This Trusted Place with John-Paul Davies: Mental Health, Therapy & Becoming a Therapist
Aug 11, 2026 · 56 min · 13 segments
Send us Fan Mail What does it really take to build a private therapy practice that you can sustain for years? There are lots of things we learn…
Lindsay PercivalGuest
John-Paul DaviesHost
Yes, I mean that's really, uh, because if you're looking at starting out, a- as I'd said in the intro as well, and I've done a couple of videos about bringing in clients, and about how to do that, and be on social media as much as you can, how to connect with people, with local networks, all those kind of things, how to connect to, uh, to bring more clients in.

Uh, but I was a- aware of course in order to do this over decades, you do have to be able to sustain that.

It's not necessarily just about the number of people, is it? And if you bring in lots of people, you then have ongoing psychotherapeutic relationships with them.

So things to bear in mind at the beginning, you mentioned something there about the kinda personality types, about empathy, you know, having empathy with boundaries, for example.

Caseloads and number of clients rather than it just being about getting as many people as possible.

Well, I think absolutely that, that it really isn't about the number of c- clients-

... um, and even where, you know, money is a necessity, this is a job, a real world job that we're doing.

Uh, you know, for some people maybe different circumstances, but generally speaking we're doing this and we need to make a living, uh, out of it, too.

The number of clients that you can hold, uh, within your practice that you know feels comfortable.

And, you know, it also depends on your personal circumstances, where you are in your life when you start out.

I was a single parent, you know, so my circumstances were very different in terms of what I had to manage and the expectations that there were, um, at home as well.

So I think it's about having the sense of you want to do good quality work.

You want to have good outcomes, and if you're just thinking about numbers and how many you can get into your practice, you will spread yourself very thinly, and I think that's when, you know, uh, certainly you are at risk of burnout.

And it also depends on the complexity of the client presentations as well.

Yes, I mean that's really, uh, because if you're looking at starting out, a- as I'd said in the intro as well, and I've done a couple of videos about bringing in clients, and about how to do that, and be on social media as much as you can, how to connect with people, with local networks, all those kind of things, how to connect to, uh, to bring more clients in.

Uh, but I was a- aware of course in order to do this over decades, you do have to be able to sustain that.

It's not necessarily just about the number of people, is it? And if you bring in lots of people, you then have ongoing psychotherapeutic relationships with them.

So things to bear in mind at the beginning, you mentioned something there about the kinda personality types, about empathy, you know, having empathy with boundaries, for example.

Caseloads and number of clients rather than it just being about getting as many people as possible.

Well, I think absolutely that, that it really isn't about the number of c- clients-

... um, and even where, you know, money is a necessity, this is a job, a real world job that we're doing.

Uh, you know, for some people maybe different circumstances, but generally speaking we're doing this and we need to make a living, uh, out of it, too.

The number of clients that you can hold, uh, within your practice that you know feels comfortable.

And, you know, it also depends on your personal circumstances, where you are in your life when you start out.

I was a single parent, you know, so my circumstances were very different in terms of what I had to manage and the expectations that there were, um, at home as well.

So I think it's about having the sense of you want to do good quality work.

You want to have good outcomes, and if you're just thinking about numbers and how many you can get into your practice, you will spread yourself very thinly, and I think that's when, you know, uh, certainly you are at risk of burnout.

And it also depends on the complexity of the client presentations as well.
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