Goals for Mental Health Therapists in the Last Quarter

Written by Kelsey Someliana-Lauer, Therapy Practice Solutions Virtual Assistant

For mental health therapists, August tends to be a busier time: kids are returning to school, vacations are ending, and the holidays aren’t too far away, which all amounts to more clients at mental health practices. August is also the final month of the third quarter of the year. Aside from third quarter taxes being due on September 15th (you’re welcome, small business owners!), the beginning of the fourth quarter marks the final chunk of the year to achieve your 2022 goals.

Thus far in the year, you may have established your mental health practice’s brand and vision for the year. You most likely set goals for the number of clients seen per week and income. You’ve probably already made a budget and are more or less sticking to it. So, what’s left to do in the final quarter of the year?

If you are looking for some new goals to set for the last quarter, check out these three final quarter goals for mental health private practice owners!

Get Content Prepared for the Holidays

Though November and December seem so far away, it’s not too early to make a social media calendar for the holidays! The beginning of the fourth quarter is a great time to make social media content regarding seasonal depression, social anxiety related to holiday gatherings, family conflict, and so on. You can make your blog posts and social media graphics now, and just hold on to them until the months of November and December. You can also schedule them using a program like Facebook/Meta Business Suite and just forget about them!

Make a Plan for Caring for Clients During Holidays

If your mental health practice is like most medical offices during the holidays, you can anticipate tons of

cancellations as families are traveling, having their own celebrations, and taking vacations towards the

end of the year. September is the perfect time to make a game plan on how to deal with reduced income

due to those cancellations.


Similarly, you may be taking off time during the holiday! It’s better to begin sooner than later with your

holiday planning. Will you ask another therapist to be on call in case a client needs crisis help? You’ll

need to connect with a colleague, sign a BAA, and communicate with your clients regarding what

situations they can reach out to this trusted therapist for. Will you only check your email and phone at

certain hours of the day, or only once a week? You’ll need to let your clients know that. Will you be

canceling two weeks worth of sessions? Clients will need to know far enough in advance so they have a

chance to reschedule if necessary.


Think Ahead to the New Year


In the fourth quarter, one of your goals should be to write down what you did achieve this year and

what you didn’t quite get around to. Your wins and losses for 2022 should inform your goals for 2023!

It will be far easier in January for you as a mental health practice owner to set some Q1 goals if you

already have written reflections about what you need to aim for. Do yourself a favor in Q4 of 2022 by

writing down achievements as well as wishes as you notice them.


We hope this blog helps you begin thinking ahead to the fourth quarter of the year for goal setting as a

mental health practice owner! If you want some help achieving your goals, a Therapy Practice Solutions

Virtual Assistant is the perfect teammate. Virtual Assistants can help with social media content creations,

scheduling clients, returning phone calls/emails while you’re on vacation, and so much more. If you’d

like a teammate to help you make the most out of the fourth quarter, reach out today.We look forward to hearing from you!

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