How to use this page. It follows the presentation deck, one section per slide. Each section has a level-2 heading, so you can move between them with heading navigation. Charts are given as tables, with the main finding stated first. Section 4 has an earnings calculator.
Market figures are cited to their sources. Shifting Lives prices, counsellor numbers and revenue figures are our planning assumptions, marked as such.
Our advice in brief: help counsellors own their practice
We recommend Shifting Lives does not build a BetterHelp competitor. Start with David’s own practice, grow it into a service for other counsellors, then into a network. Accessibility continues alongside as a second revenue line.
- A real problem: platforms charge clients A$90–120 a week but reportedly pay counsellors US$30–70 an hour.
- The founders fit: David’s credibility with counsellors, Nick’s systems and marketing, accessibility built in.
- Early revenue, low risk: no heavy consumer advertising; counsellors keep platform income while they grow.
- Grows into the platform: a network comes later, once real customers prove each step.
Where Shifting Lives stands: two working businesses, three ideas
| Area | Status | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Counselling (David) | Operating | Fully booked; many clients via BetterHelp |
| Digital accessibility | Operating | Free scan, paid audit and fixes |
| Managed services | Idea | Partly built: automation, content, ads |
| Coaching and courses | Idea | Concept stage |
| Assistive technology products | Idea | Concept stage |
The founders fit together. David is the voice: a counsellor, ACA Level 4, with lived experience as a blind practitioner. Nick is the engine: systems, automation and digital delivery.
The market: big demand, underpaid supply, an open gap
- 4.3 millionAustralians aged 16–85 (21.5%) had a mental disorder in a 12-month period.
- 45.1%of them saw a health professional for their mental health.
- 20,000+counsellors, psychotherapists and students in the ACA alone.
The gap: we found no Australian service that packages client flow and admin for counsellors who want their own practice.
Sources: ABS National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020–22; Australian Counselling Association, 2025.
Why counsellors will care: the same hour, double the income
On BetterHelp a counsellor earns about A$65 per client hour. In their own practice the average Australian counsellor fee is about A$130 a session. For a full-time counsellor that is about A$52,000 more a year after fees, roughly six times what they would pay Shifting Lives.
BetterHelp pay: US$45 tier for 15–20 hours a week, reported in 2024, at A$1.44 per US$1 (1 October 2026). Counsellor fee: Bark, 2026; a 2021 PACFA survey found 46% of counsellors charge A$100–160.
Options we weighed: one direction is both fast and valuable
| Direction | Speed | Upside and fit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counsellor practice service | Fast | High | Start here |
| Accessibility services | Fast | Medium | Run alongside |
| BetterHelp-style marketplace | Slow | High | Later, as the Network |
| Self-serve practice software | Slow | Medium | Later |
| Marketing agency for any profession | Fast | Low | Distraction |
| Courses and coaching | Medium | Low for now | Set aside for now |
| Assistive technology products | Slow | Low | Set aside |
The business we recommend: a practice counsellors own
Shifting Lives helps independent counsellors build a private practice they own: found by the right clients, booked without admin, usable by everyone.
- Counselling, for people seeking help: sessions with David, later with network counsellors.
- Practice, for counsellors, the new core: their own practice, set up and marketed for them.
- Access, for organisations and practices: accessibility scan, audit, fixes and monitoring.
Our promise: Shifting Lives never takes a cut of a counsellor’s own client fees.
Revenue options: ten ways to earn, four to start with
The model starts as a managed service, becomes a productised subscription, and adds the Network last. Prices are our planning assumptions, to test with the first counsellors.
| Option | Indicative price | When |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility services | 1,500–3,000 audit, plus 99–249 a month | Start here |
| Setup plus monthly service | 2,000–3,500, plus 300–500 a month | Start here |
| Low base plus per booking | 99 a month, plus 5–8 a booking | Start here, as a test |
| Membership | 49–99 a month | Start here, entry tier |
| Tiered subscription | 149, 349 or 649 a month | Once productised |
| Licence or partnership | 5,000–20,000 a year per partner | Once productised |
| Network referral fee | 30–50 a matched client, never on a counsellor’s own clients | With scale |
| Education | 300–900 a course | With scale |
| Fee per new client | 40–60 a client | Use with care, only if professional codes allow |
| Revenue share | 8–12% of session income | Avoid: breaks the no-cut promise |
Where to start: grow alongside BetterHelp, never jump
No counsellor needs to leave a platform to join. They add their own practice beside it and shift the balance only when private bookings are already strong. Private growth comes from new clients, not from moving platform clients across. David goes first: it proves the engine on the founder, carries no income risk and gives a real case study.
| Phase | Platform | Own practice | Move on when | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | About 80% | About 20% | Private bookings are coming in | |
| Balance | About 60% | About 40% | The private calendar is full for a month | |
| Lead | 40% or less | 60% or more | There is a private waitlist | |
| Owner | Optional | Most or all | The counsellor chooses |
How to build it: six 3-month steps to a counsellor network
Each step proves one thing before the next begins. Counsellor numbers are planning targets.
