6 Books to Read Before Starting a Private Practice
Books on starting a business in therapy.
Truth be told, before starting a private practice, I didn’t actually read about starting a private practice.
I got supervision where I could, googled a ton, and dove right in.
While I’m in a good place with my business at the moment, there are many things I would have done differently from the get-go. Some of these are reading the right books and not wasting my time on those that aren’t necessary.
Three years later, here is the list of books I WISH I had read before starting a a business.
6 books to read before starting a business
THE E-MYTH Revisited, Michael E. Gerber
Twelve Months To Your Ideal Private Practice: A Workbook, Lynn Grodzki
The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks
Profit First, Mike Michalowicz
You Are A Badass At Making Money, Jen Sincero
I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi
01. The E-MYTH
This is, by far, the best small business book I have read.
Nothing has impacted me as much as The E-Myth.
Everybody who goes into business is a combination of three people: the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. Issues can arise within these three roles as they are continually in conflict with each other.
The Entrepreneur – The visionary and creative personality. Entrepreneurs crave control.
The Manager – Pragmatic and hyper-focused on planning, order, and predictability. Managers crave order.
The Technician* – Doing and tinkering.
*The technician provides one-on-one individual therapy sessions in private practice
As therapists, we spend a great deal of time in the technician role and forget to tend to the other two parts. We spend our time needing to do it all, and end up burned out and overworked, forgetting why we got into private practice in the first place.
We started a private practice because we believed in the beauty of entrepreneurship, yet forget to spend time with that part of ourselves.
No one teaches us how to run a private practice in grad school. This book helps you run a private practice like the entrepreneur that you are, not just a person with a mental health skill set!
02. Twelve Months To Your Ideal Private Practice: A Workbook
This book is a year-long, progressive practice-building program offering therapists an abundance of information, ideas, and strategies for working successfully in private practice. The workbook is a month-by-month coaching program, giving readers the experience of being coached for a year.
Some key questions explored in this book:
How can I work as hard as I need make enough money and maintain a quality personal life
What does it take to build a profitable business without expending so much personal effort?
How can I be as successful as I want to be, and feel rested and healthy?
Is it possible to be a therapist in private practice and have an easier life?
How can I use a simple business model to build and expand my private practice?
Okay, need to be honest about this one. Two years before starting a private practice, I tried to start a book club with fellow therapists using this book. We met a few times and talked about the chapter we were working through. But four years later, I have ZERO memory of what I learned from it. In general, I think it’s a helpful workbook to guide you through the step-by-step process. It’s good to get your juices flowing. Will it give you the confidence you need to start the practice of your dreams? Nah. Start with E Myth for that.
03. The Big Leap
I actually read this book years before starting a private practice at the recommendation of a therapist I was seeing. I knew I wanted something more than the community mental health model that was presented to me, but I felt stuck at seeing that for myself. This book helped me get out of my own way and eventually led me toward private practice.
The Big Leap helps you identify limiting beliefs and get out of your own way with simple tools to live a better life and thus create a better business.
04. Profit First
Even though I don’t follow a profit-first model in my business, I still found this book helpful for learning about general accounting in business. As the daughter of an accountant, I know a lot about general money habits, and yet I lack many of the concrete skills needed to do the accounting in my business. Growing up, my mom did a lot of the heavy lifting around my finances, and though I never went into debt, I never felt fully in touch with my money.
This book was a helpful start. Mike Michalowicz follows 4 simple principles of account to make it easier to manage a profitable business by knowing your account balances.
05. You Are A Badass At Making Money
As I mentioned, I grew up in a family that didn’t overspend, saved well, and lived within their means. I knew debt was bad, and have done a good job avoiding any unnecessary debt well into my 30s. But I didn’t grow up talking about the energy of money. It wasn’t until I read You Are A Badass that I felt I could speak to the spirit of money (and dive a bit deeper into mine). If you are looking to level up your relationship with money and fully step into your abundance, start here.
06. I Will Teach You To Be Rich
This is another helpful book for working through money habits and better understanding budgeting. There are lots of helpful tips for credit card hacking, clarifying where it’s okay to spend, and stepping into investments.
Ramit teaches you how to choose long-term investments and the right bank accounts. He shows you how to get every benefit out of your credit cards and manage student loan debt with ease.
Conclusion
What are some of the most impactful business books you’ve read? I’m always looking to build my library and constantly recommend books to clients and colleagues. Share what books have impacted your business and why!
I can’t wait to hear what you think about these business books for starting a private practice in therapy.
If you want additional support starting your therapy private practice, download our free checklist, which seamlessly walks you through everything you need to launch.
More notes on starting a private practice:
Julie Goldberg is a licensed therapist and the founder of Third Nature Therapy. Her practice focuses on helping individuals better understand their inner world, befriend their nervous system (instead of working against it), and navigate changing relationships. She offers somatic therapy, EMDR intensives, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Brooklyn, NY