You became a therapist because you wanted to help people. You wanted a career filled with meaning, purpose, and impact—and you’ve worked hard to build one.

But let’s be real: relying on one-on-one therapy sessions as your sole income source isn’t sustainable anymore.

Between unpredictable insurance payments, increased business costs, and the simple fact that you are a human with limited time and energy, therapists everywhere are realizing that they need more than one way to generate income.

So, what’s the solution? Diversifying your income. Let’s talk about why it matters and how you can start adding additional revenue streams without overloading yourself.

What Are Multiple Income Streams for Therapists?

Many therapists today are offering services outside of the therapy room. This can include:

• Teaching CEUs (continuing education courses for other therapists)

• Speaking gigs (trainings, keynotes, or workshops)

• Creating digital products (ebooks, workbooks, and mental health related templates)

• Consulting (helping other clinicians or businesses with mental health expertise)

• Coaching & Online Courses (though these often require a separate business and have ethical/legal complexities)

For this post, we’ll be sticking to income streams you can offer within your existing therapy business, so you can start generating additional revenue without creating a whole new venture from scratch.

Why Therapists Need Multiple Income Streams in 2025

1) Therapy Practice Revenue Can Be Unstable

Your therapy income depends on so many unpredictable factors—client cancellations, slow referral periods, insurance payment delays, and clients deciding to pause or end therapy.

With additional income streams, you don’t have to panic when your therapy schedule slows down. Instead, you can use that extra time to:

• Work on a new digital product

• Plan your next CEU training

• Offer consulting or mentoring sessions

Having multiple streams of income means you have a financial cushion that makes your practice feel less like a rollercoaster.

2) Therapy Income Depends on You Being in Your Chair

If you aren’t with a client, you aren’t getting paid.

That means vacations, sick days, cancellations, and no-shows = $0 income. Therapists often try to "make up for it" by overbooking the next week—but that’s a fast track to burnout.

And honestly? Sitting all day is hard on your body and brain.

I don’t know about you, but as I’ve gotten older, I can’t do back-to-back sessions for 8 hours like I used to. My focus is gone after 4-5 clients, and my body feels it.

By diversifying your income, you can design a schedule that works for you—one that’s sustainable for the long run. (And ultimately, that makes you a better therapist for your clients, too.)

3) Your Earning Potential Is Capped by Time & Energy

Have you ever sat down with a calculator to figure out how many clients you need to see to hit your income goals?

The problem is, you’re not a machine.

Your capacity fluctuates. Your energy shifts. Seeing 25+ clients per week might be sustainable for a while, but what happens when you start feeling emotionally drained or physically exhausted?

For many therapists (myself included), this was the turning point—realizing that my energy levels couldn’t keep up with my financial goals.

Adding additional revenue streams means you can earn more without adding more clients.

4) It Keeps Things Exciting

Designing a workbook, leading a live workshop, or creating a new template for therapists engages a different part of your brain than therapy sessions.

A diversified schedule means:

• Fewer therapy clients = Less emotional exhaustion

• More variety = More creativity and fulfillment

• Less time spent on progress notes (win!)

Packing in more and more therapy clients is not the answer—at least, not for me.

Types of Additional Income Streams for Therapists

1) Teaching CEUs

I love teaching CEUs (continuing education courses) and helping other therapists do the same.

By getting your courses approved through state or national boards (NBCC, ASWB, etc.), you can:

• Share your expertise with other therapists

• Contribute to the field

• Bring in extra income without more therapy sessions

• Earn passive income (by offering on-demand courses)

• Diversify how you spend your time

Want to get started? Grab my free CEU Course Planning Checklist to walk you through the process.

2) Speaking

Even if a training isn’t approved for CEUs, you can still get paid to teach!

For example, I’ve recently:

• Taught a group of physicians about the clinical indications for EMDR

• Led a workshop for private practice therapists on burnout prevention

The key to landing speaking opportunities? Networking. Put yourself out there, build relationships, and let people know what you can offer.

3) Digital Products (Ebooks, Workbooks, Templates)

If you’ve ever thought, I wish I could hand my clients or colleagues a guide for this, then creating digital products might be a great fit for you.

Some ideas include:

• Ebooks on a mental health topic you specialize in

• Workbooks with exercises for anxiety, trauma healing, self-care, etc

• Therapy templates (progress note templates, intake forms, worksheets)

Once you create a digital product, you can sell it over and over again without trading more of your time.

4) Consulting

I offer two types of consulting:

• Business consulting/coaching for therapists who want to add additional income streams or start teaching CEUs.

• Clinical consulting for EMDR therapists looking for case consultation and support. (Part of my therapy practice)

What experience do you have that others might want to learn from? If you have specialized training or expertise, consulting might be a natural fit!

How to Develop Multiple Streams of Income

1. Identify Your Unique Strengths – What do you love to do? What are you already great at? If you need help brainstorming, check out Topics That Transcend, my $9 course and workbook on choosing your niche.

2. Network With Other Professionals – Go to networking events, build relationships, and connect with people who serve your ideal clients. (Yes, I have dropped off donuts for front desk staff at treatment centers—still worth it!)

3. Establish Your Expertise – Invest in additional training, certifications, and hands-on experience in your specialty area.

4. Be Visible! – People can’t hire you if they don’t know you exist. Whether it’s LinkedIn, social media, or email marketing, pick one and start putting yourself out there.

Final Thoughts

Therapy is a deeply meaningful career, but it doesn’t have to mean working yourself into the ground.

Adding multiple income streams doesn’t mean you’re leaving therapy behind—it means you’re creating a practice that works for you.

Which income stream are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments! ⬇️