If you want to sell a therapy practice one day, your clinicians are a big part of what a buyer pays for. Molly Kocher left her group practice job, and her boss asked what would have kept her.

"What can private practice give you that we can't?" Her answer: "More money."

Molly is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with her own private practice. She co-founded Private Practice Resource, which makes Excel tools that help therapists forecast income, set their rate, track expenses and track continuing education.

Daniel and Molly talk about the "you won't make it in private practice" message clinicians hear, the numbers that showed her almost double her pay, and what a group practice owner could have offered her to stay. Buyers look hard at clinician retention when you're selling a group practice, so this one is for any owner who wants a team that stays through a sale.

In this episode:
→ Why therapists are told private practice is too risky, and what her numbers actually said
→ "Opposite action to anxiety": looking at the money instead of avoiding it
→ Why the continuing education tracker outsells every other tool they make
→ How she built a full caseload a year before she left her clinic job
→ Why most groups let clients follow a departing clinician for continuity of care
→ The five-year plan that would have kept her at a group practice
→ About 60-63% of Americans in therapy go to an outpatient practice, and why demand is still high after the pandemic

Thinking about selling your therapy practice one day, or want to know what it's worth before you decide?
Talk to Daniel → daniel@firesidestrategic.com

Chapters
00:00 Meet Molly Kocher
00:55 Why therapists need business tools
03:06 The tool therapists buy most
04:17 How she picked what to build
08:01 "Private practice is hard. You won't make it."
10:50 Demand for therapy after the pandemic
12:48 Advice before you leave for private practice
15:21 What would have kept her at a group practice
17:02 Does she miss working in a group?
18:59 Where to find Molly's tools

About Molly: LMHC and co-founder of Private Practice Resource → https://privatepracticeresource.com

About Daniel: Buys mental health practices and helps owners sell theirs. Former M&A lawyer. Co-founder of Fireside Strategic.

About the show: Group Practice BS is for group practice owners asking one question. How do I sell my mental health practice one day so I can retire or do something else?

Connect with Daniel → https://linkedin.com/in/danmking

Nothing in this episode is legal, tax or financial advice.

#GroupPractice #PrivatePractice #SellATherapyPractice

Plenty of good therapists end a session with "you've got the booking link." A lot of those clients never book again.

"Sporadic therapy doesn't lead to particularly great results."

Elana Sures owns Open Space Counselling in Vancouver and North Vancouver: two locations and 20+ therapists. She also founded Group Practice Performance, a consulting company built around her online course, the Client Retention System.

Daniel and Elana talk about why clients drift after a few sessions, why the fix starts with how confident the therapist is, and what a practice owner can change in intake, the first session and team training so clients stay long enough to get better.

In this episode:
→ Why therapists are trained to hold back, and what that does to rebooking
→ Clients who see therapy as a one-off, and the physical therapy comparison that changes that
→ What to say when a client's benefits or insurance run out
→ Building confidence by asking anyway, even when you're nervous
→ Intake forms that set up the therapy before the first session
→ The first three sessions, "the story underneath the story," and the 8-session minimum
→ Why she wouldn't sell therapy packages even if it were legal
→ Leading your team on retention without feeling greedy or corporate

Thinking about selling your practice one day, or bringing in a partner to grow it?
Talk to Daniel → daniel@firesidestrategic.com

Chapters
00:00 Meet Elana Sures
01:09 Why therapists struggle to keep clients
03:27 Clients don't know what therapy is
06:38 Therapist leadership and owning your expertise
08:24 Where confidence comes from
10:15 Your batting average will never be 1,000
11:08 Inside the Client Retention System
14:34 Intake forms built for retention
17:08 The first three sessions and the 8-session minimum
18:42 Why therapists can't sell packages
21:26 Where to find Elana

About Elana: Owner of Open Space Counselling and founder of Group Practice Performance → https://grouppracticeperformance.com

About Daniel: Buys mental health practices and helps owners sell -founder of Fireside Strategic.

Connect with Daniel → https://linkedin.com/in/danmking

Nothing in this episode is legal, tax or financial advice.

#GroupPractice #PrivatePractice #ClientRetention

Amanda Landry never planned to run a 100-clinician practice. It grew anyway.

"We hired two directors to clean it up. The numbers never changed."

Amanda is the founder of Caring Therapists in Florida: 12 locations, 100+ clinicians, about 8,000 sessions a month across therapy, testing and medication management. She also runs My Private Practice Collective, an online community for therapists growing their own practices.

Daniel and Amanda talk about how she went from solo therapist to CEO, the operating system that got her from 30 clinicians to 100, and why she thinks small group practices should get organized before consolidation reaches them.

In this episode:
→ How a second location opened only to cut a one-hour commute
→ Walking away from her own caseload after maternity leave and stepping in as CEO
→ Running a group practice on EOS: KPIs, scorecards and a meeting cadence for every department
→ What happened when two marketing directors never moved the intake numbers
→ The playbook for opening new locations, and the marketing mistake to avoid in a new market
→ Where referrals went after the 2020 to 2025 boom
→ Referral partners that fit: pediatric groups, schools, police and fire departments
→ The goal of 25 locations, and why acquisitions are part of the plan

Thinking about selling your practice one day, or bringing in a partner to grow it?

Chapters
00:00 Meet Amanda Landry
01:48 12 locations, 100+ clinicians, 8,000 sessions a month
03:58 Building a big practice by accident
07:02 From therapist to CEO
08:03 Running the practice on EOS
10:07 Two marketing directors, no change in the numbers
13:58 The playbook for opening new locations
16:39 Where the referrals went after 2025
18:00 Picking referral partners that match your model
22:20 90 referral sources then, 900 now
24:33 The Chamber of Commerce and local search
25:21 The next stage: 25 locations
27:06 Consolidation and acquisitions in group practice

Mentioned: Traction by Gino Wickman (the EOS book) | Asana

About Amanda: Founder of Caring Therapists and My Private Practice Collective → https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandapattersonlmhc/

About Daniel: Buys mental health practices and helps owners sell theirs. Former M&A lawyer. Co-founder of Fireside Strategic.

Connect with Daniel → https://linkedin.com/in/danmking


Nothing in this episode is legal, tax or financial advice.

#GroupPractice #PrivatePractice #ExitPlanning