A newsletter for dietitians and clinicians who are growing a private practice on their own terms. Twice a month(ish) practical tips, encouragement, and stories to help you run a thriving, values-aligned practice. Think: insights on building and growing your private practice, tips to deepen your counseling skills and client impact, strategies to prevent burnout and stay aligned with your values, and more.
The real reason clients disappear (it's not what you think)
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You're reading another installment of Practice, Liberated, my bimonthly(ish) email where I share actionable tools, tips, insights, and strategies for growing a thriving, values-aligned private practice. Hi Reader, When you have a private practice, the question is not if but when a client will stop showing up...ghosting after a session or two, or quietly not rescheduling after they said they would. Now most of us go straight to the same place: What did I do wrong? (Yup, my brain goes there too!). Next we might think, well were they not ready? Were they not motivated enough? But here's what I've come to believe after over a decade in private practice: a lot of client drop-off isn't a motivation problem. It's a systems problem. I got into this recently while recording a podcast interview for The Growth Show with Whitney Bateson, and it cracked open a conversation I think every nutrition entrepreneur needs to have. (More on how to listen below.) The short version? When clients leave early, it's often because something in your system (e.g. your onboarding, your expectation-setting, your session structure) wasn't holding them the way they needed to be held. The good news: systems are fixable! So if you've been losing clients earlier than you'd like, here are the two places I'd start: 1. Your onboarding and expectation-setting system.
When a client comes into the first session with you, what do they already know and/or believe about the process? If the answer is unclear, or inconsistent, that is a gap.
Because when people don't understand what the work looks like, how long change takes, or what their role (and your role) is in the process, this sets them up to disengage. Not necessarily because they don't care, or aren't motivated, but because their expectations are different than the reality.
So what can you do: audit everything. Your website, your booking forms, your confirmation emails, your discovery call talking points, how you open your initial sessions. You want to ensure consistency, that every client gets the same foundational experience. Do they know that behavior change takes time? Do they know how often you generally recommend meeting, and why? Do they know the next step, and the next - do they know where they're going?
2. Your therapeutic container system.
Ok this might not be what we traditionally think of as a "system", but it is -- it is your counseling skills, operationalized.
It's not just about being attuned or caring deeply (though those matter). It's about the consistent, predictable ways you create safety and structure across every single session. How you open the session(s). How you pace the sessions. How you invite collaboration and autonomy. How you handle it when a client starts to pull away or disengage. How you repair.
The research on psychotherapy is clear: the single strongest predictor of successful treatment and good outcomes is the quality of the therapeutic relationship. We're seeing the same pattern emerge in the nutrition field. Systems support that relationship, and support developing ongoing trust and safety. With that, comes retention -- and great outcomes.
Retention isn't about keeping clients longer for the sake of it. It's about supporting the length of care that meaningful change actually requires. If you want to go deeper, here are a few resources for you: Listen to my full conversation with Whitney on The Growth Show — we get into discovery calls, intake forms, packages vs. one-off sessions, and so much more. The Client Retention Toolkit is officially on pre-sale -- and after having this conversation with Whitney last week, I decided to extend the special 50% off savings through June 15th! The toolkit is the step-by-step resource I wish I'd had years ago: the exact frameworks, scripts, and systems I use to reduce drop-off and support clients through the full arc of meaningful change. Copy and paste into your forms, templates and more -- it's all done for you! If you have any questions or thoughts, as always, I love to hear from you :) Warmly, Alissa Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, CDN, CSCS CEO & Founder, The Liberated Clinician Business Training Empower Your Practice: www.theliberatedclinician.com |
Practice, Liberated
A newsletter for dietitians and clinicians who are growing a private practice on their own terms. Twice a month(ish) practical tips, encouragement, and stories to help you run a thriving, values-aligned practice. Think: insights on building and growing your private practice, tips to deepen your counseling skills and client impact, strategies to prevent burnout and stay aligned with your values, and more.
You're reading another installment of Practice, Liberated, my bimonthly(ish) email where I share actionable tools, tips, insights, and strategies for growing a thriving, values-aligned private practice. Hi Reader, Someone posted a question in a dietitian Facebook group recently, and I thought I'd share a version of it here as I bet a lot of dietitians can recognize themselves in this (I know I can!): "I recently transitioned from clinical work to running my own private practice, and I need...
You're reading another installment of Practice, Liberated, my bimonthly(ish) email where I share actionable tools, tips, insights, and strategies for growing a thriving, values-aligned private practice. Hi Reader, If you've felt a little uneasy lately about AI and it's impact on our field, you're not alone. I've been having this conversation with a lot of dietitians over the last few months... Will AI take our jobs? Are we going to be replaced by chatbots? Will anyone want to pay for a...
You're reading another installment of Practice, Liberated, my bimonthly(ish) email where I share actionable tools, tips, insights, and strategies for growing a thriving, values-aligned private practice. Hi Reader, Last week we talked about client intake forms, and how the way we ask questions can either build trust or quietly erode it before the first session even begins. Today I want to talk about another part of your client onboarding journey: your registration form. Most of us are using...