Don’t Panic - Plan
I wonder how your second week of online practice has been? NCS Registrant Suzie Mosson, a director of Online Training for Counsellors, has some expert advice for practitioners making this move. Whethe...
Training to become a therapist is a huge undertaking, and during your studies you will learn an incredible amount about yourself and how to help your clients.
One area in which many therapists find they are woefully underprepared is in setting up and marketing their private practice. This applies to both newly qualified therapists, and those who have been in practice for much longer.
Business and marketing skills simply aren’t taught, at least to any great degree, on most training courses. If you choose to work within an organisation then you will very likely not have to do any of your own marketing, but if you prefer practicing privately you will certainly need to know how to make potential clients aware of you and encourage them to contact you.
While seemingly straightforward, therapists often find that this is much harder than it sounds. There are many different ways in which to market your practice, and why you would choose a particular method depends on a variety of factors.
Some therapists are not familiar with the wealth of marketing tools available to them, and so training to market your practice will give you all of the information you need.
So why is it important?
By learning how to market your practice effectively, you can worry less about finding new clients, and concentrate more on providing an excellent service to those clients who find you.
You can make sure that the right clients find you by clearly and concisely advertising what you offer. If you attract clients that are the right clients for you, then you are more likely to be the best therapist for them.
Some therapists feel awkward or uncomfortable marketing themselves, so good training in marketing your practice will address some of those issues, too.
The Society runs regular CPD events for our members that help them to market their practice. Members can visit the Members' Area of the website to view the CPD calendar for the year.
https://www.nationalcounsellingsociety.org/members.
