I know many of you question whether you need to get a PhD to be successful in your private practice. Well, it usually depends on what your goals are. Here’s an excellent article discussing the options and how to make the decision.
https://www.apa.org/action/science/clinical/education-training
From my own personal experience, and from the therapists I’ve worked to help market their practices, a PhD doesn’t make a difference in the number of clients you attract and the rates you can charge. It does often make a difference in the mind of the therapists, but not in the mind of the client. Therapists often get hung up on “but I can’t charge that much because I don’t have a PhD”. That’s something for the therapist to work out for themselves.