The tough side of being a therapist

In this blog, we talk at length about all the benefits of a career as a therapist, and while this is certainly the case, there are of course some downsides. Here at The Therapists' Business School, we aim to be as honest and helpful as possible about what a career as a therapist really involves.

Almost all small businesses experience a feast and famine cycle. This is particularly prevalent in therapy, as we tend to see clients for a block of sessions over a short amount of time, meaning we continuously need to find new clients. Often, when we're busy seeing clients, we don't have enough time for marketing, so when we have finished seeing those clients we need to market like crazy again to get new ones in, leading to the feast and famine pattern of income. One way to overcome this problem is to use the quiet times to automate as much of your marketing as possible. Schedule newsletters and social media posts weeks in advance, so they will be working for you during your busy times as well as your quiet ones.

Another disadvantage of running a therapy business is that it can be quite lonely. You tend to work alone, only seeing your clients. For many people it can be hard not to have colleagues to talk to or a boss to ask advice from. A way to overcome this issue is to  join a local peer support group for your specific field of therapy. These groups are so important for your own wellbeing. Make sure you are also getting regular supervision. A good supervisor can fulfil the role of a mentor and guide you when you get struggle.

As therapists, we care about people. It's because we care so much for our clients, that we invest so much in them. Unfortunately not all of our clients will get better. In some cases, even though we do everything we can to help the person, they still do not see an improvement. This can be heartbreakingly disappointing for us and can really rock your confidence in your abilities. When this happens, and it will happen, use the experience as a learning curve. Identify what changes you could make in the future to improve your service. Once you have taken the lesson from it, move on and focus on the times treatment has been successful. A peer support group is also very useful for this as it is reassuring to know that other therapists have the same experience.

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