My Mental Health Private Practice Resource List
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If you're reading this, you or someone you know is likely in need of some resources for their mental health private practice. Maybe you're starting out and don't know where to begin. Or maybe you've been at it for a while but could use some fresh ideas. Regardless of your experience level, I wanted to share the resources that I've found most helpful in my own mental health private practice.
My Private Practice Journey
After transitioning from an agency-based practice to private practice, I quickly realized that there were a lot of resources available to help me grow my business. I've gathered all of the resources that I've found the most helpful, from going from an all in-person practice to an all-virtual one.
Psychology Today
The world's largest portal to psychotherapy, Psychology Today, is where you will find all of the therapists listed and get most of your referrals from.
Google Business Page (Free) -
A Google business page is a must for any private practice. It allows you to control your own information, create a custom URL (yoursite.com/practice), and add photos and videos. Helps you be found on search engines.
Google Workspace - HIPPA compliant email.
Google Workspace is a great way to keep your private practice communications HIPPA compliant. It's easy to use. You get a custom email address for your private practice (e.g., info@myprivatepracticetoday.com), and all messages are automatically archived and backed up.
SimplePractice - Electronic Health Record
One of the most valuable resources that I've found is SimplePractice. It's an online software program that helps you manage your private practice, from scheduling appointments to tracking payments. There are a lot of great features, like electronic billing and automatic appointment reminders. You can read my full rundown of it’s features here.
If you're looking for more features (like secure messaging or custom intake forms), then their paid plans might be a better fit for you. But even the Basic plan has been incredibly helpful in streamlining my business processes. Plus, they offer a free 30-day trial so you can test it out before deciding if it's right for you.
Insurance Newsletter
Barbara Griswold has the most helpful monthly newsletter about insurance. She keeps me up to date with the changing laws. I’ve also taken a couple of her trainings on writing notes and how to manage Telehealth. Her website is: Navigating the Insurance Maze; The Therapist's Complete Guide to Working with Insurance - And Whether You Should.
Squarespace - Website Builder
Another valuable resource for private practitioners is Squarespace. It's a website builder that allows you to create beautiful, professional websites without any coding experience. There are a ton of templates to choose from, and they offer a wide range of features (like e-commerce, password-protected pages, and custom domain names). I've been using Squarespace for my own website for over two years now and have been incredibly happy with the results.
Big Cat Creative - Website, Social Media and Sales Page Templates
If you're looking for a professional, polished website that's easy to set up and customize, then I'd highly recommend checking out Big Cat Creative's Squarespace templates. They have a wide range of templates to choose from, and each one is designed by a professional web designer. She’s so amazing she also has templates for social media to take the work out of posting to Instagram and Pinterest!
Get More Self-Pay Clients - Mentaya
With Mentaya, you can:
1. Win over on-the-fence clients: Use our benefits calculator to instantly check your clients' out-of-network benefits and get them past the intake session. You can also embed it on your website for potential clients to check on their own!
2. Automate superbills, forever: Mentaya automatically submits and follows up on your clients' out-of-network insurance claims. You only need to confirm that the session occurred.
Faxing App
In private practice, I don’t have access to a big agency fax machine anymore. But of course there’s an app for that now! I use Fax.Plus right from my iphone to send faxes. I don’t have to pay for a subscription but per page, so I pay as I need to use it. You can’t receive faxes without a subscription but what I found out is that anyone that wants to send you a fax can usually email it. Isn’t faxing so outdated anyway?!
Flodesk - Email Marketing, E-Commerce, Sales Pages, Upsells, Instant deliveries, and more!
Flodesk is a great resource for private practitioners who are looking to grow their email marketing lists. It's an easy-to-use platform that allows you to create beautiful email newsletters. They’ve recently added E-comerence, Sales Pages and much more to help monetize what you offer! Get 50% your first year!
Zapier
Zapier is a great resource for automating your business processes. It's an online tool that allows you to connect different applications together so that when something happens in one application (like someone signs up for your newsletter), it automatically triggers an action in another application (like adding them to a list in your email marketing software). This has been incredibly helpful in automating my business tasks and saving me a lot of time.
Upwork
Upwork is a great place to find virtual assistants, graphic designers, billers, and other professionals to help grow your private practice. There are a lot of talented people available on Upwork, and you can easily find someone who meets your specific needs.
Canva
Canva is an online design platform that's been incredibly helpful in my private practice. It allows you to easily create beautiful designs, from flyers and posters to social media graphics and website banners. Plus, there are a ton of templates and tutorials available to help you get started. I've found it to be a great resource for creating marketing materials. Oh and it’s FREE!
Etsy - Sell Digital Products
This has been my newest endeavor and it’s already paid off! This is another way for therapists in private practice to earn a passive income. Sell some of the things you’ve made for your clients online. It could be worksheets, workbooks, planners, digital art and more. Etsy is basically a search engine so they do the marketing for you! Get started with 40 free listings.
Course By Number
Course by Number is an online course builder that allows you to create and sell professional courses from your website. It's a great resource for private practitioners who want to create passive income streams. Suzi, literally walks you through every step from start to finish of your course. No googling to figure things out, she has it all covered in her course. She also offers a great Craft Your Offer Freebie to help you get started.
Jasper - AI Content Creator
Jasper is an AI-powered content creation platform that helps you write better content and blog posts. It's been incredibly helpful in my private practice, and I've found it to be a great resource for creating high-quality content quickly and easily.
Jasper is such a time saver that will write high performing marketing copy for you in a few clicks.
Blog content (like this one)
Emails
Facebook ads
Google Ads
Social media posts
much more
One of the best things about Jasper is that it's incredibly easy to use. You can create a content piece in minutes, and there are a ton of templates and tutorials available to help you get started. Plus, they offer free support if you need any help setting it up.
If you're looking for a way to improve your content writing skills, I highly recommend checking out Jasper. It's helped me write better content quickly and easily, and I'm sure it could do the same for you. Jasper gives you a 5-day free trial to test it out!
Retirement Savings
If an employer is no longer helping with retirement (401K), switching over to a self-employed one is an option. A Vanguard SEP IRA (Simplified Employee Pension) is a retirement savings plan designed for self-employed individuals and small business owners. It allows employers to contribute directly to their employees' SEP IRAs, including their own if they're self-employed. Contributions are tax-deductible and grow tax-deferred until withdrawal, making it a powerful tool for retirement savings.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the many resources that I've found helpful in my private practice. There are a lot of great tools and resources available, and it's important to find ones that fit your specific needs. Try out a few different things and see what works best for you. And don't be afraid to ask for help from other professionals in your field. Chances are, they'll be more than happy to share their knowledge and experience with you.
