Why So Many Counsellors Struggle to Get Clients (And What Actually Works Instead)

Why So Many Counsellors Struggle to Get Clients (And What Actually Works Instead)

I didn’t start out as a counsellor.

For 20 years, I worked in operations and marketing in the hospitality industry. I was trained to run structured, branded businesses. The kind where you understand what drives results, where systems matter, and where growth isn’t left to chance.

It worked.

In fact, it worked so well that people rarely left.

There were golden handcuffs. Cars. Pensions. Security.

But I felt unfulfilled.

I could run a business.
I just didn’t feel like I was living my own.

So I left and retrained as a counsellor.

And that’s where something didn’t sit right.

The Message Counsellors Are Quietly Given

During my training, there was an unspoken shift.

Almost like the business side of me needed to be removed.

Not explicitly. But through culture, language, and expectation.

Charge less.
Don’t focus on money.
Don’t be too visible.

As if helping people and building a sustainable practice were somehow in conflict.

I remember thinking…

That doesn’t make sense.

Because I had seen what happens when a business is built properly.

Structure doesn’t reduce care.
It supports it.

What I Did Differently

When I qualified over 20 years ago, I made a decision.

I wasn’t going to abandon what I knew.

I was going to combine it.

I took my understanding of people from counselling…
And merged it with my knowledge of systems, marketing, and positioning.

Not perfectly. Not all at once.

But enough to notice something important.

Clients came.

Not by luck.
Not by hoping someone would find me.

But because the practice was built to work.

What Happened Next

Other counsellors started asking what I was doing.

So I showed them.

And something interesting happened.

They started getting clients too.

For years, I travelled around the UK delivering training for organisations like NCS and BACP.

Room after room of highly skilled counsellors…

Who were brilliant at their work.

But often invisible.

What they didn’t need was more training.

They needed clarity.
They needed connection in their messaging.
They needed visibility.

In other words, they needed a practice that was built, not hoped for.

From Training Rooms to Online Community

Over time, this work evolved.

From in-person training…
To frameworks…
To something more structured.

Today, that’s become the Private Practice Success Club.

A space where counsellors learn how to build a practice that actually works.

Not just clinically.

But practically.

The Question I’m Sitting With Now

After all these years, I find myself at a crossroads.

Do I keep this accessible?

Low-cost. Open. Helping as many counsellors as possible build something sustainable.

Or do I take it further?

Higher-level. More focused. Working deeply with a smaller number of practitioners.

Both models work.

But they create very different businesses. And very different lives.

So right now, I’m deciding what the next version looks like.

What I Do Know

I know this.

Counsellors shouldn’t be waking up wondering where their next client is coming from.

They shouldn’t be underselling themselves because of outdated narratives about money.

And they definitely shouldn’t be doing life-changing work while quietly struggling to make their practice work.

There is a better way to build this.

I’ve seen it.
I’ve lived it.
And I’ve helped others do it too.

If You’re a Counsellor Trying to Make Private Practice Work

You don’t need more theory.

You don’t need to start again.

You need a structure that supports you.

You can explore that for free inside the Private Practice Success Club.

👉 https://www.skool.com/private-practice-success/about

Come and see what it looks like to build a practice that is clear, visible, and sustainable.

No guesswork.

No performance.

Just something that works.