to the client if they allow a third-party payor’s involvement. Insurance-based practices that exclusively take insurance are often working with billing companies or software to communicate with third-party payors. With many tech companies showing up in the therapy space, some of them are supporting these billing processes, negotiating fees, and managing the claw backs. Lastly, a hybrid practice is one that has a combination of both private pay and insurance provider involvement.

Is one of these options better than the other? Not necessarily. The key is choosing a structure that is profitable and sustainable for you. Profitable meaning that it provides a decent living wage for you and anyone you hire. Sustainable meaning that you can do business without it negatively impacting you, your clients, and your community. You want to look at doing this work in a way that allows for excellent outcomes, ethical practice and that doesn’t burn you out physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

There is no moral high ground for taking insurance. The variance from therapist to therapist shows us that not one single private practice is the same. We all have different circumstances and privileges at play when determining our private practice structure. What is most ethical is to choose that which is best for the client and for the therapist.

That said, many cannot afford to take insurance exclusively or in a hybrid model. If you have longed to be independent, not involving insurance companies in the therapeutic relationship, we want to explore how to make your private pay practice a possibility.

Pillar 1:  Solid Systems for Private Pay

It’s time to ditch the hustle culture and really look at how many hours you can healthily give to your business, beyond your direct client work. Working nonstop is not what will get you a private pay practice. First start with honoring your energy and time and give to the practice what is sustainable for you. Having systems in place is what will help you find flow in working in your private pay practice. Some of the key systems every private pay practice needs are a consultation and onboarding process, financial plan, business plan, marketing systems, and self-care systems. All of these systems work together to make private pay more easeful in your practice.

Top 4 Messaging Mistakes Made by Marriage And Family Therapist Websites

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

Your private practice website is a hub for connection with potential clients. The messaging you use on your website and other marketing materials is meant to connect, inform, and motivate people to act for themselves. Your message could be the difference between someone being stuck in their pain and someone finding help to heal their pain.

But when you search for marriage and family therapists online or through a directory, you may find a lot of the messages have made some simple mistakes that we want to show you how to avoid.

Mistake #1: Ask a lot of questions

Imagine if you are meeting with someone you don’t know, naturally, you ask a lot of questions to get to know them. Yet, part of having a solid marketing plan is knowing who you do great work with and being able to speak to the pain of those ideal clients. You should know generally something about their pain. If you start your website asking a lot of questions such as: Do you feel stuck? Do you not feel like yourself? Do you struggle with anxiety or depression? Are you grieving the past or something in the current present moment? You communicate that you aren’t sure who you are speaking to and are unsure of what they might generally be going through.

Instead of asking a lot of questions, peppering them with all the possibilities of what could be going on, speak to the common pain points of your clients. This takes knowing who you want to work with though. You can’t speak to everyone in one message. You need to hone in and speak to the clients you do the best work with.

Imagine moving away from the questions and more into painting a picture of what they might be going through. For example, "you woke up this morning with a tightness in your chest that is all too familiar. You do your best to push down the anxiety and worry, but day in and day out, it creeps up on you rendering you exhausted. You can’t focus at work. You miss appointments or space out in conversations with friends and loved ones. You worry so much about what others think about you, you just never feel like you can let your guard down."

How does that messaging feel compared to questions? It conveys attunement, and an understanding of the client because you know other clients like them. They aren’t alone and you know how to help.

Mistake #2: You aren’t clear about how you help

So many therapist websites speak in generalities about how they help. Many therapists talk about how they hold a safe nonjudgmental space for their clients. I hope they do! That is important, but that is the standard across the board. Besides, does a client really know how a nonjudgmental space being held for them helps? Probably not other than that there is comfort.

Instead, speak to how you show up as a therapist, giving good, informed consent about what to expect from you as a clinician. We aren’t speaking about being competitive and comparative with other clinicians. You never need to put down others to put yourself out there. You simply want to stand out clearly about what is unique about you in this work.

For example, I help anxious, high-achieving adults to simmer their anxiety so they can be comfortable in their own skin. I meet with my clients weekly because that is what gets better outcomes for the way that I work. I’m not a therapist who gives homework, instead, you will learn tools you can use outside of the session to use your body's wisdom to help you integrate more calm states in your day-to-day. Many of my clients love that they get to move their bodies during sessions and that there is a lot of laughter in the process of healing, It doesn’t always have to be so serious as you see on TV.

