Asking "How Do Counselors Get More Clients?" Might Be Hurting Your Counseling Practice.
- Jordanthecounselor
- Sep 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 16
At Private Practice Incubator (PPI), our consulting firm where we help clinicians launch their practices, I often meet with counselors who ask the same question.
"How do counselors get more clients?"
I usually cringe when I hear it. I cringe because I think it's the wrong question.
Why "How do counselors get more clients?" is the wrong question.
When counselors ask this, I usually counter with, "Well, how long do you keep clients? How many sessions does your average client stay in therapy?"
They then look at me like I have two heads. "What does how many sessions a client comes for have to do with getting new clients?"
Directly, it doesn't. Keeping clients in therapy longer won't do anything for getting more clients, at least not in the short term. The reason I ask that question is because how long you keep clients tells me how many clients you need.
Think about it this way. If you got one new client a month but kept each client for 200 sessions, it would take you 20 months to get a full caseload of 20. You'd know it would take just under two years to get full. On the other hand, if your average client only comes for one session, you'd need 20 new clients a week—or 80 a month—to stay full.
That math is important, but there's another reason I ask how long clients stay. And it's the real reason I cringe.
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The Real Problem is Retention, Not Recruitment
Most of the counselors who reach out to me don't have a problem getting clients. They have a retention problem.
It could be that they simply aren't a very good therapist. I don't know for sure, but some research suggests that between 25-60% of clinicians are ineffective with a large portion of their caseload.
But that doesn't have to be it. It could be a host of different things:
Payor Source: One of the things we've noticed in PPI is that insurance clients stay much longer in therapy than private-pay clients. If you want to start a practice, it's often easier to build with insurance clients first.
Client Fit: Many clients are avoidant of the very issues they need to address. If you're a therapist who pushes your clients to change, they may drop out more often than if you were a therapist who doesn't challenge them.
Whatever the reason, what I know is that many clinicians aren't doing the kind of therapy that compels clients to come back again and again. So, when thinking about how to get more clients, the real answer lies in learning to retain them. It's where you'll get the most bang for your buck.
Practically Speaking: What to do next
Practically, this means two things.
First, to run your practice effectively, you need to know your metrics. Go back through your last 30 intakes (preferably 60) and tally up how many sessions each and every client attended.
The temptation is to dismiss or not count clients who came for only one session, but those early-session dropouts are actually where you have the most room for improvement.
Our rule of thumb in PPI is 12-15. You generally need to average about 12-15 sessions per client to sustain a caseload. If your number is lower than that, we'd suggest getting training in client retention.
Where to Go From Here
What kind of training helps with this? We believe the most effective training for retention is learning to manage client motivation and resistance.
We actually have a training coming up on Friday, October 24th, 2025. We'd love to have you.
We only have 5 spots left. Here's what others say about our training:
If that training doesn't work for your schedule, you can also check out these resources:
I hope this serves you.
Jordan (the counselor)
Jordan Harris and Paul Peterson are co-founders of Private Practice Incubator, a consulting firm dedicated to:
Helping clinicians earn more money.
Helping clinicians help more clients.
If you'd like to learn more about launching your practice, visit us here.
Jordan Harris
Jordan Harris, Ph.D., LMFT-S, LPC-S, received his Doctor of Philosophy in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Louisiana Monroe. He is a licensed professional counselor and a licensed marriage and family therapist in the state of Arkansas, USA. In his clinical work, he enjoys working with couples. He also runs a blog on deliberate practice for therapists and counselors at Jordanthecounselor.com
Paul Peterson
Paul Peterson is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in the state of Arkansas. He has certification and/or training in EFT, hypnotherapy, and mindfulness as well as adult psychological development models. He's been in the mental health field since 2015 and in 2019 worked with a team of authors to publish a content analysis in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. The content analysis reviewed almost 1,000 research articles and tracked trends in publishing and clinical effectiveness research. He has also published a book on a Wholeness-oriented approach to contemporary Christian faith. He gives regular training on clinical skills, hypnotherapy, and business skills for solo practice therapists.
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