October 4, 2025 • 8 mins
In this Ask Allison, I’m breaking down why private practice actually works—and why it only seems impossible if you’ve been stuck in a system that burns you out. We’ll cover what makes private practice sustainable, how to navigate the fear, and why therapists everywhere are working less, earning more, and finally enjoying their work. It’s not a fantasy. It’s just a better system—and yes, it’s totally doable.
Sponsored by TherapyNotes®: Looking to switch EHRs? Try TherapyNotes® for 2 months free by using promo code ABUNDANT at therapynotes.com.
Links You’ll Love:
- Grab my FREE weekly worksheet (plus other free tools to grow your practice) here: www.abundancepracticebuilding.com/links
- Ready to fill your practice faster? Join the Abundance Party today and get 75% off your first month with promo code PODCAST: www.abundancepracticebuilding.com/abundanceparty
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Ask Alison.
Y'all ask the questions about having a
fun and thriving practice and I answer them.
We have a worksheet for you today so
you can bring this answer into your life.
You can access that at abundancepracticebuilding.com slash
links where you'll also be able to ask
any questions you have for Ask Alison.
If you want more support, we've got some
free trainings in there too.
(00:28):
If you can't get enough Ask Alison, check
out our YouTube channel for our entire Ask
Alison library.
Alright, welcome back to Ask Alison.
Today's question is one that I get all
the time and honestly, I totally get why
people ask it.
The question is, is private practice actually possible
or is it too good to be true?
Before I dive into this, I would like
(00:50):
to thank TherapyNotes for sponsoring Ask Alison.
I've talked about them for years.
I know their features by heart.
You probably do too by now, but what
truly sets them apart is not just what
they offer.
It is that they genuinely, genuinely care about
your experience.
It's not just about troubleshooting.
They actively implement user-suggested features like therapy
search, secure messaging, clinical outcome measures, and their
(01:13):
AI feature therapy fuel.
Everyone at TherapyNotes believes in the product and
wants you to love it too.
Plus they're independently owned, which means no venture
capital and no pressure to prioritize investors over
customers.
This independence allows them to keep prices fair,
to focus on innovation, and prioritize customer experience.
With over 100,000 therapists already on board,
(01:34):
they've proven you don't have to compromise success
for quality.
If you're ready to see for yourself, go
to TherapyNotes.com and use Abundant.
You'll get two free months to try it
out.
Alright, is private practice possible?
Let's start with a short answer.
Yes, private practice absolutely works.
It's real.
It's possible.
Therapists all over the world are doing it
(01:55):
and not just surviving, but truly thriving.
I get how that can feel really unbelievable,
especially if you're used to agency life.
If you're coming from a place where your
burnout, low pay, and rigid schedules are the
norm, then the idea that you could make
more money, work less, and actually like your
job more might feel like a scam.
I promise it's not.
(02:15):
It's just a different system essentially.
I'm going to walk you through what this
really looks like.
There are hundreds of thousands of therapists in
private practice across the US alone.
If you Google therapists in your city, you're
going to find pages and pages of them.
That's just the ones with websites and the
ones that are ranking.
There are many others who built their practice
up and they stay full without needing much
(02:37):
of a presence on Google at all.
Here is the thing that most people don't
realize is that the business side of private
practice is not actually hard.
Some parts of it are annoying.
Absolutely.
Paperwork, taxes, dealing with systems, but I wouldn't
call it hard.
Not really.
Not when you compare it to the emotional
toll that agency work can take.
(02:58):
Plus, the work-life balance is a completely
different ballgame.
Most private practice therapists I know see somewhere
between 15 and 25 clients a week.
They do it on the days and the
times that they choose.
They take vacations without asking for approval.
They pick their kids up from school.
They don't dread Mondays in the same way.
Most of my students, once they're up and
(03:19):
running, make two to four times what they
made at their last full-time job.
They do it while working far fewer hours.
That's not a fluke.
It's just what's possible when the work is
set up to serve you, not a bloated
mismanaged system.
That brings me to why this all sounds
too good to be true.
My theory is the agency model is broken.
(03:39):
It's too big.
It's too layered.
The people doing the work, the therapists, are
the ones holding it up.
Let's think about where the money goes.
In most agencies, funding comes from a mix
of therapist labor and grants.
Those grants are usually tied to clinical needs,
meaning they support the work that you're doing,
not the admin-heavy structure that surrounds you.
(04:01):
Still, the same pot of money has to
cover everything.
Your salary, admin pay, billers, supervisors, directors, executive
leadership, rent, insurance, HR, 401ks, and you're the
one generating all that income, you and your
other therapist buddies.
So when someone tells you that private practice
doesn't make sense or isn't sustainable, what they
(04:22):
really mean is, I can't imagine that working
because I've only ever seen therapists exploited.
Private practice only seems too good to be
true because we've normalized something that is so
bad.
It's kind of like telling a corporate attorney,
you could make more and work less if
you left the firm and opened your own
practice.
They're not shocked at all by that.
They expect that to be true.
