A good private practice consultant has done the thing they're selling, shows you their prices, won't promise you an income, and is fine with you taking your time. Check them the low-risk way first: Watch their content, try their free resources, read testimonials, ask around, and book a fit call before any big purchase.
More than a million dollars. That's what my parents handed a con man, a few years after they sold the company they built from nothing.
My mom never finished high school, and my dad never went to college. They started out so broke that the year I was born was the poorest year they ever had, and they still built that company into something they sold for millions when I was about 14. Within four to five years, most of it was gone, lost to bad investments and that con man.
So when a therapist tells me they're scared of getting taken advantage of by a consultant, I don't roll my eyes. I watched what a confident person with a good pitch can do to a family. I get it on a visceral level. I understand that some of the fear therapists have is earned. So instead, let's talk about how to check someone out before you hand them a dime.
Why Clinicians Need Business Help
Grad school taught us to sit with grief, trauma, and the hardest moments of someone's life. It did not teach us how to price a service, write a sales page, set up a business bank account, or figure out why you've stopped getting new clients.
A lot of us end up in private practice anyway. Which means a lot of mental health professionals end up as small business owners without ever being trained to run a business.
So at some point, you're going to pay someone for something. Private practice marketing, financial management, business operations, your therapy website, your taxes. That's what business owners do when they need something done that they can't do themselves. Your dentist didn't build their own scheduling system, and nobody thinks less of them for it.
The skill that matters is discernment, the ability to tell a good private practice consultant from one selling snake oil.
Red Flags of a Snake Oil Private Practice Consultant
The term "snake oil salesman" goes back to the traveling sellers of the late 1800s, who promised one bottle could cure just about anything. Their "cures" rarely contained what the label said, and they couldn't do what the pitch promised. Today's version sells business models, with the same big promise and very little underneath.
Unfortunately, that pitch typically lands right when you're tired, broke, and hoping someone has the answer. Here are some of the ways you can tell the difference between something that sounds nice and reality.
Selling a Model They Never Ran
This is the big one. I've watched someone sell therapists a whole practice model, with all the promises about more money and more time off, that they never sustained in their own practice. Their income came from teaching it, not doing it. Ask directly: "Did you run this in your own practice, and for how long?"
Some consultants teach things they haven't done themselves, and that can still work. One of the members of my Building Beyond program is going the traditional publishing route. I haven't gone that route myself, but I have the underlying knowledge to help her succeed, like building the community and visibility that attract a literary agent. Whether a consultant brings firsthand experience or underlying knowledge, they need to be upfront about which one it is.
They Promise You an Income
"Six figures in six months." "Our clients never fail." Nobody can promise that, because nobody controls your market, your caseload, or your life. The FTC lists exaggerated earnings, "risk-free" claims, and promises of future riches as warning signs of money-making scams. In one case the FTC brought against a business coaching operation, a sales rep promised $3,000 to $5,000 a month in new revenue, and people paid as much as $13,995 for coaching that often amounted to basic material available free online. They can share their story or testimonials of the people they worked with, but they cannot guarantee you will be the same.
They Use False Urgency
False urgency is when nothing is time-sensitive, but they make it feel that way: A countdown timer that resets, a "today only" price that's back next week, a discount that expires before you hang up. That same FTC list flags pressure to act right away as a warning sign.
Some add shame on top of the urgency, with something like "If you're not willing to invest in yourself today, you're not ready." That turns your buying decision into a judgment about you as an entrepreneur, so pausing to think feels like failing. Wanting to think about a big purchase is a skill, and a good consultant won't push you into something you don't want.
You Can't Find the Price
If every road leads to "book a discovery call" and nobody will tell you a number until you're on the phone, pay attention. It's a sales tactic: Get you interested before you see the number, because once you're invested, you're more likely to buy. Add the pressure of a live call and no time to look at your own numbers, and saying yes on the spot gets a lot easier. Fit calls are still worth booking, as long as you know the price going in and the call is truly about seeing if you fit.
Everyone Is Their Ideal Client
A legit consultant will tell you when they aren't the right fit for you, or when one of their offers isn't. More importantly, they'll tell you why. Maybe the program assumes you already have a steady caseload, or they don't work with group practices. A reason like that helps you decide. If someone says they, and everything they sell, are right for every therapist at every stage, they haven't looked closely at you or at their own offers.
Testimonials That Don't Sound Real
Read the reviews and testimonials and ask yourself whether real humans wrote them. Real people mention specifics: What they were stuck on, what changed, what surprised them. A page of vague praise that could be about anyone, all in the same polished voice, is the red flag.
