Miles Halvorson of Fargo, North Dakota asks,
Is it possible for a psychotherapist to start a private practice out of one’s home, rather than rent office space? What are the drawbacks and limitations?”
Hi, Miles! Thanks for writing. You ask a really good question. The short answer is “Yes, it’s possible” but the longer answer is “. . . but I highly advise against it until you have considerable and varied experience behind you.” Here’s some questions for you to consider when deciding whether or not to work from home:
Do you have a separate entrance to a professional and private home office and bathroom? You, your family, and your clients deserve a professional and private space in which to do your clinical work.
Where will clients wait to see you? Do you have a waiting room? In their car? On your front porch? Will they have privacy from your neighbors while they wait?
How will you deal with door-to-door salesmen, postal workers and other deliveries that show up while you are in session? Those interruptions actually happen all too often unless you take steps to prevent them.
What plans do you have for dealing with threats or violence? Your unhappy clients, their unhappy spouses, and their unhappy friends can show up. You need to be prepared with a way to keep everybody safe.
How will you handle clients who have lousy boundaries? Clients will call at 2 AM and they will show up without appointments and they may wander through your home or refuse to leave when they are upset.
How will you handle clients (or wanna-be clients) who decide to stalk you? And, how do you explain to your family and neighbors without violating confidentiality. (Yes, this really does happen.)
How do you protect your non-work time when you are at home 24-7? Boundaries tend to come with experience – lots of experience.
How do you protect your client records and your workspace from prying eyes? Will your office be off-limits to guests and other family members? Even when there are sleepovers and you are needing the extra space?
Are you willing to put in phone lines and designate a computer solely to your work? You can’t expect to appear professional if your phone is answered by a 10 year old or by your partner. And, neither can you share your computer with others if it has confidential information on it.
What are the tax implications? Yes, there are some financial benefits but there are also some financial costs to officing at home.
Here’s the bottom line . . . . Most clients that seek psychotherapy have a trauma history and most clients with trauma histories struggle with boundaries. Until you have impeccable personal and professional boundaries of your own and are experienced enough to effectively manage your client’s boundary issues, I would advise you against hanging out your shingle on your own front door.
Hi Tamara, as usual you have hit the nail on the head!
I have worked for the past five year out of my home while employed part time with a non-profit agency and full time after I started my consulting business.
One’s personal safety is always of paramount importance and your comments provide excellent guidelines.
Some of the issues identified by my home based colleagues is the invasion of privacy that results from having a home office. This is not just the phone calls that come at highly inconvenient time, but it is also the fact that your office and work is constantly in view.
The temptation to answer that ringing phone, check emails, do a bit of work on that report is very high. What you thought might take only a few minutes might turn into a few hours.
Your family needs time to adjust to your working out of home. You are so convenient! Talking with your partner and family to clarify family and work time boundaries is important.
Working at home brings with it a sense of professional isolation. I miss the contact, conversations, and support from other professionals.
I set up a password protected computer, locked file cabinets, designated phone and fax lines – the things I did not really consider at the beginning of my adventure. Now as I look about my office: I need even more storage for promotional materials, training manuals, and my ever expanding professional library.
Working out of my home? I love it!
Dianne
Dianne, it sounds as if we have taken the same journey. And, I’m so glad that you mentioned the professional isolation! Yes! I would be so very lost without my consultation group! I say . . . every therapist needs one but if you are in private practice, don’t hang your shingle without one!
Thanks for dropping in today, Dianne! It’s always good to hear from you!
Great information Tamara! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
Miles
Hi, Miles! It’s good to see you here. Thanks for dropping in! Hope you’ll be back often and take the time to let me know how I can support you on your journey.
Hi Tamara. I am so glad I found this site. I was recently considering opening a private practice from home but this gives me new ideas to consider. Nice to meet you and your website! Linda
Hi, Linda and welcome! I hope that when you drop back in you’ll introduce yourself and tell us about your work!
Looking forward to seeing you here as we continue to build our online community of support!
