Skip to main content
Headway
Patient portalJoin as a provider

Starting a practice

How to start a group therapy practice

Here are the steps to take to create and sustain a successful group private practice.

Whether you’re new to the therapy profession or you’ve been seeing clients for a while, you probably have career goals you’ve yet to meet. One major milestone many therapists experience is starting their own private practice. Many clinicians also go on to start their own group practices with other therapists. 

Launching your own practice can give you the unique opportunity to collaborate with other mental health providers and build your business skills.. But as with any business, starting a group practice requires strategy. Below, learn more about when you might be ready to start a group therapy practice, and which steps can help you be successful in the process.

What is a group therapy practice?

A group therapy practice is a business in which multiple psychotherapy providers work together to provide mental health services. Group practices can be structured differently. Some practices hire therapists as W-2 employees and pay them salaries. Other practices may contract with therapists  as 1099 independent contractors and pay them on an hourly basis. 

In either case, group therapy settings are typically collaborative environments where therapists can work together to support clients.

How to know if you should start a group therapy practice

Starting a group therapy practice isn’t for everyone, but a few signs can help you determine if you’re ready to expand. One important sign: You’re unable to keep up with the demand for your services. “If you’ve been operating on a waitlist for a while, adding more therapists to your practice can help meet the demand,” says licensed therapist Grace Dowd, who owns a group practice in Austin, Texas.

Starting a group practice may also be a fit if you’re interested in the business and administrative side of therapy, Dowd says. If you own a group practice, you’ll have different responsibilities. Managing a team of clinicians and marketing your practice, for example, may mean seeing fewer clients or eventually not seeing clients at all. 

Lastly, consider your long-term vision and goals as a mental health provider. Maybe you just like to collaborate with others when you work, or you’d appreciate the support of colleagues in your practice. Or perhaps you're inspired to make mental health care more accessible in your area or mentor the next generation of therapists, both of which you can accomplish by adding more therapists to your practice roster. 

How to find therapists to hire

If you’re taking steps to grow your practice, it’s important to identify your values as a therapist — and to shape your practice around those values. For example, if you’re passionate about serving BIPOC individuals or making mental health care affordable with sliding scale fees, then you’ll want to find therapists who share your passion and have expertise to match it.

To find like-minded therapists to bring on board, you can post on your own website and job websites like LinkedIn or Indeed. Local colleges and universities often have job boards, so if there’s a graduate program near you, consider posting your opening. You can also network with colleagues or former classmates who work in the mental health field to find out if they know anyone you could hire. 

In your posts, be specific about what you’re looking for — not just in a candidate’s education and experience, but their goals and interests as therapists. That way, you can more efficiently identify whether someone would fit well in your practice before meeting them in person. 

During the interview, get a sense of the individual’s personality and communication style and ask any questions that will help you determine if they’d be a good candidate for your practice. “Find out what hours they’re available to work, if they can market themselves and network, and if they’re willing to learn and grow with your team to meet the demand for therapy,” suggests Dowd. 

Tips for starting a group therapy practice

Tips for starting a group therapy practice 

Start small.

Starting a group practice is a big step, so it may help to test the waters first. “Start with one therapist to see how it feels and how you like it, and to see how quickly their schedule fills up,” says Dowd. As the new therapist’s schedule fills, you may be ready to add another provider to your practice. 

Choose a focus.

Perhaps you focus on certain treatment modalities, or maybe you decide to hone in on particular demographics or mental health conditions. Either way, establishing a practice focus can help you attract the clients you want to work with, along with guiding you in hiring the right therapists to serve those clients. 

Create a business plan.

A business plan is crucial for starting and maintaining a successful group therapy practice. Having the right support on your team can help. Dowd recommends hiring an employment attorney for support in navigating your state’s employment regulations. You’ll also want to consult with an accountant or tax advisor to navigate paying your income, salaries, and taxes. Over time, you may hire your own bookkeeping and administrative employees. 

Join insurance panels.

Accepting insurance is a great way to grow your client base, as it makes therapy more affordable and attainable. If you don’t work with insurance payers already, determine a few companies you’d like to work with. As leader of your practice, depending on the structure of your business, you may be responsible for credentialing employees. 

Taking the leap to start a group therapy practice can be a lot of work. But taking the right steps can help set you up for success from the beginning, ultimately ensuring you can meet your goal of helping more people on their mental health journeys. 

Get on the same page about compliance.

Therapists must adhere to a number of requirements, including HIPAA and billing compliance, to provide the best care possible. As a group practice, it’s important to implement an effective compliance program. This way, every staff member is on the same page about how the practice approaches topics like patient privacy and accurate billing. Adhering to compliance standards is an important part of patient care, and repeated non-compliance by one or a few members puts the whole group practice at risk.

Headway is a free service that makes it easier and more profitable for therapists and psychiatrists to accept insurance.

Talk to a practice consultant

Starting a practice

Why you should consider accepting insurance

Understand the process of working with insurance to help you make the best decisions for your practice — and, just as importantly, for your clients.

Why you should consider accepting insurance