Private Clients: What Are You Waiting For?

We all know these adages:

Every journey begins with the first step.

Carpe diem.

No day but today.

Just do it.

But we also know that they are all: Easier said than done.

As a physical, occupational or speech therapist you have had years of academic training, hands on experience and structure through your employer. You have developed the skills of a healer and patients and their families are forever grateful for your service. How many times have you heard people say, “You are amazing. I could never do your job.” If you’re like me, you smile and say something dismissive aloud or in your head to the effect of, “It’s just what I do.”

I consider myself extremely lucky to have found my calling as a Speech-Language Pathologist early in life. I applied to schools, I moved to Boston and I got my dream job at a rehabilitation hospital. I am extremely blessed.

When I became interested in treating private patients however,  I froze. I felt like I didn’t know what to do, who to ask or where to turn to for information. I was scared to screw up somehow and lose my license or what little money I had saved up. It was that fear of making a mistake that kept me from helping others and helping myself.

If you want to treat private patients, you have to start. Prepare yourself as much as possible through getting liability insurance and documenting your treatment. Beyond that, you have to take that leap and just start doing it. If you don’t start now, you never will.

I founded the website The Independent Clinician because I didn’t want my fellow PT/OT/SLP clinicians to waste any more time not achieving their professional and monetary goals. What we do and how we heal truly is a gift worth sharing. Treating privately is a wonderful way to share your gift with more people. And to give yourself the best gift of all: financial freedom.

One of the Independent Clinicians who e-mailed me used the sentence “It’s stepping off the cliff that causes pause…even if we know we can fly.”  Why wait any longer… Start now.

I’m here to help.

Got a question about Private Speech, Occupational or Physical Therapy? Just ask!  Click here to contact Jena Casbon. 

About the Author: Jena H. Casbon, MS CCC-SLP spends her days treating adults with cognitive-communication disorders and her nights helping fellow speech, occupational and physical therapy providers start and grow their own private practices. Her company, The Independent Clinician, seeks to provide information, community and a confidence boost to those who want to get started treating privately but don’t know how.

Jena’s first book is available now: The Independent Clinician Guide to Private Patients. She is also finishing her second (yet untitled) book for SLP/OT/PT therapists on building a web presence (websites, social media and more) to grow their private practices.

Read more about Jena Casbon, MS-CCC-SLP