MASTERING STRESS IN TODAY’S CANADIAN PRIVATE PRACTICE | EP 152
I think we can agree that stress is something we’d all like to reduce in private practice! For me, in 2024, I realized that my working life was too stressful. It was something I really wanted to change so that I could relax more and enjoy my work and life!
So, at the end of 2024, I completed a small business audit on stress. I’ve now come up with three strategies for 2025 that I’ll be implementing to see if I can decrease stress and increase a sense of contentment when I log on and off from my Canadian private practice.
Join me on my discussion today where I talk about these three, small but powerful habits and routine changes I’m doing – maybe some of them will help you? And in November of 2025, I’ll be uploading my annual review of my Canadian private practice to share with you how they went!
Jane is an all-in-one health and wellness practice management platform designed to be helpful to you, no matter how or where you practice. Available online and on any device, Jane offers branded online booking, beautiful scheduling, insurance management, customizable charting, online intake forms, patient reminders, integrated payment processing, online appointments (telehealth) and more! Use the code FEARLESS at signup to receive your first month completely free!
In This Episode
- A quick recap
- Addressing the financial stress
- Managing email checking
- Changing my social media habits
A quick recap
If you haven’t listened to previous episodes, in 2024 I realized how stressed out I was feeling. If you want to learn more about how I got out of those stressful situations, you can listen to my podcast episodes 135 and episode 144.
‘After coming out of 2024, I’m realizing how good it feels to not be so stressed in private practice. That made me decide on my 2025 goal for private practice, which is to 2.0 this shit and see where else I can reduce stress in my private practice!’ – Julia Smith
We know, as therapists, that chronic stress is not good for a person’s mental or physical health and wellbeing. The goal for my life is to reduce stress as much as possible. I know that I got lost in the stress of private practice and forgot how great it feels to NOT be stressed often!
‘I forgot how great it feels to not be stressed out and what that actually looks like, [because] in 2024 I realize I was on a [constant] high level of stress that I didn’t even realize … because it had become my norm.’ – Julia Smith
Addressing the financial stress
Over the holiday break, I took 2 weeks off to think about how I could better manage things that were often stressful in my private practice, allowing me to change my work routine for the better.
‘The first thing that I became aware of in that time of self-reflection was that I need to change how I manage my private practice income.’ – Julia Smith
When I started my practice, a monthly budget worked well, since my clientele was still growing and sometimes unsteady. Some months I would have more personal bills and other months more practice expenses, so money was constantly being moved around, which was stressful to manage!
However, now that my practice has grown a bit more, this method was no longer working. I realized that I didn’t need to keep using this system. So, how I manage my money now – and you should speak with your own financial advisor! – is yearly..
I worked out how much I generally spend, save, and pay for the year, divided it up to find a monthly figure, and now know how much I have to work with instead of leaving everything to the end of the month to figure out.
‘I’m now no longer waiting until the end of each month to see if I have extra money, I just know now that that is my budget, no matter if I make a lot of money or not.’ – Julia Smith
Basically, I gave myself a salary! And this has been so helpful in managing stress.
Managing email checking
I would check my emails pretty constantly and that led to burn out and also big dopamine hits when emails would come through. It made it harder to stay relaxed. What started as an effort to be efficient spiraled a bit into an unnecessary stressful situation.
‘It was distracting … and made it harder to decompress at the end of a long day, and unwind. I want to feel more grounded in my work … and [I thought] what might be helpful is if I don’t check my emails all the time.’ – Julia Smith
So now, I’ve taken my email and slack accounts and hidden their bookmarks from my main view on my internet browser. I now only check them three times a day! So far, this is helping to feel less wired and anxious after a long day of working.
Changing my social media habits
We all struggle with balancing social media. It has become a part of our marketing and still remains, for many people, a standard form of communicating. However, I knew that I wanted to change my approach with it because I didn’t want it to be taking up so much of my energy.
‘I use social media for business and I love interacting with all of you there. So for my Instagram account for Fearless and Insight, I’ve set the rules that I’ll only go on those when I’m working and if I want to check them, it’s during the time that I’m checking my emails.’ – Julia Smith
I’ve even started reading a digital newspaper on my breaks (instead of getting my news from google or the internet), and it has been great! Sure, there’s stress with what’s happening in the world, but by managing information overload, it is becoming easier to manage digesting the news and stress.
‘So by doing all of these things, I’m really hopeful that it will increase my threshold for stress, and that I’ll be at a more grounded spot so that when stressful things do happen, I’ll have more energy for them, it won’t burn me out as quickly, and I’ll be able to continue to enjoy my work!’ – Julia Smith
Connect With Me
Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:
Ep 151: Chanel Wainscott: Riding the Waves of Private Practice | EP 151
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About Julia
Julia Smith, MEd, RCT, CCC is a registered Counselling Therapist who owns a group private practice in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is also the owner of Fearless Practice Consulting and hosts the Fearless Practice podcast. Through the Fearless Practice podcast, she provides invaluable insights and practical advice on starting and growing a successful Canadian private practice. Julia’s wealth of knowledge also extends beyond the podcast, as she provides personalized one-on-one consulting to therapists who are feeling burnt out and overwhelmed with their solo or group private practices. With Julia’s expertise, therapists can confidently navigate the complexities of owning a private practice and find work life – balance.
Julia also has written articles for the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy association. You can learn more at www.ccpa-accp.ca/blog/.
