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Laura Marques Brown is a first-generation daughter of Brazilian immigrants who built a six-figure private pay practice after years of undercharging and self-doubt. She told me, "being a martyr is not helping anybody because you're not well." Listen for Land, Lineage, and Liberation, and for why "just set better boundaries" misses the real cause of burnout, especially for therapists from the global majority. Laura is opening 10 founding member spots in her Rooted Practitioner Blueprint, $2,400 for 12 months with 12 one-to-one mentorship sessions, before the price goes to $5,600 when those spots fill. Learn more at Natureza Coaching Collective: https://www.naturezacoachingcollective.com If this episode has you thinking about your own rate or your next move, book a 90-minute strategy session at www.privatepaypractitioners.com. You do not have to figure this out alone. Laura Marques Brown, LCPC, Natureza Therapy and Natureza Coaching Collective: https://www.naturezacoachingcollective.com

Dr. Savanna Parker launched her Washington practice part-time in February. She planned to build slowly, then went full time in four weeks. She told me, "I'm where I'm supposed to be." Listen for the move from virtual to an office and the rate move from $200 to $225. If this episode has you thinking about your own rate or your next move, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at www.privatepaypractitioners.com. You do not have to figure this out alone. Dr. Savanna Parker, PsyD, Rooted Self Psychology, PLLC: https://www.rootedselfpsychology.com

Ryn Rising is licensed in Oregon, lives in the Netherlands, and works with neurodivergent, queer, and polyamorous clients. This is their very first podcast. About a month ago Ryn went private pay only. They told me what that feels like. "It does feel to a certain extent that you're like falling off a cliff not knowing if there's a net underneath." Then they said the part I want you to hear. "I will figure it out. It may not be on this person's timeline, on that person's timeline, but I will figure it out. And I trust myself to figure it out." Listen to the full conversation for the move, the rates, and the vision I gave Ryn for 2027. Bring the damn chair. If this episode has you thinking about your own leap, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at www.privatepaypractitioners.com. Ryn Rising: innerrisingwellness.com and innerrising.nl Facebook: Inner Rising Instagram and TikTok: the human therapist rising

Deanna Barrett spent ten years in the US Air Force and three years in tech, ending at Meta. Then she got her master's in marriage and family therapy and opened a private pay practice in April 2026. She is three months in and she is telling the truth about what that looks like. She focuses on couples work, specifically blended families, communication breakdowns, and the emotional disconnect that happens when partners stop feeling like teammates. She is getting certified in Relational Life Therapy, which she describes with their saying: strong back, soft heart. Direct with clients, warm in delivery. We talked about why she chose private pay from day one (she watched her supervisor argue with insurance companies over clawbacks during her internship and saw associates pushed to 25 to 30 clients a week), what ten years of capped military pay taught her about autonomy, why she turned down a $60 EAP rate without apology, the slow reality of networking as a new practice owner (20 clinicians reached out to, 7 responded, 3 meetings), why she does not take couples who really need discernment counseling, and why having different entry points to your services matters when someone says you are too expensive. She also said something I want every new private pay therapist to hear. "I have found that if it's not a good fit and that's not within your scope, don't do it. You're doing yourself a disservice and you're really doing them a disservice as well." Deanna is in the Austin, Texas area and she is starting her PhD in family systems this August. She is doing all of it at once. If this episode has you thinking about what your first 90 days could look like, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Deanna Barrett: healingwithDeanna.com Instagram: Healing with Deanna

Vickery Rendall was going to die in the ER. That was the plan. Then she ran out of PTO. She spent over a decade in emergency rooms and medical units across four Washington hospitals. Code blues. Sexual assault exams. Mental health evaluations at the most acute moments of people’s lives. She did not know what it was doing to her nervous system until she stopped. Now she is building Coastal Trauma in Bellingham, Washington, a private pay practice for the people who have been living that world their whole careers and have never had a therapist who actually understood what they were walking into every day. We talked about what those years in the ER actually looked like and what the body was holding that the mind had learned to ignore. The 16-month Regents depaneling trap that a mental health lawyer could not find a way around. Why her clients worry their stories will be too much for the therapist. Why adding more trainings is sometimes about legitimizing the fee rather than trusting what she already knows. What her EMDR and IFS intensives are starting to make possible. And what it means to finally open a physical office after building entirely in telehealth. She also mentioned something about retreats on boats. I love that idea. If this episode got you thinking about what you are sitting on and whether you are trusting it, let’s talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Vickery Rendall: coastaltrauma.com

Tiffany Green has been in the Founders Circle for almost two years. Private pay in Chicago for five. In that time she raised her rates, started offering 90-minute sessions because her clients kept asking, and stopped doing Saturday morning consults she never wanted to do in the first place. My favorite part of our conversation: she told me about waking up early for a Saturday consult that no-showed, and I just asked her, do you even want to be up on a Saturday morning? She said no. So she stopped. That's the whole thing. Permission to build the practice around your actual life. In her words: "if you wanted to hire a coach, it is better to hire somebody who has done exactly the thing you want to do." And on the cost compared to other programs: "it was like a no brainer." Tiffany's practice is Charism Counseling Center. Go follow her work. If you want in on these conversations, the premium community is where they happen. Bonus episodes, monthly gatherings, and direct access to me. https://www.patreon.com/privatepay Come sit with us.

