CHANGING MY MINDSET IN PRIVATE PRACTICE : YEAR 8 | EP 144
And what a year it has been! With so many ups and downs, changes, and new insights. This year has been characterized by personal changes in mindset and approach to my practice, and professional development within my Canadian private practice and podcast.
Today’s episode will be a deep dive into my personal story, in celebration and reflection of year eight in private practice! I’ll share with you what I’ve learned, struggled with, and overcome, plus advice or tips I have picked up.
Thank you for your support and for going on this journey with me!
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
- November 2023
- The beginning of 2024
- Spring and summer of 2024
- Towards the end of this year
- The struggles of year eight
- Cultivating a “maintain mindset” over a capitalist-growth mindset
- The future of the Fearless Practice podcast
November 2023
Eight years ago, I started my Canadian private practice in November. Now, every November, I reflect on how far I’ve come.
A lot of my time and energy at the beginning of this year was focused on finalizing that website. Unfortunately around this time, along with the struggle of the website situation, I had to hire a new admin staff, which added a lot more work to my plate.
‘It was a very busy time. Now if you don’t remember, in year seven [last year], I had decided to redo my whole private practice website, and unfortunately, that was still going on months and months later! … Everything always takes longer than you anticipate, and that was true with my website.’ – Julia Smith
I was looking forward to the holidays in December! But it wasn’t enough to make me feel creative again.
The beginning of 2024
I sunk deeper and deeper into a work hibernation for the first few months of this new year. I just focused on the basics which allowed my creativity and urge to work harder to slowly appear again in the Spring, instead of forcing myself to keep pushing when I was feeling burned out.
Spring and summer of 2024
One of the biggest changes was that therapy for registered counselling therapists and psychotherapists became tax-free in the spring of 2024!
‘This news was so lovely because it allowed us to reduce our prices for our clients!’ – Julia Smith
Going into the summer of 2024, I began to feel the burnout creeping up on me again, so I decided to switch things up and pursue a solo project, which was to get involved in the SEO of the backend of my website. I took courses in SEO and redid the backend of my website to optimize it better, and I had a lot of fun!
Towards the end of this year
As you may know from episode 141, I took up the project of adding direct billing in the private practice, which so far has been going really well!
And to end it off, a wonderful twist this year was that my first admin – who had been with me since the beginning – came back! She missed us and working with us, and the stars aligned for there to be an opportunity for her to rejoin the team.
It’s been great to have the three of us back together again, working in private practice as a close-knit and content team.
The struggles of year eight
Even though this year has been lovely on many levels, there have been some tough moments. One of them is that Jane, my associate, and I have yet to complete a second season of our private practice’s podcast. It’s something that we want to pursue, but we’re still trying to figure out how to do it in a financially viable way.
Managing stress has also been another hurdle. Specifically, financial stress has been a concern.
‘The ebbs and flows of private practice are always stressful, and this past year was different than other years. Usually, there’s a pattern of the flows being in September or October and in February or March, and that didn’t happen last year … that definitely put a lot of stress on just not knowing when the next flow was going to be and how long the ebb was going to be.’ – Julia Smith
Running a podcast is expensive! And it got even tougher when the usual financial pattern of the year was different. In year eight, this year, I had to use a bit of my emergency savings fund to keep the Fearless Practice Podcast going.
Cultivating a “maintain mindset” over a capitalist-growth mindset
Due to money stress, I focused on ways to grow my practice and income but that mindset ended up not being helpful. What this experience has taught me is that adopting a perpetual-money-growth mindset can cause you even more anxiety.
‘If I have more, I’ll be happier, and that’s the capitalist bullshit that can seep into me. So when I took a step back and realized, “This mindset is not working for me”, growing isn’t going to make me happier. What’s going to make me happier is not being so stressed out.’ – Julia Smith
Now, I’m approaching my work as maintenance of my professional and personal dream life that is based on satisfaction and peace. Instead of chasing growth, I am now actively looking at my work-life balance in terms of maintaining what I have instead of continuous expansion.
The future of the Fearless Practice podcast
We’re thrilled that Jane App is sponsoring the podcast for another year!
This means there will be a whole other year of the Fearless Practice podcast! Thank you to my podcast editing team along with Joel, Niam, Brittany, Claire, and you, our audience! We look forward to another year of sharing stories and knowledge about Canadian private practice, and building a stronger network across Canada and even beyond.
Connect With Me
Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:
EP 143: Jillian Bagan: Growing a Queer-Informed Practice | EP 143
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)
Listen to my private practice story and journey here!
Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn
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/.