In this example, you can learn more about how the therapist works and what to expect. This gives the potential client way more information to decide if this is a good fit for themselves. Maybe they decide they don’t like what they read. That’s a good thing because it’s helping them tune into their own wisdom about what they need and it expedites them on the path to finding the right therapist for them.

Websites for Therapists for a Successful Private Practice

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

Websites are often one of the first things therapists think about when it comes to marketing their practices. If you have a website, you might remember the first time you bought a domain name or saw your website live on the internet. For me, it felt so satisfying and exciting. There is something about having a website that can make your private practice feel official. Yet, a website isn’t the thing that makes your private practice successful. At the intersection of what makes a private practice successful, you will find a private practice that is not only profitable but that is run sustainably (see you later burnout) and is consistently improving on clinical outcomes. Your website is a tool that can bring those three things together and we want to show you how.

 

 A Website That Works

Your website is how you keep the light on for your business 24/7. At any time in the day, a person searching for help can find you and reach out or get information that can truly transform their life. Your website can be the difference between someone feeling seen or motivated to take the next step toward therapy and a person giving up on the search for mental health services. Having your website do some of the work for you, lessens your burnout on running your private practice. It can hold a lot of information that otherwise would be laborious to get out into the world on your own. Your website makes your marketing plan more sustainable as it is consistently available to people searching for help. Your website also exists to attract the ideal client for your practice. The ideal client is the person you know you can help, and that you have the skills and passion to serve. This directly impacts the clinical outcomes of your practice. By working within your wheelhouse, you can continually improve on your service delivery. People are searching for the right therapist, but you are also attracting the right client for your practice. Your website serves both you and the client in making a match. When you work with your clients and get great clinical outcomes it acts as a loop, giving back to your practice. Your clients stay until they get the needed transformation, your retention improves, clients are more likely to refer to you and as you are more satisfied in your work it shows in the therapeutic relationship as well. This leads to more predictable income as well as consistent clients and clients referring to you. It’s a beautiful thing. But there are some things you need to make sure you have for a successful therapist website.

 Therapist Websites: Make It Connecting

A therapist's website is the hub for communicating who you work with, connecting with their pain, showing that you understand as well as talking about how you uniquely help and the transformational value of working with you. While people may find you in other places, they may come to your website for that final validation that you are the right person to reach out to. From the moment someone comes to your website, they should know they are in the right place. You want your website to reflect your ideal client through the copy and images. Because it is here that the first attunement can begin in the therapeutic relationship, far before the first session. Our coaching clients often remark how referrals reach out saying that they came to their website and wept because they felt seen for the first time. That’s the power of your website messaging. The message is about attuning to their pain. It’s not really about you all that much. When you talk about what the client is going through, you demonstrate your understanding of their pain far better than if you said “I understand, you aren’t alone.” Yes, you share how you help, but first and foremost you connect. Connecting through the website leads to attracting the clients that are right for your practice, the ones who get great clinical outcomes. Taking the time to create a website that really is a home base for your practice also makes your marketing way easier. Too often therapists think fancy designs make an impression when it really is the language used to connect.

Therapist Websites: Making it Accessible

 You want your website to be easy to use. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to connect with someone from their website and it being hard to find out how to do that. You need a clear path on your website for what a potential client needs to do. Often that is going to a contact page to book an initial consultation, but whatever you want this person to do as a next step, make sure it is clear. Also, you want anyone coming to your website to get the information they need with ease. Making your website accessible means creating a website that someone with vision impairments can read, if there is audio or video then there is a transcript or captions, and the images have descriptions. The design should never distract from the content. We would also argue for using the language that your clients use. No more technical jargon that creates a barrier between you and the client.

 Therapist Websites: Making it Visible

You can have a great website that is connecting and accessible, but it must be visible and easy to find. When someone searches for a therapist in your area, you want to pop up as an option in their search. We refer to this as SEO, Search Engine Optimization (learn more about it here). We teach how to do this in our Business School for Therapists, but essentially you want your website to tell the search engines what your website is about and why it is relevant to show your website on search results. Creating a website isn’t enough, it has to stay up to date with information. Consider it an ongoing project to get your website to be ranked and visible. You also want to share your website with others. Put it on your social media accounts, email signature, business card, or digital card and in your other marketing materials. Since it is your hub of communication, with any points of contact with others you want to bring them to your website.

