Psychologists in India, complete their Post Graduation with adequate knowledge to help people with their mental health issues. But, most are left clueless or don’t feel confident as to how they can start their private practice & grow a client base.
I had a similar issue, and it took me 4 hard years of struggle & a lot of work to set up a successful private practice. It is now that I can sit in comfort and write this blog post, to help my peers who still do not have that luxury.
Here are a few ways you can be successful as a budding private practitioner –
1. Have a plan
Most professionals just start a website, rent an office & build a brand hoping clients would start to magically come at their doorstep. Well, don’t follow in their footsteps, it is absolutely necessary to have a plan for getting a stable & consistent client base before starting your business.
I understand that as a psychologist you may not have learnt marketing or management in your course. But, I can assure you from what I have learnt, we as psychologists develop an amazing sense. We are able to understand the psychology of our clients and reach out to them much better than marketing professionals.
As for what your plan should be to grow your clients, I have found the following ways to be effective –
- Grow & Network by joining different social organizations – This is a technique that has been proven time and again by professions from law to medicine, it also works great for psychologists. It just takes some time, patience & personal social involvement.
- Start with Digital Marketing – This is a really upcoming outreach technique in our field, and no it’s not saturated. This can help you grow in a reasonable span of time. But, you must study & take guidance from psychologists who have already done it, because in our field even digital marketing works a little differently.
- Get Creative, Manual outreach & niche marketing – This is the best way and is going to get you guaranteed results in a very short span of time! Choose an audience you would like to cater to, kids, adults, corporates or couples. And, make a marketing plan custom tailored for them. Keep everything from your brand name to your identity to help you target them. If you need help in this, you can reach out to me at [email protected] , I am passionate about creative marketing & would love to help you out.
2. Build trust
This is key for building a practice that grows & sustains. We are not selling a pair of shoes where we can attract the client by colors & a beautiful brand. You need to make sure that they can trust you with their mental health, every part of your brand should portray trust.
Of course you need to provide your clients care & responsible therapy that is most important. But, in a world like today, you need to slowly build an image to show people that they can trust you & have confidence in what your social proof conveys.
This is why 70% of therapists fail to succeed in setting up their private practise. They are unable to build trust. People would rather not take therapy than go to somebody they cannot be sure about.
3. Reach out to a Mentor/Guide
There are a lot of other challenges you will be facing after starting your practice. From Legal concerns to Negative reviews & Ethical dilemmas, you will need to have someone who can help you.
Hopefully, this will help you go out there with confidence, and start your own private practice. In case you need further guidance, you can check out the “Career growth & management program” course we offer at Mind Voyage.
