In this presentation, Dr. Tobin provides a set of attitudinal and pragmatic recommendations for beginning a private practice in the mental healthcare professions. The central elements of private practice including ethical, legal, marketing, financial, and supervisory factors are introduced. Beyond this, Dr. Tobin suggests that the transition from "trainee" to "entrepreneur" is often fraught with conflict centering on archaic dispositional tendencies residing in many psychologists and psychotherapists. Reviewing Alice Miller's characterization of the "gifted child," Dr. Tobin suggests that many early-career practitioners suppress self-concerned drives and aspirations including financial reward. Yet, establishing a successful clinical practice is a gradual and complex process, one that necessitates a personal resolution of two fundamentally opposed value systems: adherence to the needs of the other vs. the needs of one's self. Professional development is portrayed as the negotiation of these opposing forces across one's career.

1. Launching a Private Practice
Strategies for Clinical Psychologists and
Mental Health Professionals
James Tobin, Ph.D.
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2. “Money Matters”
• American Group Psychotherapy Association
Annual Conference
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3. Alice Miller’s “The Drama of the
Gifted Child” (1979)
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4. Miller’s Description of the “Gifted
Child”
“Quite often I have been faced with
patients who have been praised and
admired for their talents and their
achievements … these people – the pride
of their parents – should have a strong
stable sense of self-assurance. But
exactly the opposite is the case.
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5. Miller’s Description of the “Gifted
Child”
“There was a mother who at the core
was emotionally insecure, and who
depended for her narcissistic equilibrium
on the child behaving, or acting, in a
particular way. This mother was able to
hide her insecurity form the child and
from everyone else behind a hard,
authoritarian and even totalitarian
façade.
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6. Miller’s Description of the “Gifted
Child”
This child had an amazing ability to
perceive and respond intuitively, that is,
unconsciously, to this need of the mother
or both parents, for him to take on the
role that had unconsciously been
assigned to him.
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7. Miller’s Description of the “Gifted
Child”
This role secured “love” for the child –
that is, his parents’ exploitation. He
could sense that he was needed, and
this need guaranteed him a measure of
existential security.
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8. Miller’s Description of the “Gifted
Child”
This ability is then extended and
perfected. Later, these children … develop
a special sensitivity to unconscious signals
manifesting the needs of others” (1979,
pp. 7-9)
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9. Your “Gifted Child” Tendencies
• Cultivating a professorial attitude and value
system that entails looking out for
yourself/making money/“Practicing
Defensively,” etc. contradicts the selfless,
“gifted child” style
you likely have been living,
at least to some degree,
all your life.
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10. The Juxtaposition of “Helping
Professional” with “Entrepreneur”
• These two roles or “modes of relating” are
diametrically opposed (e.g., other vs. self, give
vs. receive, etc.)
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11. Hopefully …
… training has diminished, at least to some
degree, the extent to which your
characterological “gifted child” tendencies
may interfere with your work as a clinician
and your newly-emerging professional
identity.
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12. But the transition from graduate student
to professional psychologist (“gifted
child” to entrepreneur) is complex,
multi-layered, uniquely personal and
gradual (often taking many years).
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13. For me, after I was licensed, I didn’t
even recognize I was experiencing a
transition
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14. Some Components of My Transition
(1) Overcoming a damaged self-esteem from
training.
(2) Moderating a healthy appreciation of now
being a “Dr.” with the realization that a career
as a professional psychologist requires life-
long learning, intellectual curiosity, emotional
struggle, and ongoing self-confrontation.
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15. Some Components of My Transition
(3) No longer having to appeal to “an authority
figure,” get good grades, garner praise, etc. –
but appealing to my own desires as a person
and as a professional (e.g., Alice
Miller/Winnicott’s “False Self”)
(4) Talk the talk vs. walk the walk: truly
incorporating the scientist-practitioner model
into my professional value system and work.
(5) Lifestyle and financial planning.
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16. Some Components of My Transition
(6) The sobering realization that, despite the
good training I was fortunate to have received,
and the endorsement of supervisors, peers,
and friends, I would have to market myself as
a business entity (and I had absolutely no
formal training in how to do this!).
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17. Some Components of My Transition
(7) The gradual acknowledgment that being a
psychologist is a wonderful profession that
affords me the opportunity to do many
different things that are personally fulfilling
and rewarding!
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18. As you begin your
own personal
journey through
this transition,
here are the essential
elements of your new
fishbowl. 18

19. Your License
Certification of Professional Qualification (CPQ)
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20. An Attorney
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21. Ethical and Legal Consultants
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22. Liability and Physical Insurance
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23. An Office
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24. An Accountant
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25. A Financial Advisor
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26. A Professional Community
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27. Individual and/or Group Supervision
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28. Formulating and Marketing Your
Professional Identity
• (1) Website and profiling
• (2) Routine professionalism
• (3) Marketing
• (4) Identifying “intersections”
• (5) Service to the community
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29. (1) Website and Profiling
• The contemporary “business card”
• Should reflect your unique professional
persona, style, and areas of
interest/specialization
• Must be actively maintained
• Blog
• Video
• Profiling refers to ongoing paid biographies on
sites such as Psychology Today, etc.
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30. (2) Routine Professionalism
• You are always marketing, all the time (your
routine professionalism)
• Consistently seeking to help and link people
together – for free!
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31. (2) Routine Professionalism
• Returning emails
• Returning phone calls
• Operating within your areas of expertise and
consistently referring to other professionals (for
collaboration or evaluation)
• Contacting referral sources to you once the
referral has been solidified
• Terminating cases when appropriate/not
exploiting patients
• Preparing a written summary of treatment
• Checking in with former patients
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32. (3) Marketing
• Marketing centers on the premise that you
form and consistently engage your own
unique audience or audiences (e.g., Constant
Contact, social media, etc.) such as peers,
patients, related disciplines, theoretical
orientation, clinical modality, subject matter
specialists, etc.
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33. (3) Marketing
• You review, appraise and disseminate helpful
information (as well as your own work) to
your audiences.
• You consistently seek to generate your own
data (surveys, etc.) and distribute this
information to your audiences.
• You then “sell,” directly and indirectly, to your
audiences.
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34. (4) Identifying “Intersections”
• As you practice, you will become more and
more able to recognize potential
“intersections” between your own clinical
interests/professional talents and the
emerging needs of your audiences.
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35. (5) Service to the Community
• Pro bono work: psychoeducation,
consultation, speaking appearances, etc.
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36. The Mixed Bag of Insurance Panels
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37. Working in an Academic or Institutional
Setting
• After getting licensed, many early-career
psychologists work in these settings (in
addition to private practice or before starting
a private practice) -- which generally has
many advantages.
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38. Working in an Academic or Institutional
Setting
• In these contexts, everything I’ve outlined is
still applicable, but your marketing approach
shifts to appealing not only to the needs of
the patients you serve, but also to those of
your administrators and colleagues.
• It is very important to (1) assess the culture
carefully, and (2) identify both the pragmatic
and systemic roles you will fill.
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39. In Conclusion
The transition from student to professional
(from “gifted child” to entrepreneur) is
complex, challenging and stressful…
BUT DON’T FEAR IT! YOU CAN DO IT! EMBRACE
IT AND ENJOY!
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