Green flags vs red flags at a glance
| What you're checking | Green flag | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Their experience | Ran the model in their own practice first | Teaches a model they never sustained |
| Results | Realistic ranges, with tradeoffs named | Guaranteed income or "never fails" |
| Pricing | Listed on the site or given when asked | Hidden until you're on a sales call |
| Pace | Real deadlines, with the reason explained | False urgency: Deadlines and discounts that aren't real |
| Fit | Says who and what isn't a fit, and why | Claims to work for everyone |
| Proof | Specific details that sound like a real person | Vague praise that could be about anyone |
| Your questions | Welcomes hard ones, including critical ones | Gets defensive or deletes them |
Business Coaching for Therapists: How to Check
You don't have to hand over thousands of dollars to find out whether someone knows their stuff. Start cheap, then move toward the bigger commitment as your trust gets earned.
1. Watch their content: Their TikToks, posts, and videos are a free sample of how they think. (Here's my TikTok, so you can start with me.) You'll see their personality, how they talk, and whether the knowledge is there or just the vibe. Watch how they respond to critical comments. That tells you a lot about how they'll treat you when you push back.
2. Try their free resources: Blog posts, calculators, quizzes, audits, their email list. Mine include a private pay fee calculator, the Money Script Quiz, and a free referral and retention audit. Useful free stuff is a decent preview of the paid stuff. Fluff usually means more fluff.
3. Read the testimonials: Look for specifics. "She helped me raise my fee and I kept the majority of my caseload" tells you more than "Life-changing!!" with a heart emoji.
4. Ask people who know them: Post in a Facebook group or on Reddit, where therapists trade notes on business coaches all the time. With a newer private practice consultant, there may not be a long list of past clients yet. That's normal. I'm still building mine. But people can usually speak to someone's character, how they show up in a group, and whether they're the real deal. That counts.
5. Book a fit call for anything big: If you're looking at mentorship, a one-on-one program, or private practice consulting that costs thousands, get on a call first. Notice how they answer your questions. Do they listen, or do they pitch? Do they tell you when something isn't a fit?
A few questions worth asking on that call:
What have you done in your own practice that you're teaching me?
What does a realistic result look like for someone in my situation, and how long does it take?
Who is this not a good fit for?
What happens if it isn't working for me halfway through?
Can I talk to someone you've worked with?
Is a Private Practice Consultant Worth the Money?
Every business takes risks. The goal is calculated risk, where you've done the math and you know what you're betting on.
Before you buy, ask what it would need to change to pay for itself.
Say a private practice consultant charges $1,500 for a package, and it helps you raise your fee by $20 a session. If you see 20 clients a week, that's $400 more a week. It pays for itself in about four weeks, and everything after that is yours.
If the math works and the purchase won't stretch you, the risk is small. If it would stretch you, that doesn't automatically mean no. It means do more homework first.
When the Fear Isn't About the Consultant
Sometimes the consultant is fine, the numbers work, and you still can't make yourself spend the money.
That might be a money script. Money scripts are the beliefs about money we picked up early, usually from our families. Researchers who developed the Klontz Money Script Inventory describe one pattern called "money vigilance" as a watchfulness about money and a sense that you have to be on guard for trouble.
In a practice, it sounds like: "Keep every dollar you have." Which is great right up until it stops you from investing in the thing that would grow your income.
So when you feel that clench in your chest at the price, get curious about it. Is it telling you something about this person? Or is it the same alarm that goes off every time you spend money, no matter what it's on?
Discernment is learning to tell those two apart. If you want to dig into where your money beliefs come from, I wrote more about how money scripts show up in private practice.
FAQ
What does a private practice consultant do?
A private practice consultant helps therapists and other clinicians with the business side of their practice, like pricing, private practice marketing, getting off insurance panels, and business operations. Good ones have run a successful private practice themselves and teach from what worked for them as well as other relevant education and experience they have.
What qualifications should a private practice consultant have?
There's no license for private practice consulting, so certifications alone won't tell you much. Look for someone who has run the kind of practice you want, plus a skill set in the area you need help with, like marketing, money, or operations.
How is private practice consulting different from coaching?
Consulting usually means someone with expertise tells you what to do and why. Coaching usually means someone asks questions and helps you find your own answers. Plenty of people blend the two, so ask how they work.
What happens in a private practice consultation?
In a typical consultation, you share where your practice is and where you want it to go. The consultant asks questions, spots what's in the way, and recommends a next step. A good one leaves you with more clarity, even if you never hire them again.
Is there a directory of private practice consultants?
Not a reliable one. Most therapists find consultants through referrals, Facebook groups, networking with other clinicians, and the consultant's own content.
How much does business coaching for therapists cost?
It varies widely. Single strategy sessions often run a few hundred dollars, and ongoing mentorship or group programs can run hundreds to thousands per month. A legit coach will tell you the price before you're on a sales call.
Before You Pay Anyone, Including Me
If you're scared of getting taken for a ride, you're right to be careful. Careful just doesn't have to mean never paying anyone.
You're allowed to want help. You're allowed to pay for it. And you're allowed to check out any private practice consultant before you do, me included. Start with my free resources. If you like what you see, book a consult and ask me every question on that list.
