Fearless Practice

Jules Smith
  • 5.0 (4)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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.

  1. 2D AGO

    Alison Chisholm: Building More Than a Private Practice | Ep 177

    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. Learn more about Alison on her Psychology Today profile and website.   In this episode:  Getting into private practice  Building a collective  Setting up a private practice website  Incorporating your values   Getting into private practice 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.   Building a collective 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.  Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources mentioned and useful links: Finding Clients in a Saturated Market | EP 176 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!  Learn more about Alison on her Psychology Today profile and website  Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

    32 min
  2. Finding Clients in a Saturated Market | Ep 176

    OCT 8

    Finding Clients in a Saturated Market | Ep 176

    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  If you want to learn more about nichings, feel free to listen to this episode of the Fearless Practice Podcast, which dives in deep!  Splitting the niches with staff  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.  Now, when someone goes to our practice website’s menu, they can see exactly which therapist can help them with what, making it easy to find and decide who to reach out to.  Maintaining Psychology Today profiles  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  Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources mentioned and useful links: Ep 175: Marta Evans: Mastering Growth in Canadian Private Practice | EP 175  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

    9 min
  3. Marta Evans: Mastering Growth in Canadian Private Practice| Ep 175

    OCT 1

    Marta Evans: Mastering Growth in Canadian Private Practice| Ep 175

    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. Learn more about Marta on her practice website, Psychology Today, and Facebook profiles.  In this episode:  Starting private practice Diversifying your experience  Building up a group practice  Marta’s advice to listeners  Starting the private practice 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.  Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources mentioned and useful links: Kayleen Edwards: Private Practice Growth and Planning for Maternity Leave | EP 174  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!  Learn more about Marta on her practice website, Psychology Today, and Facebook profiles  Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

    30 min
  4. Kayleen Edwards: Private Practice Growth and Planning for Maternity Leave | Ep 174

    SEP 24

    Kayleen Edwards: Private Practice Growth and Planning for Maternity Leave | Ep 174

    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! Learn more about Kayleen on her practice website, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles  In this episode:  What are the OAMHP and CRPO?  Managing a private practice while being a committee member Growing a private practice  Planning a maternity leave?  Mistakes made and lessons learned  Advice for listeners  What are the OAMHP and CRPO? The OAMHP stands for the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals, and the CRPO stands for the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario!  Kayleen has been a council member of the CRPO since 2024, but has been working for them since 2019.  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.  Advice for listeners  Value your community over competing with them!  Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources mentioned and useful links: Compensation | EP 173 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!  Learn more about Kayleen on her practice website, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles  Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

    30 min
  5. Compensation Models for Contract Therapists in Canada | Ep 173

    SEP 17

    Compensation Models for Contract Therapists in Canada | Ep 173

    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

    12 min
  6. Micheal Sorsdahl: Ccpa’s New Ethics Case Book and Why You Must Read It | Ep 172

    JUL 30

    Micheal Sorsdahl: Ccpa’s New Ethics Case Book and Why You Must Read It | Ep 172

    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. Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources Mentioned and Useful Links: Liv Noël Dakkak: Niching With Your Passion in Private Practice | ep 171 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 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

    42 min
  7. LIV Noël Dakkak: Niching With Your Passion in Private Practice | Ep 171

