Where are you in your private practice journey? How's it going for you? I'm Jules Smith, and I'm so glad you're here.
The Fearless Practice podcast is your go-to resource for building a thriving private practice in Canada. Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow, this podcast is here to guide you every step of the way. I share practical tips on everything from launching your practice and filling your schedule to expanding into a group practice.
But you won't just hear from me—I also interview Canadian therapists from across the country who share their real-life experiences, challenges, and wins. These honest conversations offer valuable insight, inspiration, and support to help you confidently create a private practice that works for you.
Let's learn, grow, and build fearless practices—together.
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Affordable Ways to Start a Canadian Private Practice in 2025 | Ep 181
mercredi 12 novembre 2025 • Durée 13:35
We're bringing back Episode 157: Affordable Ways to Start a Canadian Private Practice in 2025 for an encore. Whether you missed it the first time or need a refresher, this episode is packed with practical tips to help you launch your practice without breaking the bank.
You can find the show notes to the original episode here.
Leading With Authenticity in Private Practice: Year 9 | Ep 180
mercredi 5 novembre 2025 • Durée 12:22
This is a very special episode: my ninth annual yearly review!
In this episode, I share insights into how my Canadian private practice has been going this year. Including the significant changes that have occurred, how their impacts landed, and where we are going from here … into Year 10 in 2026!
Thank you to my listeners for being on this path alongside me. I'm so excited for another great year of episodes ahead! Onwards and upwards!
In this episode:
Direct billing has been great
Success with lowered prices
Monthly land tax donations
My transition
Here's to year 10!
Direct billing has been great
As you may have heard, from year eight we implemented direct billing and that has continued to be an asset.
If you are interested in learning more about the process of including direct billing and how I did it, you can listen to this podcast episode. Or, if you're sitting on the fence and still deciding whether or not you want to use direct billing, and some more information could be useful to you, you can listen to this episode.
Success with lowered prices
Last year we decided to lower our rates and haven't looked back!
If you want some more information and guidance on lowering or raising your rates, check out this episode I did discussing this exact topic.
Monthly land tax donations
The third change we've been implementing since the middle of this year has been donating monthly to the in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Grace Kim: How Therapy Sparked a Private Practice | Ep 179
mercredi 29 octobre 2025 • Durée 37:09
Have you ever had a therapy experience so powerful that it clarified exactly how you want to help others? Has a specific modality inspired your niche in private practice? That's exactly what happened to Grace Kim, whose experience shaped her path as a Canadian private practice therapist.
Once she experienced EMDR therapy, Grace changed her career path, and the journey that she's taken has been nothing short of exciting and fulfilling.
MEET GRACE
Grace Kim, MSW, RSW, is the founder of REM Therapy Services, a small and growing group practice based in Markham, ON. The practice specializes in EMDR therapy, supporting high-achieving yet heavy-hearted individuals, as well as those who feel stuck in the past. REM Therapy Services offers EMDR intensives for clients seeking faster relief in therapy, along with clinical consultations for trauma therapists learning the EMDR modality. With a vision to grow as expert providers and educators of EMDR, REM Therapy Services is committed to serving both the local community and beyond.
As Grace explains, her journey to becoming a therapist and running a group private practice in Canada today has been a winding road.
While she started grad school with a certain plan in mind, by her graduation, the plan had changed. At first, after graduation, she worked in child welfare, community mental health, and in some hospitals.
Alexina Picard: Starting a Private Practice After Graduation | Ep 178
mercredi 22 octobre 2025 • Durée 29:35
Third time's the charm sometimes, and it was the case for Alexina! She had to be persistent and resilient, and was able to find a way through financial troubles to finish her Master's degree and start her own solo Canadian private practice.
In this podcast episode, we discuss why she chose to go solo rather than join an already-existing group practice and how she got to where she is today.
If you'd like some tips, advice, or just a good story of resilience from a fellow therapist, give this episode a listen!
MEET ALEXINA
Alexina is a Registered Clinical Counsellor practicing in North Vancouver, BC. She opened her solo private practice 4 months ago, immediately upon registration with the BCACC, something she had never imagined she would do. Alexina has over 10 years of healthcare and mental health experience, from pharmacy assistant to the past Executive Director of the BC Psychological Association. When she's not working, she's either watching TV or running the trails on the North Shore.
Alexina's route to working as a therapist was roundabout.
Alexina applied to Yorkville and got in, but couldn't afford the tuition because she was accepted on such short notice, and didn't have enough time to sort out student loans and payment plans. She was then suggested to try out Adler University, and that route worked!
