Align Therapy Shop

I know some people are going to watch this reel and think, “Okay Krysteena, but VC-backed companies like Alma or Headway got me clients.” or “Alma helped me leave my agency job.”

That’s great! But what I’m asking you to consider is this: if those referrals disappeared tomorrow, would you know how to replace them yourself?

These companies are evil, and trick you into thinking that you are building stability when they’re really building dependence on another company.

The company may have changed, but the dependence didn’t.

You’re still relying on referrals you don’t control, reimbursement rates you don’t control, policies you don’t control, and decisions you don’t control.

And if you’ve been following me for ANY length of time, you know that what I care about MOST is getting therapists to a place where they KNOW how to create stability for themselves, not just leaving insurance “just because”

If you’re here, you are probably a therapist who knows this isn’t sustainable and already WANTS to get off insurance but nobody taught you HOW to do it besides, “Just leave!” Gee, that’s helpful. Thanks. 🙄

Therapists were taught how to be therapists, but were never taught how to market themselves, generate demand, or fill a caseload without depending on a third party.

If that idea feels intimidating, you are the EXACT type of therapist who would benefit from The Private Practice Lab, my 90-day program that teaches you how to get off insurance and fill up a caseload of cash pay clients, without the hustle.

If you want to learn how to do that, comment CORE, and I’ll send you my FREE guide on how to get private pay clients.

At the end of the day, the question isn’t: “Is Headway bad? The question is, “If it disappeared tomorrow, would your practice still grow?”

And if not… how much longer are you willing to wait before you learn how to build stability you actually own?



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Wanting to phase out insurance panels and build a full caseload of private-pay clients is one thing.

Putting in the work to build the visibility engine to attract them is another.

Inside The Private Practice Lab, we work on the foundations therapists must MASTER first in order to get those results:

→ niche clarity
→ SEO
→ website strategy
→ referral relationships
→ fee confidence
→ Instagram that actually supports your practice
→ and systems that help your caseload stay full

“But Krysteena, I don’t think I need to learn those. I already have those things.”

Great, you are one step ahead! But also, respectfully, then why isn’t it working?

Having a niche, website, Psychology Today profile, referrals, and posting consistently on Instagram is one thing. But truly mastering those subjects and knowing how to turn them into a system that consistently brings in private-pay clients is another.

If you’re tired of guessing which part of your private-pay marketing is broken, comment CORE and I’ll send you the 4 areas I’d look at first to book private-pay clients.



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Do you really have a marketing problem or do you have a differentiation problem?

Most therapists have a differentiation problem, and the way to solve this is through branding.

Try this:

👉🏻 Open up Psychology Today and look at 10 therapists in your niche.

How many say some version of:
“Helping women heal.”
“Providing a safe space.”
“Supporting clients through life’s challenges.”

Now ask yourself: Could your ideal client tell the difference between you and any of them?

⬇️ If not, here are 3 simple ways to make your branding stronger (save this for later!):

1. Identify 3 life experiences that shape how you help clients today.
For my practice, that might be things like being a cycle-breaker, enduring IVF, showing my crafty side, or being a mom.

2. Write down the beliefs you hold that other therapists might disagree with. For example, for this business I believe therapists should learn how to market themselves instead of depending entirely on insurance companies for referrals. For my practice, I believe couples can learn to have equal + fulfilling relationships, even if they were never taught how to.

That’s part of my brand.

3. Ask yourself: “Why would someone choose me over another therapist with the exact same license?”

Your answer should not be: “Because I care more and I’m really good at what I do.” Most therapists care and are really good at what they do.

The answer is usually hidden in your story, experiences, approach, personality, and perspective.

While your brand might look “professional”, that’s not the goal. The goal of branding is to help the right client look at your profile and think: “THIS therapist gets me more than any other therapist.”

If you want to learn the specifics of how to do this, The Private Practice Lab is where students learn how to master this so they can confidently leave insurance and book private pay clients.

🚨 But if you comment CORE I’ll send you my FREE guide for the 4 things you must know if you want to leave insurance panels and fill a caseload full of private pay clients in 90 days. 🚨

Most therapists look at a chart like this and immediately focus on the income.

I don’t. I focus on the 21 extra therapy sessions. 😬

Because that’s where your evenings go that you could’ve spent at home having dinner with your kids. That’s where your weekends go that could’ve been spent on a romantic dinner date with your partner.

That’s where your energy goes and where the resentment starts.

If you’re currently feeling more like the therapist on the left, i’m guessing you’re already doing a LOT of the things you were taught to do to be a “good therapist”:
👉🏻 you’re on insurance because it feels stable
👉🏻 you’ve joined directories
👉🏻 you’ve built a website
👉🏻 you occasionally post on Instagram
👉🏻 you’ve collected certifications and trainings
👉🏻 you’re trying really hard to make the math work in a sh*tty economy

And yet what you hear from most people online is “just increase your rates!” or “just post more on Instagram so you can get a few more clients!” 😑 (This is my face when I hear this, btw), because that’s not at all helpful.

The therapists I see successfully transition to private pay have mastered:
✅ how to replace insurance referrals with inquiries from their own marketing
✅ how to set an aligned private-pay fee based on real numbers, not just vibes
✅ how to position their niche so the right clients KNOW they’re worth paying out of pocket for
✅ how to talk about private pay with clients without overexplaining, guilt, or spiraling
✅ how to phase out panels strategically

Because the goal was NEVER just making $200k. The goal is being able to take time off on a random Tuesday at 1:35pm because your son’s school let out early… and not feeling a pit in your stomach about the sessions you aren’t seeing.

