The Private Practice Pro - Kelley Stevens

Do you feel lost on where to start with your online marketing? I suggest picking one or two online marketing tools and sticking to them. Consistency is key when it comes to marketing your private practice online. I've tagged some of my favorite online resources below ⤵️
1. Here are some of the mental health podcasts I love. Check them out
2. Help a Reporter Out (HARO) connects journalists seeking expertise to include in their content with sources who have that expertise.

🙌Save this post 🙌to reference when you write your about page. Sometimes our "about" page is the first glimpse clients get about us 💕 Your goal is to convey to your ideal clients that you are uniquely equipped to help them face their struggles. When writing your about page, don't forget to keep this in the front of your mind. Comment below and tell me who your ideal client is and how you help them thrive!

Share this post with another new therapist. When I was first starting, I was afraid of making a mistake. I had significant imposter syndrome, and I was convinced that everyone around me knew more about doing therapy than I did. But as I've moved through my career, I've seen that new therapists have SO MUCH to offer. You have the benefit of not being jaded! You see things with fresh perspectives. So when you begin to doubt yourself, don't forget that there are clients out there that need exactly what you offer!

Trust me; you want to save this list🙌 Therapists often ask me who they should reach out to for networking. The answer is that you should reach out to the other professionals that have contact with your ideal client. The goal is to form professional friendships that help build a web of support around your ideal client. Tell me in the comments who your best referral sources are!

SAVE this post to reference later. Therapists, I want to know how you handle this situation in your private practice. Many of you reached out and asked how to best handle this exact situation. And although there is no one "right" way...I have included an outline of how I typically handle this! I want to hear in the comments what you do in situations like this one!

Share with your group, supervision, crew! ✌️ Can you relate? Here are a few ways that I like to make group supervision, more engaging ⤵️
⏰ Keep the case presentations short. Under 10 minutes, and always come prepared with questions that you want to ask your colleagues.
😴 Do you want your fellow therapist to ask you questions during your presentations? Then make sure to pay attention during theirs. 🤭
🎥 Keep your camera on! No one likes talking to a blank screen 📺

Comment below and tell me your niche using this script. Learning to articulate your niche in just a few sentences is an art! But learning to clearly articulate your niche is an essential part of successfully marketing your private practice. Comment below and tell me your niche!

Therapists tell me one piece of hidden work that you do to run your private practice? Here's mine. I keep a spreadsheet of everyone who refers to my private practice, notes about our relationship, and the last time I spoke with them.

Save this SCRIPT to reference later. When recording a video for your webpage or therapy databases make sure to speak to your ideal client, smile, and clearly articulate why you are uniquely equipped to help them overcome their pain points.
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Sometimes, figuring out what to say is tricky! My e-book, Say it Like a Pro, This e-book takes the guesswork out of what to say in private practice.

Private practice requires us to wear many hats. We are entrepreneurs, business owners, clinicians, bloggers, teachers, writers, and more! Comment below and tell me what hats you wear in your business.

Hi Everyone! My friends over at Heard Mental Health just put out some new tax resources that might benefit you all.

Heard is an awesome resource for tax planning, payroll, and private practice finances.

https://www.joinheard.com/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=kelley

Also, remember, if you want Heard to help you with your Quarter 3 taxes, the deadline to sign up is July 31.

Here’s a link for a free consult in case you don’t have someone helping you with your Q3 taxes. I hope this helps!

Bookkeeping and Taxes for Therapists | Heard Heard is an all-in-one financial solution for therapists that combines software and human support to handle bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, and more.

Comment below and tell me what you do or would like to do to diversify your income! Diversifying your income sources can help prevent burnout, contribute to your private practice marketing, and keep you fresh and engaged in the changing field of mental health. I love having the opportunity to participate in projects outside of the therapy room. As our field changes there will be more and more opportunities for your voice to be heard. I'd love to hear in the comments what creative projects you all have taken on to provide your practice with alternative forms of income!

Please share this with your story and spread the word. Therapists, it is time to stop competing with each other. The QUICKEST way to build your practice is to support the therapists around you. Send other therapists clients, provide professional consultation, refer your friends to great therapists, set up collaborations, and host networking events! Team up with the therapists around you to provide resources for your community, and you will be shocked by how QUICKLY your practice grows. People want to refer to connection builders! Competition is a part of a scarcity mindset. Step into an abundance mindset and support the businesses of your colleagues. Whenever I see a therapist actively competing with the other therapist in their community, spreading rumors, or trying to bring them down, it’s a huge red flag 🚩 to me. It prevents me from referring to them. So think before you compete!

