Starting a private practice can feel both exciting and overwhelming—especially for clinicians who want to build a business that aligns with their ethics, values, and commitment to social impact. This 4-session series is designed for helping professionals who are ready to explore entrepreneurship through a trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and advocacy-centered lens.

Participants will gain a foundational understanding of the essential legal, ethical, financial, and operational steps involved in launching and sustaining a private practice. The workshop will examine key business decisions, including insurance-based versus private-pay models, marketing strategies, and client engagement practices, while centering accessibility, equity, and community care.
In addition to practical business tools, attendees will explore the emotional and relational aspects of entrepreneurship, including common limiting beliefs around money, visibility, and professional worth. Through reflection, discussion, and applied planning activities, participants will begin developing a values-driven business and marketing plan that supports both professional sustainability and meaningful community impact.
Whether you are considering private practice for the first time or preparing to take the next step toward launch, this workshop offers an empowering introduction to building a practice that is ethical, sustainable, and aligned with your mission as a clinician.
Session Topics Include:
– Business 101: Building the Foundation
– Insurance vs. Private Pay: Ethics, Access, and Autonomy
– Money Mindset and the Therapist’s Relationship with Abundance
– Authentic Marketing and Client Relationships, Marketing with Integrity and Purpose
Session Information:
Four (90 minute) Bi-weekly sessions on Thursdays:
Thursday, Sept. 17th, 2026
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 2026
Thursday, Oct. 15th, 2026
Thursday, Oct. 29th, 2026

Learning Goals
- Describe how entrepreneurship and private practice can serve as advocacy and social change tools.
- Identify the legal, ethical, and financial steps to establish and sustain a private practice.
- Compare insurance-based and private-pay models from accessibility, ethical, and financial perspectives.
- Apply trauma-informed and culturally responsive approaches to business building and client engagement.
- Reframe limiting money beliefs to promote professional sustainability and empowerment.
- Develop a business and marketing plan that reflects advocacy, ethics, and community impact.
Instructor

Cecily Moore
PhD, LPC-MHSP, LMHC
Dr. Moore is a faculty member in the AUNE counseling department. Currently, Dr. Moore lives in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with her spouse and two children. Dr. Moore is a military spouse and owns an online counseling practice working with Black professional mothers. Dr. Moore specializes in addressing the SBW narrative, depression, career-related stressors, career trauma, and perinatal mental health concerns. Dr. Moore is trained in EMDR, play therapy, solution-focused therapy, and perinatal mental health treatment protocols. Dr. Moore loves to read and considers herself a lifelong learner.