 

Therapist Websites: Making It Ethical and Compliant

As a therapist, everything you do in your practice needs to be compliant with the ethics and laws of our profession. This means you need to have the proper notifications on your website, such as your terms of use, privacy policy, & disclaimers. Use tools on your website that are HIPAA compliant, even for your contact form. Your messaging should never offer false promises about what therapy can do. You can speak to the hope in the transformation, but using quotes and making guarantees about outcomes are something to avoid.

Website Perfection

It can be hard to make your website public or to promote it. You might want it to be perfect. We believe that most therapists can easily start their website with just one page. You don’t have to have all the pages, bells, and whistles together before you launch your first website. In fact, we don’t believe you have to hire a designer and pay thousands of dollars for your website. You can definitely do that if you have the budget, but in our website checklist for therapists, we cover all you need to know to get started or to revamp your website. The sooner you get yourself out there the sooner people can find you, even if it isn’t perfect.

 Website Mirage

Sometimes it can feel like all you are doing is working on your website, but you don’t know why the phone isn’t ringing. Fiddling with your website is just a marketing mirage. Your website is a piece of the marketing plan, a tool, and not necessarily the only way people find you and decide to work with you. You still need a marketing plan. When it comes to your website you do want to add pages and make updates based on the needs of your practice. You also want to keep your website fresh with new content such as through blogging. But you also want to be building relationships in the community, building your visibility with the people you serve. The website is just the start of expanding your marketing and making your message more accessible. It relies on you going out there in the world in order for it to do its job. Need more support with your website? We have a ton of resources on our website checklist for therapists here. Our hope for you is that you continue to hold your clinical outcomes as part of the foundation of a successful practice. Your website is another marketing plan cornerstone where you can make decisions that influence that foundation. It is with your website that you can find more ease, attract the right clients, and continue doing the work you love.

Multiple Streams of Income or Multiple Streams of Distraction?

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

It seems like every other podcast and training for therapists is focused on multiple streams of income. Write a book, start a podcast, launch a course, start doing retreats, what about integrating plant medicine? 

The truth is, you DO have a lot of options as a Marriage and Family Therapist! But the grass is NOT always greener. Today we want to dive into how multiple streams of income can lead to more distraction, less profits, and more burnout so you can get clear about whether multiple streams of income really the right next step for you in your career is.

A Shaky Foundation

Many therapists get little to no training on how to run a business. In fact, many only have to take statistics in grad school- which is NOT helpful in developing a business plan! In fact, for many of us basic financial math was not taught or shared with us.

Colleges and universities would be doing themselves a disservice if they taught us financial math in many cases. Why? Because master’s degrees related to counseling and therapy continue to be among the top worst-paid master’s degrees. Showing a student the numbers in terms of income while they are investing sometimes over $100,000 in getting a degree is just bad math!

As we start to move into seeing clients during practicums and internships, we are often unpaid or severely underpaid. I was lucky enough in California as an MFT Trainee to have a job paying $15/hr where I could also gather hours. People were jealous of my income. And yes, I had to take a pay cut to do this work because I had been supporting myself working in corporate America previously.

Getting paid ANYTHING feels like a luxury. Most people around us aren’t getting paid much. So, being overworked and underpaid feels normal. It is normal… in this profession. We often replicate this when we start our private practices. Of course, we end up with practices that leave us living paycheck to paycheck, client to client, or without any retirement. You are NOT alone if you need more income as a therapist. You didn’t do anything wrong if you replicated and emulated what you learned and saw and are realizing it doesn’t work for you.

So, isn’t another stream of income, passive income, or a side hustle the obvious solution to this problem? In our experience, having coached therapists for almost two decades, in 90% of cases, it is a distraction from the real issue, and it will actually exacerbate the lack of income and overworking versus solve the problem.

Why are multiple streams of income a distraction for most MFTs?

The truth is, you likely don’t have additional time or energy as it is. You’ve been overworked and underpaid for so long. There are so many hours in the day. Many MFTs today are literally living and working with poverty wages, even with a master’s degree (or higher) and a professional license and it is NOT ok. The first step is not to create another stream of income and replicate being underpaid in a new way.

