Fearless Practice – Détails, épisodes et analyse

We're revisiting episode 143: Jillian Bagan: Growing a Queer-Informed Practice. Their powerful reflections on growing a queer-informed practice continue to resonate, and we're excited to share this encore episode with both new and longtime listeners.

You can find the show notes to the original episode here.

Connect with me:

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Website 

Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:

Jennifer Bonilla: Building a Culturally Responsive Private Practice | EP 182

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS2MO for two months free)

Get some help and freebies on your website with WordPress! 

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

Have you noticed gaps in your community where there are needs that require attention? Are you hearing the same or similar pains over and over in the lives of the people around you? This is what happened to Jennifer, and she took the initiative to provide services to those whom she saw needed them the most. 

In this episode, Jennifer and I discuss how she based her new, growing Canadian private practice on the values of cultural awareness, belonging, and identity, and how she is making the transition to solo practice financially stable. 

We also talk about blogs, working with AI, instilling balance, and why adaptability is an important gift that you should give yourself when working in this mental health field. There are many gems to share, so welcome our conversation! 

MEET JENNIFER

Jennifer Bonilla is a Registered Psychotherapist and the founder of Therapy Across Seasons, serving adults and families online across Ontario. She specializes in helping clients understand how attachment and family dynamics shape their confidence, boundaries, and relationships. Guided by compassion and cultural awareness, Jennifer supports people in moving through life's seasons with greater clarity, connection, and resilience. 

Learn more about Jennifer on her practice website, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles. 

In this episode: 

• Why Jennifer decided to become a therapist 

• Starting a private practice

• Centering Culture in Private Practice 

• Financial prep to curb fear 

• Marketing the practice 

• Jennifer's advice for listeners 

Why Jennifer decided to become a therapist 

Jennifer started in the mental health field as a child and youth worker. 

While Jennifer enjoyed working with youth and children in Toronto, she saw gaps in care.

Starting a private practice 

Jennifer appreciated the experience that she had working in other group practices, but she knew that she wanted to start her own practice because she wanted to lay her own foundation.

Apart from wanting to ground her practice on a specific set of goals and values, Jennifer also wanted to live a professional life that had more flexibility to it. She wanted to create her own schedule, rather than follow one from someone or something else.

Centering Culture in Private Practice 

Jennifer noticed that many of her clients kept having the same or similar issues around culture, identity, belonging, and self-assurance. 

These conversations kept coming up, and Jennifer noticed that at the core of some of her clients' anxieties were anxieties around cultural identity. 

Financial prep to curb fear

Jennifer is working in phases. She still has a caseload in the other group private practice, and sees clients on the side in her new, growing private practice. 

She's slowly transitioning out of one and into the other as her income grows to make this change carefully and intentionally, without risking her income and livelihood. 

By taking it slowly, such as building up emergency savings, relying a little on contract work, and slowly transitioning into private practice, Jennifer can keep making her professional choices from a place of intentionality, not fear. 

Marketing the practice 

Jennifer is going full-tilt on marketing her solo practice. When she has the time - or makes the time - she writes blogs, vlogs, and networks to get her business off the ground. 

When it comes to writing blogs, Jennifer does use AI tools to help her with prompts, but is careful to keep her words her own. 

Furthermore, Jennifer is brainstorming about the possibility of hosting workshops from 2026 onwards. 

Jennifer's advice for listeners 

Take a seasonal perspective. Remember that things come and go, times change. What is sustainable overall? How can you adapt throughout the times? 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources mentioned and useful links:

Encore: Affordable Ways to Start a Canadian Private Practice in 2025 | EP 181

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS2MO for two months free)

Create your website with WordPress! 

Learn more about Jennifer on her practice website, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles 

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

Every private practice is a little different in how it goes about business, especially when it comes to having contract therapists. Usually, the practice owner and contractor figure out the best system that works for them, which means there is generally more than one way around a problem! 

Regarding compensation for my contract therapist, we have tried and tested a few options before settling on what works best for us: a percentage-based compensation system with an invoice-accrued model. 

If you'd like some tips on how I manage this process each month (or you want to know what this even means!), welcome to this podcast episode. 

