Fearless Practice

Kathleen has always loved music. It brought her close to her grandmother, who was struggling with dementia, when she was a child. For Kathleen, music had a profound ability to connect people and help them understand themselves.  Now, fast forward a few decades later, Kathleen is running a successful Canadian group private practice that incorporates music and psychotherapy, offering a rare niche th...

When you work in the helping profession, it can be taxing. The work can require you to hold space for difficult moments or conversations.  A good way to support yourself first before you go ahead to support someone else is to work a job that serves, rather than hurts, your mental health. This is one of the core pieces of advice that my guest today, Nancy, shares with us.  She pivoted from working...

Who you are as a person does not easily stay outside of the work that you do. Your values and principles tend to come into play when you are trying to do your best work, and my guest today recommends that you intentionally bring them in!  Eleanor is curious and compassionate. She always wants to know more, and this has led her to discover her favorite niches in clients to work with as a therapist....

Would you consider running two different careers in parallel in your life and routine? That's what Kim does!  Over the last three years, she has been working in corporate Monday through Friday and sees clients as a psychotherapist in the evenings and weekends. While it may seem like a lot, Kim explains that these two roles fulfill her equally and provide her with purpose and fuel her passion in ta...

Is there something you have been wanting to try in your Canadian private practice, but you're unsure of how to approach it? Could you be waiting for permission to be creative? Well, here you have it!  Maria pivoted her career from working as a forensic psychologist in prison systems and other group practices when she sat down with herself and was honest about chasing her goals: she wanted to trave...

Starting a Canadian private practice can be such an exciting time in your life, but also very overwhelming!  This means that sometimes things can get missed, or too much time can be spent on one task, running the risk of other important steps falling through the cracks. In private practice, anything missing could have serious consequences! It is important to be thorough.  So, I thought it would be...

Some doors close so that others can open: when Katie didn't get accepted into the original Master's Education in Counselling program she wanted, it was disappointing.  However, she ended up following another piece of her passion, and got her Master's in Teaching and Education. Then, once she had graduated, she pursued her second Master's in Counselling Psychology, achieving the degree she was init...

Our paths can change in ways that we may not easily foresee. While Sandra was someone who always knew that she liked and wanted to help people, she only became a therapist later on in life: her first career was in tech!  It was only after she completed her Master's degree - studying part-time while working in the Canadian tech hub - that she pivoted her career, starting both from scratch and in a...

This is an amazing milestone: I had no idea back in 2022 that the Fearless Practice Podcast would grow so big, and that I would still be here recording in 2026!  Of course, I could not have done this by myself. Thank you to Jane App, my podcast department team, and you, the audience. You are as much a part of this team as we are, and your listenership helps us develop and continue publishing new e...

What happens when the practice you worked so hard to build no longer fits the season of life you're in? How do you know when it's time to grow, and when it's time to simplify? In another installment from my mini-series, "Where are they now?" I'm chatting with Nicole Lobo, who was on the show back in 2023 ! In this episode, Nicole returns to the podcast to reflect on how her practice has evolved ov...

Building a business while caring for others can be deeply meaningful work, but it can also come at a cost if your own well-being is left behind. It can be easy to get absorbed in caring for others and accidentally lose focus on your own personal needs in the process.   Shulamit experienced this firsthand. In this episode, Shulamit Ber Levtov shares her unconventional path into therapy, from activi...

Building a meaningful practice often starts with a personal story, and grows through courage, creativity, and a commitment to helping others.  In this episode, I talk with Paula Gonzalez. We discuss her journey into mental health, which was shaped by both her background and lived experience, and how it led her from community work to launching and scaling her own private practice.  From navigating...

Growth rarely happens by accident because it's built through intention, care, and a willingness to evolve. In this episode of my mini-series "Where Are They Now?", Amber Sperling reflects on the journey of expanding her practice from a single basement setup to a thriving, multi-location space rooted in accessibility and community care.  Amber and I first spoke on the podcast in 2023! To get the fu...

We're revisiting episode 7: How I Developed a Marketing Strategy for My Private Practice — Networking. In this encore episode, I share the networking strategies I used when I started my practice in Halifax almost 10 years ago, including my first outreach system, why a personal touch like a thank-you card matters, and the biggest lesson I learned. You can find the show notes to the original episode...

If you have been listening to recent episodes of the Fearless Practice Podcast, you know that there are many ways to market your private practice, and that in a saturated market, you really need to make the effort to stand out! However, this can be really tough for the more introverted therapists, especially if you prefer doing offline marketing. In this podcast episode, I sketch out a few ideas w...

How do you get the word out about your private practice in your local community organically, and in a way that shows you really care about your clients? Do you really need a Psychology Today profile? How can you build a space for creativity to flourish? These are some of the questions that my guest today, Taylor, has asked herself throughout her journey so far in Canadian private practice. Upon di...

Sonya joined a life drawing class as a participant over 15 years ago. Little did she know at the time that this decision would end up leading her to hosting her own art sessions, taking it in a sexually inclusive and explorative angle, and later become a sex therapist who completed her Master's in her 40s and now runs her own (mostly) virtual private practice. As you can see, she has a unique stor...

After 10 years of working as a Registered Psychologist and dabbling initially in private practice, Dr. Anusha Kassan and her cofounder, Alyssa Hasham, purchased and freshened up an already existing Canadian private practice. With creativity, passion, and drive, they have developed the space into a community that they share with other clinicians to thrive in.  In this podcast episode, Anusha and I...

In this first installment of my series, "Where Are They Now?", I'll be interviewing past Canadian therapists that I've had on the show to see how their private practice is doing. Today, I'm checking in with Christina Page! Tune in to gain extra insight into where she was when we first spoke, and see the progress she has made!  We discuss the surprising discoveries she has made along the way, the d...

Have you ever felt the need to choose between non-profit and private practice? Is it possible to do both? My guest today, Tina, has found a way to do so! She believes in sustainability, both in business and her personal life. For Tina, being able to offer her services in the non-profit sector helps her to make sure her expertise is available to people who need the support but can't easily afford i...

Can siblings work well together? How do family-led businesses run in the mental health space? Sisters Debora and Nadia both experienced the same childhood trauma, which sparked an interest in mental health for them from a young age.  While they went their separate ways for a few years to study and pursue their careers, their paths have converged again in opening a private practice as co-founders! ...

Are you a telehealth therapist? Do you see most of your clients virtually? As a fully remote Canadian private practice owner, I have done lots of trial and error to find the daily routine that works for me, helps me prevent burnout, and allows me to feel recentered between each client. Of course, there are some days when I need to change things up, but now I have found a system for taking breaks t...

As a Canadian therapist in private practice, you are probably often needing to send and receive sensitive, private information. How often have you worried about these documents' security and safety? What should you do to secure email communications and keep unnecessary stress at bay?  This is where Hushmail comes to the rescue. For less than $20 CAD per month, you can completely insure, assure, an...

Have you ever felt a persistent pull toward work that feels more aligned with who you are, even when it means leaving something secure behind? Regan had the same feeling, and made the decision to lead a Canadian private practice with fellow colleagues that was built on their shared values.  In this episode, Regan and I talk about her non-linear journey into therapy. We explore how she and her prac...

Have you ever found yourself loving the work of therapy, but feeling frustrated by systems that make it difficult for your clients to receive the help they need? Dana reached that crossroads and made a brave, intentional leap toward a practice that supports both her clinical values and her personal well-being. In this podcast episode, Dana and I talk about her path into psychotherapy, and what it...