The 6 Skills That Prove You Can Make Money as a Consultant
If you’re a therapist or coach looking at consulting, let me give you the truth—nobody comes out of the womb knowing how to lead strategy sessions or advise organizations. The best consultants may have natural talents, but make no mistake, they are skilled. They’ve practiced. They’ve invested time in learning how to add value.
Here are six skills that will make or break you in consulting:
Analytical Skills
Think about how you assess clients, you collect data, notice patterns, and use that information to make decisions. Consulting is no different. You’ll need to look at numbers, processes, or policies and figure out what story they tell. You don’t have to turn into an accountant, but getting comfortable with finance, market research, and outcomes measurement will set you apart.
Communication and Presentation
You already know how important communication is, but consulting raises the stakes. It’s not just about checking in with a client, it’s about presenting ideas in a way that decision-makers can act on. Active listening, clear writing, and confident presenting will carry you farther than the fanciest slide deck ever could.
Problem-Solving
As a therapist or coach, you’ve solved problems at the human level. Now you’ll be solving problems at the systems level. A consulting problem might look like: “Staff are burned out, retention is tanking, and revenue is dipping.” You’ll need to think critically, weigh multiple options, and recommend the path that creates the best outcome. Corporations come to you with problems, sometimes they have an idea of solutions, sometimes they are wrong. Your job is to be right.
Project Management
If you’ve ever juggled 20 clients, kept notes, billed insurance, and still made it to your kid’s soccer game, you’ve done project management. But consulting requires taking those skills up a notch: budgets, timelines, and managing teams. Familiarizing yourself with project management approaches (Agile, Scrum, even just a solid Gantt chart) will help you run a smoother process. BTW, I don’t believe that you need to be a Scrum master to do this and I am not, but knowing that these systems exist or having someone on the team who loves projects can help.
Leadership
You can’t be a consultant without being able to lead. This is bigger than guiding a client through a session. As a consultant, you’ll often lead groups, facilitate difficult conversations, and motivate teams to make real change. It’s not about being the loudest voice, in fact sometimes you are not loud at all. It’s about creating the conditions for everyone to succeed.
Industry Knowledge
Here’s where most helpers fall short: we know therapy and coaching, but consulting requires you to step into someone else’s world. If you want to consult with schools, corporate HR, or healthcare organizations, you need to learn their language and pain points. You can get better at this. Read industry publications, attend their events, and sit in the rooms where those conversations are happening. And the most important part of this, ask great questions. Your outsiders viewpoint can actually be a strength. Because you don’t have any attachment to business as usual, you can suggest alternatives that leaders may not have even considered.
Bottom line: Don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect at all six right away. Consulting is a skill set you build over time, just like your clinical work. Every bit you add to your toolbox will make you more valuable, more confident, and more in demand.
Want to sign your next $10k or $100k consulting client? Check out the Beyond The Couch course TODAY.