Finding the ideal office space and situation for your private practice is one of the most important decisions in starting a private practice.  As a counsellor starting a new practice it can be anxiety provoking because you may be committing money while being uncertain whether clients will call. Today, we’ll look at the options that counsellors have from the least to most risk.

• Home-based practice. Home-based practice allows the counsellor to work from the comforts of home provided they have ideal space. This would be a great option for someone focusing primarily on providing online counselling. The challenge is that you never leave the office and you never leave home.     

• Rent space by the hour.  Starting out your private practice renting by the hour involves very little risk. This allows the counsellor to maintain current employment while slowly building up a practice in the evenings, weekends, or part-time during the day. The down side of this option, depending on the situation, is the space may not be available when you need it and at a suitable time for your client.

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Greetings, first, let me give you a little background about me.  I have a degree in business, master’s degrees in adult education, and my second master’s degree is in clinical counselling psychology, as well I have a post-graduate diploma in leadership and administration. In addition to counselling at various places, such as: Hospice in Edmonton, a Women’s Crisis Centre, as a High School Counsellor, and with Cowichan Family Life. I also taught part-time in the bachelor of management degree program at Concordia University, Edmonton, and part-time as the co-ordinator and academic counsellor for the bachelor of education, adult education route at the University of Alberta, and as well, I taught many of the programs in the adult education degree program.  In addition, for many years, I was in  partnership with my husband growing our 4 very successful Optometric Eye Clinics.  When he retired, we moved to Campbell River, BC., where I have now started my private practice in clinical counselling.  

The first question you need to ask yourself is: Do you need immediate income????   Before you even consider preparing a business plan, you need to do the math.  How much income do you need to generate in your private practice that would be equal to a full-time salary if you were employed in an agency possibly earning $43,622.00 per annum? 

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