Anna Parker opened her practice last year and was full within two to three months. On insurance. She is a licensed independent clinical social worker based in Spokane, Washington, and the founder of Changing Tides PNW. She spent eight years in community mental health before going solo. She works with trauma, LGBTQIA folks, and late-diagnosed high-masking autistic and ADHD adults. She is also late-diagnosed AuDHD herself, and that shapes everything about how she practices. She cannot sustainably see 24 people a week. She is trying to find her way out. We talked about why the writing is on the wall for insurance practices right now. What happened with CAQH and the data systems that are making practitioners rightfully nervous. What her EMDR and IFS intensives actually look like and why the investment changes how clients show up. Why she keeps signing up for trainings she does not need when she already has three streams of income running. And the niche clarity question she is still working through. She also said the thing I think a lot of people have been feeling but not saying out loud. I can't fight the system while being in the system. If this episode resonated with where you are right now, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Anna Parker: changingtidespnw.org

(Mattea rhymes with great idea.) Mattea LeWitt just launched her practice this year, went private pay from day one, and came in already knowing what she refuses to do. She is a licensed clinical social worker based in Philadelphia and the founder of Philadelphia Social Work. She specializes in helping sensitive and neurodivergent adults set boundaries so they can stop dropping the ball in their personal lives and at work. She also has a background in theater, which comes through every time she opens her mouth. She skipped the insurance on-ramp entirely. Built her rate around the caseload she actually wants, not around fear. And she is already thinking about CE courses and public speaking even though she just started. We talked about why the conventional wisdom around starting with insurance actually costs you. The difference between marketing and helping the right people find you. Why therapists have been conditioned to believe they are personally responsible for fixing the healthcare system. And what it looks like to build something from scratch when you already know the rules you refuse to follow. She also networked live on air. Asked the audience to reach out. I told her that was smart. Because it was. If this episode lit something up for you, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Mattea LeWitt: philadelphiasocialwork.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattealewitt

Dr. Lauren Chase first came on the podcast in November 2025. She was seeing 20 to 25 clients a week, mostly insurance, with a plan to drop Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna in 2026. She joined our community that December. So I asked her back to tell us how it went. She dropped BCBS in April. She raised her rate from $200 to $225. She's at about a 50/50 split between Aetna and private pay right now and working out the timing on that last step. And this is the part I want you to hear: "The more money I'm making in each month and similar, if not less, clients I'm seeing." We also talked about networking with intention instead of meeting with anyone who might send a referral, what Summer School did for her, finishing her EMDR training, and why she feels she got more out of her membership than a $3,000 course she took. (She guessed $20 a month. Essential is $25. We'll let it slide.) Lauren is running a women's boundaries group focused on navigating family stress during the holidays, and she's accepting 1:1 clients for talk therapy and EMDR. She's licensed in NC, SC, VT, ID, and FL. Find Dr. Lauren Chase: Website: ClimbingHillsCounseling.com Instagram: @ClimbingHillsCounseling If you've got your own insurance exit plan sitting on a sticky note, bring it to the monthly Essential call. That's exactly what it's there for. Lauren, thank you for showing up the way you do. I'm proud of you.

Gary Hominick and I share a niche. He works with men navigating problematic sexual behavior and the betrayal it leaves in relationships. We do not talk to many people who do what we do, so this one was personal for me. He is a licensed professional counselor and CSAT based in Texas and the founder of Aletheia Counseling TX. He built a solo practice after almost nine years in community mental health. He has a five-stage model for problematic behavior recovery that helps clients normalize what is happening without putting a piece of tape over the check engine light. And he has been intentionally moving toward fully private pay ever since. We talked about the eighty twenty principle and why flyers at churches will not fill your caseload. How Gary built his network by only reaching out to people he would actually send referrals to. The business hat versus therapy hat distinction and why mixing them up is costing therapists money. Why he had a no-show policy freebie in his informed consent and what I told him to do about it. And what happens when a client tries to negotiate your rate while you are on vacation. He also asked me what the main mistake clinicians make when moving into private practice. I said not knowing themselves. That is the whole thing. If this episode got you thinking about your own practice and what you know about yourself as a business owner, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Gary Hominick: aletheiacounselingtx.com