    JUL 23

    LIV Noël Dakkak: Niching With Your Passion in Private Practice | Ep 171

    Do what you love, and you won’t work a day in your life? Close, but not quite! Niching down and working within your passion and ideal client group will still take effort and work, but it can be easier than staying a generalist, especially if you are dreaming about working more intentionally with the groups of people you care the most about helping.  In today’s episode, I speak with Liv (they/them) about niching down, starting a private practice, and running workshops, all of which they started in an effort to reshape their life around their needs, dreams, and desires.  So, it’s maybe not about not working at all, but about doing the work that feels right for you!  MEET LIV Liv (they/them) is a registered social worker who works primarily with queer, neurodivergent and disabled folks who have experienced trauma. They are guided by anti-oppressive, strength-based, trauma-informed care and use methods such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to get to the root of what you are struggling with. They offer services to individuals and partners, youths and adults, virtually across Ontario and in-person in Cornwall. Learn more about Liv on their Psychology Today profile and bookings page.  In this episode:  Why Liv became a social worker Starting a private practice  Partnering with aligned organizations  Niching down to boost success  Advice for listeners  Why Liv became a social worker From Liv’s personal experience, as well as seeing people struggle with mental health, they felt drawn to becoming a Registered Social Worker to help people go through life a little more easily.  Additionally, Liv works primarily with queer, neurodivergent, and disabled folks because they have these life experiences too.  Starting a private practice  After Liv’s extensive experience working in the public sector, they started to consider opening up a Canadian private practice. This was partially due to burnout, a need to structure work around their health more, and simply a desire for something new in their career.  Starting a private practice allowed Liv to create the life that they wanted to live. One that was professionally structured around their personal needs, and that supported a happier, healthier, freer lifestyle with less stress and more flexibility.  After working in the public sector, Liv worked in another group practice, but after a few months, they started their own private practice, which is what Liv is doing now.  Partnering with aligned organizations Liv’s private practice is going well! Now that they’re able to work more freely, Liv can build the practice from the ground up in close alignment with their values.  Also, Liv has started to partner with organizations where they see drop-in clients. Liv explains that they know things take time, so they are making professional moves to increase clients, market the practice, and collaborate with like-minded organizations while slowly growing the solo practice each month.  Niching down to boost success To stand out and connect with their ideal clients, Liv has made a big effort to niche down.  Niching down in private practice is not only a great business strategy for success, but also a method for you to really integrate your work with your passion.  Liv has also begun participating in workshops to expand their client base and strengthen their professional network.  Advice for listeners  Things take time! Be patient, especially in the first few months of private practice. Don’t let impostor syndrome get you down, since sometimes you will need to put in lots of effort before you see a return on it. So, be patient, keep going, and work with your passion!  Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources mentioned and useful links: Catharine Martin: Inside Jane App’s AI Scribe | EP 170 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!  Learn more about Liv on their Psychology Today profile and bookings page  Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

    22 min
  8. Catharine Martin: Inside Jane App’s AI Scribe | Ep 170

    JUL 16

    Catharine Martin: Inside Jane App’s AI Scribe | Ep 170

    You have heard about AI everywhere, and now it is being used within EMR services. If you feel unsure about this topic or you want to learn more, then definitely play this episode and join us for the conversation! In this podcast episode, Catharine from Jane App and I discuss how Jane App incorporates AI into their EMR, including some general best practice guidelines about how you can use to use Jane’s AI Script services ethically and safely in your practice.  MEET CATHARINE Catharine Martin is the Privacy and Compliance Manager at Jane App, where she plays a key leadership role in shaping and overseeing the company’s privacy and regulatory strategies. With a strong background in data protection and compliance, she works closely with healthcare practitioners to ensure their practices meet evolving privacy requirements while also finding practical ways to reduce administrative burden. Beyond her work at Jane, Catharine is also a dedicated Pilates instructor, bringing the same focus and discipline to her teaching as she does to her professional work. Learn more about Catharine on her LinkedIn profile.  In this episode:  Working with Jane App  AI Scribe AI in client diagnostics  It is all up to you  Jane’s appearance in The Globe and Mail  Working with Jane App Catharine, 20 years ago, after giving birth, had a radical and unexpected medical event that left her in a brief coma, experiencing multiple organ failure.  However, due to her incredible doctors, her strength, and a lot of luck, she survived and kept all her organs, without needing any transplants, and went on to make a full recovery.  How did this bring her to work for Jane App? After what Catharine went through, she felt so drawn to Jane App’s vision to “Help the helpers”, that she started working for the company to further their mission.  AI Scribe Jane App offers an AI scribe feature. It essentially charts notes from your sessions with clients in your own voice.  Jane secured a third-party vendor who is known for their robust privacy practices, which are all compliant with the required ethical laws and privacy legislation, to help them integrate the AI tool.  AI in client diagnostics ‘As part of using Jane’s AI Scribe, therapy notes are included, but not diagnostic suggestions. As in, diagnostic suggestions are not coming from any AI-powered tool. Diagnostic suggestions are coming from a human, providing care to another human.’ - Catharine Martin  Even though Jane App makes use of AI in some of their service offerings, they are critical of making sure that it is being used ethically and appropriately, and only for admin-related tasks.  The care suggestions and client diagnostics will still only come from you, the client’s therapist, based on your sessions together. It is all up to you With your Jane App subscription, when it comes to AI, it is all up to you. You don’t have to make sure of it, even though it is being offered to you.  You can easily opt in or out of using it within your Jane App subscription, hassle-free.  Also, consider the risk of any tool that you use when you are weighing up whether to use it or not.  Jane’s appearance in The Globe and Mail Jane App made great headlines in one of The Globe and Mail’s articles for reaching a $1.8-billion valuation.  Jane App is looking to adopt AI on a grand scale by continuing to explore its benefits ethically to help more helpers.  Connect with me: Instagram Website  Resources mentioned and useful links: Ep 169: Rachel Brennan: Keeping Connection in an Online Group Practice | EP 169  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!  Learn more about Catharine on her LinkedIn profile Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn

    22 min
See All (177)

Trailer

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Jules Smith
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    177
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Fearless Practice

You Might Also Like