Comment LAB and I’ll send you the details on The Private Practice Lab, my 90-day implementation program that helps therapists build private-pay demand - ethically, strategically, and sustainable.



[private practice therapist, private pay therapist, therapist business coach, business coach for therapists, marketing for therapists, private practice tips]

If you don’t want to spend the next 10 years wishing you had learned how to phase out insurance sooner, comment ACCELERATOR and I’ll send you my vault to help you navigate the client + insurance conversations that make this shift easier.

If your practice is fully booked, but the only answer still feels like “more clients because that’s just the economy right now”… I want you to consider that this might be a business model problem instead.

(And listen, if you’re happy on insurance and genuinely love the practice you’ve built, great. This reel isn’t for you. This is for the therapist who is fully booked, exhausted, and know they can’t keep doing this forever.)

Most therapists have been told this is just the reality of the field: Insurance reimbursement is low, the economy is tough, everyone is struggling.

This is just how it is.

But if that were true, how do therapists all over the country build profitable private-pay practices every single year?

The biggest lie therapists have been sold is that struggling financially is just part of helping people. And the frustrating part is you’re already working SO hard to be THIS burnt out and resentful of the work you’re so passionate about.

Most therapists respond the only way they know how:
→ take on more clients
→ get another certification
→ join more insurance panels
→ hope it eventually feels stable

But insurance isn’t stability. Stability is knowing how to generate clients with or without insurance.

That’s what therapists inside The Private Practice Lab are learning every month: how to trust themselves to market, fill a caseload, and create stability outside of panels.

If you want to take your first baby step towards that, comment ACCELERATOR and I’ll send you my vault with scripts and templates to start that conversation with insurance panels and clients.



[therapist burnout, therapist income, therapist salary, how much do therapists make, cash pay therapy, out of network therapist, group practice owner]

Yes, you can ABSOLUTELY phase out of insurance without burning your whole practice to the ground (thank God 🙌🏼!)

In fact, therapists in my Private Practice Lab do it all the time.

But if I had to guess, I’d bet the question that you’re REALLY asking is “How am I going to replace the referrals + income insurance was giving me?”

(Because you already know it’s possible. You’ve seen other therapists do it.)

Leaving insurance is one thing… building a fully-booked private pay caseload so you don’t have to crawl back to the same panels that were exploiting and underpaying you is another.

What you need to learn is:

→ how to replace insurance referrals with inquiries from your marketing
→ how to set an aligned private-pay fee based on real numbers, not just vibes
→ how to position your niche so the right clients KNOW you’re worth paying out of pocket for
→ how to talk about private pay with clients without overexplaining, guilt, or spiraling
→ how to phase out panels strategically instead of impulsively dropping everything and praying

I KNOW it’s terrifying to make this change. But tell me what’s scarier? Taking a calculated risk to build something different… or changing nothing and being in the exact same place for the next 10 years?

When you learn how to do those things, you stop feeling like one cancellation, one policy change, or one insurance company decision can throw your entire business into chaos.

That’s exactly what I teach inside The Private Practice Lab.

Comment LAB and I’ll send you the details 🫶



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I don’t know when therapists became the one profession expected to absorb everyone else’s financial hardship while ignoring their own.

When I worked in community mental health, it was common for staff (therapists and other behavioral health professionals) to talk about which food pantries were best in the area, as many clients were on food stamps. There’s absolutely no shame in this, but it did always feel odd to me that therapists often needed to receive the same govt assistance as their clients.

And yet therapists are still told charging sustainable fees is “greedy.” 🙃

I am the primary earner in our home. If I was stuck in the martyr mentality I was trained in, my family wouldn’t survive.

$27 a billable hour, which is what I was making in an agency, is not sustainable for supporting a family.

I moved to Boise from LA 11 years ago for a cheaper cost of living. Yet cost of living has tripled here in the last decade.

Does anyone ever consider that making the decision to go private pay + premium fee is an act of survival within a corrupt system?

Not an “greedy” action? You can care deeply about people AND charge appropriately.

Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

⬇️ If you want to learn how to phase out insurance completely and make more with a fully-booked private pay caseload, comment ACCELERATOR and I’ll send you the exact steps I teach therapists to transition toward private pay today.



[therapist humor, therapist memes, private pay, therapist, therapy, private pay practice, business coach for therapists]

⬇️ If you want to learn how to phase out insurance completely and make more with a fully-booked private pay caseload, comment ACCELERATOR and I’ll send you the exact steps I teach therapists to transition toward private pay today.

I received an email recently from a fellow therapist that absolutely FLOORED me. It said,

”Dear Krysteena, I like to think I pay pretty close attention to things like inflation…but I figured you may not know that the last 6 years of inflation have been 28%.”

TWENTY. EIGHT. PERCENT.

I’ve seen therapists in Facebook groups doing the math and pointing out that if insurance reimbursement had actually kept pace with inflation, many therapists would be getting paid dramatically more than they are today.

Instead, many of us are expected to absorb rising costs year after year while reimbursement barely moves.

Back in the 80s, the insurance reimbursement rate averaged at $70 an hour, and now it's still only on average, $85 an hour. 🙃

People think, “I can't raise my fees because everyone is struggling.” It’s like, well… the world is getting more expensive.

The world is getting more expensive. If you want your practice to survive, your fees cannot stay frozen in time forever. You HAVE to do this.

And I promise you, it does not make you less of a compassionate, ethical therapist to do so.



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