15 ways to create more flexibility (and passive income) in your psychology or therapy practice

15 ways to create more flexibility (and passive income) in your psychology or therapy practice Every psychologist or therapist I speak to in Psychology Business School or Do More Than Therapy wants the same thing. To help people without burning themselves out. I very rarely have a coaching call where the words “work-life balance” are not mentioned. We often turn to private practice when we feel most desperately in need of improving our work-life balance. When we feel the scales have tipped and we are close to burnout. But I hear from many people who return to employment having concluded that the stress of running a private practice was not worth it. So, what does work-life balance actually look like for mental health professionals in private practice? Is it really achievable?Can a psychologist or therapist in private practice really achieve work-life balance?For me the answer is a definite yes, because I know it is possible, but with a caveat… I don’t really think it is possible to have good work-life balance if you are following the traditional private practice model of just seeing 1:1 clients. I say that because even if you follow Sally Farrent’s pricing strategy (and I fully recommend that you do) there are only a finite number of hours in the week and you will need to spend quite a few of them in front of clients in order to pay your bills. That makes it very hard to take a break when you need one, sick days become very costly and fitting in that pediatricians appointment for your child becomes very stressful as you know how much taking a morning off will impact on your take home pay this month. We will all define work-life balance differently. For some it might mean only working two days a week, for others it might mean working five days a week but never working in the evening. I personally think of it as the balance between living my professional values and a good week is one where I don’t have to make too many painful compromises.  What it means to you will depend entirely on your preferences, obligations and commitments. However, flexibility in your work is key to achieving whatever working pattern you desire.You will have seen me writing a lot recently about creating online courses and how courses can help you to develop some passive income. One of the benefits of courses is that they can continue to bring money into your practice even when you cannot physically be there and that is how I have personally brought flexibility into my working life. However, I feel it is important to make it clear that there are actually lots of different business models you can use to create that elusive work-life balance. It is important to pick the one that best suits your definition of work life balance and the way you like to work. Forcing yourself into creating courses, for example, if the thought of it makes you want to die of boredom is not going to work. In this podcast I will run through some of the business models that can bring you flexibility so you can work out which one is most likely to help you create the life that feels balanced to you:A psychology/therapy practice with associates. For a good example of how to do this see my podcast episodes with Melanie Lee and Shabnam Berry-Kahn who have both developed successful associate based practices.Physical resources. For a good example of this take a look at the big hitters like