What is it like to be a counsellor? The reality of private practice
It’s a very different reflection today. It has been two years since I opened my private practice. I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone and how much has changed. I’m not sure that I fully realised how much my life would change, and how busy (and rewarding) it would be.
In October 2024, I was still working in a demanding job and was starting to fray at the edges. I had recently finished with my volunteer counselling position – I had been there since 2020 throughout my training and beyond, and kept telling myself ‘one day’. One day counselling would be my only career.
I took the plunge and opened my practice on a very part-time basis around work. By summer 2025, my teeny practice was full and I knew it was now or never. So I leapt. I left the security of paid employment and became a fully fledged, full-time psychodynamic counsellor in private practice.
I did it, and I have never looked back.
But it is always useful to reflect, and there are some things I should have known, some things I could never have known, and some things I never realised would be so important. In no particular order:
A wise friend reminded me that you could be the best therapist in the world, but if no one knows you are there, then how do you expect people to find you? This began my two-year steep learning curve into the world of Google Analytics, SEO, AI visibility and social media. It would be easy to say I hate it, but actually I find tech both fascinating and terrifying. My interest in AI and the concept of the AI therapist is coming in a future blog post, but it is a big topic and deserves further thought and research.
I knew that working primarily on my own would be a complete change. I do miss my old colleagues, and I found it weird spending so much time with myself. This time for introspection can lead to those of us who work in private practice becoming highly critical of our own performance. We hold ourselves to a rigorously high account and can ruminate, dwell, dissect, over-analyse and sometimes over-indulge our thinking.
Learning to switch off is a skill. I can struggle.
I have systems in place: a good supervisor, a schedule that means I have adequate time to recover – psychotherapy can be a heavy load to carry. To clear my head, I get outside. I am lucky enough to be able to walk to my practice room. I also have a dog and an unruly garden.
Friends and family are essential, as is a constant and ready supply of tea.
And ultimately, I have never before had the freedom to work as I choose. I fit my hours to my life – some days it is an early start and finish at lunchtime, other days I work in the afternoon and evening. And obviously, this changes constantly as clients come and clients end. Friends often ask if I mind, and I don’t at all. I’m motivated to fill my time, and a morning to myself is as welcome as an evening.
And now it is nearly the end of October 2026, my practice is busy and I still have the precious commodity of time.
Would I change anything?
Not a single thing.
If you are interested in starting counselling, please do Contact me.
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