Episode Details

In this episode of the Practice of Therapy Podcast, Gordon interviews Kristen Breese, LCPC about making the transition from being a solo practitioner to owning a group practice. They also talk about business growth and how taking it slow is sometimes a better option for people. Kristen talks about the importance of just doing one thing at a time; "you have to walk before you can run…". Kristen also talks about some of the mindset changes and the things that she needed to learn when she made the switch from solo practice to group practice. Kristen and Gordon also talk about the various tasks that come with being a group practice owner and some of the challenges they had to overcome as they grew.

Kristen Breese, LCPC is CEO and founder of Counseling Works and multi-disciplinary group practice in Naperville, IL. Kristen is a psychotherapist, business consultant, coach, entrepreneur and speaker. She specializes in treating co-dependency, boundaries, and generalized anxiety. Her goal is to help others overcome obstacles personally and professionally to achieve their goals.

Kristen's website is www.counselingworks.com

Kristen and Gordon both started in similar ways in that they both were working in agency settings and began part-time private practice. Kristen tells how she focused on filling her schedule just one day at a time. In other words, she had just one day a week that she saw clients and filled that day before she added another to her schedule.

One of the challenges for many counselors and therapists is making the decision to take their practice to a new level. In particular, going from being a solo practitioner to having a group practice. Although there is no clear formula for doing this, most will make that move once they feel their own practice is full and they are losing clients because they have no appointment openings.

One thing that is so very important in making that transition to having a group practice, is having a clear vision of what you want your practice to be. Do you envision a large multi-location practice or do you want to have small group of 3-4 clinicians? Know your vision then commit to it.

Success comes from having a clear picture of where you want to be. Think about it in terms of where you see your practice 5 to 10 years down the road. Then focus on the small steps it will take to get you to that place.

One of the things that many counselors and therapists going into private practice face is trying to do too much. Growth occurs best when you build things one part at a time. For example, Kristen mentioned moving from part-time to full time practice. She did it by filling one day at a time.

Another mindset change that seems to help, is to not be so concerned about the speed of growth, but be more focused on the consistency of growth. The most lasting result, as it is with most anything, comes from deliberate and thoughtful planning. By taking the time to set small attainable goals, growth tends to be sustainable.

As a practice grows, it is important to have systems in place that will handle to growth. Spending time to make sure that you have a clearly defined onboarding process for new clinicians along with having client processes well defined will go a long way in helping things go smoothly.

One tip is to start documenting and writing down the steps to your current systems and processes. That way, as you bring on new people, you will have a clearly defined plan. This goes a long way in projecting professionalism and helping people feel good about co