Jeremy Gordon

Practical resources for building an ethical, sustainable private practice

The Sentia Compass Framework is a structured, reflective approach to developing private counselling and psychotherapy practice. It helps practitioners step back from day-to-day pressures, understand where their practice is now, clarify where they want it to go, and translate that direction into practical action.

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The Framework starts with the practitioner rather than with a generic business model. It brings together professional responsibilities, clinical practice, personal sustainability and the practical realities of running a practice, while recognising that there is no single right model of private practice.

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1. The Sentia Compass Starter Workbook

2. The Sentia Compass Workbook

3. Sentia Compass Worksheets

4. The Sentia Compass Clinical Will Planning Guide​

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The Sentia Compass publications can be used independently or together as part of a wider process of reflection, planning and review.

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1. The Sentia Compass Starter Workbook

An accessible introduction to the Framework and a structured first review of your private practice.

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The Starter Workbook is designed for practitioners who want a manageable way into the Compass process. It helps you take stock of your current practice, identify the areas that most deserve attention and begin turning reflection into realistic action.

It can be used by practitioners who are establishing a new practice as well as those reviewing or renewing an existing one.

 

It is available on Amazon in hard copy, and from Sentia Well-being in digital format.

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The Starter Workbook helps you to:

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• Clarify what you want your private practice to provide professionally and personally;

• Take a structured snapshot across the key Compass domains;

• Identify strengths, gaps, tensions and opportunities;

• Select a small number of priority Development Focus Areas;

• Translate those priorities into practical next steps;

• Create a focused 30-day course of action; and

• Establish a habit of reviewing and adjusting your practice over time.
   

Best suited to: practitioners who want a concise, practical introduction to the Sentia Compass Framework before undertaking the full process.

 

• Email for more details

• Order on Amazon

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2. The Sentia Compass Workbook

The comprehensive core workbook for the Sentia Compass Framework.

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The full Workbook takes practitioners through the complete Compass process: from discovering their Centre, through assessing their current practice and choosing a direction, to building a comprehensive Practice Action Plan.

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Rather than treating private practice development simply as a business-planning exercise, the Workbook considers the interaction between ethical responsibilities, clinical work, professional identity, finances, systems, sustainability and the life the practitioner wants the practice to support.

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It is available on Amazon in digital and hard copy formats.

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The Workbook includes:

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• Find Your Centre: clarify the Personal, Professional and Practice Horizons shaping the practice you want to build;

• Read Your Compass: assess your Current Position across the eight Compass domains;

• Understand the Reading: identify patterns, strengths, tensions, opportunities and gaps;

• Choose Your Direction: establish your Bearing and select Development Focus Areas;

• Build Your Practice: create a comprehensive Practice Action Plan; and

• Review and Return: use evidence and experience to revisit the Compass as your circumstances and practice evolve.
   

Throughout the process, the emphasis is on reflection before prescription: using the Framework as a guide rather than assuming that every practitioner should pursue the same clients, income, workload or model of practice.

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Best suited to: practitioners who want a thorough review of their practice or a structured framework for establishing one from the ground up. 

 

• Email for more details

• Order from Amazon

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3. Sentia Compass Worksheets

A practical collection of reusable worksheets for reflection, planning and review.

The Worksheets bring together the working tools used throughout the Sentia Compass Framework in a format that can be revisited repeatedly.

They are particularly useful for practitioners who have already worked through the Starter Workbook or full Workbook and want practical templates they can return to during supervision, annual reviews, periods of change or future Compass readings.

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It is available on Amazon in hard copy, and from Sentia Well-being in digital format.

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The Worksheets support work on areas including:

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• Centre and practice-purpose reflection;

• Compass domain assessment;

• strengths, tensions, opportunities and gaps;

• Development Focus Areas;

• financial and capacity planning;

• practice systems and professional responsibilities;

• action planning and prioritisation;

• 30-day implementation planning; and

• periodic review and re-reading of the Compass.
   

Best suited to: existing Compass users who want a reusable working toolkit rather than another linear workbook.

 

Email for more details.

Order from Amazon.

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4. The Sentia Compass Clinical Will Planning Guide

A focused self-guided process for Clinical Will and practice-continuity planning.

The Clinical Will Planning Guide applies the Compass approach to one particularly important area of professional resilience: what happens to clients and the practice if a practitioner dies, becomes seriously ill or is otherwise unable to communicate directly.

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It is available on Amazon in hard copy, or from Sentia Well-being in digital format.

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The guide responds to the strengthened Clinical Will requirement in the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026 and is designed to help practitioners move from a general intention to a practical, workable continuity arrangement.
 

The guide helps you to:
 

• Define when your Clinical Will should be activated;

• Identify and appoint an appropriate Clinical Will executor or continuity person;

• Put the appointment and confidentiality arrangements in writing;

• Ensure current clients can be identified without unnecessary access to clinical material;

• Prepare appropriate client communications;

• Map key practice systems, providers and contacts;

• Decide what should happen to records and unfinished practice matters;

• Review contracts, privacy information and insurance implications;

• Give the nominated person appropriate limited authority to initiate continuity actions;

• Establish a backup arrangement;

• Test whether the plan would actually work; and

• Complete and periodically review a concise Clinical Will summary.
   

The Guide also includes practical templates for a Nominated Clinical Will Executor Agreement, an Authority to Initiate Practice Continuity and an Annual Clinical Will Readiness Review.

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Best suited to: independent counsellors and psychotherapists who want to put a clear and proportionate Clinical Will and practice-continuity arrangement in place.

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For those that would like additional support, and to subscribe to a clinical executor service, the Clinical Will Executor Service may be considered.

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• Email for more details

• Order from Amazon

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Use the publications in the way that suits your practice

You do not need to complete the whole Sentia Compass Framework at once. A practitioner might begin with the Starter Workbook, move on to the full Workbook when they want a deeper review, use the Worksheets for ongoing planning, and draw on focused resources such as the Clinical Will Planning Guide when a particular area needs attention.

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The aim throughout is the same: to help you build a practice that is professionally grounded, personally sustainable and genuinely yours.

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Find Your Centre. Build Your Practice.

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For information about the publications, Compass mentoring, or Clinical Will support, contact Jeremy Gordon at Sentia Well-being: jg@sentiawellbeing.com