For many psychologists and psychotherapists, opening a solo private practice represents the ultimate form of professional independence. You set your own fees, manage your schedule, choose your clients, and keep 100% of what you charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first glance, joining a group practice can seem like a step backward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why would you agree to give a percentage of your session fees to a clinic when you could simply keep the entire amount yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s a reasonable question. But it overlooks an important distinction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping 100% of your revenue is not the same as keeping 100% of your earnings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And perhaps more importantly, being responsible for every aspect of your practice isn’t necessarily the same as having professional freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine you’re a psychologist charging $170 per session in your own private practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You see 20 clients per week, generating approximately $14,790 in monthly revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That sounds like a healthy income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But how much of that money are you actually keeping?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running a private practice involves expenses that are easy to underestimate, particularly when you’re managing everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider the typical costs of operating independently in Montr\u00e9al:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Illustrative 2026 Montr\u00e9al planning estimates.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With approximately 87 sessions per month, that’s already $22\u2013$40 per session in expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your $170 session is now worth approximately $130\u2013$148 before taxes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we haven’t accounted for your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you operate independently, you’re not just a psychologist or psychotherapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re also your own receptionist, intake coordinator, billing department, marketing manager, bookkeeper, and practice administrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about the time you spend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These tasks may seem relatively minor individually. But together, they can easily consume several hours each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And those hours aren’t free simply because you’re the one doing the work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s say you spend eight hours each week managing the non-clinical aspects of your practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across 20 client sessions, that’s another $48 per session in opportunity cost<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This raises an important question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is doing your own scheduling, billing, and marketing really the best use of your time?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider two scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first, you work independently and charge $170 per session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the second, you collaborate with an established group practice that charges $185 per session and pays you $120, while providing your office, referrals, practice management software, and administrative support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Illustrative example based on 20 sessions weekly, $31 in operating expenses per session, and eight administrative hours per week valued at $120\/hour. Excludes income taxes and clinical duties that remain the clinician’s responsibility.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly, the $65 retained by the clinic looks rather different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For clinicians seeing 10 clients weekly, assuming half the office rental cost ($750\/month) and four hours of weekly administrative work, solo practice economic earnings would be approximately $76 per session, compared with $120 at a group practice\u2014a difference of $44 per session, or approximately $1,900 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of thinking about it as money you’re giving away, consider what you’re receiving in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are essentially outsourcing the infrastructure and operational demands of running an entire practice, while also gaining a community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the right circumstances, you end up financially better off, even while receiving a smaller share of the session fee.<\/strong> This has yet to account for the tax deductions you can apply to your take home account<\/p>\n\n\n\n The distinction matters: your immediate cash earnings may be higher independently, but a clinic can offer better overall economic value when administrative time can be redirected toward paid clinical work or other meaningful priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joining a group practice doesn’t necessarily mean becoming an employee or losing the tax advantages of self-employment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many group practices collaborate with clinicians who operate as independent contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means clinicians may continue to report self-employment income and deduct eligible professional expenses, even while benefiting from the clinic’s infrastructure and administrative support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively, some clinicians may prefer the security and predictability of employment over self-employment. Depending on the group practice, joining a clinic may also open the door to salaried positions, paid leave, employee benefits and other forms of employment support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are advantages that solo practitioners generally have to finance and arrange for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most overlooked challenges of solo practice is that attracting clients takes work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can have excellent clinical skills and still struggle to maintain a consistent caseload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managing inquiries, filling gaps in your schedule, replacing clients who have ended therapy, and converting prospective clients into regular appointments all require ongoing effort. Similarly, building and maintaining a website, developing an online presence, and establishing referral networks demand significant time, energy, and financial resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And an empty appointment slot isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s lost revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At an established clinic, you can benefit from an existing reputation, marketing infrastructure, established referral relationships, and a dedicated intake team who takes care of keeping your caseload full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A clinic cannot guarantee that every available hour will be booked, but access to an established referral network and administrative system can significantly reduce the time and effort required to build and maintain your caseload. Instead of spending hours attracting and scheduling new clients, you can focus on providing excellent care to those referred to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is another common concern, and perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about working in a group practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many clinicians associate solo practice with freedom and group practice with restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But consider what autonomy actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it having to answer every client email yourself? Managing last-minute cancellations? Troubleshooting software problems? Coordinating office rentals? Handling administrative issues outside clinical hours?