The first step is to get to the bottom of why your current business or full-time income is not fully supporting you. You should be able to live comfortably, have a savings account, go on vacations, pay down debt, and yes even do a bit towards retirement with one stream of income. If you living paycheck to paycheck, on income repayment for your student loans, etc. something is out of alignment. So, let’s start there.

Are you charging a fee that is truly sustainable?

We know you want therapy to be accessible to as many people as possible. But, if you are struggling to pay your bills, or even losing your love for the work because of the financial struggles that is not going to make therapy more accessible. In fact, more people are leaving the mental health field than entering it right now. We need as many MFTs to stay in this work as possible to make it accessible. So, can we get honest about what it takes to do this work? Here is a link to our free how to set fees training for therapists where we will dig into ethics and give you a clear formula for setting a sustainable fee.

Are you accepting sustainable reimbursements from insurance companies?

Why are therapists in Conway, AR getting reimbursed 40% more for the same CPT code as a therapist living in Los Angeles, CA? We can tell you it is not related to the cost of living. The truth is, insurance companies decide their reasonable and customary rate based on what therapists will agree to and based on making profits. In fact, according to Becker’s Payer Issues the top 5 insurance companies had profits of more than 40 billion dollars after paying their providers. Have you gotten clear on what your average fee or reimbursement rate needs to be in order to sustain. The truth is, the insurance companies are required to have available providers. They are not required to pay well. But, of course, in places where there are fewer therapists willing to say yes to low reimbursement rates, the rates will shift.

Are You Undervaluing Your Labor?

 Over the last several years we have seen online mental health tech companies come in and disrupt the mental health space in some good and bad ways. They helped normalize therapy. They helped normalize online therapy. But, in many cases they normalized very low contract rates for independent contractors, as well as putting advertising over quality of care. If you feel angry at what online mental health tech companies are doing there is only one solution. Do not give them your labor. Without access to boundless, cheap labor these companies cannot continue to underpay therapists.

While we believe multiple streams of income can be great- it is SO important that you focus on having one solid, sustainable source of income first. Often even additional sources of income come out of a balanced life and some stability. Otherwise, we will just keep replicating the therapist’s way of being overworked and underpaid.

As a member of AAMFT, you get special discounts for Business building help from zynnyme. You can learn more about how we help and your discount here.

Why You Don't Want to Be a Therapist Anymore

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

I stared at a stack of yellow files, all waiting for my review to be sent to Medicare for payment. Piles of notes and treatment plans made my soul sink. I didn’t go to school for this, pushing paper and unrealistic expectations and quotas on other therapists. I was worn out, irritable, tired and no longer finding joy in the work that I once had loved so much.

That’s when the thought hit me, “I don’t want to be a therapist.”

But I had invested so much time and energy to get here. Even after looking into other grad programs for a medical career, I decided to try shifting how I was doing the work and began a business on my own. 

Private practice was my last-ditch effort to fall back in love with my career.

Maybe you’ve felt it before, that inkling that something isn’t right or is creating a level of discomfort that you aren’t sure how much longer you can tolerate. Truth is, we have more people leaving our field than entering it. But why? Why do we really not want to be therapists anymore and is there anything we can do to change the course?

Reason #1 You Don’t Want to be a therapist: The mental health system is set up for burnout.

For all of us in this mental health field, we were born out of systems that do not serve us. Working for unpaid internships and practicums, and acquiring high student loan debt. All while the powers at be KNOW we are in fact some of the worst paid masters degrees. We come out of graduate school already set up for stress and overwhelm.

Add to that the weight of people’s lives that we serve, being told we are responsible for the outcomes when the resources of the system are so limited. The system is the cause of a lot of their mental distress, much of which we can’t do anything about.

When we wrote the book on Therapist Burnout, we realized that many people thought burnout came from just feeling stressed about work. Burnout in the mental health system is almost always  seen as a personal weakness, instead of a normal response to a broken system. In order to heal burnout one of two things needs to happen. One,  the system has to change or, two, we have to change how we interact with the system.