Alison Chisholm: Building More Than a Private Practice | Ep 177
mercredi 15 octobre 2025 • Durée 31:44
Everyone comes to private practice from different paths, but there can be a common thread between them: wanting to help others.
For my guest today, Alison, she had a very personal experience of becoming a mother, and noticed that there was a gap in the market wherein many new parents needed pre- and peri-natal support. This sparked a passion project to fill that need and spread support, ultimately helping both clients and clinicians along the way.
In this podcast episode, join us to learn more about building a collective, an affordable website, and how to live and work by your values.
MEET ALISON
Alison is a Registered Psychotherapist with over 10 years of experience across diverse practice settings. She co-founded Collectivus Psychotherapy in response to the increased isolation often experienced in private practice. Alison is passionate about fostering spaces where both clients and clinicians can thrive. She believes that when clinicians are connected and supported, their work becomes more authentic: helping clients truly thrive.
For Alison, getting onto her private practice path came from a very personal experience.
Throughout Alison's work with youth in her previous years in mental health, she always made an effort to support the parents too. Now, with her personal experience of becoming a mother, she wanted to combine and align these values into her new private practice.
Finding Clients in a Saturated Market | Ep 176
mercredi 8 octobre 2025 • Durée 09:22
Do you own a Canadian private practice and are finding it hard to attract clients? Have you found yourself with your head in your hands, trying to figure out how to stand out and get noticed?
Over the last few months, I've been tweaking my marketing strategies to test what works and what doesn't, and along the way, I have found some helpful results.
In the following podcast episode, I'll be sharing my discoveries and tips with you.
In this episode:
The situation in Canada right now
It's often said but still true: niche
Splitting the niches with staff
Maintaining Psychology Today profiles
Keep up to date with AI practices
The situation in Canada right now
If you have been listening to my recent interview episodes with guests, you will have heard a lot of Canadian therapists pointing out one thing: the market is saturated.
'Over the past couple of years, our profession has tripled! Which is so great for people who are trying to find a therapist, but it can lead to some challenges when it comes to marketing your private practice.' - Jules Smith
So, today, I wanted to share a few tips with you that I'm using myself to stand out from the crowd!
It's often said but still true: niche
'Niching is so important and I feel sometimes like a broken record to always bring it up in the podcast, but it is so important!' - Jules Smith
Three important things happen when you niche down in your Canadian private practice:
Clients instantly know that you're the right fit
Other professionals can refer to you more easily because you're a specialist rather than a generalist
You can use it to tailor your marketing message
Marta Evans: Mastering Growth in Canadian Private Practice| Ep 175
mercredi 1 octobre 2025 • Durée 30:16
It is Marta's third career shift, becoming a psychotherapist, after 20 years in healthcare and having worked in academia before! Across this wide career and lived experience, she knew that she wanted to bring it all into her work in her private practice.
Additionally, Marta had been helped by many people when she was getting started, which is what encouraged her to pay it forward by offering supervision and mentorship to new and upcoming clinicians.
In this podcast episode, Marta and I discuss pivoting from full-time to work full-time in private practice, how to hire the right people, and how to maintain the soul of therapy within the growing business. Join us for a great conversation!
MEET MARTA
Marta Evans, RP, M.Ed., C.C.C., is a psychotherapist and certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist based in Hamilton, Ontario. She's the founder of Evans Family Counselling & Psychotherapy, a heart-led group practice specializing in transformational therapies like IFS and EMDR for individuals navigating complex trauma, grief, and life transitions. Known for her warm, authentic presence and "gentle but spicy" approach, Marta is a strong advocate for trauma-informed care that challenges the limitations of the traditional medical model. At EFCP, she and her team prioritize respectful, collaborative care that supports deep healing and change by addressing root causes rather than just managing symptoms.
Kayleen Edwards: Private Practice Growth and Planning for Maternity Leave | Ep 174
mercredi 24 septembre 2025 • Durée 29:49
Are you currently building out your Canadian practice and unsure of how to grow? Or, are you growing your family and having children? How do you manage these two types of growth as a business partner and new parent?
In this episode, my guest Kayleen talks about how she places community above competition. We discuss how her value-driven approach to running her practice brought back most of her interns as associates, how she managed planning for maternity leave as a busy practice owner, and her tidbits of advice for listeners.
MEET KAYLEEN
Kayleen is an RP and cofounder of Roots in Wellness, a group therapy practice in Hamilton, Ontario. She is a validated clinical supervisor with the OAMHP and a council member for the CRPO. Kayleen is passionate about perinatal mental health and helping both clients and supervisees through the transition of parenthood. She is a mama of three littles herself, and a lover of all things nature!
Kayleen has been a council member of the CRPO since 2024, but has been working for them since 2019.