In this episode: 

• My experience with growth 

• Why finding the right compensation model matters

• How to pay a contract therapist 

• How to use the invoice-accrued model 

My experience with growth 

If you've been following my private practice journey over the past few years, you'll know that I've grown my solo practice into a small group private practice by hiring my first contract therapist. 

Why finding the right compensation model matters

Each practice may do things differently. It is important to find the right compensation model for the therapist contractors in your practice, because how you pay them will directly affect their financial stability, as well as their job satisfaction. 

I decided to hire a contractor instead of an employee because I run a smaller business. Having a contract therapist means less paperwork, more financial stability, and tax headaches for me, and it also gives the contractor more freedom, flexibility, and potential to earn more each month.

How to pay the contract worker 

First, we decided it would be a monthly payout, rather than a bi-weekly payout. Then, we had to decide on the payout model: invoice-accrual-based pay or cash-based pay. 

If you want a quick recap on the definitions: 

1 - Invoiced (Accrual-Based) Pay:

• Payment is based on services rendered within a calendar month, regardless of whether the clinic or practice has been paid by the client or insurer.

Example:

If a therapist delivers 20 sessions in August, they get paid for 20 sessions at the end of August or early September — even if the client hasn't paid yet.

2 - Collected (Cash-Based) Pay:

• Payment is based on what the clinic has actually collected from clients or insurers.

Example:

If only 12 of the 20 August sessions have been paid by clients, the therapist is paid for only those 12 — the rest is delayed until collected.

We then tried the cash-collected method for a couple of months, when I switched to direct billing last year. I decided to do this switch because sometimes insurance companies do not pay out quickly! It could sometimes take more than a month. 

However, this led to more unpredictability for my contract therapist regarding how much she was going to be paid each month as well as more time spent on discussions about billing. So I decided to switch back to the invoice-accrued method. 

How to use the invoice-accrued model

You may be wondering how I figure out how much to pay my contractor with the percentage-based pay. Honestly, Jane App does it all! Some of my tips include: 

• Go into settings 

• Then billing settings 

• Select the "accounting method", either cash or accrual 

• Then go to "Reports", select "Payroll" and then "Compensation", the staff member and the date range, and it will show you their commission in the payment model you have selected! 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 172: Michael Sorsdahl: CCPA's New Ethics Case Book and Why You Must Read It | EP 172

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Get some help and freebies on your website with WordPress! 

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

For anyone who is building their Canadian private practice, or is thinking about starting, one of the most helpful things that you can do is listen to other therapist's stories who have gone on this exact journey before you. 

Learning from others is a great way to give you ideas, help you think things through, and see what might – and might not – work for you. 

In this podcast episode, Amber and I discuss her journey into launching her own Canadian private practice.

MEET AMBER

Amber Sperling is a Social Worker and psychotherapist who's passionate about the health and well-being of moms in the transition into parenthood. She started her career in hospital mental health then transitioned to over a decade in primary care, learning the intersections between physical and mental health, interdisciplinary care, and the power of the mind/body connection.

Amber values ongoing learning, developing client-specific strategies and recognizes the impact of greater society/systemic barriers on individuals.

She currently operates a private practice based in Barrie Ontario with associates all trained in enhanced psychotherapy for perinatal mental health and trauma treatment while engaging in regional committees on perinatal mental health, birthing families, and holds a seat on the local hospital foundation cabinet.

Learn more about Amber on her website and LinkedIn profile. 

In this episode: 

• Amber's first steps into private practice

• Building up a network 

• Hiring associates 

• Going forward

Amber's first steps into private practice 

After the pandemic, Amber was working mostly from home. For many months, she got settled into working from home and providing therapy for the practice she was working for. She was seeing 20 to 25 clients a week and noticed a huge need. 

Amber knew that she could be doing this work for herself and on her own terms, and she knew that she could get clients that would want to work with her if she opened her own Canadian private practice. 

In March of 2022, Amber was able to make the official switch and set out on her own. 

Building up a network 

In the very beginning, Amber created a simple to-the-point form on Google and sent it out to her colleagues that she knew, valued, and already trusted to meet and start networking to represent herself. 

She also found organizations that she felt aligned with to contact and network with. 

