If you have your own counseling or coaching private practice and you noticed that even hearing/reading/saying the word "money" brings powerful emotional responses, then this discussion is for you! 
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About the 6-Figure Practice Program:
The Six Figure Practice with Sasha Raskin, is an online program and community for helpers such as counselors and coaches, who are building their private practice. If you’re looking for a clear, step-by-step road map for creating and marketing your private practice, you're at the right place!
My name is Sasha Raskin. I’m a Number 1 Best Selling Co-Author in 12 Countries, a Doctoral student in Counseling Education and Supervision, a coach, a psychotherapist and an adjunct faculty at a graduate counseling program at Naropa University.
One of the things I’m enjoying the most is helping other therapists and coaches build their successful private practice so that they could actually help the clients they were taught to help, and thrive themselves. I’m almost always fully booked, so my ability to work with individuals is limited. That is why I’ve created this program to deliver powerful results and create a community where you will feel supported by each other!
This program's primary goal is to help you build a thriving private practice, in a fun and authentic way. Counselors and coaches invest an incredible amount of time, money, and effort into building their helping skills. However, when their training ends, they usually find themselves lacking the business skills that are needed to start and run a successful private practice, feel isolated, discouraged and not knowing where to start.
I believe that to be truly helpful to others, therapists and coaches have to learn to thrive themselves and definitely know how to get clients whom they can help.
This is where this program comes in. If you're willing to learn and work hard, a 6-figure private practice is within your reach in a year - 2 years. This program will give you a clear outline, and detailed instructions on how to get there.
How To Be Successful As A Private Practice Counselor
Okay, hello, hello. Today I want to talk about a successful money mindset of a private practice owner. Now I did an interview, super interesting interview with Wendy Wright who is a money therapist, about what does it take to actually succeed as a business owner and what might stop you from creating success in your private practice. And many times people think about the marketing part as the main thing, which is very important, right? You kind of have to be found by your potential clients in order to help people as a counselor or coach.
At the same time there might be a few things in terms of beliefs about money that might be stopping you from actually, for example, taking action in building those marketing systems. And I'm curious, if you want to comment I'd love to hear your opinions, what are some money beliefs that you have that might be restricting you as a private practice owner?
A few common ones that I hear a lot from counselors and coaches that I work with and coach, for example, is I feel guilty charging my clients. That's a big one. And for me it's as if, when I hear this, there's two separate boxes, and I can relate, I felt that myself, sometimes those thoughts still come up. One box is I'm helping people; the other box is I'm charging for my services. And it's as if those can't overlap.
Another one is, a pretty common one, is the whole idea of money doesn't go on trees or I need to work hard to create a successful business. And I truly believe that working hard is not the recipe, it's really about working smart. Coming back to this idea of the 80/20 rule, right? What are the 20% of your actions that bring you 80% of your results.
Another popular belief is money is the source of all evil. And those beliefs should really be looked at and identified for what they are and asking yourself the question, "Well, who really taught me that? Where did I pick that up? How true is that?" And can I potentially subscribe to a different belief? For example, instead of money is the source of all evil, yeah, money can be evil in the wrong hands, but in my hands it would be a source for good.
Now many times those money beliefs can actually self-sabotage counselors and coaches when they build their businesses, one, what we mentioned already, talked about, is putting in the effort into actually putting yourself out there and being found, right? Because, well, what if, it's the fear of success, right? What if I have a lot of clients and then I need to go for this tough emotional experience every time of charging them. I didn't come to this profession to be working with money. I just want to help people. The challenge with that though is if you own a business you kind of have to do the business part as well, not just treat it as a hobby, right? And that's super important.
I remember I participated as a participant in a workshop for counselors, and it was all around money, and we went around the circle. And the facilitator she asked, "Well, what was the first emotion that comes up when you hear the word money?" So I'm wondering what that is for you, if you want to comment I'd love to hear that. And I think there were 20 people there and I have not heard even one positive emotion, like it was all beliefs, right? It doesn't have to be emotions. What I heard was fear, greed, anxiety, stress of the good stuff, right?
So think about, ask yourself, when I say money right now what comes up right away? And do you get relaxed in your body, for example, or do you get constricted? And where do you feel it in your body too, right? The question. And ask yourself, "Well, how might that immediately response to hearing the word money or thinking about money might be stopping you from creating the success that you want?" Well, both for yourself as a private practice owner but also for the sake of your clients, right? If you don't put, for example, the effort into growing the business side of it how might you be failing your potential clients that might benefit from your services?
Another big one, when those counselors shared was the weird practices that started happening in their private practice as a result of those money beliefs. For example, one counselor shared that she has this two clients who did not pay her like for half a year or a year, it was something ridiculous. And she did not say anything about that. So, of course, this is not good for her and honestly it's not good for her clients too, right? It doesn't show any good ... it doesn't model any good boundaries to her clients - "I want to feel that I respect my therapist."
And another counselor shared that she is consistently under charging, and not from a good place - "I want to help the world." But from a place of not being confident enough to say a fee that feels authentically good to her, right? And how do you think that might be (a) affecting her clients, and (b) affecting her? Does she really do any favors to her clients when she sits there in the session kind of being frustrated with herself and with her clients who do not pay her enough, what she's worth?
And it's interesting with the helping professions as well, there is this disconnect between the business part of the private practice and the helping part, as if those are two completely separate different animals. And the thing is you have (a) to think about the money part, (b) if you own your private practice you kind of need to think about the expenses and the investments too, right? No one is paying you pension, you pay for marketing, for the different software that you use, for advertising, for your accountant for example, for your office rent during the pandemic probably for the majority of us. So if you don't calculate that and don't take it into account and continue to under charge - you're going to pay the price.
Now the price long term can be, well, living from paycheck to paycheck by not charging enough. And yeah, same thing, sitting with your clients and while you talk to them about improving their lives you're not really practicing what you preach, right? Well, if your finances are in ... like there was a mismatch between what you want, the life that you want to live and the life that you are living then it's tough. You're kind of helping your clients potentially with something that you're not doing yourself.
So I hope it's been helpful. By the way, the full podcast episode would be up in a few days now and there will be a link.
Now by the way, if you want to talk more about how you can plan the money side of your private practice and really understand your numbers you can simply schedule a call, either send us a message or you can comment on the video or just follow the link in either the profile or the video description. And we'll get on a short call, it would be for free, and we'll map out the business side of your private practice.
So I hope it's been helpful. Once again, I'll see you tomorrow on our daily live. And thank you for being here. I appreciate it.