AASW Webinar Recording | Pathways into Private Practice

Member price: $60.00 including GST (member price will display once logged in)

Non-member price: $120.00 including GST

Have you ever considered starting a private practice but don’t know where to begin? Building a successful private practice can be a rewarding journey, allowing social work professionals to draw on their professional values and unique perspectives to provide high quality support to their clients.

While social workers have a wealth of clinical knowledge and experience, taking the leap into private practice can be daunting. Becoming a small business owner often requires an unfamiliar way of thinking, which can present a challenge to those who are considering starting their own practice.

This webinar explores what it means to work in private practice and common motivations for doing so, encouraging participants to identify their own motivations for wanting to start a new business.

Common challenges in starting a private practice are also discussed, including logistical requirements such as setting up a fee structure and finding a suitable location for clients.

Pathways into private practice are explored, alongside discussion of possible forms of support and guidance. The identity, structure and necessary supports for a business are also discussed – all decisions which must stem from a clear understanding of the client.

"Fantastic presentation - covered all my questions and worries about going into private practice and helped shift me from a place of uncertainty to one of motivation and excitement to get started" – webinar participant, March 2022.

"A really useful overview of all the considerations to make prior to jumping into private practice" – webinar participant, March 2022.

Who should register? Social workers or allied health professionals who are considering, or are in the very early stages of, setting up a private practice.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

• Identify their motivations for, and the viability of, moving into private practice
• Consider the requirements and pathways to a new private practice
• Explore and define their prospective business’s identity, client base and professional supports

Presenter

Cherie Gillett (B.BHS, M.SW (professional qualifying), AMHSW) has over 15 years of social work experience, providing support and counselling to children, adolescents and adults in areas including sexual assault, trauma and mental health. Additionally, she provides supervision to social workers who are new to private practice, and is a board member and social convenor for the NSW branch of Social Work in Private Practice (SWiPP). Cherie was also a specialist counsellor at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Assault.

Since 2018 Cherie has owned and run a private practice, where she works primarily in the field of trauma with a focus on sexual assault and domestic violence. Cherie is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with AASW, Medicare service provider, and approved counsellor for the Department of Veterans Affairs and NSW Victims Services. In addition to providing counselling and supervision services, Cherie has also developed online training products designed for social workers.