For anyone going into Canadian private practice, Amber recommends stepping past that initial fear and getting into contact with your colleagues!

Hiring associates 

There are other great therapists out there that can help you and would want to work with you. 

Depending on how you want to hire for your practice, you could either hire therapists that work outside of your niche and see the clients you might refer out, or hire a therapist that also works within your niche so that you don't have to put them on a waiting list or refer them out if your personal schedule is already full. 

Going forward 

It is important for Amber to grow her business in a way that aligns with her values, and this means centering connection as one of the foundational blocks. 

In the future, Amber plans to develop her practice and hire more associates, developing the services that the practice offers, all while focusing on organic community and fostering powerful relationships that heal and collaborate together. 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 82: Live Consultation with Julie Burnett: Starting an Online Private Practice | EP 82

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Listen to my podcast episodes on building a long-lasting website and how to hire a virtual assistant! 

Learn more about Amber on her website, Psychology Today, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles! 

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

What is your goal with your work? If you could set it up in the way that would best suit you and your long-term future ambitions, what would it look like? How can you create a work-life balance that is personalized to your life, needs, and desires? 

One great way to learn is to listen to other people's journeys and stories. You may be in a similar place with your Canadian online private practice; new, curious, and weighing up the pros and cons. 

In this live consultation, I chat with Julie about her new online private practice. We talk through the basics, how she can bring a new website up to speed, and what she can do to flourish afterward. Join us to learn more! 

MEET JULIE

Julie Burnett is a Registered Social Worker who is starting her private practice in Ontario. She specializes in domestic violence and feminist/anti-oppressive approaches to therapy.

Learn more about Julie on her Psychology Today profile and Instagram account. 

In this episode: 

• Julie's desire for professional independence 

• Work with what you love 

• Setting up a great website 

Julie's desire for professional independence

Starting a Canadian online private practice can be a daunting first step because it means that you are moving away from someone else's structure in another business to building your own structure, and making it work. 

However, even though it can be scary, it is also well worth the attempt. Becoming your own boss can be scary but also a freeing and exhilarating experience. So rather than trying to avoid fear, focus on heading in the direction of where you want to go. 

Additionally, owning your business allows you the space and opportunity to explore new creative projects. 

Work with what you love

Your niche doesn't just relate to who your clients are. What is your passion? What is something that you really enjoy doing in sessions and with clients, and can you use it to build the foundation of  your new Canadian online private practice? 

Julie loves groups, and this can be a great Segway into her new successful online practice. 

So, understand your clinical passions and use this in marketing yourself to future clients and to network with other therapists!

Setting up a great website 

'If [you live] in a large city, then you want to niche down as much as possible because there are so many other therapists out there … the bigger the city, the more [necessary it is] to niche down.' – Julia Smith 

Your website is your virtual window storefront, and I recommend Beam Local to build your website. Set it up well so that a curious client who's looking over your information can see exactly what you offer, why you are a good fit, and how they can 'enter' your business to find out more information and contact you. 

Niching down is one of your biggest assets. You can develop this by adding pages to your website that offer more information about your niche, should your clients want it. These extra pages also make Google like you more and rank you higher, which is a bonus! 

But in the beginning, focus on one niche, and build it out on your website. Once your website is building traction for you, consider hiring a virtual assistant to organize your emails and admin so that you can remain focused on offering high-quality therapy to your clients. 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 81: 3 Steps to Starting Your Private Practice While Still in Grad School | EP 81

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Listen to my podcast episodes on building a long-lasting website and how to hire a virtual assistant! 

Learn more about Julie on her Psychology Today profile and Instagram account 

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn 

Are you going into your master's degree knowing that you want to start a private practice as soon as you have graduated? Be assured – and inspired – that this is totally possible! With your master's degree and clinical supervision, you can be well on your way toward your Canadian private practice. 

There are a couple of things you can do for your private practice while you are in grad school to build a good foundation and to make it easier for you to launch and dive in once you have graduated. 

In this podcast episode, I go over the three simple steps that you can take to get yourself ready for your private practice – and to get your private practice ready for you! – if you know that this path is one of your goals to walk.