(04:43):
But therapists were often the last ones to
believe it could be possible for us.
I've seen so many therapists say things like,
I can't even afford a weekly yoga class,
or it's been years since I took a
real vacation.
And that's not a personal failing.
That's a system issue.
And so here's the kicker.
The people who insist that private practice doesn't
work are often the ones who never actually
(05:03):
tried.
Or they tried, but they didn't bother to
learn how to do it in a sustainable
way.
They might spend $1,000 on a CE
training they don't even use, but they won't
invest a fraction of that in the business
skills they actually need.
So yes, private practice is possible.
It's not magic.
It's not reserved for a lucky few.
It's just a different way of working.
(05:24):
Will you have to learn some new things?
Absolutely.
Most of us don't have a business background
when we start, but the good news is
you don't need an MBA.
You just need to learn some essentials, marketing
systems, financial basics.
Like literally you can learn these things in
just a few hours.
You implement what you learned and little by
little you build.
The hardest part, it's not the paperwork, it's
(05:45):
not the tech, it's not the website.
The hardest part is the fear.
It's the fear of failing, the fear of
putting yourself out there, the fear that you're
not cut out for it.
And that's what stops most people, not the
logistics.
But if you can stay with it, if
you can keep showing up and keep taking
the next step, even when it's uncomfortable, then
yes, absolutely.
You can have the kind of practice that
(06:06):
feels quote unquote too good to be true
because it's that different from what you're used
to.
We've helped thousands of therapists do exactly this.
We walk you through the steps.
We answer your questions.
We hold your hand when fear kicks in.
The Abundance Party is our program that teaches
you how to build a practice that works
financially, emotionally, and energetically.
For $69 a month for six months, or
(06:28):
a six-month minimum I should say, you
get access to the same tools and support
that have helped so many therapists build six
-figure practices.
Most programs like this are in the thousands,
but mine isn't because I've been doing this
a long time and I've built it to
be affordable and sustainable.
It's not only possible, it's inevitable if you
(06:48):
follow best practices.
You can have what you want.
In fact, today's free worksheet is called Just
That, and it helps you think through what
you want for your practice, what you want
it to look like.
You can send me a DM on social
with the word sheets, and I'll send you
this week's worksheet and all the previous ones
in the series.
It's free, so no strings, just something to
(07:09):
help you take the next step.
If you're listening to the podcast, you can
get it in the show notes.
If you're ready to start building a practice
that actually works for you, I'm here.
Let's do it together.
If you're ready for a much easier practice,
Therapy Notes is the way to go.
Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo
code ABUNDANT for two months free.
(07:32):
I hope that helped.
If you have questions for Ask Alison, or
you want to get your hands on the
worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com
slash links.
If you're listening, you probably need some support
building your practice.
If you're a super newbie, grab our free
checklist using the link in the show notes.
I'd love for you to follow, rate, and
(07:54):
review, but I really want you to share
this episode with a therapist friend.
Let's help all our colleagues build what they
want.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Ask Alison.
Y'all ask the questions about having a
fun and thriving practice and I answer them.
We have a worksheet for you today so
you can bring this answer into your life.
You can access that at abundancepracticebuilding.com slash
links where you'll also be able to ask
any questions you have for Ask Alison.
If you want more support, we've got some
free trainings in there too.
(00:28):
If you can't get enough Ask Alison, check
out our YouTube channel for our entire Ask
Alison library.
Alright, welcome back to Ask Alison.
Today's question is one that I get all
the time and honestly, I totally get why
people ask it.
The question is, is private practice actually possible
or is it too good to be true?
Before I dive into this, I would like
(00:50):
to thank TherapyNotes for sponsoring Ask Alison.
I've talked about them for years.
I know their features by heart.
You probably do too by now, but what
truly sets them apart is not just what
they offer.
It is that they genuinely, genuinely care about
your experience.
It's not just about troubleshooting.
They actively implement user-suggested features like therapy
search, secure messaging, clinical outcome measures, and their
(01:13):
AI feature therapy fuel.
Everyone at TherapyNotes believes in the product and
wants you to love it too.
Plus they're independently owned, which means no venture
capital and no pressure to prioritize investors over
customers.
This independence allows them to keep prices fair,
to focus on innovation, and prioritize customer experience.
With over 100,000 therapists already on board,
(01:34):
they've proven you don't have to compromise success
for quality.
If you're ready to see for yourself, go
to TherapyNotes.com and use Abundant.
You'll get two free months to try it
out.
Alright, is private practice possible?
Let's start with a short answer.
Yes, private practice absolutely works.
It's real.
It's possible.
Therapists all over the world are doing it
(01:55):
and not just surviving, but truly thriving.
I get how that can feel really unbelievable,
especially if you're used to agency life.
If you're coming from a place where your
burnout, low pay, and rigid schedules are the
norm, then the idea that you could make
more money, work less, and actually like your
job more might feel like a scam.
I promise it's not.
(02:15):
It's just a different system essentially.
I'm going to walk you through what this
really looks like.
There are hundreds of thousands of therapists in
private practice across the US alone.
