Want to know the key to having a recession-proof practice and avoiding client drought?
I can give you the answer in one word- NEED.
Talking with practitioners around the country bears out my own experiences running a practice in a time of austerity. I’ve found that the clients who come for personal development or for a bit of “me” time are the first to go when belts have to be tightened.
For them, you are a luxury. The practitioners who are doing well at the moment, and I mean thriving not just surviving are the ones who have clients with long term problems and are dedicated to dealing with them.
The backbone of a healthy practice will be the clients who come because they need to see you.`
These are often the “difficult” clients. I don’t mean awkward or overly demanding. I mean people with long term physical or emotional problems (usually both). Many of them have been to a dozen practitioners before you and you are their “last resort”.
To be the therapist everyone comes to, you need the skills to get to the source of long years of physical and emotional pain