A dear friend had her office in her home. A disgruntled client murdered her then committed suicide. Be very careful if this is your choice.
Verline! Thanks so much for sharing this story! What a nightmare! You are so right that it can be very dangerous to work from home. So much depends on the population you are working with and your ability to accurately assess any given individual’s stability . . . and, of course those can certainly deteriorate over time.
Your comment is a good example of “Provider Beware!” And, it’s a good reminder for me to write a post about safety / security regardless of where you see your clients.
Thank you for taking time to comment here. This comment may be the most valuable one I’ve received over the past year . . . . You may save someone’s life.
I so appreciate your contribution here and on the discussion list that we are on . . . and look forward to hearing from you again soon!
Thank you for your information.
I have a quick question about residential and commercial zoning.
If one decides to practice from home, what are the legal implications?
Thanks for your feedback in advance.
David
Hi, David! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out! What is it that you do?
Many residential areas do place restrictions on operating businesses from homes. To know what those restrictions are that apply to you, you will need to contact you local jursdiction. I know that when I moved into my home in Colorado, I learned that for my neighborhood, home businesses were allowed as long as they did not significantly increase the traffic in the area. I’m not sure that that is what you are asking about, David. If not, feel free to clarify.
I’m considering beginning a private psychotherapy practice from home. I plan to see children & adolescents, and women needing support around infertility and/or pre & post natal issues (adjusting to life with a new baby, depression, managing the transition).
Upon initial consideration, these seem like very safe clients to see in my home (anxiety, depression, ADHD, friendship and family matters, school and social concerns, grief or blended family issues, etc.
I have a lower level in my home with a separate entrance on the back side of the house that leads out to a brick patio, a lawn and a path to a parking area.
Unfortunately there is not a restroom on that floor, and clients would have to go up the stairs and use the restroom on the first floor. No one will be home when I’m seeing clients so it’d be private for them, but it does mean they’d have to cross over into my family’s living space. Your thoughts?
Hi, Jenny! Congrats on starting your business in your home! It’s not just your clients that you need to consider when thinking about safety. You also need to consider the possibility of their spouses, other family members, their friends, and coworkers also being a potential risk to you and your family. Make sure you have a safety plan in place to protect your clients, you, and your family members, too. Thinking through all the possible scenarios ahead of time will give you the edge on keeping everyone safe rather than waiting and being caught off guard.
And, yes, that bathroom upstairs and across your family’s living space is not ideal. What would be ideal (but may or may not be possible) is to have a second restroom put downstairs next to your office. If you do not have the ability to do that, then consider the possibility of having doors put in that allow you to lock off the other areas of your house. If something of value goes missing in your home after your client has gone to the restroom, your clinical relationship with your client may be impaired if either you believe or she feels like she is suspect.
Thank you for this article. It’s concise and helpful. I am thinking of moving my practice to my house after 13 years of working at an office and I’m trying to decide if it’s a good idea or not. What you are writing about experience and boundaries helped me a lot.
Hi, Lida! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out!
I worked in a traditional office setting before relocating to a home office.
Initially, I hated the change; but, after relocating to a different house that was better suited to a home office, I found it to be a great solution.
I was able to throw a load of laundry in when a client stood me up, not have to stress about driving in winter weather, could grab lunch in my own kitchen, and save at least 2 hours / day in drive time to and from a traditional office!
I hope you’ll hace the same experience and drop back in to tell us how it goes for you!
Hi,
I’m wondering if you’re aware if you are doing a private practice via teletherapy do you put your residential address as the business address for the business license application? I am trying to provide therapy to clients safely with COVID from my home so we will be doing all sessions on the computer or phone, but I recently moved and need to apply for a new business license.
Lindsay, thanks so much for dropping in to ask this.
It’s a question I get almost every single week now.
Your business address will be where you do most of your business.
That is likely your home based on your description here.
Occasionally, a therapist will have a desire or need to not disclose their home location.
Then, you may choose to use a virtual business address.
A virtual business address is a brick and mortar address where you choose to receive your business mail and packages.