For example, I left my government job because it was causing burnout. I created a practice from there that supported my needs as well as for my clients. Changing the setting made all the difference in me continuing on my path as a therapist. Suddenly I truly loved being a therapist again, and I felt inspired to help other therapists find their love again too. It was like a switch flipped.

I know private practice isn’t the path for everyone, and that is ok. For those who don’t want to take the entrepreneurial route, can you change the system from within? it’s going to take push back, setting new boundaries and speaking up all in the name of self care to heal the burnout. The truth is, your labor is incredibly valuable! We are taught often that we are expendable, but truly our work is invaluable.

Reason #2 You Don’t Want to be a therapist: Private practice is failing you.

But what if you are already in private practice and you don’t want to be a therapist anymore? Private practice is the dream for a lot of therapists. It signifies independence and freedom. Often that freedom is sucked away by fears around marketing, low paying insurance companies with horrendous clawbacks, tech companies that take advantage of therapists and their clients and overwhelm with learning how to be a business owner. It is a lot and nobody learns these skills in grad school.

Many therapists go into their private practice with the same mindset they had in their agency work and replicate processes and ways of doing/being that often continue the harm they were trying to leave, such as unrealistic sliding scale fees, overworking, documentation that is over and above what is needed, and accepting any potential client who calls. Any chance to deviate from those norms has often led to being shamed by peers who tell them that what they are doing can’t be done or is unethical, such as charging a rate for therapy that allows them to live beyond the poverty line.

Side note: The sliding scale fee structures that we bring from non-profit organizations are often based on millions of dollars worth of grants that allow for pro bono or sliding scale spots. Those sliding scales aren’t appropriate, or sustainable for most for profit models without extensive grants. In fact, mental health attorneys advise AGAINST sliding scales in private practice for legal and ethical reasons. You can learn more about the law, ethics, and legal advice in free How to set fees training.

Before you end your career as a therapist, first look at what you created with this private practice and ask yourself:

• Is this really working for me? It is so easy as therapists to stay checked out focusing on everyone else. What is your body, mind, heart, and spirit saying about your life right now? Is work and personal life in balance and truly aligning with your values?
• Am I making a livable private practice salary? You may need to relook at your financial plan to ensure you have a fee that is viable for your needs to live in your community with balance and health.
• Am I doing things that don’t make sense and drain me? Whether it be your documentation processes or billing, look at how you have been running your process and see what you can streamline, eliminate or delegate.
• Do I have support in private practice? Private practice can be isolating. We have seen many therapists go back to employment simply because they felt so alone in private practice. You want community in your personal life and in your business. For your private practice, that might mean getting involved in a local AAMFT chapter, inviting colleagues out to get together, signing up for group case consultation and more. You may need some direct guidance and support from an expert, whether that is clinical or in the realm of running a business. You don’t have to do everything on your own.

Once you look at these questions you can either choose to make adjustments or you may decide that private practice isn’t for you. That is all ok. The goal is to create a way of working that really lights you up, not sucks you dry. Private practice may not be for you or your private practice may simply need some adjustments.

Reason #3 You Don’t Want to be a therapist: Obligation is dictating the focus.

The style of working or the way you offer your services might be coming from a place of obligation and not conscious creation. You do what you have been taught to do or feel you must do. You know when you were taught that a 45-50 minute session is the standard of care. Sure, for billing insurance companies it is, but that doesn’t mean that is proven to be what is needed for great clinical outcomes with the clients you like to work with and how you like to work.

Many therapists who don’t want to do this work anymore are really no longer wanting to do the work in a way that doesn’t fit them. Yet, we are raised to fear losing our license so heavily that we become paralyzed with our innovation and creativity.

We have helped many therapists engineer clinically outcome focused services that break the mold of traditional therapy. From walk and talk therapy, intensives, retreats, longer sessions, shorter sessions, it’s all a perfect opportunity to really evaluate if the service you are providing is one that you believe in and do good work in.

Reason #4 You Don’t Want to be a therapist: Clients are draining.

Another reason you may want to quit being a therapist is because of who you are doing therapy with. This is not to blame or shame the client. This is to simply explore that you may have said ‘Yes” to working with people who are not a good fit. Or, something for you has shifted and who you once loved to work with, is no longer the case.