In this Episode:

• Figure out your business name 

• Build your website 

• Blog on the new website 

Figure out your business name 

The first step to starting a Canadian private practice is to think of a great name! Get creative and combine it with your potential specialty if you'd like. However, my top tip would be to avoid using your personal name.

'When you're considering a business name, I highly recommend that you do not use your own name. Although that can be more affordable when you register your [business] name with your government, it can lead to issues in the future.' – Julia Smith 

Maybe you would like to hire some associates, or down the line another clinician or two, and then you would have to redo all of your marketing materials and rebrand the business. Give yourself – and your new practice – some freedom and autonomy by naming it something separate from you. 

Once you have your name, register it as a domain. Try out this service to help you register your domain for the new private practice! 

'[Using this service] can really help you to figure out what your name is going to be and what it's not going to be because if you can't purchase that domain name, then you're probably not going to want to use that as your business name because your website name ideally should be the same name as your business, or very similar.' – Julia Smith 

Build your website

My advice to you is to use a WordPress website because it is open source and you have creative freedom, with unlimited options! Check out my tools and deals page to get started with your WordPress website on the right foot. 

Even though proprietary website-building companies can be more affordable or offer other services, if you ever decide to leave, you will lose everything that you created with them since they own the platform that the website was built upon. 

If you want to learn more, check out this article. Furthermore, I recommend the WordPress website company Beam Local, which allows you to keep your website if you ever decide to leave! 

Blog on the new website 

Now that you have a website, start investing in it! Your SEO (search engine optimization) can take some time to build up and rank you higher, so the sooner you start using your website and putting content out there, the better. 

Make sure to make it clear that you are not yet practicing as a therapist, but use that to your advantage. Post "Launching in 2024!" or something to that extent on your website so that your clients know you are still learning and can get excited to work with you. 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources Mentioned and Useful Links: 

Ep 80: How Branding Can Attract Clients| EP 80 

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Article: How to Set Up a Canadian Private Practice Website  

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

Does your branding need a little refresher? When last did you make sure that your branding is consistent across all the branches of your business? 

Branding is more than just the colors you pick or the layout of your website. It's the feeling that you want your clients to have when they interact with you or your business materials. To create cohesion and maintain professionalism while attracting your ideal clients, it is important to be intentional with your branding decisions,

In this podcast episode, I share my top recommendations for simple, affordable and high-quality tools that you can use to brush up the branding for your business! 

In this Episode:

• A quick recap of what branding is

• Why consistency is important 

• The basics of branding 

A quick recap of what branding is

Branding is essential to your Canadian private practice because it helps to set your business apart from the rest, makes it look professional, and can put your clients at ease and make them feel excited to work with you. 

At its core, branding is the experience that you want your clients to associate with working with you. Branding includes your colour scheme and logo, as well as your office aesthetics and business cards, but it ties all these things together into the 'atmosphere' that you want your business to have. 

Why consistency is important 

Consistency creates trust and also allows your clients to recognize you and your work. 

Something small but effective that I also like to do is to wear black when I see clients – like a uniform, and it helps me to feel prepared for work and allows the clients to also see me in a consistent way. 

The basics of branding 

• Colour scheme: do some research into color theory and pick some colours that would create the desired effect within your client's mood, as well as some of your favorite colours too. Make sure to get the colour code! 

• Create a logo: this logo will go on your website, marketing materials, and social media postings. 

'My favorite thing is Fiverr – it's an online platform where freelance artists, designers, and copywriters … [are] on that platform, and you can scroll and find so many cool designers and a lot of them are really affordable!' – Julia Smith 

Check out my tools and deals page where you can find a link to Fiverr to create your logo! 

• Create business cards: business cards are rarely used nowadays, but it is still important and helpful to have a few on hand. There are loads of free and great options to help you design beautiful business cards. 

'Depending on how many [business cards] you need, you might want to go with a business like MOO which I love! Their cards are professional, high-quality, and beautiful, and again you can find them on my tools and deals page … they are just the best types of cards and I highly recommend this company!' – Julia Smith  

• Design a website: make sure that the color scheme and the logo that you have chosen are incorporated into your website design. 

