Determining Your Caseload

Figuring out how many clients you should take on can be a struggle, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s important to have a mindset that allows you the freedom you wanted when you started your own business.

Determining Your Caseload

How many clients should be on my caseload? This is a normal question to have when you are starting a private practice. But the answer is not a straightforward number. The answer is however many you want.

Did you forget that you are your own boss? It’s easy for me to forget all the time. In fact, sometimes I think I’m still going to get fired. Depending on what method you might be thinking about in how to determine this number, I would urge you to think twice about what the average caseload number for therapists are out there.

When I googled this question, “What is considered a full-time caseload for a therapist?” The first thing that popped up was 30 hours a week. And I think the mistake in that question is what many new therapists mistakenly do as well, which is compare your private practice to your previous full-time job and what seems equivalent.

When I was working in an agency, I would see 20 plus clients a week, in addition to running a group. I would usually see 4 clients a day, but mostly in the community, so there was a lot of driving time to be factored in. Then there were staff meetings, individual and group supervision and note writing, which I had to do outside of regular working hours. You can guess what happened: burnout.

I chose private practice so I can have the freedom to create my own schedule, choose my own clients, and basically work however many hours I want. And I’m guessing you did the same. So I give you full permission and empower you to think of a number that works best for you. You might find some questions helpful to spark your thinking.

How many clients a day is my limit? I know that for me, my limit is 4 clients in a day. I’ve tried to go over that number in the past, and by client 5, I can feel myself being unable to concentrate, feeling tired and to be quite honest, find it very difficult to stay present. But I do know of therapists that can see 6-7 clients in a day. It's important to be in tune with how you work and how you feel.

How many days a week do I want to work? Knowing how many days a week you want to dedicate to seeing clients can be helpful. If you know you want to work Monday through Friday, 5 days, and can only see 4 people in one day, then that leads you closer to the idea of 20 clients, which seems like a lot in my opinion. Don’t forget to factor in all the admin work, note writing, billing, paperwork and time spent marketing, networking and planning.

What do I want my schedule to look like? Thinking about your schedule might be a helpful tool because if you decide you only want to see clients in the mornings, Monday through Friday, then you can figure out how many client slots you can open up in that time frame.

Another way to determine caseload, is to work backwards and think of your ideal income and do the math. But I think this can get tricky and can quickly teeter into burnout if you are just focused on an ideal income number.

When it comes down to it, the truth is, this job is different. There is a lot of working through client’s struggles and a lot of emotional heavy lifting that comes with being a therapist. You need down time and that should be factored in instead of you thinking of how I can maximize client hours for the most income. It’s important to think about how our caseload will work for you, and not how you can work for your caseload.