Compensation Models for Contract Therapists in Canada | Ep 173
mercredi 17 septembre 2025 • Durée 12:11
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.
Micheal Sorsdahl: Ccpa's New Ethics Case Book and Why You Must Read It | Ep 172
mercredi 30 juillet 2025 • Durée 41:51
Today, Jules takes another trip down memory lane, revisiting a gem from the Fearless Practice archives. In this encore episode, Jules talks to Michael Sorsdahl about the new CCPA revised ethics case book.
You can find the show notes to the original episode here.
If you're a long-time listener (hello!) you may have heard the episode on my personal big change which happened in the middle of last spring, where I shared the personal story of my transition.
In episode 163 I talk about coming out as trans nonbinary, and why I decided to share this news on this platform, and with my audience.
In fact, when this episode airs and you are listening to it, I'll be healing from top surgery!
'I am so excited for this next part of my journey. I feel so lucky that I am able to get top surgery, I just can't wait for it to happen.' - Jules Smith
However, while this change has been profound and important, my biggest fear about transitioning in an established private practice was realized: my client intake dropped significantly. It can take time to build trust and I think it may be due to the inconsistencies in branding as I redo my professional photos and video. As this episode airs, my private practice website should be finished with my updates! Luckily my associate's intakes have remained steady, and my current client caseload has sustained itself, but I won't lie that it was stressful initially when the dip happened.
'I forgot a bit about how difficult it is when you are starting a private practice, and how stressful it can be to brand yourself. So, I have a renewed sense of respect for all the Canadian therapists out there that have decided to go into private practice! It can be stressful, but I'm here with you, and we'll get through it together!' - Jules Smith
Here's to year 10!
There will be another year of the Fearless Practice Podcast thanks to Jane App! I truly enjoy working with them and love using their EMR :)
Additionally, Jane App decided to upgrade the promo code so that you can now have a two-month grace period when you sign up! The new code is: FEARLESS2MO.
Thank you so much to my podcast team and lastly, thank you to my audience. Here's to another year of podcasting together!
Grace joined this group private practice in 2018, six years after she graduated. It was a scary transition for her at first, going from a secure, salary job to a billable hours-based income.
At that time, however, Grace was newly married and living in a home with her partner where they enjoyed dual income streams, so the risk of going into a financial red zone, so to speak, was low.
Going from client to therapist
In 2018 and early 2019, EMDR therapy entered into Grace's professional picture, which changed her path and steered her more towards the idea of opening up her own Canadian private practice after she had a strong personal experience with it.
After Grace first experienced EMDR therapy, it sparked her interest in offering it as a modality herself as a therapist for other clients.
She started practicing it, saw great results, and got strong, positive feedback: all of which encouraged her to nurture her own small side private practice while still working for the other, larger group practice.
Building up a solo private practice
Grace's milestone and goal to quit working in the other group practice and go full-time on her own was when she had 10 clients per week.
That was what she was working towards, and once she hit that goal - and she did - she made the jump.
Now, Grace has recently hired her first associate and is developing her solo practice into a group practice!
Grace's advice to listeners
Networking is your friend! You can be a wonderful, highly skilled clinician, but you need to get your name and your practice's name out there.
Connect with other brilliant therapists to plug into the referral and sharing network. The more we support each other, the more clients get seen, the more good work gets done, and the more we all change our communities for the better.
Alexina was the Executive Director of BC Psychological Association for two of the four years that she worked there, and it provided her with the financial means to go back and complete her Master's degree.
Why go back to school after working?
While Alexina enjoyed working as the Executive Director of the BC Psychological Association, she kept her eye on the prize of completing her Master's degree, and this was partially due to being motivated by the people around her.
Working allowed her the financial freedom to continue with her studies, and the motivation from her colleagues pushed her to return to school and complete her qualification.
Going into solo private practice
From Alexina's work, she knew about the different options that were available to her. She applied to organization jobs, but didn't hear back and decided to try reaching out to group practices. However, she ultimately decided not to go with a position in an already-established group practice.
Therefore, Alexina turned towards starting her own Canadian private practice, because she began to think more deeply about the benefits of solo practice.
How the practice is going
Right now, Alexina's practice is getting off the ground slowly.
'It's really difficult when you're a new practitioner of any kind in the community for people to find out that you exist, unless you're working with an existing practice or clinic somewhere.' - Alexina Picard
Alexina's been working hard to get her practice's name out there, but she has learned that these things simply take time, no matter how hard you work, and she's gotten okay with that.
Alexina's advice to private practitioners
Learn as much as you can yourself. If you need to, consider putting your money to use by hiring a few professionals to set things up instead of spending money trying to do it yourself.