How does this happen? There is often an unspoken code that if you are a helper and a healer, you do not discriminate or turn people away from healing. That would be cruel! You can’t be a good therapist unless you are truly willing to help anyone that comes through your door.

It could be argued that it is quite the opposite, the more clarity you have leads to better clinical outcomes and is better for the clients for you to refer out than to work with them from a half hearted or burned out place. People get better clinical outcomes when they have a focus, speciality or passion behind who they are serving.

Take Sam for example. They loved doing couples work but after their own recent divorce, they find working with couples to be absolutely challenging. We would never suggest that Sam just suck it up and work through it. Instead, we recommend Sam to honor the challenges and changes in their own life and to see where else there might be passion for them to see clients - such as with individuals. Ask yourself if the clients you are working with are ideal for you and make a commitment to only working with those who you feel drawn to support out of ease and confidence, not fear or scarcity.

Reason #5 You Don’t Want to be a therapist: Avoiding the feeling and projecting the solution.

You might be blaming the work of therapy for dissatisfaction in your life that is sourced from elsewhere. Instead of giving ourselves space to feel our feelings and understand the sadness, yuck and muck we can tend to look at our work as what is wrong and what needs to be fixed.

“I went to work today and I just didn’t want to hear another person talk about their pain.”

You can’t address an internal issue from the outside. It has to come from within.

Sure, this could be because you don’t want to do therapy, or it could be that you aren’t well resourced in your own life due to stress and other circumstances. But then it can quickly turn into “the solution could be a career change”.

I can’t count how many times people have come to me wanting to quit, and then with time and feeling they realize what is really going on are things in their personal life - all very valid and real stressors.

Before you jump ship, look at your life and what it is asking of you. Does it need more time and attention, compassion and love so you can then make a decision about your work from a place of grounded confidence and not exhaustion from your daily struggles?

Please don’t go.

Or at least, before you do consider whether your environment or system needs a shift. If you still feel a change is necessary, know that the lessons learned will enrich your next journey. Creating a fulfilling career is about discovering or even inventing paths that bring joy to your life.

Need assistance? Our Business School for Therapists, operational since 2010, has aided thousands of therapists in finding their passion and navigating the financial aspects of their practice. We're here to support you in this journey.

Recession Proof Your Private Practice

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

As therapists, our job is often to sit with people’s fears and anxieties. But what happens when WE are anxious? With growing uncertainty about the economy and global crisis happening many therapists are asking themselves whether owning a private practice is truly sustainable during a recession. Today, we want to talk about some real data, and real options to recession proof your private practice as a therapist.

"Wait, does that mean you think we are going into a recession?" Whether we go into a recession next month or in the next decade, we want to share what every therapist who plans to grow, launch, or maintain a private practice should do to recession proof their private practice. Ultimately, we aren’t financial analysts, and even they can’t always agree!

So, why do you get to talk about recession proofing private practices?

In 2008, Miranda over at zynnyme launched her cash-pay private practice during the recession in one of the worst-hit cities in the United States. And guess what? It flourished. Kelly built her practice during the recession in a city saturated with therapists.

We know every recession is different, but we think there are lessons we can bring forward from our pasts that help us to navigate our futures.

Defining a Recession

A recession, by definition, is “a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.” Effects of a recession often include high unemployment rates, defaults on loans and mortgages, and a flurry of public policy decisions related to managing the change in cash-flow AND attempts to stimulate the economy.

Worst Jobs During a Recession

According to Yahoo Finance and their analysis of employment data from the downturns in 1990-91, 2008-2009, and 2013, the following were the worst jobs to hold during the recession: tradesmen (plumbers, construction, etc.), manufacturing workers, CEOs, drivers, farmers, and finance workers. While many therapists “feel” like mental health and helping professions are the first to go and the least needed, this actually doesn’t align with the data.

A Recession-Proof Business

In fact, every list of recession-proof industries we could find (like this one) included healthcare. Some lumped mental health in with physical health; other lists listed psychologists, social workers, and others as the jobs least impacted by previous downturns and recessions.

Statistics Are Great, But What Happens in Real Life?

Here’s a bit of Miranda’s story: I quit my county job with amazing benefits in the spring of the height of the 2007 recession after receiving a clear message from my higher power that it was what I was supposed to do (it was literally written down on a slip of paper!). I was already teaching and had jobs at a local junior college and at a local university. In October, I started a cash-pay private practice. People thought I had lost my mind.

