Why Most $10K Practice Accelerator Programs Fall Flat (And What to Do Instead)
I’ll never forget the first time someone told me they spent $10,000 on a practice coaching program.
I wasn’t bold enough to ask at the time, but what I wanted to know was, WHAT THE HECK DID YOU GET THAT WAS WORTH $10,000?!?
I was a little sticker shocked at the time, but after being in business for 10 years, I know that it’s not at all uncommon for people in the mainstream business world to spend $20,000 to upwards of $100,000 for a year of ‘high-level’ coaching or a mastermind.
What surprises me about most of the programs that target clinicians is they don’t come with even a fraction of what you get at those mortgage-priced programs. When you look at what you’ll get with most of the $10k programs targeted towards private practice owners, you’ll see a bunch of people, who have NEVER run a practice BTW, teaching you in their best bro marketer voice one or more of the following:
Setting up your Google Business profile
Making your website stand out with SEO
Optimizing your traffic with a sales funnel
Using social media to get clients
And it’s not that this information isn’t helpful. But you can patch together a few dozen hours of YouTube searches or even purchase a business development course that will lock you in on the nuts and bolts of those things for way less than $10k. These topics aren’t wrong. But in 2025, they are NOT enough.
Not when you’re trying to build a thriving practice that doesn’t run you into the ground.
Not when you’re competing online against companies who have $10,000 plus a month to spend on ads.
Not when none of that gives you a solution for the insurance rates being slashed and everything else being more expensive than ever.
The Problem with Cookie-Cutter Programs
Most “accelerator” programs were built on models that worked in 2020 or 2015. But the practice landscape is changing faster than the handouts in those courses can keep up with. In fact, when you check out one of these programs and you’re on the call with the sales rep, aka client success agent, you should ask them if they have personally run a practice at all or if they are still running one today. If the answer is no, you might want to take a closer look.
Referrals from doctors? Much slower these days. Because many doctors barely have time to see their patients, so they are less likely to send them to you. Or worse, they send you the wrong clients and you waste time screening and referring them without even getting paid. If you don’t have a solid outreach plan to stay top of mind, this won’t build you a practice like it did years ago.
Mailing lists? They can work wonders, but if you don’t want to maintain them or know how to get people off of the list and onto your books, you end up with a bunch of people who will sign up for anything and never take action.
SEO? Yes, it matters, but when AI can spit out 100 keyword-optimized blog posts in 30 minutes, being “SEO friendly” isn’t the game-changer it used to be. PLUS those ads that people are paying for pretty much guarantee that the top 5 links in your zip code will never be you.
And yet… these are the same recycled tips being sold for $10,000 a pop.
What Therapists Actually Need in 2025
Here’s the truth: you do NOT need more information. You literally have information pooling out of your ears. And so much of it contradicts itself anyway. You need a strategy that fits you, your location, and your vision for the future.
What works for someone in a rural town in Indiana is not what works for someone in New York or Miami. And what works for a solo practitioner doesn’t work the same for a group practice.
Instead of old-school tactics, you need to be thinking about:
Modern visibility – video, thought leadership, and platforms where your perfect clients actually spend time.
Revenue diversification – not just clients on the couch, but also contracts, consulting, and creative services that corporations already pay for.
Business models with staying power – because let’s be real: insurance clawbacks, tech platforms, and burnout are not going away in the immediate future, so you need a plan that doesn’t require you to mortgage your home just to stay afloat.
That’s what moves you from “scraping by with Psychology Today leads” to a profitable, sustainable practice.
Why 1:1 + Real-Time Coaching & Consulting Beats a $10K Course
Here’s the part nobody selling the big shiny programs will tell you:
You don’t need $10,000 worth of information. You need real-time strategy and accountability.
When you sit down with someone who’s actively running a business (not just selling a course), you can skip the fluff and focus on:
What’s actually working right now.
What fits your unique market.
How to implement without adding 40 more hours to your week.
The practice that I currently run has been in business for 14 successful and profitable years and I have been overseeing operations for 6 of them. It includes between 10-15 clinicians, depending on whether we have interns or not and we have multiple income streams that do NOT rely on insurance panels. Because we have systems and operations support in place, I have the time to do what I love, coach other therapists to cut through the noise. And I’ll tell you what I tell my clients:
If a $10K program meets your needs, it is worth every penny. But if it leaves you with more questions about how to fix your business, than it’s not even worth $200, or the time you spent listening. Bottom line: It’s not about the dollar amount, it’s about the return on your investment.
My Approach
I don’t sell hype. I don’t believe you need to be upsold into a year-long program to finally “make it.” I do offer a three month program for you to get my one-on-one partnership for a quarter in your business. For most people that is worth every penny because it includes a course for those foundational business development pieces that grad school didn’t give you but it also gives you monthly strategy calls with me and unlimited access to me over Voxer so that you never feel stuck or alone.
What you’re going to get in those monthly sessions:
Practical, modern strategies for building a practice in 2025 (not 2015). The ones we use, review and adjust in our practice right now. The ones that I’ve learned from other industries and customized to work with our legal and ethical guidelines as clinicians.
Flexible support that allows you to build whether you’re postpartum and have a completely new vision of what you want your practice to be or you’re finally ready to step beyond the couch and own your expert status.
Real talk about what it takes to build profit and protect your peace. I do not care what Alex Hormozi says, I do not work around the clock and I do not believe that you need to either.
You don’t need someone else’s tired model, you need clarity and a path forward.
If you’ve been turned off, or worse, burned by a pricey accelerator, or you’re you’re just curious about whether you should sign up for one, here’s my advice: Ask yourself what you actually need, information, implementation, or income strategy. Then ask them about how they will provide what you need and make the choice that gives you exactly that. Most accelerators and incubators aren’t built to give you all 3, but my personalized approach can do just that.
If you want someone to help you see what’s possible for your practice, without a 5 figure commitment, we should chat. My strategy sessions are the perfect way for you to get a sample of what working with me is like and as a bonus you walk away with the answer to one of your biggest challenges in your business. In 60-90 minutes you’ll walk away with clarity and solutions and a clear path forward.
[Schedule a call with me here]
Because the truth is, there is a good chance that you do not need a $10K program to build a thriving practice. You just need the right plan for you.