Welcome to Fearless Practice Podcast! This podcast has been a year in the making and I am so excited to finally talk to you about how to start and grow a Canadian Private Practice, and sometime in the future, how to make it into a group private practice.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Meet your host
My name's Julia Smith, I did an undergrad at McMaster University, a double honours in Health Studies and Psychology. The research tired me out and I took 3 years off to work in fashion. It was great to do something completely different, but after a while, I felt that I wanted to do something more with my career. I craved doing something interpersonal and I wanted to help and interact with other people.
I got into Acadia University to do my Masters of Education in Counselling, the degree that I finally graduated with in 2015.
Starting my counselling career
After spending a year living at home with my parents while I was writing my thesis, I was ready to start my counselling career. I got a job working for the BC Government as a Child and Youth Mental Health Clinician.
This job was perfect, it was a 1-year contract and it allowed me to explore and learn so much about counselling as a profession. I was also the only therapist in the community who helped anybody under the age of 19, so it was quite a bit of responsibility, and I loved it!
Figuring out my next move
I was trying to figure out my next move, then, a colleague of mine suggested that I start my own private practice.
'I had never even fathomed starting a private practice just with 1-year of professional counselling under my belt.' – Julia Smith
This was an absolutely wild idea; but as I started to think about it more, it became more of a possibility that I could actually start my own private practice. I just had a couple more months left in BC and there were parts of me that knew I was not ready to commit my life to 30 years in a government job, so I knew what I had to do next.
How I started my Canadian private practice
I found a consultant in the States that helps counsellors start their own private practices, and watching his videos made me realize that I could actually do this if I just followed all the steps. I had money saved up and I knew that after my 1-year contract was over, I'd be able to support myself even if I didn't have any clients.
'I decided to take a huge risk and start my own private practice. There were definitely people in my life that thought that it was wild, and there were lots of people who were very supportive.' – Julia Smith
In October 2016 I moved across the country from BC to Halifax, NS. In the months leading up to this, I had to find an apartment, I registered my business, and I also had to find an affordable place to counsel people.
Luckily there was a clinic at that time that was offering office space by the hour and you only paid if you booked.
'It was like everything aligned to move to Halifax. I could afford to live there, cheaply, I could afford to start my private practice cheaply, I didn't have to pay my monthly rent, I could just book the times when clients booked with me and then have an office space.' – Julia Smith
This is why I started a Canadian private practice! I can't wait for you to join me on the next episode where I share with you how I started my private practice.
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Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:
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