Hi, this is Dave Kats with Therapist Consultants, and I have a tip for you. We are often asked what's the best software to run a therapy practice. Really, there are three of them that are up at the top that we think are doing a good job. The first one is SimplePractice. SimplePractice has come onto the scene the last four or five years and has been very popular with the therapists. We don't get paid by any of these software companies. We don't endorse any of these software companies where I'm just telling you what I hear from the therapists that we service.

The first one, and in no particular order, but the first one is SimplePractice. Most of the therapy software you pay by the month and by how many therapists you have but with SimplePractice, they adjusted their prices lately. You want to see how their prices compare to the other two. The other two that I want to tell you about are TherapyAppointment and TherapyNotes.

SimplePractice, TherapyAppointment, and TherapyNotes all have...

Hi, this is Dave Kats, with Therapist Consultants, and I have a tip for you. You want to know who the busiest therapists are in our organization? Those therapists that have a niche and that work in their niche. Now, when you first start in practice, you take about anybody that walks as long as you know that you can help them, but as you get farther into your practice, you get more about thinking about being a specialist and specializing in something or having a niche.

Now, there are broad niches, like probably the broadest niche that I know of is couples counseling. It's a good niche and a lot of therapists are in couples counseling, and it's a good thing to do. There's some sub niches under that, like couples counseling of those people that have had affairs and divorce counseling is another one that would be a subcategory under that, but the biggest niche is marriage or couples relationships. Then there are smaller and smaller niches and a lot of times you have to pick your niche...

Hi. This is Dave Kats, and I have a tip for you. One of the best things you can do to avoid disagreement and disgruntled patients is to go over your financial policy. I would say that a majority of times that patients are unhappy with therapists that we hear about is because they didn't understand their financial obligation. Now, chances are you explained it a little bit, chances are you were in the right, I'm sure you were, but they just don't understand it because it goes out of them so fast.

Here's what I suggest you do. Have, of course, a written policy, but don't just hand them that policy, go over the written policy because that way they know they'll be paying for no-shows and they know what the fee is for each service, and they know how they're going to be billed. Then you're going to have happy people because they're getting no surprises. You remember what's been recently just a No-Surprises Medical Act. Well, we have been enacting that for a long time and we think you...

Hi, this is Dave Kats with Therapist Consultants and I have a tip for you. You know what? You have to really think outside the box for this one. This one isn't for everybody. It's for 1 in 50 of you, but it's fun, so let's talk about it.

I saw an article the other day-- actually, it was a couple of years ago, about a therapist who lives in a area that has good weather most of the time, and she does a unique thing. Instead of sitting on the couch or sitting in the easy chair and doing her therapy, she often goes on walks with her clients to do their therapy. She finds that they open up more when they're outside, that they're more relaxed, that if it isn't an enclosed atmosphere and people aren't around listening, they'll share a lot more, and I think that's a great idea.

You don't have to do it all the time, but I would tell people in the beginning, if there's good weather and things like that, we'll walk outside and we'll talk a little bit, and I think you would have a lot more fun...

Hi, this is David Kats for Therapist Consultants. I have a tip for you. More and more I see something happening with therapists, and that is they pick up a segment of their life or a segment of their practice that they dedicate to life coaching. Instead of doing therapy work, they do life coaching work. There's a lot of advantages to life coaching.

Number one, you don't have any insurance that you have to file. Number two, you really don't have any HIPAA responsibility, if you're a life coach. Number three, you can consult along across state lines. Number four, it just adds another revenue center to your practice.

You have to be careful that you don't intermingle the two, that people know exactly what they're getting, that they don't think they're getting therapy when they're getting life coaching. Then ask you to file their returns or something like that. I'm telling you that the people are moving to life coaching in large numbers, not away from therapy necessarily, but in addition...

Hi, this is David Kats for Therapist Consultants and I have a tip for you. More and more, I see something happening with therapists, and that is, they pick up a segment of their life or a segment of their practice that they dedicate to life coaching. Instead of doing therapy work, they do life coaching work. Now, there's a lot of advantages to life coaching.

Number one, you don't have any insurance that you have to file. Number two, you really don't have any HIPAA responsibility if you're a life coach. Number three, you can consult across state lines. Number four, it just adds another revenue center to your practice.

Now, you have to be careful that you don't intermingle the two, that people know exactly what they're getting, that they don't think they're getting therapy when they're getting life coaching, and then ask you to file their insurance or something like that. I'm telling you that people are moving to life coaching in large numbers, not away from therapy necessarily, but...

Hi, this is Dave Kats with Therapist Consultants. I have a tip for you. Did you know that most therapists go through a financial cycle when they first open their business, are not on any insurance panels, so they charge a cash basis. They charge on a cash basis. They usually charge a little bit less and then they do their cash. Well, eventually after about six months, they say, "Hey, I'm missing a lot of new patients because I don't accept insurance."

They get on these insurance panels and then they have an insurance practice. Well, after a year, or two, or three or four or five, they say, "Well, I'm not making nearly as much in insurance as I would if I was a cash practice." They revert back to a cash practice but then at a higher level. The ultimate goal is to have an all cash and all self-pay practice with no discounts at your regular rate. That's the goal that you want to get you. You can get fixated on either of those goals.

Some people say cash or low level. Some people stay...

Hi, this is Dave Kats for Therapist Consultants, and I have a tip for you. Have you ever thought about taking the next step in therapy? One of the next steps is becoming a supervisor to other people that are just getting into therapy. It works so well for so many people. You can use some of those people in your office to help you. They get their training, they get their supervision, and you can charge for the supervision.

Think about this. If the average person sees you once a week for two years for supervision and you charge them $150, that's 100 visits. If you see your average patient about 20 times, that's like getting five new patients immediately, and so I would really think about, you should really think about becoming a supervisor to your profession.

Let me take it one step further. Some of you already are supervisors to your profession. Here's what you should think about, becoming a trainer to train supervisors like you are now. Very lucrative field, and very easy to...

Hi, I'm Dave Kats for Therapist Consultants, and I have a tip for you. One of the things that we can do that's pure profit is increasing your prices. Now, if it's been some time since you increased your price, sometimes we're a little hesitant to increase our prices. I'm telling you, it makes a world of difference in your income and you have to do it to keep up with inflation and the rest of the movement of the world.

Here's how you increase your prices. Start about a month ahead of time and whenever patients check in, put just a little 3x5 card. This is effective and one month from now, the price for therapy will be, and then you give the price. If they have a discount or something like that, you can always explain it to them, but leave that up for about a month. That way everybody that comes in has a chance to see it and become accustomed to it before you actually do it.

When you raise your prices, we suggest that you raise them less frequently but more substantially when you do....