The Pathway
Qualified, now what
You've qualified and want to set up privately, but nobody told you the order to do things in. Here's the map, and where to start.
The certificate arrives and the questions start. Do I need insurance yet? A business bank account? How do I get clients? What do I even call myself? Training prepares you to counsel, then tends to go quiet on everything that turns counselling into a practice.
This stage is the map. It won’t drown you in detail. It tells you what to think about, in roughly the order that makes sense, and points you to the stage that covers each piece properly.
The order that works
Sort your foundations first. Before you see a paying client, a few things need to be in place: registration with a professional body, insurance, ICO registration, and your supervision arrangements. None of it is hard once you know it exists. That’s the Foundations stage.
Then decide the money and the space. What you’ll charge and how you’ll handle the money, and where you’ll actually see people, whether that’s a room at home, a rented space, or online. Those are the Money and Premises stages.
Then get clients. Naming your practice, your website, directories, your Google Business Profile, referrals and EAP work. This is the part most people find hardest and worry about most, and it’s the Getting clients stage.
After that, it’s about running the practice well and, in time, growing it.
Where to start
If you’ve literally just qualified, go to Foundations first and work through it. Everything else is easier once the basics are handled and you know you’re practising safely and legally. If your foundations are already sorted and your real worry is where clients come from, skip ahead to Getting clients.
You don’t have to do it all at once. You do have to do the foundations before you take money from anyone.
Rather not do it alone? The whole Pathway is free to work through yourself. If you’d like a person to go through it with, launch support is three one-to-one sessions for £300.