We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Buddy Detzel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Buddy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

Since graduating with my Masters in Counseling over a decade ago, I always knew I wanted to go into private practice, but I needed to build up some of my skills (and confidence) before I finally took the leap in 2019 and left my job as a hospital administer to open Authentic Therapy Solutions full time.

The first step I took was registering my business with the state and then it was on to find office space. I was lucky enough to have an office sharing arrangement about 20 minutes from my house and I stayed there for over a year. By early 2020 I moved to my current space near the Galleria mall where I see 30-35 clients a week.

My advice to someone considering starting their own private practice really boils down to two things. First, just take the plunge! It’s scary at first but that’s what motivates you to make it work. Second, and I can’t emphasize this enough, set up your systems early. Think about how you’re going to reach new clients, what those first couple of emails look like until the book with you, and then nail down a follow-up process. I firmly believe having these systems in place is what allowed me to grow from 2 clients to 30 in less than 3 months.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After graduating college I had the opportunity to join my family’s custom home building business. It was a great lesson in being your own boss and all things management and administration. I caught the entrepreneur bug for sure! But, when the industry crashed in 2008 I decided to go back to school and pursue my first love – counseling.

Now, I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor with over a decade of experience helping clients breakout of a fix-it-now mentality and instead adopt a flexible mindset so they can confidently engage life’s challenges from a fresh perspective. My clients are busy professionals suffering from stress and anxiety. Many feel overwhelmed and struggle to manage stress in healthy ways choosing instead to binge watch tv, withdraw from friends or family, or throw themselves even more into their work – only to end the day feeling exhausted but wound up.

What I’m most proud of is seeing my clients grow and change as they do the hard work of living their lives in alignment with their values. Counseling isn’t a quick fix and being with them through life’s ups and downs gets me out of bed every morning. I’m thankful to be doing this work alongside them.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The first time I chose to pivot in my career as a counselor came while I was working as a director in a mental health hospital. I was really excited to start this job after years of working in crisis intervention and the jail system. But, it wasn’t long before I picked up on a few things. One, we were meeting these clients at a time in their lives when all else seemed to have failed them. They were in bad shape. A few days with us wasn’t going to solve that long term. Two, what people can afford to pay is their insurance co-pay.

I made up my mind to figure out a way to help people before they get to this point in their lives. It was also important to me to be able to work together over a longer period of time. Seeing this reality about insurance made a big impact on me.

I purposefully opened my practice after I was able to accept insurance. Most of my clients to this day only have a co-pay for our sessions and think that’s what makes being in private practice sustainable for me.

The second pivot I made, which many businesses did, was due to COVID. Even though I was considered an essential business, many people didn’t feel comfortable coming into an office. So, I gave everyone the choice to meet in person or by video. We took it day by day. Some people really needed a place away from this new thing that was working at home or having the kids around all day, and they would come see me. Others moved to video for a while. We did that for almost 2 years. Telehealth has become part of regular life and I’m glad it’s available for those who prefer it.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

There’s a lot to say on this topic. As counselors we’re not taught in school how to start a private practice, get new clients, or really anything on the business side. Now that Authentic Therapy Solutions is more established, my passion is growing for helping therapists who want to have their own business. In the early days, I found myself a mentor. He’s a very experienced private practice therapist and he would let me bounce ideas off him and give me feedback.

The best thing he ever told me about getting new clients was “Go where they will find you.” So, I did.

Instead of networking events or telling a lot of people I was opening my practice, I poured my efforts into writing a great profile and putting it on Psychology Today (since it’s such a common place for people to search for counselors). Next, I set up a series of email templates I could use over and over again for reaching out to prospective clients and getting them on my calendar. Three years later and those two things are still the backbone of how I grow my clientele.

There are other things a therapist can do, but this is what’s most effective for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authentictherapysolutions@gmail.com