I love my Canadian online private practice because it is much more affordable to market and brand. However, if you do have a physical office space, be sure that your office and its interior design principles match those of your branding too. Use the same or similar colours to help with consistency and cohesion. 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources Mentioned and Useful Links: 

Ep 79: How to Hire a Social Media Manager | EP 79 

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Article: How to Set Up a Canadian Private Practice Website  

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

Social media is here to stay, but it doesn't have to be difficult for you to do. 

There are enough people out there with all sorts of skills that you don't have to bootstrap it and do everything – frankly, it's better if you hire out and let someone do what they're good at so that you can focus on providing great therapy! 

So, do you want to expand your Canadian private practice by connecting with more of your ideal clients in a way that feels authentic to you and your brand, but you don't know what the first step is? Consider hiring a social media manager. 

In this Episode:

• Why I hired a social media manager

• How I hired my first social media manager 

• Training my top candidate 

• What I've learned from this experience 

Why I hired a social media manager 

In the current marketing environment, social media can be a very useful tool to connect with your ideal clients and spread the word about your Canadian private practice. 

However, social media is an investment of both time and energy. If you are running a Canadian private practice, seeing clients, organizing the billing, and all the rest of it, adding being a social media manager on top of your standard duties can be a lot of extra work. 

At first, I was worried that it would cost too much to pay someone to manage my socials each month, but I knew that I needed to spend my time where it mattered the most, so I decided to hire someone. 

How I hired my first social media manager 

I used Indeed to help connect me with potential social media managers. It has different features that can make it easier for you to post, advertise, filter, and find people that you think would best suit your practice and the role that you are looking to fill. 

It was important for me that my top candidate had the skills I was looking for and was someone that I felt I would enjoy working with. Luckily, she accepted! 

For the social media manager position, I decided to start her off with a training wage for three months and then bump her up to a living wage which gave me time to figure out what her role would be, how it would work, and to train her for the scope of the role. 

Training my top candidate 

To lay out some foundational steps for myself and for her, I decided that we would first only meet once a month, unlike with my VA whom I meet with once a week. 

The main problem that we had to overcome initially was figuring out how long it would take to write, create, and edit the social media posts, especially when my associate and I also had to edit and confirm some information. 

Therefore, the new system of editing posts was just to go through me, and I would confirm it, and it would be posted.

What I've learned from this experience 

You have to be clear about how many hours you are willing to give each month. 

Additionally, you need to streamline the processes so that there aren't too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to deciding on a post and how to edit it. 

This is one thing that you can easily outsource. So, if you are interested in hiring a social media manager, you can always reach out to us! 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources Mentioned and Useful Links: 

Ep 78: Rebecca Steele: How Raising Your Rates Can Improve the Quality of Your Work | EP 78 

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Article: How to Set Up a Canadian Private Practice Website  

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

What are the long-term benefits of raising your rates? Why does raising your rates ultimately help your clients as well as your work-life balance? 

Many therapists are nervous about raising their rates and so continue to work for the same pay for years. Ultimately, raising your rates can make you a better therapist, and your clients will come to see that. 

If you know that you want to raise your rates to create time freedom within your work schedule, then this episode is for you. 

MEET REBECCA

For 9 years Rebecca has worked towards helping adults dealing with anxiety, depression, or trauma to find their healing path and experience relief, wholeness, and fulfillment. She loves using a depth-therapy approach to support clients' healing process.

She has two masters-level clinical counselling degrees: a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree and a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy.

She is a Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist, and a Canadian Certified Counsellor. She is also a HeartHealing® Practitioner and a Clinical Counselling Hypnotherapist (C.Hyp™)

Learn more about Rebecca on her website, Psychology Today, and LinkedIn profiles. 

In this episode: 

• Rebecca's Canadian private practice experience 

• Overcoming the initial fear of raising rates 

• The benefits of time freedom 

• How raising rates supports your work 

Rebecca's Canadian private practice experience 

Rebecca has been running her private practice for the past seven years. Once she got her Masters of Social Work (MSW), she noticed fewer issues with people leaving therapy because more insurance companies cover social workers. 

To grow her Canadian private practice, Rebecca invested in good quality services for herself to help her run the business and to provide high-quality service with a professional feel for her clients. 