I hadn’t been licensed long enough to get on insurance panels. I knew VERY little about how to run a business. And I had a child that I was nursing at home. I built my business, designed my website, and learned online marketing during my child’s two naps during the day. He didn’t sleep well at night (and if he skipped a nap during the day, the nighttime restlessness got even worse).

I knew what I was supposed to be doing, so I kept my blinders on and just took one small step at time, day-by-day and week-by-week. I had a great clinical reputation at the local psychiatric hospital and with agencies, but people I respected said they’d only start referring to me once I was on insurance panels… you know, the ones I couldn’t get on because I hadn’t been licensed long enough.

I figured once I was eligible for insurance panels, I’d consider them if my practice wasn’t full or growing. Then, guess what? It grew! People hired me, they came to see me. Couples on unemployment budgeted for couples counseling while living with their parents because their relationship was EXTRA important during the recession.

That cushy county position with the great benefits that I left? They started doing furloughs and reducing benefits, and my old coworkers had to manage with decreased income while I was able to adjust my income. In fact, my spouse’s industry was eventually impacted by the Great Recession, he was laid off, and I was able to adjust my business plan and hours to ensure that we could pay our mortgage while he went back to school.

Make More, Work Less

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

Make More and Work Less as a Marriage and Family Therapist

As a marriage and family therapist, you’re too often expected to accept low-paying opportunities with long working hours and few areas to improve your income. In fact, Monster.com posted the top ten worst-paid jobs requiring a master’s degree… and 50% of them were related to our counseling, psychology, and social work!

We know how much you work — especially as trained MFTs ourselves — and you deserve more than having to do free work for nonprofits and agencies while pre-licensed, only to continue getting paid so low as an MFT that you consider doubling your hours or getting a second job.

The bottom line: You DON’T have to listen to what professors, supervisors, and fellow therapists claim you “should” be doing when it comes to working hours and pay. There’s nothing unethical or illegal about being paid a sustainable wage or working sustainable hours!

So, are you suggesting MFTs should start a solo or group practice?

If you’re looking to build a sustainable, fulfilling career where your schedule is flexible and your income allows you to pay off your student loan balances, start saving, and maybe even purchase your own home, then private practice is definitely worth considering!

But we’ve noticed a lot of problematic trends since becoming private practice business coaches back in 2010, and a survey we sent out to private practice therapists in 2023 really emphasized what we found to be true for many of the people coming to us for guidance.

When you consider the average of the 400 responses we received, private practice therapists expect to be working 47 weeks a year while supporting 18 clients every one of those weeks and charging an average of $155 per session. That doesn’t sound so bad to many of you. But, let’s look at the reality of what can often happen when we take what we learned in underpaid and overworked positions.

Therapists are out there with session fees as $50. Some therapists aren’t charging for sessions at all. Some therapists are going over on every session they provide. And many therapists are still drowning in paperwork and struggling to find what works for them. Let’s look at what that all translates to based on the average person who responded to our survey.

Going over clinical sessions, survey respondents were unknowingly working an extra 4.3 clinical weeks per year unpaid by not ending sessions on time or charging for going over in sessions. In other words, you could be losing more than $11,000 per year to client sessions where you’re working overtime and not charging for it.

And, to make things worse, therapists who aren’t immediately completing their documentation (and instead procrastinating — because who really enjoys writing out progress notes?) work an average of nine extra unpaid 32-hour workweeks per year!

Oh, and did we forget to mention the average policy of not charging for no-shows and late cancellations, even though you said you would? Well, that’s another $5,500 per year of income lost.

Here’s what this all means:

 

Meditations for Marriage and Family Therapists

This content is provided by zynnyme, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the view of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy. 

We know you’ve likely found or created great meditations for your clients. But, what about for you, what about meditations for therapists?

Meditations for Marriage and Family Therapists

As a marriage and family therapist, you help clients reconnect with their mind, body, and spirit. But when you’re not serving your community, how much time do you take for YOU?

It’s easy to dismiss your own needs when you’re prioritizing those of others, though we encourage you to push back against the narrative that you have to neglect yourself to truly support your clients. And that starts with integrating self-care into your regular routine.

