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Therapy and counselling

Solo or small-group private practice delivering sessions in person or remotely, often part cash-pay and part insurance.

Family

Health, dental and wellness

Appointment-driven practices with patient records and privacy obligations.

Priority decisions
8

Operating reality

What makes this different

The realities that change which tools can actually work for you.

  • Client notes are protected health information even in a one-person practice, so a business associate agreement is not optional.

  • Cash-pay practices are dramatically simpler to run than insurance-panel practices; the choice shapes every other decision.

  • No-shows are the main revenue leak, which makes reminders and a cancellation policy financially material.

  • Telehealth delivery changes both the software requirements and the state licensing questions.

Where to start

The decisions that matter here, in order

You do not have to take them in this order, and you do not have to take all of them. This is where most businesses like yours start.

  1. 1
    Appointment booking

    Let people book a time without the back-and-forth.

  2. 2
    Card payments

    Take a card in person, over the phone or through a link.

  3. 3
    Business insurance

    Cover the things that could end the business in one bad afternoon.

  4. 4
    Accounting software

    Track income and expenses so tax time is a report, not an archaeology dig.

  5. 5
    Invoicing

    Send the bill, and let people pay it without writing a cheque.

  6. 6
    Passwords and security

    Stop sharing logins over text, and protect the accounts that hold money.

  7. 7
    Business banking

    A business account, so personal and business money stop mixing.

  8. 8
    Documents and client portals

    Keep files organised and share them with clients securely.

Your next step

Answer six short questions about your therapy and counselling business: your team, where the work happens and what you want to fix first. You get an operating plan in the order to tackle it, with the must-haves and comparison points for each area.

Answers

Common questions

What software does a therapy and counselling business need?
Solo or small-group private practice delivering sessions in person or remotely, often part cash-pay and part insurance. The decisions that matter most are 8 areas, starting with the ones tied to how the work actually gets done and paid for.
What makes running a therapy and counselling business different?
Client notes are protected health information even in a one-person practice, so a business associate agreement is not optional. Cash-pay practices are dramatically simpler to run than insurance-panel practices; the choice shapes every other decision. No-shows are the main revenue leak, which makes reminders and a cancellation policy financially material. Telehealth delivery changes both the software requirements and the state licensing questions.