Overcoming the initial fear of raising rates 

A burned-out therapist may struggle to provide the standard of therapy that they aspire to for their clients, let alone their work; long hours for little money can take a huge toll on a therapist's mental and physical health since the work they do is already intensive. 

Raising your rates is therefore not only beneficial to the work that you do in terms of giving yourself the chance to take off extra hours which a raised rate allows you to do, but it also helps your clients. 

The benefits of time freedom

For most therapists like Rebecca, starting and running a Canadian private practice opens a doorway to experiencing more time freedom because you become your own boss and choose your hours and your work experience. You get to structure your days and weeks how you need to so that you can suit your professional life with your personal one.

How raising rates supports your work 

Of course, not all clients were pleased with the increase in the beginning, but the long-term benefits for both the clients and the therapist outweigh that initial discomfort and change. 

It is important for you – as a therapist and as a human being – to have a life outside of work that fulfills you so that you can then do what you like to do without dreading each new week. 

Of course, you can offer a sliding scale, refer out, or talk about accessibility options to clients of yours that you know need the extra support, so that there is a continuation of care. 

Connect with me:

Instagram

Website 

Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 77: Trying a 50/50 Work Week | EP 77 

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

www.beamlocal.com/fearless get some discounts for your new website! 

Listen to my podcast episode on how to ethically and sustainably raise your rates to help yourself, your business, and your clients! 

Learn more about Rebecca on her website, Psychology Today, and LinkedIn profiles – and check out her free dream journal prompt!

Do you feel satisfied with your current work-life balance? Does your current work routine work for you, or does it feel a little misaligned with your rhythm? Are you wanting to shake up your work routine?

I've been experimenting with changing my professional hours because everyone deserves to do the work they enjoy without having to sacrifice their mental, physical, or emotional well-being. 

If this resonates with you, then give this episode a listen!

In this Episode:

• A year with an unexpected start! 

• Encountering schedule challenges

• Finding my work-life balance 

A year with an unexpected start!

Even though I had planned for 2023 to be a somewhat quieter year in terms of starting new projects, this year did begin with some unexpected turns. 

For example, I had to quickly jump ship and resolve some website issues, while running my Canadian private practice and continuing to see clients. I was still training my social media manager, and wrapping up projects from 2022. 

Encountering schedule challenges 

At this point, I worked four days a week in my schedule, from Monday to Thursday. On average I worked from around 9:30 am to 9:30 pm, with an afternoon break, with Friday to Sunday being my days off. 

'For the past year and a half, two years that I had been doing that, it seemed to have been working, so this [potential burnout] shocked me a little bit. I thought, "I have three days off … why am I still feeling drained?" I kind of felt like I was failing with how I was running my schedule as well as a little bit of guilt or shame because I get more time off than most people do.' – Julia Smith 

I had to do some mental recalibrating because I felt uncomfortable taking more time off -  something we can experience when we begin to address how capitalism has impacted our mindset about life. Despite the initial uncomfortable feeling, it was worth trying to make a change. 

Having three days off initially was helpful, but I started to realize – especially mid-winter – that I really needed a weeknight off. This was for my energy levels, but also because I was missing seeing my friends and loved ones, and I wanted to change up some things in my personal life! 

The feeling of being held back by my schedule and not being able to enjoy my life was not something I was comfortable with, so I knew that I had to make a new adjustment. 

Finding my work-life balance 

I looked back on the reason why I started my Canadian private practice, and it was a combination of my desire to be a therapist and to have more say in how I schedule my time.
I want to do good work without sacrificing my mental, physical, and emotional health, and I knew that there must be a way to do that. 

I decided to see what it would be like to take one evening off during the work week, and I chose Thursday night, which developed into only working a half day on Thursday. 

It took some time to adjust in the beginning, but now that I've settled into it, it works so well, and I feel ready to do my work and I get to truly rest and enjoy my personal life. 

Because it's so personal, one person's work-life balance will look different from that of someone else. So pick and choose and experiment, and then bring it all together in a way that is tailored to your hours, schedule, desires, and wishes. 

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Resources Mentioned and Useful Links: 

Ep 76: The Ethics of Offering Price Bundles in Private Practice 

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Article: How to Set Up a Canadian Private Practice Website  

Listen to my Canadian private practice journey up until now! 

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

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