If you are a therapist in private practice, you are a business owner. As such, you need to know what you want that business to look like. I call this "The Vision."

Here are some key components:

• What is your mission?

Here is mine: "I coach, train and support great clinicians in the 8 key strategies to help them attract the clients they want and get paid well for it."

• Who is your ideal client?

Whom do you wish to serve? Knowing this can help you be known in the community for whom you help. Referrals will come easier.

• How do you help them?

People coming to therapy today want to know you have a plan for them...a plan to help them reduce their pain. I encourage you to think about what you do so you have a good answer to the question "How do you do that?"

• What services do you offer?

Do you see insurance clients? Are you on managed care panels? Do you see people several times a week or just once? Do you have 30, 45, 60, 75 or 90 minute sessions? Consider having a "Menu of Services" for clients in their intake paperwork.

• What are your office hours?

Do you have evening, early morning or Saturday appointments? Do you have enough time in your office hours for marketing your practice and administration?

• What hours do you see clients?

Do you want to have a couple of busy days with back-to-back clients or do you want to see clients more days with less clients per day?

• What are your office policies?

How do you handle emergencies, cancellations and no-shows?

• What do you charge for your services?

Do you have a standard fee or do you have a sliding scale? If so, what is that range of that scale? Do you offer a lower fee if people come more than once a week? Do you have "slots" for lower fee or pro-bono work? These are individual choices and you get to decide.

• What would your ideal client say they wanted from therapy (in their own words?)

In order to reach new potential clients, you need to speak their language. Seriously consider what your ideal client would want from therapy. (Hint: usually it is to have someone else change.)

• How can you let ideal prospects know who you are and what you do?

This is your marketing plan. Where does your ideal client hang out? How can you become known to them? Who else services them with non-competing products and services? What is your plan to reach potential clients and referral sources?

Some well-meaning therapists try to develop the marketing plan before they identify their vision. Don't make that mistake. If you know your vision, your marketing plan becomes easy to develop.

So, what is your vision?