Below, we’ve included some meditations for marriage and family therapists.

They’ll encourage you to slow down and reconnect with yourself at a pace that works for you, covering topics of gratitude, self-love, detachment, and money.

Give yourself permission this week to move away from the doing and embrace the simply being. Then, check out one or more of the powerful meditations below, led by Kelly Higdon, LMFT. We can’t wait to hear how they’ve impacted your life and business!

Gratitude Meditation

Without a clear, sustainable vision and plan, the day-to-day experience of running a marriage and family therapy practice can feel like it leaves no space for other areas of your life. That’s when you begin to focus more on the routine and all of your to-dos, losing sight of what matters most.

It’s time to remind yourself of all the people and things that contribute to your well-being. Maybe it’s as simple as the last meal you had. Or it can be about a relationship you value that brings a lot of joy into your life. Whatever it is, pause for a moment to really reflect on it and feel the appreciation for the role it’s played in your life, bringing you more energy and inspiration.

Take a moment to experience gratitude for your life and how it’s connected to others. How even the most seemingly “mundane” things are a gift and made possible by the communities that surround you — even if you might not always realize it in the moment.

Check out the gratitude meditation here!

Self-Love Meditation

After you’ve taken some time to reflect on the things you’re grateful for — as a marriage and family therapist AND as a human being with the power to influence the lives of others — it’s time to experience that power by sending some love out into the world (and to yourself).

There’s love within you, and it can be accessed at any time.

Shift your focus from what hasn’t been done and what needs to be done and start replacing all that built-up negative self-talk and shame with the grounding feelings of love.

You have a lot to offer as a healing professional, but don’t limit your strengths to the transformational work you do with clients. Because you’re deserving of love regardless of whether you serve the people in your life.

The simple truth is that each and every one of us has value.

Sometimes, it’s a matter of giving yourself the same love that you give to others — and deeply feeling and knowing you deserve that love just as much as them.

Check out the self-love meditation here!

Detachment Meditation

As much as we value gratitude and self-love, we also recognize there’s a time and place for detachment and untangling from the barrage of thoughts that can show up in your mind.

Whether it’s thinking back to a recent session with one of your marriage and family therapy clients that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped or ruminating on the difficulties you’re experiencing in your personal life, practicing detachment allows you to distance yourself from those thoughts.

Instead of being stuck in a cycle of anxiety, considering all the “what-ifs” and things you could do differently, the practice of detachment lets you observe each of your thoughts like they’re flowing down a river, acknowledging their presence and letting them go.

Remember: It’s not about judging your thoughts.

Even if your thoughts bring up feelings of discomfort, allowing them to be there and accepting them for what they are is what allows you to process them — and ultimately let each one of them go through their natural flow until they pass and plateau in intensity.

Check out the detachment meditation here!

Money Meditation

Your journey toward wealth as a marriage and family therapist happens at your own pace. It’s one-of-a-kind, based on your experiences, and it’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out yet. But don’t forget to recognize the progress you’ve made along the journey.

Think about your solo or group practice as a seed. From an outsider’s perspective, it doesn’t look like much is happening. And yet, as someone who’s constantly giving it the attention it needs to grow and flourish, you recognize its expanding potential. Then, one day — maybe when you’re starting to question if it’s all worth it — you see the positive outcomes of your efforts.

Your life and business may be growing without you even realizing it. The process may be slow, and sometimes even a bit frustrating (we totally get it!) but know that there’s value in your efforts. Maybe it’s a few months, or maybe it’s a few years. Eventually, though, as the income from your values-aligned practice reaches new levels, you’ll realize it was all worth it.

For now, it’s all about celebrating where you’re at and where you’re going.

Check out the money meditation here!

Share Your Thoughts on The Marriage and Family Therapist Meditations

How did these meditations for marriage and family therapists help you and your practice? Let us know your experiences below and whether you’re interested in us creating more meditations for you in the future! In the meantime, click here to learn all about our Starting a Counseling Practice Success Stories and Starting a Private Practice podcasts + where to subscribe for more!

P.S. If you’ve found any of these meditations to be valuable, know they don’t have to be a one-time listen. Incorporate space for reconnecting with your mind, body, and spirit on a regular basis — even if it’s outside of the context of your private practice business hours.