Solo Private Practice Guide

Starting your own outpatient psychotherapy practice can feel overwhelming.

There are so many questions:

• Where do I start?

• What paperwork do I need?

• How do I get credentialed with insurance panels?

When I opened my own solo private practice in 2025—without using a credentialing service—I quickly realized how difficult it was to find clear, step-by-step guidance. So I created the resource I wish I had when I was getting started.

Introducing the Solo Private Practice Guide

A practical roadmap designed to help therapists launch their own solo outpatient psychotherapy practice in Illinois, with greater clarity, confidence, and less stress.

As I built my own practice, I took notes along the way, allowing me to provide you with:

• Step-by-step instructions for each task

• Answers to the questions I ran into

• Helpful resources

• Insider tips and lessons learned

• Retrospective advice on what I wish I had known sooner

I created this guide so other clinicians don’t have to spend hours piecing together information from multiple sources—or learning everything through trial and error.

What’s included:

Step-by-step guidance for opening a solo outpatient psychotherapy practice in Illinois, including:

• Establishing your business with the State of Illinois

• Credentialing and paneling with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare

• Setting up Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA)

• Verifying client insurance benefits

• Completing insurance directory verification

• Working with Telligen

• Additional resources, notes, and practical tips throughout the process

What’s not included:

This guide is focused specifically on helping you get your practice up and running. It does not cover:

• HIPAA compliance training: I recommend completing HIPAA Privacy & Security training to ensure your practice complies with federal and state law.

• Billing operations after launch: This includes submitting claims, appealing denials, managing audits, or handling clawbacks. You may choose to consult with or hire a billing professional.

• Group practice setup: This guide is designed for clinicians starting a solo practice, not those planning to immediately hire additional therapists.

Why this guide?

Because opening your practice shouldn’t feel confusing or unnecessarily complicated. With the right roadmap, you can minimize your expenses and time spent searching for answers—and spend more time building your practice.

This guide is intended for educational use only and does not constitute psychotherapy, clinical supervision, diagnosis, or professional mental health care.