True, but this is possible in any field. It's also unlikely for most professionals who are qualified and pretty competent. A T is no more likely to list a high school job or their first job out of college as "experience" than anyone else.

On websites like Vitals.com, the years of experience for MDs usually takes you to their year of graduation from medical school, which means their years as a resident is being counted as experience. It's not a lie, but can be slightly misleading since a residency lasts 4 years and is essentially their training. Therapists (Psychologists, Social Workers and Counselors) do the same thing. All of them have to do internships in school and a work for a certain amount of time after school before they are granted a license. It's more common for Ts to wait until they are established in the field before going into private practice. Where I live, there are too many therapists and too few regular clients for new Ts to make a real living working solely in private practice.

I would avoid new Ts that have only private practice experience like the plague. I'd much prefer one who has some years of clinical experience, even if its in a agency setting. Ts with experience with private clients only have no one watching or monitoring them from an objective viewpoint. These are Ts that would opt to pay someone to be their supervisor, which is just not reliable on a lot of levels.