A spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, the series takes place at Seaside Health & Wellness Center (formerly Oceanside Wellness Group) and chronicles the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery, played by Kate Walsh, as she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital in order to join a private practice, located in Los Angeles.

The first season deals with Addison's move from Seattle to Los Angeles and her attempts to adjust to a very different type of working environment at Oceanside Wellness Group, a co-op private practice.

Also working within the practice is psychiatrist Violet Turner, pediatrician Cooper Freedman, alternative medicine specialist Pete Wilder, and receptionist Dell Parker.

Charlotte King, who serves as chief of staff at St. Ambrose Hospital, works with Oceanside Wellness through her dealings with Sam and her sexual relationship with Cooper.

Also in this season, Sam and Naomi finally realize they can no longer be friends, and the romantic relationship of Cooper and Charlotte deepens.

Towards the end of the season, Addison falls in love with cardiovascular surgeon Noah Barnes, who as it turns out, is married and is expecting his first child.

Archer Montgomery (Grant Show), Addison's playboy brother, made sporadic appearances causing trouble for her and Naomi.

Violet stirred some of her own drama when she began dating Sheldon (Brian Benben), who works for Pacific Wellcare, and Pete.

[5] Audra McDonald, who plays the character Naomi Bennett, did not return as a regular cast member in the fifth season of Private Practice.

The fifth season focuses on Amelia and her drug addiction, and the entire practice trying to save her life, ultimately deciding to have an intervention for her, and thus sending her to rehab.

The final episode of the series brings many happy endings: Addison and Jake marry; Sheldon quits the practice to spend time with his love who's dying of cancer; Sam and Naomi remarry and will be having a second baby; Amelia has found the love of her life; Violet finally gets over her issues with Pete's death and announces she's started writing her book.

This appeared to be confirmed when Kate Walsh announced on June 12, 2012 (2012-06-12), that she would leave Private Practice after the thirteenth episode of season six.

[7] Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes confirmed on October 19, 2012, that Season 6 and the show would end with the thirteenth episode.

Note: This episode took place while Private Practice was on an extended hiatus due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

The 3-episode arc started on Grey's Anatomy when Addison, Naomi Bennett (Audra McDonald) bring Archer Montgomery (Grant Show) to Seattle Grace to meet with Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), and Richard to remove the parasites from Archer's brain.

The story continues on Private Practice where Sam has a sudden asthma attack and is treated by Naomi and Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson).

Then on Private Practice, Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein) and Charlotte King (KaDee Strickland) bring Erica to Seattle Grace to meet with Derek, Lexie and Amelia about the operation.

Despite no characters crossing over, Addison receives a phone call from Derek about Mark's passing, which happens at the start of Grey's Anatomy's ninth season.

On February 21, 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) was developing a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy centered on Kate Walsh's character, Addison Montgomery.

[9] Subsequent reports confirmed that an expanded two-hour episode of Grey's Anatomy, which aired on May 3, 2007, would serve as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off.

The episode features Montgomery taking a leave from Seattle Grace Hospital to visit the Oceanside Wellness Centre in Los Angeles.

[11] Gossip columnists Kristin dos Santos and Michael Ausiello also confirmed that the spin-off would be set in Los Angeles.

[12][13] On June 29, 2007, ABC announced that Merrin Dungey, who played the role of Naomi Bennett, would be replaced by four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald.

[15] Tony Award winner Idina Menzel appeared in two episodes during the second season, alongside her then-husband and Private Practice star Taye Diggs.

Characters Addison Montgomery and Sam Bennett are depicted as living in beachfront houses in Malibu, California, which in reality would cost upwards of $4 million each.

[citation needed] On May 3, 2007, the backdoor pilot for Private Practice aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as part of a double episode of Grey's Anatomy titled "The Other Side of This Life."

The cast included Amy Brenneman, Paul Adelstein, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs, Chris Lowell, and Merrin Dungey.

[39] The first episode was criticized by some, with The New York Times describing the show's characters as "collectively offer[ing] one of the most depressing portrayals of the female condition since The Bell Jar.