16 Books for Therapists and Practice Owners

Fostering a culture of “lifelong learning” is crucial for the success of your practice or agency.

At Checkpoint EHR, one of our strategies for promoting continuous self-investment and education is by reading and discussing books as a team.

As clinicians, you’re likely already immersed in clinical resources and the latest research from leading experts like Peter Levine, Gabor Maté, and Judith Herman, not to mention updates from the ACA and Psychology Today.

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 16 books that our team has found incredibly valuable from business, organizational, marketing, and cultural perspectives. These books cover topics ranging from the growth process for behavioral health clinics and current mental health market trends to creating clarity around your mission, vision, and values, while measuring key metrics and marketing campaigns. We hope this list helps you build out your reading list for 2024 and beyond!

Mental Health Specific

• Profit First Therapist: Dive into your finances and learn how to create sustainable growth for your agency, while debunking the myth that therapists must choose between profitability and caring for their clients.
• Building Your Ideal Private Practice: This book is essential for launching and growing a private practice. An older book, but packed with timeless wisdom!
• Healing: Step away from your day-to-day duties and explore macro-trends in mental health through the insights of Dr. Thomas Insel.

Leadership and Culture

• 5 Voices: A simple yet practical leadership communication system to help teams understand internal dynamics, strengths, and tendencies to optimize culture. (Their website also offers a free assessment!)
• Dare to Lead: Explore the courage and vulnerability needed to lead, build trust, and stay anchored to team values with Dr. Brené Brown.
• 5 Dysfunctions of a Team: Through the creativity of a fable, gain greater insight into the key pitfalls that erode organizational relationships, operations, and culture.

Vision

• Traction: A robust, step-by-step blueprint of Gino Wickman’s “Entrepreneurial Operating System” and its 6 core components. The first two chapters alone are worth the read as he expertly guides teams through identifying their mission, vision, and values, and how to leverage these for effective team meetings.
• Start with Why: For a quick overview, check out Simon Sinek’s TED Talk on the idea of beginning with Why instead of How or What; however, the book delves deeper into these valuable lessons.
• The Gap and the Gain: Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy take incredibly simple concepts and transform them into meaningful and practical business insights.

General Business

• Measure What Matters: John Doerr presents a compelling framework for using success-driven data to establish a path forward for team members, utilizing OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
• Good to Great: A timeless classic. While not all business examples have aged perfectly, the teachings still offer valuable strategies for building something truly exceptional.
• Anything You Want: This book may not be for everyone, but Derek Sivers offers a refreshingly creative and human approach to starting and growing a business. It’s a short, easy read with great stories.

Marketing

• Marketing Made Simple: Marketing starts with understanding your story, what makes it unique, and painting a clear and compelling picture for your target audience. Donald Miller’s work, along with “Building a StoryBrand,” offers a masterclass in organizational storytelling.
• The Mom Test: It all begins with asking the right questions, in the right way, to the right people. It’s not easy, but it will get you the information you need.
• Purple Cow: Marketing guru Seth Godin highlights the importance of remarkable content and delivery to stand out to prospective customers.
• Inbound Marketing: Although geared towards SaaS technology companies, many of the practical suggestions apply to therapists as well. It’s a great resource for thinking through email campaigns, website content, social media, and more from the founder of HubSpot.

Let us know if you find any of these books helpful! Also, what books are we missing? What have you found valuable in your journey as a therapist and behavioral health professional? We’d love to hear from you!

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