Setting up a Successful Private Counselling or Psychotherapy Practice

Welcome! Are you a therapy student or perhaps a newly qualified counsellor or psychotherapist who is thinking of setting up a private practice? Or maybe you’ve been qualified for a while and are wanting to move into private practice. If so, our online course on setting up a successful private therapy practice is for you! Our lead therapist and practice manager Gareth Sammer began his own part time private practice back in 2012 before going full time in 2015. Since then he has managed not only his own successful practice with an average of 20 clients a week, but also receives on average around 300 to 400 additional enquiries a year which he manages through his team of therapists who work with him. The building of this successful practice came from years of trial and error, picking up valuable ways of working along the way.

Gareth has always had a desire to share his experience and findings with other therapists to help them build their own practices. He has run multiple courses both face to face in London and online via Zoom since 2018 on this subject and has now decided to produce an online version of the course. The course is split into seven lessons, each covering a different aspect of Private Practice:

  • Lesson 1: Introduction to setting up in private practice

    • What defines a successful private practice?

    • Pro’s and Con’s against working for organisation vs private practice

    • What’s in a name? – Looking at how you name and describe your practice

    • Where to see clients? – Pros and cons of different methods for seeing clients

  • Lesson 2: Setting up a website:

    • Do I need a website in Private Practice?

    • Recommended website providers

    • What should a good therapy website include?

    • What are Domain names and what should you choose?

    • Monitoring the Success of your Website

  • Lesson 3: Advertising and Marketing your practice:

    • Is Marketing important in Private Practice?

    • The benefits and costs of therapy directory membership

    • What is the impact of social media?

    • Other methods of Advertising and Marketing – both good and bad

    • Scams and things to watch out for

    Lesson 4: Initial client contact:

    • How may clients contact you and how do you respond?

    • Scam contact emails – what to look out for

    • Client initial assessments

    • How useful are scoring sheets like Core10 and GAD7?

    • What is a Business contract and what should be included?


    Lesson 5: Legal, Ethical and Professional Practice:

    • Legal, Ethical and Professional requirements for Private Practice

    • Exploring Personal and Professional Boundaries.

    • Who wouldn’t you work with - The right to say no to a client

    • Deciding on confidentiality and cancellation policies

    • GDPR

    • Exploring ethical dilemmas

    • Insurance and other legal matters

  • Lesson 6: Fees, Accounts and Taxes:

    • What is it like to be paid to provide therapy?

    • How do you determine client fees? 

    • What if clients don’t pay & Chasing payments.

    • Do you need an accountant / Keeping your own accounts.

    • Tax expectations and completing tax returns

  • Lesson 7: Building your practice into the future

    • Working with Insurance companies

    • Self-care, CPD Courses and Peer collaboration

    • Therapeutic Will

    • Where do I go next?

    • Final thoughts

Sign Up For This Course

Sign up Options

To access our Setting up a Successful Private Practice online course, please signup to one of the options below. The £75 option gives you a 12 months subscription to access the complete course. The £125 option gives you the complete course but also allows you to be in contact with Gareth over the course of the 12 month subscription for any questions or support you may need around setting up your practice. With both options, you will also receive codes for discounts on Therapy Listing sites including a month extra free on the Counselling Directory, 6 months free on Psychology Today and a month of free premium membership on Findatherapist.

Setting up a Successful Private Therapy Practice - Basic Plan
£75.00
Every year

This option gives you complete access for 12 months to our Setting up a Successful Private Practice online course. The only additional support we offer with this option is if you have difficulty accessing the course material or payment related questions

Setting up a Successful Private Therapy Practice + Support Plan
£125.00
Every year

Complete 12 month access to our online course on Setting up a Successful Private Practice. This option comes with additional support and advice from Gareth Sammer for the 12 month period should you have any questions or need help starting your practice.

✓ Full support for 12 months