How to Stay Motivated While Building Your Therapy Caseload 

Building a therapy caseload can take a lot of time, and it is easy to get discouraged in the process. 

Maybe you have launched your private practice and have no therapy clients yet. Or maybe you enthusiastically jumped into building your business but then have let weeks go by since you did anything related to building your practice.

I want to share some tools to help you stay motivated while you are waiting for your clients to find your practice.  

Only A Small Caseload? I’ve Been There Too

This topic is very relatable for me, because when I first started in private practice I had no idea how to market my practice. And it showed in my caseload. 

After a few months I was only meeting with two clients, and they weren’t even my ideal clients. At that point I really was not motivated to try anything different to fill my caseload even though I so desperately wanted clients to find me. 

6 Ways To Stay Motivated While Building Your Therapy Caseload

1) Know Your Purpose

• If your only sense of purpose is: I want to build a private practice and fill it with clients. You will lose motivation.
• Dig deep and try to be specific about what you’re about, why this work is important to you, and what kind of impact you are hoping to make in your clients’ lives through your business. 
• If you want help getting in touch with what your purpose is in private practice, I have videos that may help. Check out my video on how to develop a brand for your private practice to explore this idea more. 

2) Focus On ONE Marketing Strategy At At Time

• Often it is tempting to try many marketing strategies at once and hope that one way or another clients will find their way to you. 
• By spending so much energy on trying to do all the strategies, you will lose steam quickly and burn out. 
• Instead, choose one marketing strategy to focus your energy and attention on. 

3) Choose A Sustainable Schedule 

• Often when we begin our private practice our enthusiasm leads us to work many hours on website building, marketing, etc. These work hours are often not sustainable. 
• Take a look at your schedule and decide what is a realistic number of hours you can commit to building your therapy caseload and practice weekly. 
• If you only have one hour a week, then expect to only spend one hour. And don’t get disappointed when you don’t have more time to give. 

4) Find Support

• If you are doing this work of practice building totally solo, you will lose motivation. 
• We all need folks to come alongside us and encourage us along the way. This may be a good friend, fellow therapist who is also building their practice, or a Facebook group you can connect with. 
• Your motivation may come from videos or podcasts.
  • I’ve found the following podcasts helpful: The Entrepreneurial Therapist, The Private Practice Startup, Practice of the Practice, Private Practice Elevation, and Abundance Practice Building 

5) Adjust Your Marketing Strategy 

• If a marketing strategy isn’t working in building your therapy caseload, make small adjustments or pivot.
• If you have been chipping away at the same marketing strategy for some time and it is not bringing in the clients that you desire, it is time to do something different. You don’t have to throw the whole strategy out, but it is a good idea to make some changes. 
• I have a video breaking down how to identify where your marketing strategy isn’t working and how to make small tweaks to your existing marketing strategy. 
• If after making changes you are still not attracting clients like you had hoped, then consider trying a different marketing strategy to build your therapy caseload. 

6) Take Breaks 

• If you are losing motivation, know that it is normal. 
• Assume you will need breaks because you are human, and take them. 
• Sometimes scheduling a break can be helpful instead of letting yourself get to the burnout stage. 

I’m Cheering You On In Building Your Caseload! 

Know that you are not alone. Losing motivation while starting any new venture is so common. So don’t be too hard on yourself. I hope these tips can help you pick back up where you left off. 

And if you want some more support in building your practice, I have a free guide that might prove helpful to you. Check it out here to grab your free guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling

Until next time, from one therapist to another: I wish you well!

-Marie 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

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Image by Pexels from Pixabay