Acelli Crippen-Kok started private pay, got scared, and went back to insurance. She was honest about every bit of it. She is a licensed professional counselor and supervisor based in Cedar Park, Texas, and the founder of Solid Ground Counseling and Wellness. She specializes in working with women navigating people-pleasing, generational trauma, complex trauma, anxiety, and chronic guilt and shame. She is also an LPC supervisor who loves working with new associates. We talked about what fear did to her decision-making, what Aetna just did to the CPT codes and what that means for clinicians doing complex trauma work, why she has not told her clients yet and what she is going to do about it, how Open Path is another version of the same problem, what she is going to change in her informed consent after this conversation, and why when you accept a rate that somebody else set you are telling them how to treat you. She also took notes. Live. On air. I loved it. If this episode got you thinking about your own rate and who set it, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Acelli Crippen-Kok: solidgroundcounselingtx.com Instagram and Facebook: @SolidGroundCounselingTX

Jay Hess named the practice First Brick as a nod to the Stonewall riots. If you know, you know. If you don't, now you do. Jay is a licensed clinical social worker based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the founder of First Brick Counseling. The practice is fully private pay, in-person only, from day one. Every single decision flows from what the LGBTQ plus community, and specifically transgender and gender nonconforming clients, actually need. There was a gender neutral restroom or Jay was not signing the lease. We talked about why affirming care is not a specialty for most clinicians but it absolutely is for Jay, what WPATH is and why most self-described affirming therapists have never heard of it, why Jay does not document gender in clinical notes and what that has to do with protection, how Jay built a referral network that includes surgeons, pelvic floor specialists, affirming faith leaders, and financial advisors before the practice even opened, the resentment that shows up around reduced rate clients and how to work through it, what it actually costs to run a practice when you factor in taxes and business expenses, and why Jay spent two years as the biggest thorn in the side of the local school district until the board finally flipped. Two years in, profitable within six months, and first time presenting at a conference this year. Jay has a lot to say. And is not quiet about any of it. If this episode got you thinking about your niche and who you are actually built to serve, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Jay Hess: firstbrickcounseling.com linkedin.com/in/jay-hess-lcsw-47931288

Dr. Brian Dixon is back. He owns a seven-figure practice in Texas, built Feel Guide to solve the referral problem he kept running into, and has invested close to $100,000 in business coaching over his career. He knows what he is doing and he does not sugarcoat it. We talked about how to ask for a consult the right way and why most new clinicians get it wrong, why nothing about building a private pay practice is free and what it actually costs to do it right, what the referral network has to look like in year one and why you cannot skip the pavement pounding even if you are an introvert, what to do when the VC companies start absorbing your clients and you are feeling the fear, why you need to know where you are going before any of it makes sense, and Feel Guide, what it is, how it works, and why you should get on it now before the price goes up. He also said something that I keep coming back to. If you don't do it, it won't get done. Nobody is coming to save you. Build the thing. If this episode got you thinking about where you are going and who is helping you get there, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Dr. Brian Dixon: feelguide.network Feel Guide: feelguide.network Feel Great: feelgreat.today

I sat down with Alinne Butcher, a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Over The Rug Therapy based in Granada Hills, California. Alinne is a trauma-informed, antiracist, attachment therapist who has been in practice for three years and is also a new mom doing all of this with a baby at home. She also has 37,000 Instagram followers, two completed books, and zero products on the market. We had a real conversation about what it looks like to build an audience of that size without a plan to monetize it, why she stopped posting, why both books are done and neither one is out, what she is actually afraid of, and what it means to get out of your own way when the people are already sending you DMs asking where the products are. I told her I want to see the book in 30 days. She said okay. We also got into her insurance journey, what Kaiser was doing inside her practice that made her feel like she was dancing with the devil, why she left and how the mindset shift made it possible, and what she would say to every therapist who is sitting on something they have been too scared to put out. If this episode lit something up for you, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Alinne Butcher: overtherugtherapy.com Instagram: @overtherugtherapy

This week I sat down with Lynn Zakeri, a licensed clinical social worker based in the Chicago area who has been in private practice for over 20 years. She is the 2022 Illinois NASW Social Worker of the Year, has been featured in over 100 national media outlets, and runs a hybrid group practice licensed across 15 states between her and her associates. She never set out to build a business. She set out to become a really good therapist. The business followed. That has been her philosophy for over two decades and this conversation is proof that it works. We talked about how she went from school social worker to solo private pay practitioner to group practice owner almost by accident, why she added five associates during COVID in what she calls the best and worst thing to ever happen to her business, what it actually means to deliver what you sell, how she has built long term client relationships that span decades, why she told her son when he started editing her videos that credibility mattered more than going viral, and what doing without feeling costs you when you are juggling everything at once. She also said something I keep going back to. If you want 10 tips for anxiety you don't need to see me. If you want to know why you keep getting activated, that's what we do. If this episode got you thinking about the kind of practice you actually want to build, let's talk. Book a 90-minute strategy session at privatepaypractitioners.com. Lynn Zakeri: lynnzakeri.com Instagram and TikTok: @lynnzakerilcsw YouTube: @lynnzakeri4260