Therapists, tell me what scarcity thoughts you are working to overcome in your private practice. Here is a secret I've learned. There are millions of people struggling with mental health issues around the world. There are clients out there that need exactly what you provide. If we are too afraid to show our face, open our businesses, or trust in ourselves those clients will never find us. Trust in yourself and in the fact that you are uniquely equipped to help your clients thrive.

When I first opened my practice, I believed that I needed to attend every networking meeting, have 10k followers on Instagram, and have 30 or 40 therapists who referred to me. My supervisor (a highly skilled clinician and business person) told me that the secret was to have just 4-5 quality referral sources who trust your clinical skills and value your professional friendship. It took me a few years to really understand what he meant by that. Lasting referral relationships can take time to cultivate. Often the best referents are other professionals who have come to trust and value your clinical knowledge, skills and experience. If you haven't yet found people who constantly refer to your practice....try these things:
1. Take time to really get to know a few other therapists, doctors, lawyers, or school counselors who you know and respect.
2. Make sure you really get to know them. Learn about their career histories, families, and passions.
3. Go out of your way to reach out to them and send them articles or books that might interest them.
4. When they send that first referral make sure to call them and thank them for the referral. If they are also involved in the case make sure to give them updates and provide the best clinical care possible.

Visit TikTok to discover videos! Watch, follow, and discover more trending content.

Have you heard me talk about superbills and wondered what in the world I was talking about 🤔 If so, you aren't alone. Many of you have reached out and asked me to explain what a superbill is!
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A superbill is a detailed invoice outlining the services a client received. Therapists generate superbills when they are not on a client's insurance company's panel. The client submits the superbill directly to the insurer, giving the insurer all the information they need to pay the claim. Superbills are an essential part of any cash pay, private practice.
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I know that your next question is going to be ....how do I create superbills? Here is the answer. I use SimplePractice to autogenerate my superbills after each session and send them directly to the client though a HIPPA compliant portal. I like using Simple Practice because it literally takes me less than 5 minutes to send my clients this paperwork.
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I spoke with SimplePractice and got you all two months free! I've used this service since 2016 and LOVE IT. Click the link in my bio to sign up. Hope this helps! If anyone else uses comment below and tell me what your experience has been...good or bad!

Just wanted to give a huge shoutout to for her kind words ❤️ Everyone go check out her page! She has some incredible therapist reels ✨

No gatekeeping here! I genuinely believe that therapists are capable of running private practices! All too often, we receive messages that tell us we aren't capable of running a business! But we are! If you have been following for a while, tell me one piece of advice that helped you realize how truly capable you are!

Comment below with questions or tips about marketing your private practice online ⤵️
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I could talk for three hours about marking your private practice online. However, through the years, I’ve realized that successful online marketing just comes down to 💕
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Letting your clients see YOU and showing them how your unique gifts will HELP them with their struggles.
🙏 Tell me your thoughts in the comments!

If you found this post helpful, download my FREE private practice start-up costs worksheet! Link in bio. One of the first steps of opening a private practice involves getting clear about your business expenses.
I'm always surprised how many of us skip this vital step and miss opportunities to plan for the future, save money, and write off business costs. Here are five of the expenses that my clients often forget when creating a new budget.
- Vacation time
- Health insurance
- Accounting fees
- Professional clothing
- Marketing expenses
What other private practice expenses have you forgotten? Tell me in the comments!

Tell me what I missed in the comments. There are so many hidden elements of being a clinically excellent, ethical, and successful therapist. Often we don't give ourselves credit for the hard work that we do!

Tell me in the comments if you let people know when you send them a referral. this can be a tricky one! On one hand, you don't want to seem desperate for credit, but on the other hand want the other therapist to know that you are supporting their business! I'm curious to know how you all handle this situation in your private practices! Tell me in the comments!

SHARE this post with another therapist 😍 Therapists, tell me what you do for self care between sessions. I am a big fan of curling up and watching 10 minutes of on Youtube between sessions!

