In this episode of The Money Sessions, Tiffany sits down with therapist Kara Cruz, who began building her private practice while working full-time in community mental health. Like so many clinicians leaving CMH, Kara started out charging relatively low fees and trying to grow her caseload during evenings and weekends while balancing the demands of a full-time job. But as her practice evolved, Kara began thinking more strategically about sustainability, impact, and income. Over time, she raised her average fee from $100 to $225 per session and began expanding beyond traditional one-to-one therapy by developing scaled offerings like therapy groups, consultation, and trainings for other clinicians. Her journey highlights an important truth for many therapists: a sustainable practice doesn’t have to rely solely on individual sessions. In this conversation, Kara shares how she moved from burnout and overwork toward a practice model that includes multiple revenue streams and greater flexibility.
Listen to the episode:
In this episode, Kara will share:
- Kara’s transition from community mental health to private practice
- The challenges of building a caseload while working a full-time job
- Why raising fees often requires both financial and mindset shifts
- How Kara increased her average session fee from $100 to $225
- The role therapy groups and consulting play in scaling a practice
- Why therapists benefit from diversifying income streams
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Resources mentioned
More about Kara
Kara Cruz is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Perinatal Mental Health Specialist, educator, and private practice owner based in California. She runs a signature Women’s Group, helps therapists design and launch their own groups through Therapist Group Bootcamp and specializes in reproductive mental health, ADHD, trauma, and mood and anxiety conditions, with a passion for helping women heal from self-abandonment, people-pleasing, and burnout.
