Private Practice Mentoring
Design and Develop Your Private Practice
For newly qualified and experienced counselling therapists setting up in private practice, or looking to refresh an existing practice.
Tailored to meet your personal and professional ambitions
Supporting a healthy work-life balance.
Mentoring may be for you if:
You are approaching qualification, newly qualified or already practising, and considering private practice.
You want to build a sustainable private practice that provides your primary income, with an ethical and legal framework in place.
You are ready to set up in practice but want help deciding where to start, or you are already established and want to attract more clients, market yourself effectively and reach the level of income you want.
You want to review, grow and diversify your practice as a therapist and entrepreneur.
You are ready to invest in your private practice business and receive the rewards of that investment.
Private Practice Mentoring Can Help You:
Explore the options and decisions that will move your private practice forward.
Create a working formula and action plan for a viable, sustainable business.
Get clear on the professional, ethical, legal and financial framework for your practice.
Identify your ideal client groups and explore how to reach them through EAPs, agencies, networking and referrals between practitioners.
Recognise the doubts and fears that may hold you back, and find ways to move forward with confidence.
Private Practice Mentoring Outcomes
Building strong foundations
Clarify the values, ambitions and structure of the private practice you want to build.
Thinking and acting as a business owner
Develop the knowledge, confidence and growth mindset to make decisions, recognise new possibilities and expand your practice in ways that work for you.
Putting systems in place
Establish practice management tools, sales processes and ways of working with clients that support the practice you want to run.
Creating financial clarity
Develop a financial framework for pricing, income goals and a profitable, sustainable practice.
Reviewing challenges and opportunities
Receive feedback and support as you reflect on challenges, recognise opportunities for growth and decide what comes next.
Balancing growth and wellbeing
Shape a practice that supports your ambitions and a healthy work-life balance.
The Process
With person-centred therapeutic support and guidance, we begin with where you are now and what you want your private practice to become.
Together, we explore your options, identify priorities and turn decisions into practical next steps.
The work can include where and how you practise, diary management, fees and income goals, portfolio working, and finding your niche or niches.
It can also include moving from employment into full-time private practice, developing your professional network, building referral relationships and finding new ways to expand your work.
The Mentoring Space
Whatever stage your private practice is at, 1:1 mentoring is available in person or online, with email feedback, checklists and resources to support your work between sessions.
The focus is tailored to your private practice and the questions you bring. You can work at your own pace and set deadlines that fit your personal and professional commitments.
Sometimes you just need someone to talk a problem through with. The mentoring space gives you room to look at the inner workings of your business and how it can fit into the lifestyle you want.
Six Sessions Focus:
1. FOUNDATIONS
Identify the focus of your business. Your core values. Your niche or niches. Goals and strengths. Possible blocks and patterns of self-sabotage. The basic details of your business. Move forward with clarity.
2. ESSENTIALS
The have-to-dos of a therapeutic business. Your online presence and price point. Money mindset and challenging money blocks. Recognising the value of your work. Self care. Work-life balance.
3. PROCESS
The client experience, from beginning to end. Paperwork or paperless systems. Intake and business processes. Day-to-day operations. Questions that begin with “How?”
4. CONNECT
Connecting with clients and other professionals. Marketing and networking. Engaging your audience ethically. Social media platforms. EAPs, agencies and referral relationships.
5. PREPARE FOR LIFT-OFF
Consolidating all your hard work. Core messages and values. Advertising and professional profiles. Introducing you and your practice. Social media content. Final checks. Ready to accept clients or bring new work into your practice.
6. SUSTAIN
Maintaining enthusiasm and activity in your business. Recognising patterns of self-sabotage and meeting them with positive action. Keeping future growth in line with your goals and values. A marathon, not a sprint. Self care, self care, self care!
Private Practice Mentoring Sessions: In Person or Online
1:1 mentoring is available in person or online via Zoom.
Sessions are tailored to the questions and ambitions you bring for your private practice.
Support can include email feedback, checklists, practical prompts and resources such as TED Talks, mindset models and therapeutic insights.
Six 90-minute mentoring sessions: £660
All six sessions take place within six months of the first. You can choose how to space them.
One-off 90-minute mentoring consultation: £120, including action notes and a follow-up check-in.
I take on a small number of mentoring clients each year.
In-person sessions are available in Arnos Vale, Bristol BS4, on Mondays, and in Sea Mills, Bristol BS9, from Tuesday to Friday.
Online sessions via Zoom are available from Tuesday to Friday.
What you can Expect
You can expect a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space where your ideas and concerns about private practice are met with empathy, acceptance and respect.
Private practice mentoring is person-centred, whether you book a one-off consultation or six sessions. Your ambitions and the questions facing your business shape the work we do together.
You have time to explore what is happening in your practice, build on your strengths, reflect on challenges and opportunities, and work through practical changes that support the business you want to build.
A clear agreement at the outset covers the timing of sessions, fees, confidentiality and its limits, and the support available between sessions.
All mentoring is provided in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework.
Why Work With Me?
I have been in private counselling practice since 2006, offering both short and longer-term counselling. I have built and managed my own practice, making decisions about where and how I work, fees, administration, professional profiles and referrals.
I currently work with, and have previously worked with, several Employee Assistance Programme providers. This has given me practical experience of employer-funded, time-limited counselling, referral and authorisation processes, outcome measures and invoicing arrangements.
My experience also includes accepting GP referrals.
I have over 35 years’ experience in the support sector, including the Probation Service and public and voluntary organisations, supporting individuals with complex needs in a wide range of settings.
My experience includes anxiety, depression, mental health difficulties, addiction, homelessness, diagnosed and undiagnosed ADHD and autism, trauma and abuse, and the impact of difficult or controlling environments.
I have been an advocate for adult survivors of institutional child sexual abuse and an Approved Foster Carer for Avon Social Services.
My experience has shown me that individuals rarely fall into a single category and often need a holistic approach that considers the wider context of their lives.
I hold a Professional Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, alongside qualifications in Housing and Development, teaching, Anatomy & Physiology and Reiki.
Investing in Your Private Practice
Design your dream practice: balance and success on your terms.
Personalised planning for private practice success.