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or is it having more control over how you spend your professional time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrative independence and professional autonomy are not the same thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A well-structured group practice can offer clinicians substantial flexibility over their schedules, availability, clinical approaches, and professional development while removing much of the administrative burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At MindSession, we believe that collaboration shouldn’t come at the expense of professional identity. Clinicians bring their own expertise, therapeutic approaches, and clinical judgment to their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal isn’t to take away independence. It’s to provide the infrastructure that allows clinicians to exercise it more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, autonomy depends on the specific clinic’s policies and contractual arrangements. Clinicians should always understand these before entering a collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even a favourable financial comparison doesn’t capture the full value of joining a group practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solo private practice can be surprisingly isolating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might spend your entire workday seeing clients without having a meaningful conversation with another professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a group practice, there are opportunities to connect with colleagues, exchange perspectives, build professional relationships, and feel part of something larger than your individual caseload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working alongside other mental health professionals creates opportunities for consultation, peer supervision, interdisciplinary collaboration, and continued learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complex clinical questions don’t always need to be navigated in isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having access to a community of colleagues with different areas of expertise and perspectives can be professionally enriching and support clinical growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An established clinic may provide furnished consultation rooms, waiting areas, secure electronic health records, booking and billing systems, administrative procedures, and the operational infrastructure necessary to support clinical services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than investing time and money into building these systems independently, you arrive at a space that’s ready for clinical work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being part of a clinic can also open doors to professional experiences that are harder to develop alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At MindSession, our vision of a collaborative practice goes beyond simply sharing office space. We value opportunities for clinicians to participate in community initiatives, fundraising, conferences, workshops, training, public talks, professional outreach, and projects that contribute to the clinic’s growth and broader mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For clinicians interested in expanding their professional involvement, these opportunities can offer meaningful ways to develop their careers beyond individual therapy sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A clinician with a full caseload, low overhead, strong referral sources, and efficient administrative systems may earn more operating independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for many clinicians, the calculation is considerably more complicated than comparing session fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more relevant question isn’t:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"psychologists-group-practice-montreal.webp\t\n\npsychologues-clinique-groupe-montreal.webp\n\nPsychologists](\"https:\/\/www.mindsession.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/psychologists-group-practice-montreal.webp\" "\\"The")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Illusion of Keeping 100%<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Expense<\/th> Estimated monthly cost<\/th><\/tr> Office rental<\/td> $1,300\u2013$1,700<\/td><\/tr> Practice management software, payment processing, marketing, insurance and accounting<\/td> $629\u2013$1,785<\/td><\/tr> Total monthly operating expenses<\/strong><\/td> $1,929\u2013$3,485<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The Most Expensive Hidden Cost: Your Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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If you could earn $120 per clinical session by joining a clinic (your clinical earning potential), those eight hours represent an additional $960 in potential weekly earnings. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLet’s Look at the Numbers Differently<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Per-session comparison<\/th> Solo practice<\/th> Group practice<\/th><\/tr> Client session fee<\/td> $170<\/td> $185<\/td><\/tr> Amount received before expenses<\/td> $170<\/td> $120<\/td><\/tr> Estimated operating expenses<\/td> \u2212$31<\/td> Included<\/td><\/tr> Estimated administrative opportunity cost<\/td> \u2212$48<\/td> Largely eliminated<\/td><\/tr> Estimated economic earnings<\/strong><\/td> $9<\/strong>1<\/td> $120<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n What About Taxes? The chance to choose. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
More Clients, Without Having to Find Them Yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Does Joining a Clinic Mean Giving Up Your Autonomy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Benefits That Don’t Appear on a Spreadsheet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A professional community instead of professional isolation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Clinical support, consultation, and shared learning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A fully equipped professional environment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Opportunities beyond individual psychotherapy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So, Is Solo Private Practice Really More Profitable?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n