If you Google therapists in your city, you're
going to find pages and pages of them.
That's just the ones with websites and the
ones that are ranking.
There are many others who built their practice
up and they stay full without needing much
(02:37):
of a presence on Google at all.
Here is the thing that most people don't
realize is that the business side of private
practice is not actually hard.
Some parts of it are annoying.
Absolutely.
Paperwork, taxes, dealing with systems, but I wouldn't
call it hard.
Not really.
Not when you compare it to the emotional
toll that agency work can take.
(02:58):
Plus, the work-life balance is a completely
different ballgame.
Most private practice therapists I know see somewhere
between 15 and 25 clients a week.
They do it on the days and the
times that they choose.
They take vacations without asking for approval.
They pick their kids up from school.
They don't dread Mondays in the same way.
Most of my students, once they're up and
(03:19):
running, make two to four times what they
made at their last full-time job.
They do it while working far fewer hours.
That's not a fluke.
It's just what's possible when the work is
set up to serve you, not a bloated
mismanaged system.
That brings me to why this all sounds
too good to be true.
My theory is the agency model is broken.
(03:39):
It's too big.
It's too layered.
The people doing the work, the therapists, are
the ones holding it up.
Let's think about where the money goes.
In most agencies, funding comes from a mix
of therapist labor and grants.
Those grants are usually tied to clinical needs,
meaning they support the work that you're doing,
not the admin-heavy structure that surrounds you.
(04:01):
Still, the same pot of money has to
cover everything.
Your salary, admin pay, billers, supervisors, directors, executive
leadership, rent, insurance, HR, 401ks, and you're the
one generating all that income, you and your
other therapist buddies.
So when someone tells you that private practice
doesn't make sense or isn't sustainable, what they
(04:22):
really mean is, I can't imagine that working
because I've only ever seen therapists exploited.
Private practice only seems too good to be
true because we've normalized something that is so
bad.
It's kind of like telling a corporate attorney,
you could make more and work less if
you left the firm and opened your own
practice.
They're not shocked at all by that.
They expect that to be true.
(04:43):
But therapists were often the last ones to
believe it could be possible for us.
I've seen so many therapists say things like,
I can't even afford a weekly yoga class,
or it's been years since I took a
real vacation.
And that's not a personal failing.
That's a system issue.
And so here's the kicker.
The people who insist that private practice doesn't
work are often the ones who never actually
(05:03):
tried.
Or they tried, but they didn't bother to
learn how to do it in a sustainable
way.
They might spend $1,000 on a CE
training they don't even use, but they won't
invest a fraction of that in the business
skills they actually need.
So yes, private practice is possible.
It's not magic.
It's not reserved for a lucky few.
It's just a different way of working.
(05:24):
Will you have to learn some new things?
Absolutely.
Most of us don't have a business background
when we start, but the good news is
you don't need an MBA.
You just need to learn some essentials, marketing
systems, financial basics.
Like literally you can learn these things in
just a few hours.
You implement what you learned and little by
little you build.
The hardest part, it's not the paperwork, it's
(05:45):
not the tech, it's not the website.
The hardest part is the fear.
It's the fear of failing, the fear of
putting yourself out there, the fear that you're
not cut out for it.
And that's what stops most people, not the
logistics.
But if you can stay with it, if
you can keep showing up and keep taking
the next step, even when it's uncomfortable, then
yes, absolutely.
You can have the kind of practice that
(06:06):
feels quote unquote too good to be true
because it's that different from what you're used
to.
We've helped thousands of therapists do exactly this.
We walk you through the steps.
We answer your questions.
We hold your hand when fear kicks in.
The Abundance Party is our program that teaches
you how to build a practice that works
financially, emotionally, and energetically.
For $69 a month for six months, or
(06:28):
a six-month minimum I should say, you
get access to the same tools and support
that have helped so many therapists build six
-figure practices.
Most programs like this are in the thousands,
but mine isn't because I've been doing this
a long time and I've built it to
be affordable and sustainable.
It's not only possible, it's inevitable if you
(06:48):
follow best practices.
You can have what you want.
In fact, today's free worksheet is called Just
That, and it helps you think through what
you want for your practice, what you want
it to look like.
You can send me a DM on social
with the word sheets, and I'll send you
this week's worksheet and all the previous ones
in the series.
It's free, so no strings, just something to
(07:09):
help you take the next step.
If you're listening to the podcast, you can
get it in the show notes.
If you're ready to start building a practice
that actually works for you, I'm here.
Let's do it together.
If you're ready for a much easier practice,
Therapy Notes is the way to go.
Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo
code ABUNDANT for two months free.
(07:32):
I hope that helped.
If you have questions for Ask Alison, or
you want to get your hands on the
worksheet for this episode, go to abundancepracticebuilding.com
slash links.
If you're listening, you probably need some support
building your practice.
If you're a super newbie, grab our free
checklist using the link in the show notes.
I'd love for you to follow, rate, and
(07:54):
review, but I really want you to share
this episode with a therapist friend.
Let's help all our colleagues build what they
want.
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