Add a New Revenue Stream to Your Speech Therapy Private Practice with Carly Dorfman

Feb 11

There’s a moment many private practice owners reach where growth stops feeling exciting and starts feeling exhausting.

Your schedule is full. Your waitlist keeps growing. Families need support. And somehow, the only solution you’ve been taught is to add more one on one sessions or work longer hours. The work matters, but the pace is wearing you down.

This conversation with Carly Dorfman came from that exact tension.

Carly is a pediatric speech therapist and the founder of KidNection. Her work began like many clinicians’ stories do, with one on one therapy and a deep commitment to helping families. What changed was her willingness to question whether the traditional model was the only way to serve well.

Seeing the limits of one on one care

Early in her private practice, Carly found herself with a growing waitlist and very limited availability. She didn’t want to turn families away, and she didn’t want to sacrifice time with her own kids by opening more sessions.

At the same time, she started noticing something important. Many of the most meaningful moments in therapy weren’t happening only with the child. They were happening with caregivers.

Parents wanted to know how to support language development, regulation, and connection at home. They wanted strategies they could actually use in daily life, not just during a session.

Instead of trying to squeeze more into individual therapy, Carly asked a different question. What if families could be supported together?

That question became the foundation for her parent and me classes.

Why parent and me classes actually work

One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is how intentional Carly’s approach is. These classes are not casual playgroups or vague enrichment. They are structured, purposeful, and grounded in development.

Parents are active participants. They learn what to look for, how to respond, and how to support their child outside of therapy. Children benefit from social connection, movement, and play. And therapists are no longer carrying the entire responsibility for progress on their own.

It becomes a shared process.

That shift changes outcomes for families and changes the emotional load for clinicians. Progress doesn’t live in a single session anymore. It lives in everyday routines.

For Carly, these groups also solved a business problem in a way that felt aligned. She could serve more families, create leveraged income, and design a schedule that didn’t depend on being in a one on one room all day.

The identity shift from therapist to CEO

Another important theme in this episode is identity.

Many clinicians own businesses but still see themselves only as therapists. That mindset makes it hard to set boundaries, charge appropriately, or build something that can function without you doing everything.

Carly shared how stepping into the role of CEO changed how she made decisions and how she viewed her work. That shift became even more clear when health challenges forced her to slow down.

When a business relies entirely on you showing up every day, there is no margin for real life. Building systems, programs, and group offerings is not about ambition. It is about sustainability.

Why implementation matters more than ideas

Carly’s work has grown to include training other professionals to run parent and me classes in their own communities. What stands out is her focus on implementation.

Not just ideas, but scripts. Structure. Legal considerations. Real-world problem solving.

Therapists don’t need more information alone. They need clarity. They need models they can actually use.

This episode is a reminder that growth does not always mean adding more. Sometimes it means designing something smarter. Something that supports families and supports you at the same time.

A different way to think about expansion

If you have been curious about groups but unsure where to start, or worried they would not fit your practice, this conversation offers a grounded perspective.

Parent and me classes are not a replacement for therapy. They are an expansion of it.

They allow you to build community, deepen impact, and create space in your schedule. They give families tools that last beyond the session. And they give you options.

You do not have to overhaul your practice. You do not have to decide everything today. But you are allowed to question whether the way you have been doing things is the only way.

If your waitlist is long, your energy is low, or you have been feeling that quiet nudge to try something different, I hope this conversation with Carly helps you see what might be possible.