The best parts of group
practice configured differently
Purpose build,
from experience
Spencer Street Psychology grew out of my experience of working for others, working alone, and eventually establishing and running my own private practice.
I valued the freedom to choose when I worked, how much I worked, and who I worked with. Over time, though, I began to miss working alongside others. I missed the collegiality, shared knowledge and warmth that come from having good colleagues around you.
I couldn’t find a place that offered both. I am a therapist and researcher at heart, and I have never wanted to build a personal brand or a chain of practices. I wanted a beautiful, calm place to work, where people could retain their independence and identity with support around, without the compromise of unnecessary hierarchy.
That is what Spencer Street Psychology has become.
Ben
The familiar trade-offs
TRADITIONAL GROUP PRACTICE
Working in a group practice can come with some perks. Working with others can be a great incentive. There is often supervision, security, access to referrals and administrative support.
However, these benefits sometimes come at the cost of autonomy, choosing when we work, and with which clients. With the typical percentage split, more work also means higher fees for the same benefits.
There can be a compromise to professional identity, especially as we become more established.
SOLO PRACTICE
On the other hand, solo practice can mean more control, freedom to establish an identity, and higher income potential.
However, it can be lonely, and the safety of working with others can be a compromise.
The set up can be onerous, too.
Daily or flexible room rental can be expensive, and the spaces can be a little generic and soulless. A commercial lease can be a long-term commitment. Then there is branding, furnishing, logistics, systems, and setting up individual utilities.
TOGETHER, BUT APART
Other models can see clinicians renting rooms and working under the same roof. That can be safer and more secure.
However, sharing an address does not necessarily make a group practice. They usually don’t include supervision or shared spaces to interact and relax, and we may not even know who is working in the next room.
THE MODEL
A unique configuration
Spencer Street isn’t a shell of consulting rooms where clinicians happen to work beside one another.
It genuinely functions as a group practice, but is configured differently. We work together as peers, while each clinician retains their own professional identity and independently runs their own practice under the Spencer Street Psychology umbrella.
We built something that genuinely works as a group practice, without requiring clinicians to be managed by it or absorbed into its brand.
The practice wears its identity lightly. It is not about building a brand, or expansion for the founder.
It was designed to create a shared professional home, with the best of the private practice model, with less of the parts that aren’t as good.
A fair, set monthly licence fee makes it easier to break through the income ceiling.
You can control when you work and with whom. You can bring your own clients, set your own fees and schedule, while engaging in weekly peer supervision (if you want to). The shared systems are set up for you to use, and you can share in referrals from established referrers who know and trust our work (if you want them).
01
Your practice remains yours
You choose your clients, clinical approach, working days, schedule and fees. Your professional identity stays recognisably your own under the Spencer Street umbrella.
Your clients, files, and records are yours.
02
Workmates, not management
Up to seven practitioners work alongside one another as peers.
We have weekly peer supervision, share ideas and respect different approaches, without compulsory collegiality or unnecessary hierarchy.
03
Systems are already set up and running
Zanda (PowerDiary), merchant facility, secure phone messaging, email, high-speed internet, printing and established practice processes are ready to use, and with support to use it.
04
Referrals if you need them, shared thoughtfully
Suitable enquiries from the website and established referrers are shared among clinicians who are accepting new clients. There are no compulsory referrals and no expectation that you must practise in a particular way.
05
An arrangement fair enough to stay
A transparent fixed monthly fee replaces percentage splits. The model is designed to remain financially fair as your practice grows, so this can become a professional home rather than a temporary stepping stone.
06
Designed with intention for the work we do
The practice was designed to reflect the specialness of the work done in the space, with high-quality furnishings styled for calmness and privacy.
07
Your room, every day
Your furnished consulting room is exclusively yours, with secure 24/7 access.
You can personalise your space, work evenings or weekends, and structure your week around the practice you want to run.
08
You're not locked in
There’s no commercial lease or long-term contract. You have the flexibility to shape your work around your life, with the reassurance of joining an established practice here for the long term.
If you decide to leave the practice, your clients, your files, and data go with you.
THE ROOMS
Find the room that fits your practice
Spencer Street Psychology has seven individually furnished consulting rooms, bringing together a small community of practitioners.
Two rooms are currently available, each offering a different atmosphere and price point, but the same independence, facilities and connection to the wider practice.
Room 5
A street outlook,
with plenty of natural light
A light-filled, outward-facing consulting room with floor-to-ceiling glass and a street outlook. Fully furnished and exclusively yours, it offers a generous, polished setting for established clinical work, with the privacy, systems and collegiality of the wider practice around you.
$88.28
per weekday equivalent
(including GST)
$441.39
per weekday equivalent
(including GST)
$1912.68
per month (including GST)
billed monthly
Room 7
per weekday equivalent
(including GST)
Quiet, private
and exceptionally,
good value
Private, with an internal window and a calm, contained atmosphere. Fully furnished and exclusively yours, it offers a more accessible way to establish or continue your own practice, with the same 24/7 access, shared facilities and collegial support
$66.05
per weekday equivalent
(including GST)
$330.24
per week equivalent
(including GST)
$1,431.05
per month (including GST)
billed monthly
GET IN TOUCH
Interested in joining us?
If Spencer Street Psychology sounds like the kind of place you would like to practise, I’d be very happy to hear from you. Get in touch to ask a question, arrange a visit, or talk through whether one of the available rooms might suit you.
Contact Ben on 0404923310
Spencer Street Psychology
101/393 Spencer Street
West Melbourne 3003
spencerstreetpsychology.com.au