LCSW. LPC. EMDR-trained. IFS Level 2. You worked hard for every single one of those credentials. But if they're the first thing people see when they land on your profile, you may be losing clients before they even read the next line.

In this minisode, I break down why leading with credentials is costing you connections, what your ideal client is actually looking for, and what to put first instead.

Your letters got you in the room. Now say something that makes people want to stay.

DJ

This week's episode is one I've been wanting to do for a while. And I'm making it free for everyone from day one because this conversation needs to be heard.

I put together a roundtable of four male clinicians who are all doing meaningful work with men and couples in private pay, and we got into all of it. Where this work comes from, why men are still underrepresented in the therapy room on both sides of the couch, what private pay looks like when you're serving populations that have a lot of competing free resources, and what it really takes to build a practice that works for you and your clients.

Here's who joined me:

Dr. Ryan Tran, LMFT, PhD is the founder of Rise Family Counseling in California. He holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology and specializes in men and couples navigating identity, anxiety, and intimacy.

Jake Ross, LISW-S is the founder of The Ross Wellness Group in Columbus, Ohio. He built his practice around men and is developing the Internal Operating System, a framework that treats therapy as finite and goal-oriented.

DeAron Washington, LPC is an Assistant Professor of Counseling at Belhaven University and a certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist. He specializes in couples work, cultural humility, and faith integration.

Dr. Eric A. Williams, PhD is a licensed therapist, Army veteran, and founder of Coastal Family Services. He is one of the few private practice owners who is both an African American male clinician and a veteran, and the author of "From ME to WE."

We talked about everything from hybrid vs. full private pay to the business of therapy to what it actually means to create a space where men feel safe enough to put the armor down.

Go listen. And share it.

Dr. Ryan Tran: risefamilycounseling.com | @risefamilycounseling
Jake Ross: @therosswellnessgroup | trwg.kit.com
DeAron Washington: imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=PEWEB25043
Dr. Eric Williams: ericwilliamsphd.com | coastalfamilyservicespllc.com | @purpose_n_hope_dealer

You have five seconds. That's how long someone stays on your homepage before deciding whether to keep reading or leave. In this minisode, I break down the three questions every therapist website needs to answer immediately, why most homepages fail the test, and how to find out if yours is one of them.

If your homepage opens with a forest photo, a candle, or a Rumi quote, this one's for you.

Tonight's episode is live and this one is going to make you think.

Dr. Brian J. Dixon is a psychiatrist out of Fort Worth, Texas, who has been direct pay since day one. No insurance. Never. He started in 2014 after being called into HR for calling out his medical director, put in his notice, built a Wix website, and his first patient handed him a $250 check. He said it was off to the races ever since.

Twelve years later, he has a practice with six psychiatrists, a business coaching company, a Substack called Psychiatrist General, and a lot to say about where this whole system is heading.

Here's what we got into tonight:

• Why he calls it direct pay instead of private pay and why the language matters

• How the 1965 Medicare and Medicaid legislation created a pay disparity that still affects every therapist and psychiatrist today

• Why he thinks the insurance system will collapse within three to five years and what that means for private pay practitioners

• What VC companies are actually doing to the mental health industry and why he is not as mad about them as you might expect

• How he coaches doctors to see their blind spots without telling them they have blind spots

• The Traction model by Gino Wickman and why he recommends it to every business owner

• Why people will save up from Medicaid to pay him out of pocket and what that says about value

• How he networks as a self-described introvert and why he goes into every room selling the whole industry instead of himself

• The marketing mistake he made for six years that cost him and what he finally did about it

Go listen.

Follow Dr. Dixon on

LinkedIn: Brian J. Dixon MD

Substack: Psychiatrist General

Practice: findmindful.com

Business Coaching: simplipsych.com

This one might sting a little.

In this minisode I'm talking about one of the patterns I see most in therapists -- deciding on behalf of your clients what they can afford before they ever have the chance to tell you themselves.

That's not generosity. That's codependency wearing a helper costume.

We get into where it comes from, how it shows up in your pricing decisions, and what to do instead.

It's short. It's honest. Go listen.

DJ

www.privatepaypractitioners.com

Dr. Darius Fathi is a licensed clinical and sports psychologist running a concierge-style private pay practice in Jupiter, Florida. He moved there in 2024 with a 3-month-old, left his behavioral health director role, and had to build fast in one of the most saturated therapy markets in the country.

Here's what we got into:

• What concierge therapy actually means and how it's different from just being private pay

• How he went from 12 clients to a full practice after relocating with zero local referrals

• Why he texts clients back at 8pm and why that's by design, not accident

• How his niche shifted when he landed in Jupiter and realized Tiger Woods and Serena Williams are neighbors and every successful parent in town has a kid on a travel team

• What's included in a $250-$300 session rate and what he refuses to nickel and dime for

• How he collaborates with psychiatrists, couples therapists, and other providers as part of the service

• Why the language "concierge" attracts exactly who he wants and filters out who he doesn't

• What he sees therapists getting wrong when they rush to open a practice without a plan

• Why showing up consistently, never canceling, and walking the walk is his actual marketing strategy

This one is worth your full attention. Go listen.

