With 2025 just around the corner, what can self-employed therapists expect for their practices? What can they expect for the business of therapy at large? 

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The field of therapy is forever changing and evolving. So is the playing field for small businesses. Making precise predictions is impossible—but we can try.

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We turned to LinkedIn to ask professionals working in the mental health space what they expect 2025 to bring. Here’s what they had to say—and what you can do to meet these changes head on. 

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Clients will increasingly favor in-person therapy (or they won’t)

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an enormous upsurge of interest in remote therapy. Many therapists moved their practices entirely online, and stopped seeing clients in person.

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Remote therapy is still a popular choice, both for therapists and clients. But some professionals believe the pendulum is beginning to swing back, and clients will favor in-person sessions in 2025.

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“Much stronger preference for in person therapy versus telehealth,” said Jennifer Christensen, Co-Founder & CMO of Beacon Media+Marketing, which helps therapists in private practice market their businesses. “Big shift this year,” she added.

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“Many clients request or prefer in-person therapy. A majority lean toward the in-person connection, without a screen,” noted licensed psychologist Kris Bronson, Ph.D.

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“The majority of my folks are in person. That was always the case for me. But it may just have been the people in my area. They wanted in person as soon as possible the world opened back up,” added Brent Metcalf, LCSW, group practice owner of Tri-Star Counseling.

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“In a lot of virtual therapy messaging spaces I am hearing therapists are having trouble filling their practices. Even those who have been there for quite a while,” said Lena Johnson, LICSW, owner of Roundtable Therapy and Consulting.

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Others believe many clients will still favor online sessions, but push for a hybrid model that features in-person meetings as well. 

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“Just spoke to a practice owner who said that the trend has been requesting the first few sessions in person and then moving online,” said Avivit Fisher, Founder of REdD Strategy, a marketing consultancy focusing on mental health private practice owners.

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“My clients who offer virtual therapy only, haven't had a drop off due to inability to see people in person,” she added.

What you can do

• If your practice is 100% remote, consider seeing in-person clients on a part-time basis, targeting the local market.
• If your schedule is full and remote therapy clients keep coming your way, stay the course—you’re doing something right.
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Competition will continue to grow, and therapists may drop their rates 

The mainstreaming of psychotherapy, public conversations about mental health, and better mental health awareness overall have encouraged many people to pursue therapy as a career and go into practice for themselves.

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“Mental health professionals and social workers will increase in demand more than what we are seeing now,” said social impact consultant and racial equity and DEI strategist Gary Taylor, LCSW. 

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“The help people need will go beyond just psychotherapy. More people will need a multi-layered approach to receiving help. Ultimately, increasing mental health challenges,” Gary added.

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However, even as the demand for therapy increases, the number of therapists practicing has increased as well. Some therapists are beginning to feel the pinch.

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“I think the current trend of less slots filled from clients is not due to poor marketing or less clients, there’s more providers in the field now, too,” said Maxim Arbuzov, a therapist in private practice. 

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Maxim believes private practice rates may begin to drop, rather than rise. “I have NP (nurse practitioner) colleagues noting they make more money on counseling than medication management in some markets,” he added.

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Marcy Pullard, LCSW, a therapist in private practice, said the problem is “too many under qualified brand new grads, recently licensed, joining the field with a goal of going into private practice.” 

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She added that, “Sadly most do not want to do traditional social work… community or government agencies, where some of the best skills are learned.”

What you can do

• Focus on developing specialties that target a specific niche, helping you to stand out from the pack.
• Pursue ongoing education to upgrade your skills and remain competitive.
• Market your practice in your local community. There may be potential clients in your area who will favor a local therapist over one they find online.

Finding a niche and investing in marketing will become even more important for private pay therapists

With rising competition, therapists who don’t receive in-network referrals (e.g. after getting credentialed with insurance companies) will need to work harder to keep bringing new clients in the door.

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“I think that many private pay practices that don’t invest in marketing will go back to accepting insurance,” said Avivit Fisher.

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“What I’ve observed is that there are a whole lot of therapists who do not niche and do not have any specialized skills,” said Patricia Kozlowski Ptak, LPC, a therapist in private practice.

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“CAC (customer acquisition cost) will continue to increase for solo practices and smaller group practices not accepting insurance in certain regions,” predicted Jaclyn Satchel, LCSW-S, a licensed clinical social worker offering consulting services and one-on-one coaching.

What you can do

• Consider accepting insurance. Our complete guide to insurance credentialing for therapists is a great place to start.
• Review your current marketing efforts, and build a marketing budget that doubles down on the most effective methods of finding new clients.
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Therapists accepting insurance may get a boost

“With the final rule on parity cracking down on NQTLs, I predict (optimistically) that rates for therapy will see an increase in 2025,” said Jeremy Zug, who specializes in insurance billing for therapists at Practice Solutions.

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Non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) are, in effect, limits that health benefits plans put on the coverage of certain treatments, including psychotherapy. 

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For a closer look, you can check out this article. New laws require health plans to offer coverage for mental health treatments that is on par with coverage for physical health treatments. And that may mean more people can afford ongoing therapy. It’s good news if your practice accepts insurance. 