One of the best things you can do for your private practice is to pick a marketing strategy and STICK to it! If you want to build your practice through professional referrals then make sure you are taking time each week to connect with other professionals, if you want to build your practice through social media marketing make sure to post consistent high quality content. If you want to build your practice through writing or blogging, make sure to write at least 3 or 4 hours per week. Whatever you do...do it consistently! What I suggest is picking one marketing method and mastering that method before moving on to the next! This will prevent you from jumping from strategy to strategy and watering down your message, brand, and client flow.

We've all fallen into the trap of watering down our services by over explaining, not discussing our niche, and bring to please everyone. But it is time to stop. If you've found yourself doing this....try following this recipe:
My name is _____. I am a (license). I work with (ideal client) to help them (ideal outcome). I love collaborating with (specialities you collaborate with).
If you comment below with your bio sentences I will give you feedback in the comments with possible changes and suggestions.

Save this SCRIPT to reference later. When recording a video for your webpage or therapy databases make sure to speak to your ideal client, smile, and clearly articulate why you are uniquely equipped to help them overcome their pain points.
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Sometimes, figuring out what to say is tricky! My e-book, Say it Like a Pro, This e-book takes the guesswork out of what to say in private practice.

Comment below and tell me one risk you took when opening your own practice. Before I launched my private practice, I spent a lot of time complaining about working for other people. Then, I had a moment where I realized that unless I was wiling to take risks I would be working for other therapists for the rest of my career. I had to look within myself and figured out a ways to tolerate risk and uncertainty. Opening my private practice, has forced me to look at my own fears. It has helped me to find bravery with myself. It helped me to realize that there is nothing that makes private practice therapists different except for their willingness to tolerate risk and uncertainty. Now whenever I am afraid to take on a new project or endeavor, I remind myself that I have the ability to learn the steps I need to take in order to get where I want to go. Comment below and tell me how you cope with risk or uncertainty.

Comment below and tell me if you have trademarked your private practice business name. Therapists, have you ever wondered what could happen if another therapist has the same practice name as you? If another therapist trademarks your practice name they can also force you to change your practice name. Nowadays, more and more of us are choosing to market ourselves online. This increases the likelihood that someone else will realize that you have the same practice name. When choosing a practice name, many of us worry that we won’t find our social media handles or domains…but before you worry about those two things I want you to consider trademarking. If you plan to build a brand around your practice name and invest your time and money into marketing that name….you might want to consider also investing in trademarking. The process is simple. And although you can do it yourself. I personally chose to hire an attorney to do it all for me. My attorney is at . She is incredible and she isn’t paying me to tell you this haha. I just adore her and her team and if you have questions about trademarking you should give her a call!

Therapists, tell me in the comments whether or not you take insurance in your private practice and what contributed to your decision.

☝️Make sure to save this post to reference later 🙌 Tax time is almost upon us 🤪 So now is the time to start getting your taxes in order. If you haven't done so already make sure to reach out to your CPA (or find a CPA) and ask them what information they will need from you this year and how they want that information sent to them. . You got this!

Save this post to reference later🎉 Does anyone else have trouble writing a newsletter? Sometimes it can feel confusing and overwhelming! Here’s what I suggest you do:
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Write one blog post on your therapy website per month 🖊
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Feature that blog post in your newsletter! That immediately gives you something thing interesting to talk about in your monthly newsletter 💻
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You could also include any pieces of training you’ve attended, books you’ve read or just thoughts about current events happening in our world.
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Remind yourself that your newsletter doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to speak to your ideal client! 

Are you in? Here's how the SEVEN DAY marketing challenge will go! Comment below and tell me if you are in! Then, comment on this post each day and let us know which task you accomplished! Can't wait to do this with you all!

I'd love to hear from you in the comments! What tips or tricks do you have for managing the fear and uncertainty of private practice? Running a business is scary! And it is super normal to worry about leaving the comfort of your job to run your own private practice. As the years go on, the fear will begin to fade but early on it can feel debilitating. When I first started my private practice, I made a promise to myself that no matter what happened I'd FIND A WAY to make it successful. I told myself that even if I had to go out and get a side job, I would build my private practice. Sometimes managing fear and uncertainty means trusting in yourself and remembering the risks you have already taken and overcome! I'd love to know how each of you do this! .