Follow Darius on Instagram: @DrPsychFitness Website: psychfitnessone.com

Tonight's episode is live. Keren Khait Goldenberg joined me to talk about building a boutique private pay practice with three associates in LA, leaving the VC platforms behind, and what happens when you break your own boundaries with clients.

We also got into the sliding scale vs. reduced rate conversation, how she structures her associate model, and what it actually looks like to wear every single hat in your practice while writing a dissertation and raising a kid.

Good one. Go listen.

Follow Keren on Instagram: @keren.k.goldenberg

Free Depth-Oriented Journaling Guide: sunraypsychotherapy.com/free-journaling-guide

Website: sunraypsychotherapy.com

I sat down with Dr. Sheena Horsford, a licensed couple and family therapist in Virginia who went full private pay in September.

Dr. Sheena has a doctorate - and insurance paid her at a master's level rate. Started at $80. Got up to $130 by the end. And when she added another person to the room for couples or family work? The rate went DOWN to $65.

She lost 90% of her clients when she made the switch. Went from 19-22 clients a week to 4-6. But she didn't budge on her price.

We got into:

• The rejection of hearing "it's too expensive" on consult calls - and how to respond

• Why she now requires couples to do her 5-hour intensive before weekly sessions

• The moment a couple called and just said "we want to sign up" - no selling needed

• Preparing for maternity leave as a solo practitioner

• Creating a workbook as a passive income stream while she's out

• The reframe: "I'm not closed, I'm booked until mid-June"

Her current rates: $200 for individuals (60 min), $315 for couples (90 min), and $1,599 for her Couple Reset intensive.

She's having her best month since going private pay - right before she takes leave. And she's not lowering her prices.

Find her at MendingHeartsTogether.com or @drsheena_h on Instagram. Her workbook "Rebuilding Intimacy" is on Amazon.

I am feeling so good this week that I am dropping ANOTHER BONUS!

I sat down with my dear friend and play cousin Renelle Nelson, a licensed marriage and family therapist, AASECT certified sex therapist, and infidelity recovery coach in Arizona and Wisconsin.

Renelle is Black history. First African American AASECT-certified sex therapist in both Wisconsin AND Arizona. And she had to stay ready with receipts because people constantly questioned her credentials. "I couldn't get ready, I had to stay ready."

She started as a sex therapist helping people embrace, empower, and enhance their sex lives. But she kept running into the same wall: people didn't feel like they deserved pleasure. When she dug deeper, it was betrayal wounds. So she went deep into betrayal recovery work, partly from her own experience as a Black woman who was betrayed. In her community, "you didn't talk about what to do, it's just how to endure it."

We got into:

• "I'm my own avatar" - creating content that speaks to yourself because you ARE the ideal client

• "Your relationship is not a community project" - protecting people who choose to stay after betrayal

• Being challenged by her own community AND outsiders as a Black woman in a white-dominated field

• Why the Black Private Pay Practitioners group is silent (and what that might mean)

• The difference between men and women as betrayers now ("almost neck-to-neck")

• Music as medicine AND as the thing that normalized unhealthy relationship patterns

• The gem: Self-maintenance vs. self-care. "Care is what you need when you're already broken down. Maintenance is prevention."

She's running groups for partners who decided to stay after betrayal, doing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and has products including planners, card decks, games, and candles.

Find her at kaleidoscopeservicesllc.org for therapy (Arizona & Wisconsin) or renellenelson.com for products. On Instagram: @affairaftercarecoach and @noirsextherapist.

Need a niche report to elevate your practice? Get it today at privatepaypractitioners.com.

This week I went live with Karen Conlon, therapist turned coach, author, and host of the brand new Emotionally Wealthy podcast.

Karen spent 20+ years in corporate sales before becoming a therapist. She built a group practice in NYC (7 therapists at its peak), specialized in psychogastroenterology (gut-brain connection), and eventually closed it two years ago due to burnout. Now she does coaching, clinical consultation, writing, and podcasting.

She came with the business mindset from day one. When she was in sales, her boss would ask how she got meetings with executives and she'd say, "Well, Peggy the secretary has two kids with birthdays this weekend..." She wasn't good at sales. She was good at connecting with people.

We got into:

• The saturation problem: it's not just physical anymore, it's psychological. AI therapy, BetterHelp ads, "just switch therapists if you don't like them" culture.

• Why Google Ads used to work ($300/month got her 3-5 calls per week) and why you can't compete with corporate ad dollars now

• Going back to basics: old-school networking, reaching out to doctors using the same pain-point messaging you'd use with clients

• The WIFM model (What's In It For Me) - always think about what's in it for the person you're reaching out to

• Getting off Aetna took 9 months, meticulous notes, blasting them on social media, and writing to corporate

• The client who told her she was "too cheap" and it gave her pause - that changed everything about how Karen thought about perceived value

• "New level, new devil" - the reframe she uses with clients who feel like they've regressed

She closed her therapy practice but hasn't ruled out going back. Right now she's doing coaching, clinical consultation (she still loves supervision), Substack, and just launched her podcast on February 5th.

Her episode with me is now available: Emotionally Wealthy.

Find her at karenconlon.com.