What you can do

• If you’re ready to take advantage of a potential boost in clients with insurance coverage, consider getting paneled. Check out our complete guide to insurance credentialing for therapists.

Therapists will turn to alternative income streams to prevent burnout (and earn more income!)

Burnout is real, but also avoidable. Many therapists are managing their own mental health by recognizing the warning signs and, when necessary, turning to alternative income streams to relieve professional pressure.

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Those alternative income streams may include consulting, public speaking, or professional coaching. Others find their niche providing online courses or workshops.

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“I think more and more therapists will see our skills as a skillset that can be deployed beyond the therapy room,” said Dr. Melvin Varghese, a psychologist who coaches therapists in building non-clinical revenue streams like podcasting and online courses.

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“A trend I suspect will continue: more and more private practice therapists are finding ways to provide therapy part-time and find other sources of income in their remaining time, largely in an effort to prevent burnout,” added Dr. Hannah Weisman, a clinical and business operations leader in the healthcare industry.

What you can do

• Learn about the symptoms of burnout, and set realistic goals as a therapist
• If you think now may be the time to branch out, check out our complete list of income streams for therapists.
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AI is still controversial, even if some therapists already use it

Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT promise to automate a range of tasks, including many therapists’ daily routines. Some therapists are already using AI to automate note-taking and common written communications.

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“We are at the precipice of massive change for the field. The integration of tech into mental health practice will likely make us more efficient and effective,” said Dr. Samuel Lustgarten, a psychologist in private practice.

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He anticipates a wide range of changes, from EMHR services integrating AI note-taking and dictation into their apps, to large-scale pattern recognition in mental health institutions, to the adoption of counseling bots. 

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“AI apps/bots/conversational technologies will be used to supplement and/or replace traditional, human-to-human psychotherapy,” he added.

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But others are less optimistic about the role AI will play in 2025 and beyond. 

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“Unless licensing changes, bots can’t provide therapy,” said Patricia Kozlowski. She suspects some therapists “may try to rebrand things as a mental health technician or mental health coach, but it will not be a suitable replacement for a licensed therapist.”

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And Marcy Pullard warns any therapists who are thinking of using AI to handle documentation that it may not be the one-stop solution they think it is.

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“AI doesn’t help when you don’t have good assessment skills or interventions and you can’t put 5 words together to make a sentence,” she said. “AI is only as good as what is inputted—trash in is trash out.”

What you can do

• Explore ways AI may be able to speed up certain routine tasks like note-taking, but be cautious. You could end up spending more time fiddling with AI apps and correcting their errors than you save in simply preparing notes.
• Avoid any client-facing AI interactions for now (e.g. website chat bots, worksheets, articles generated by AI). There are legal and ethical issues to take into account, and using AI could potentially compromise clients’ trust in you as a therapist.

Different incomes, different types of care

With demand for therapy growing among people at all income levels, the way therapists market themselves—and the choices clients make choosing therapists—may begin to diverge along class lines.

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Therapist and private practice owner Tayyibah Chase broke it down. “Those that cannot afford therapy at all will continue without or through CBOs (community-based organizations),” she explained. 

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Meanwhile, she predicted that many clients with small budgets for therapy will turn to “the marketing efforts of “Big” mental health tech companies that saturate online marketing.” She added that many small practices struggle to connect with clients because of the hold large companies have on marketing channels like Google search results.

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According to Chase, clients who have ample budgets for out-of-pocket care are most likely to seek referral through their peers. 

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“Niche therapists that have happy clients will continue to get referrals by word of mouth and potentially retain the client base,” she claimed, partly because their clients can afford to keep going to therapy and partly because clients with health benefits are finding new ways to be reimbursed for therapy through their insurance companies.

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Shannon Albers, a mental health marketing professional, has noticed a new trend among clients who are financially well-off. “I’m seeing a lot of trauma coaches with large Instagram followings who charge quite a bit for one-on-one sessions and workshops,” she said.

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She added that some clients are paying upwards of $6,000 for nervous system regulation workshops from professionals with large social media followers. Those professionals are more likely to be somatic practitioners than trauma-informed therapists.

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“There is also a lot of interest in self healers groups again in lieu of traditional therapy,” Shannon noted.

What you can do

• Take your ideal client’s therapy budget into account when you market your practice.
• Devote a portion of your marketing budget to experimenting with approaches that don’t rely on SEO (eg. podcast ads, online communities).
• Continue to build a strong referral network through relationships with community groups, professional organizations, and other therapists.  

Therapists will continue to flock to private practice

One trend shows no sign of changing in 2025. It’s practically guaranteed that therapists will continue to go into practice for themselves. 

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“More and more practitioners choosing private practice because they are done being underpaid,” predicted Divya Shah, a mental health entrepreneur and advocate.

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Whether it’s all about earning a better income, or whether other factors like professional autonomy play a role, more therapists in 2025 will be driven to build their own practices. 

What you can do

• If you run your own practice, or if you’re considering going into practice for yourself, learn how Heard can help.

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Looking for big-picture insight into therapy practice trends? Check out the Heard 2024 State of Private Practice Report.

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This post is to be used for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, or tax advice. Each person should consult their own attorney, business advisor, or tax advisor with respect to matters referenced in this post.

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Bryce Warnes is a West Coast writer specializing in small business finances.‍

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