We recently connected with Natalie Moore, LMFT and have shared our conversation below.

Natalie, appreciate you joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

My private practice journey began in 2015 when I was a 26-year-old intern. I had burned out at a mental health agency job and needed to make a big shift in order to make my career sustainable. I had never considered doing private practice as an intern even though I always knew I wanted to have my own practice eventually. What previously held me back was this belief that private practice was for “established” therapists and that I needed to earn it. But after burning out at the agency, I realized I needed to get over my fears and limiting beliefs and make the jump, as scary as that was.

I found an amazing clinical supervisor who mentored me and helped guide me to become the therapist I am today. And I spent years seeing clients, gaining experience, seeking feedback and taking extra trainings to grow my skillset. In that time, I also learned a ton about how to actually build a business and attract my ideal clients into my practice. This was a huge learning curve for me, as graduate school didn’t prepare me at all for the business side of things. I now am at a place where I’m teaching other therapists how to start and grow their own practices, which I enjoy in addition to the therapy work I do.

There are several steps toward becoming a therapist in private practice. First, I went to graduate school and earned my Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology. Second, I gained 3,000 hours of supervised experience and passed two board exams to become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#MFC107413.) Third, I set up a private practice and began marketing myself to my ideal clients.

The key challenge to setting up a practice is figuring out where to get clients. Now, this is something that every business owner goes through. The thing that makes this process even more challenging for therapists is that we can’t work with people we already know, we can’t approach people directly to sell our services to them and clients don’t self-identify themselves as needing therapy.

My success in private practice came from learning as much as I could about marketing, working hard at it, paying attention to what was working and doing more of that. I realized that most of my clients were finding me through Google search and so I dedicated myself to learning and implementing SEO to help my ideal clients find me.

If I could go back and change anything, I honestly wouldn’t do anything differently. I believe that everything happens for a reason and any “mistakes” I’ve made in the past are learning experiences and growth opportunities.

For young therapists considering starting their own practice, my only advice is don’t wait. If you wait until you think you’re experienced enough or qualified enough, you may never start. You have to do it scared and you’ll find the confidence after you do it.

Natalie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a licensed therapist in private practice, I’m married to my best friend and I enjoy hiking and traveling. I’m an LA native and I love this city. My husband and I met in college in San Francisco and got married in 2022. We had the most amazing honeymoon traveling to 11 European countries in 11 weeks. I’m a multi-passionate person and have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. I’m also a 2-time Mt. Whitney summiter. When I’m not working, you can find me hiking local trails, playing games with my hubby or out on the town with my girlfriends.

I think I was destined to become a therapist. I was smitten when I picked up my Introduction to Psychology book in a high school AP Psych class. The fact that my dad quit the movie business around the same time definitely cemented my interest, as we would have the most fascinating conversations about family dynamics. I also worked with children in many settings and spent the first several years of my career as a child therapist.

I provide a few different services. I provide 1:1 therapy for adults, online throughout California and in-person in Pasadena, CA. I also support therapists in starting and growing their private practices through group coaching and individual coaching. I’m also a speaker, and can speak on topics related to mental health and relationships.

For my therapy clients, I help them work through people-pleasing tendencies, increase their assertiveness, heal past traumas and increase their self-confidence.

For my therapist coaching clients, I help them develop a marketing strategy, teach them the steps to implement it and empower them to build their dream practice.

As a therapist, I think what sets me apart is that I really live and breathe the work that I do. What I mean by that is if I recommend a meditation or breathing technique, it’s not just because I read about it in a book, but it’s because I actually use it and benefit from it. Over the years, I have sought out many different types of therapies (traditional and alternative) and not only have they helped me heal, but I integrate what I learn and experience into my therapy work.

As a therapist coach, what sets me apart is that I taught myself everything I know from what I call “Google University,” i.e. learning by piecing together information from blogs, podcasts, webinars and free trainings. The fact that I was a broke intern and boot-strapped my way to success means that anyone can do it. It brings me so much joy being able to take everything I learned the hard way and putting it into a simple structure so my clients can take some major short-cuts.

As far as what I’m most proud of — it’s my clients and their successes. They are really the star of the story. When a client comes in and tells me they don’t know what to talk about in the session because they had such a great week, I live for those moments. They are the ones to sit to have the ugly cry. They are the ones who are setting those boundaries even though it’s so uncomfortable. They are the ones doing the work to improve their lives. I just get to guide, support and witness the process.

I’m passionate about helping ambitious women heal from people-pleasing, perfectionism and anxiety. As women, we’re conditioned from a young age to be “the good girl” who makes everyone else feel comfortable, at the expense of our own needs, feelings and desires. I love helping other women break past those norms and put their own happiness first.

I take a holistic approach, helping women become more connected to their bodies and more connected with their spirituality. I incorporate many mind/body modalities such as meditation, breathwork and visualization to support the natural healing process. I believe everyone has an innate capacity to heal and they just need the supportive environment to do so. My job is to provide that safe space.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that as a therapist you shouldn’t share anything about yourself with clients. In grad school for counseling, there’s this idea beaten into us that we can’t self-disclose and I’ve really grown past that. I’ve realized over the years that our clients need to know that we’re human in order to connect with us. I show up authentically in sessions and share pieces of my journey that I believe clients will benefit from. I also do my best to put myself out there on social channels in an honest and relatable way. I now know that my willingness to be human and vulnerable with clients is one of my greatest strengths as a therapist.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2016 I became very ill mysteriously and was hospitalized multiple times for it. There was a period of time where doctors had no idea what was wrong with me and why I couldn’t breathe. One doctor told me I would have to have a lung transplant and roll an oxygen tank around with me for the rest of my life. Luckily, he was wrong and I was able to seek alternative health care and made a full recovery.

But that time was extremely difficult and a huge life turning point for me. When you’re not sure if you’re going to survive and you’re not sure if you’re going to live a healthy life your mind can go to some dark places. I was able to make peace with the uncertainty. This is something that changed me forever. It made me more dedicated to my health and more certain of my ability to heal myself. And it made me realize that nothing is more important than self-care. I changed my entire lifestyle after that and feel so grateful for that experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yourspaceforgrowth.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourspaceforgrowth/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourspaceforgrowth
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/natalie-moore-holistic-psychotherapy-pasadena-4
• Other: https://www.alignable.com/pasadena-ca/holistic-psychotherapy-helping-ambitious-and-creative-millennials-thrive