Alison, her partner, and her best friend are all therapists and decided to go all-in on building up this new private practice.
It was a shared passion project, and in 2025, they decided to rebrand and shift the practice to welcome more clinicians and therapists, since they were getting a lot of inquiries about hiring additional staff.
This is why Alison and her team wanted to create the collective: to serve therapists and clinicians who can then better serve their clients.
Setting up a private practice website
At the beginning of a private practice journey, things can get costly very quickly. Alison and her team built up their website using some affordable stock images and videos, but as their business grows, they edit, upgrade, and elevate their website piece by piece.
Alison and her team also invested in some marketing experts at the beginning to help them launch their practice online with their best foot forward.
Incorporating your values
Collaborating with experts, professionals, and other therapists is a central pillar of Alison's business approach, both when it comes to hiring people to help maintain the business, and to help give the clients the best experience.
She firmly believes that when therapists come together to support each other, their clients end up benefiting as well. Therefore, the business that Alison strives to create nourishes and meets the needs of professionals and clients alike.
Instead of giving long lists about all the ways in which we can help our clients, we decided to reorganize our approach in this way: we each have three specialties, and we share two specialties.
The next thing is to monitor and make sure your social media profiles, and especially therapy directory pages like Psychology Today, are consistently updated
Also, Psychology Today recently added HST for Canadian therapists using the platform, meaning that it costs more money to have a profile on their directory. So make sure that your Psychology Today profile is worth it to have!
If you want to get involved and elevate your Psychology Today profile, making it look sharp and effective, you can check out this podcast episode for the full scope of advice.
Keep up to date with AI practices Disclaimer: I use WordPress because I love that I own my website (unlike website builders)s. If you want to learn more about this, you can listen to this episode about my journey with WordPress.
Now, one of the things that you can do on your WordPress website is to add an LLMS.txt file. It has been designed to help AI assistants know what your website is all about.
'This file is designed to help AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini better understand your website, especially when they are answering questions about it.' - Jules Smith
As Marta explains, being a psychotherapist is her third career. She worked for a long time in academia and as a radiation therapist in oncology before transitioning to psychotherapy.
With her private practice, Marta started it part-time initially before getting to the point where she had enough clients to move into working in the practice full-time. She worked for some time in a group private practice while building up her own.
Diversifying your experience
After Marta completed her Master's degree, and while she was building up her private practice and working in another group practice, she got as involved as she could over the span of about seven years - before going full private practice - to soak up as much experience as possible.
She knew that her degree was valuable, but that she simultaneously wanted to have a lot more experience under her belt, which can only be acquired through working directly with people.
Building up a group practice
Marta developed her solo practice into a group practice in January 2024s. She decided to grow her private practice because she wanted to have a community of therapists around her, she wanted to stop turning clients away, and she wanted to start supervising and mentoring new clinicians.
Now, Marta has associates and mentees - she wants to help them nourish their passions and to provide an essential service that she herself benefited from. In a way, she's paying it forward.
Marta's advice to listeners
Slow is fast! Be intentional. Don't lose the soul of therapy by getting too caught up in the business aspects of running a private practice. Work closely with your values while heading closer to your goals.
Managing a private practice while being a committee member
Between her commitments to her roles within the CRPO and the OAMHP and running her own Canadian private practice, Kayleen definitely has a lot on her plate!
Before the beginning of her private practice journey, Kayleen graduated in 2014 and started working at an agency for a number of years. It was demanding work with a lot of travel and tough cases, and even though Kayleen learned a lot from that experience, she knew at the time that it wasn't something she would do forever.
Growing a private practice
Kayleen jokes that the growth snuck up on them over time. Initially, in 2019, Kayleen started supervising and took on her first student.
This opened up a whole new world for her, as she loved being a supervisor and enjoyed the practice, because many of the interns ended up coming back to work at the practice full-time.
Kayleen still sees clients, although she spends more time networking and opening up her practice to the community in new ways - like with a book club!
Planning a maternity leave?
One of the many tips that Kayleen would give you when it comes to preparing for maternity leave is to give yourself a hefty dose of grace!
She also recommends being flexible. Understand that there are many ways of going about maternity leave, so you don't have to do it the same way that other people in different jobs do.
Mistakes made and lessons learned
Along the way, some of the most prominent lessons that Kayleen learned include:
The importance of having boundaries around your notifications and not always being accessible or available.
Get admin help sooner than you think you need it!
To stop putting so much pressure on yourself to make it as big or successful as soon as possible. Put boundaries down with yourself, and allow yourself to rest as well.
Put some money away into an emergency savings fund.
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!
