I am working on starting a private practice and the issue of where to keep documents and for what services comes to mind.

My first stage I plan to hold a seminar on a particular topic and then extend that into a psychoeducational/therapeutic time limited group, hopefully followed up by clients for individual services.

One option in terms of office space is to sublet or there is also a program called "virtual" office in which you rent office space by the hour. The advantage to either of these is that there is no ongoing committment while I test the market and see if private practice is even feasible, and have some time to build with no pressure of keeping up with office rent.

The disadvantage to this type of option is how to keep records until I can get my own more permanent office space. Is an online documentation service appropriate and feasible? What about a locked briefcase for transporting notes to a place where I could keep them securely?

Obviously if I'm running a therapy group or seeing individual clients these are calls for documentation, but what about psychoeducational groups? Where is the line between education and therapy?