Months 1 to 3: David’s own practice
Proof to move on: 20 to 25% of his hours private, from at least two client sources.
Months 4 to 6: three trial counsellors
Proof to move on: a tested playbook; David at 40% or more private.
Months 7 to 9: first paying group
8 to 10 counsellors; two revenue models tested until one is clearly preferred.
Months 10 to 12: a repeatable product
20 to 25 counsellors on standard templates and onboarding.
Months 13 to 15: growth through partners
35 to 40 counsellors, half of new sign-ups from outside David’s network.
Months 16 to 18: the Shifting Lives Network
About 50 counsellors; shared directory, client matching and overflow sharing.
Accessibility, in every step: publish packages, add monitoring, bundle it into Practice plans, partner with web agencies, then offer it to allied health and NDIS providers.
The client acquisition engine: how counsellors win clients they keep
This engine replaces the client flow a platform gives, while the counsellor keeps the client and the full fee. Nick runs it; each counsellor gives about 30 to 45 minutes a week of their own voice. A client moves through six stages: found, trust, enquire, a free 15-minute fit call, book, and return.
| Channel | Time to results |
|---|---|
| Directories and professional registers | Weeks |
| Google business profile | 1 to 3 months |
| Referral partners: GPs, psychologists with waitlists, EAP providers, NDIS coordinators | 1 to 3 months |
| Niche search pages | 3 to 6 months |
| Content and social | 3 to 6 months |
| Paid search (optional) | Days |
Marketing is education, not selling: no testimonials or promised outcomes, in line with ACA and PACFA codes.
Buy what exists, build what differentiates
- Buy: booking, notes, telehealth and invoicing (Halaxy, free core, or Cliniko, a paid monthly plan); practice websites from one accessible template; automation with n8n, already in use; a course platform, later.
- Build: the accessibility scanner and reports, which already exist; the client acquisition playbook; and, at step 6, the Network directory and matching.
- Don’t build: client records, video therapy, booking engines, payments or a therapy app. Client records stay with the counsellor, which keeps privacy risk low.
Indicative economics: recurring revenue builds to about A$27,000 a month
In the base case, monthly recurring revenue rises from about A$3,000 at month 3 to about A$27,000 at month 18: about 50 counsellors at A$400 a month, plus accessibility. These are planning assumptions, to replace with real data from step 1.
| Month | Practice | Accessibility | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 3,000 | 3,000 | |
| 6 | 300 | 3,500 | 3,800 | |
| 9 | 2,500 | 4,000 | 6,500 | |
| 12 | 7,700 | 5,000 | 12,700 | |
| 15 | 13,000 | 6,000 | 19,000 | |
| 18 | 20,000 | 7,000 | 27,000 |
Key business risks: each step tests a risk cheaply
| Risk | How the plan handles it |
|---|---|
| Clients cost more to win than expected | Start with low-cost channels; measure the cost of a new client from week one |
| Counsellors won’t pay the price | Test two revenue models with the first paying group before choosing |
| Growth stalls beyond David’s network | Step 5 tests partners and referrals before the Network is built |
| Platform terms limit moving clients | Grow private practice through new clients only |
| Health fund rules for online-only practice | Check each fund’s rules early; use a practice address where needed |
| Upside: Medicare rebates for counsellors | Lower client cost; keep practice setups ready to add rebates |
How Chapter247 helps: one partner from strategy to scale
- Strategy and advisory: fractional CTO and product strategy; pricing tests, build-versus-buy decisions, a review at every step.
- Build the practice engine: with Nick, on existing tools; accessible templates, practice software setup, automation and AI-assisted content.
- Scale the platform: when the evidence says so; Network directory and matching, privacy by design, WCAG 2.2 AA.
Our role at each step
Set up David’s client engine and its metrics.
Turn the setup into a reusable playbook.
Design and run the revenue tests.
Productise onboarding, automation and reporting.
Partner integrations and referral tracking.
Design and build the Network directory and matching.
Our principle: buy before building, and say so when something should not be built at all.
Why Chapter247: strategy and engineering in one team
- 125+ people across product, design and engineering.
- Engineering leadership with 19+ years’ experience and an M.Tech in AI from IIT Jodhpur; AI/ML engineering led by our Head of AI/ML.
- AI orchestration already built: a provider-agnostic document intelligence system.
- Healthcare data and HIPAA compliance experience in our leadership.
- Platforms built across EdTech, PropTech and InsurTech; Australia and New Zealand are a core market.
How the engagement grows: discovery and strategy, then fractional CTO and advisory, then build support when the plan calls for it.
Four decisions to get started
Direction
A practice service for counsellors, not a client marketplace.
Starting point
David’s own practice, alongside BetterHelp, is the first proof.
Model to test
Setup plus monthly service, against a low base plus a fee per booking.
Set aside for now
Assistive technology products, courses, a general agency and custom platform builds.
Next with Chapter247: a discovery session, then refining the offer and pricing, then the first 3-month plan.