Nothing You Do Is Wasted.

Jordanthecounselor
2 hours ago
2 min read

By Jordan Harris, Ph.D

Two smiling men in plaid and gray shirts. Wooden and greenery backgrounds. Bright, cheerful expressions. — Paul Peterson and Jordan Harris

What We Learned Running Private Practice Incubator.

From 2022-2025 I ran a small consulting firm with Paul Peterson. We helped clinicians go from having no practice, to having a fully booked practice, to having a plan for financial independence in 9 months.

We've since shut down the practice. Here's what I learned.

The Opportunity Spiderweb.

One of the things Paul and I slightly disagree on is marketing. Paul says we got lucky. Most of the clinicians we worked with in PPI didn’t come from our marketing efforts. We’d write a blog post, put it on facebook, and no one would reach out. Rather most of our clinicians came through work of mouth. Someone heard about us through a friend and decided to reach out.

I don’t think we got lucky. I think someone reaching out through a friend shows our marketing worked.

The reason I make this distinction is because I think it’s insanely valuable to simply do things. My worry is if you read Paul’s version of our story you’ll walk away thinking, “well that didn’t work. It was all luck,” and then you won’t take action. The way I see it, opportunities are literally flying past us all day long. Each time we create something it’s like adding a strand to a web that can catch these opportunities. The more you do, the more strands you have, and the easier it is to catch the opportunities that come your way.

Bright orange and black spider on a symmetrical web, set against a blurred green background. The mood is calm and focused.

So yes, we did not get a lot of clinicians in PPI through our direct marketing efforts. But each blog we wrote exposed us to more clinicians, and each training we gave demonstrated our expertise to other therapists. We were building our web. It was all useful. You can just build things.

Best,

Jordan (the counselor)

Jordan Harris Ph.D, LMFT-s, LPC-s, is a specialist in what makes a master therapist. He regularly offers trainings teaching this skills of master therapists. You can learn more about Dr. Harris's trainings 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 You can find him on linkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-harris-lpc-s-lmft-s-418412301/

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.