We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Henderson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.

Michelle, appreciate you joining us 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?

When I first decided to become a therapist, I never thought I would go into private practice. The idea of being 100% responsible for my own income was too overwhelming! I didn’t believe I had it in me to be an entrepreneur. I changed my mind when my long-term relationship ended and I found myself functioning on one income instead of two. The reality was that I was not making enough money to survive working at a mental health agency and so I decided to take a risk and open my own practice. I started taking steps to establish my business in August 2017 and by February 2018 I was ready to see my first client. From there, I spent all of 2018 working part-time in my private practice two days a week while still working 40 hours a week at my full-time job. It was a busy year but it also gave me a safety net as I was establishing my practice to know I still had the income from my full-time job to rely on. I told myself that once my private practice was earning as much money as my agency job that I would then give my notice. By the fall of 2018, I was ready to stop working at the agency and put all of my eggs into the private practice basket. I left the agency in December of 2018 and I’ve been working solely in my private practice ever since! It was the best decision I’ve made. My advice is to start your practice small and give yourself time to build up your caseload; see if you can find other ways to pay your bills in the meantime and trust that eventually you will grow big enough to not need any other income sources.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Michelle Henderson and I am a licensed mental health therapist in private practice, as well as a podcaster and author. I became a therapist because my superpower has always been helping other people feel comfortable opening up. In my private practice, I work with moms who are struggling with their romantic relationships. As a mother of two young children myself (ages 3 and 9 months), I know firsthand how a relationship changes when kids enter the picture. I provide a space for women to open up about their relationship struggles if their partner isn’t ready to do couples therapy with them, but they still want to grow.

In addition to my 1:1 work with clients, I co-host the podcast “DBT & Me” where we discuss Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills in-depth. The podcast began in early 2020 and we’re about to celebrate our 5 year anniversary with almost a million downloads! Due to the success of the podcast, my co-host and I were also approached about writing a book about DBT. The title of the book is “DBT for Everyone: A Guide to the Perks, Pitfalls, and Possibilities of DBT for Better Mental Health” and it can be found on Amazon in paperback, e-book or audio book.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Therapists in private practice need to know so much more than just how to help their clients. The therapist must also be willing to learn the ins and outs of having a business and work on their mindset. Mindset work includes changing any unhelpful/unhealthy beliefs about money and facing thoughts of impostor syndrome head on.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I once believed that the only way to attract clients in private practice was to take insurance. I thought that without insurance, no one would be able to pay my fee. I took a training early on in starting my practice and the big takeaway from that meeting is to develop a clear specialty area so then people will remember you and believe that you are the best person to help them. In the end, I never did get paneled with an insurance company and it’s been a great feeling to know that my clients believe I’m worth every penny of my fee.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.nextchapter-counseling.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dbtandmepodcast/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dbtandmepodcast
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dbtandmepodcast

Image Credits

Rachel Auestad