Opening a private practice comes with a second job that has no manual: business registrations, intake workflows, EHR pricing pages, credentialing, marketing. I started North Light Collective after seeing how often that side of practice is learned through trial and error.
My background is in operations. I spent more than a decade running the day-to-day side of my family's staffing business, where I wore most of the hats at once, from client relations and marketing to recruiting. What follows is what I've seen across the three stages most practices move through, and what each one tends to ask of you. A lot of it you can do on your own, and I'll say so where that's true.
Stage one: starting a practice
The order matters more than people expect. Before the website, before the logo, comes the structure: your business entity, your registrations, an EHR or practice management system you can live with, and your insurance panels if you plan to take insurance. Credentialing with payers takes time, so it belongs near the start, not after your schedule is ready to fill.
Next are the systems a client actually touches. How does someone find you, book a consultation, complete intake paperwork, and get a reminder before the first session? If those steps are clear on day one, you won't be rebuilding them at twenty clients.
Visibility can stay simple. A website that says plainly who you help and how to reach you, a Google Business Profile, and a directory listing or two make a solid foundation for a new practice.
You can do most of this yourself if you have the time. Where I'd slow down is on decisions that are expensive to undo. Talk to an accountant about your business structure and to an attorney about your contracts and policies. I'm neither, and you deserve to hear those answers from someone who is.
Stage two: growing a solo practice
A full solo caseload has a ceiling: there are only so many hours in a week. Much of this stage is getting back the time the business side takes. Look honestly at where your week goes: notes, billing, scheduling back-and-forth, insurance follow-ups, and inquiries that were never a fit.
Small fixes add up here. A website page that helps the wrong-fit inquiries self-select out. An intake form that collects what you need the first time. A written process for the tasks you repeat every week. A directory profile that sounds like you rather than a list of modalities.
This is also the stage where referral relationships start to matter. Other clinicians, physicians, and local organizations refer to people they know and trust, and those relationships take time to build.
If you're weighing what comes next, whether that's a group practice, a narrower specialty, or a new offering, this is the time to plan it, while you still have room to think.
Stage three: moving from solo to group
The move to a group practice changes your job more than any other step. On top of seeing clients, you take on hiring, managing, and supporting other clinicians.
The systems that held a solo practice together rarely stretch to fit a team. Before you hire, it helps to have:
- a hiring and onboarding process you can repeat for every clinician
- a compensation structure and written roles, so nobody has to guess what's expected
- practice policies and standard operating procedures
- shared systems for scheduling, documentation, and communication
- a plan for how referrals reach the right clinician
- a clear sense of the mission, culture, and values you want the practice to have
That last item can sound soft. When a new clinician asks how you handle a late cancellation, a scheduling conflict, or a hard conversation with a client, the answer you give shapes how the practice runs. Writing it down early saves a lot of repair later.
Leadership deserves its own attention. Plenty of new group owners feel like imposters in the role, and burnout doesn't go away because you have staff. Plan for your own capacity as carefully as you plan for theirs.
The part that runs through all three
I build owner wellness into all of my work. Before North Light, small business owners would tell me some version of "How am I supposed to keep up with all of this? I'm only one person." Therapists carry that same weight, often while holding other people's hardest moments all day.
Sustainable, to me, means a practice you can keep running for years and still look forward to.
How I can help
If you'd rather not work all of this out alone, here is how I work with therapists:
- A free 30-minute consultation to talk through the challenges in your practice. Afterward I send my pricing menu and a recommendation for the option that fits best.
- A 90-minute Practice Planning & Strategy Session ($195) by video, with an intake questionnaire beforehand and a session review with recommendations and next steps afterward.
- Monthly support starting at $240 a month, at 2, 5, or 10 hours a month. I handle implementation as well as advice: website and SEO updates, Google Business Profile work, operational systems, credentialing, and referral strategy.
- Buildout programs for launching a solo practice (8–10 weeks) or transitioning to a group practice (10–12 weeks), priced to the scope of each practice.
I work virtually from the Portland area with therapists in Oregon, Washington, and beyond. You can book a free consultation or read more at northlightcollectivepnw.com.
