I decided to move across the country to start a Canadian private practice in Halifax, NS with only 1 year of professional counselling experience under my belt, but I was pretty determined and really excited!

In this episode, I am going to talk you through how I set up my private practice in that first year.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Having to stick to a budget and have minimal expenses
• How I started my private practice
• The top 3 things I focused on in the first year
• Supplementing my income

Having to stick to a budget and have minimal expenses

It was really important to me that I found someplace that was affordable. I wanted to put most of the money that I had saved and that I would be making from my private practice, back into my business and create the vision that I had for my Canadian private practice.

Being able to find an affordable bachelor apartment in downtown Halifax was such a huge win for me.

'For that first week or so I was just sleeping on a yoga mat, in an empty apartment, questioning all of my life's decisions.' – Julia Smith

How I started my Canadian private practice

In that first month, I was finding my way and just getting settled into Halifax, but once I had everything figured out, I was ready to start building my private practice.

'I was really fortunate to have a consultant. That really helped my anxiety level, knowing that somebody had my back and that they had been through starting a private practice and they were going to help me.' – Julia Smith

I already had office space where I could see clients, but here are a few things that I did to set myself up to start my private practice:

• Registered my private practice
• Became certified with CCPA (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association)
• Got on an insurance (you can do this through CCPA)
• Found a Narrative Therapist who could supervise me so that I could be licensed in Nova Scotia
• Established my niche
• Built my website
• Got an HST number
• Purchased and EMR (Electronic Management Record System) subscription
• Designed a logo
• Took professional photos
• Determined my intake and session rates
• Secured a business phone number
• Opened a business bank account
• Network, blogged, and created a video

To get the exact steps I followed, sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

The top 3 things I focused on in the first year

1. Blogging
2. Networking
3. Creating a video

1. Blogging

'I didn't have a lot of money to put into marketing, to pay for advertisements. And blogging is free, it just takes up your time. And in that first year, I did have more time.' – Julia Smith

I wanted to market myself as much as possible to get my name out there. So, for me, blogging was really important, I made a commitment to blog every single week.

1. Networking

After blogging for a while, my consultant really pushed me to network with other Halifax therapists in private practice, as well as other practitioners. This was nerve-wracking but it was a really good benefit to my private practice as I met other therapists in the area and built a community. We all learned about each other and I was able to build a network of people I could refer out to, or could refer to me.

1. Creating a video

'I think it's important to not only have a professional photo, but to also have yourself speaking on your website in a video where people can see you, hear you, and then hopefully feel connected to you. And, choose you to be their therapist because they feel a connection.' – Julia Smith

This is also a great way to talk about your niche, who you are, who you help, and why you help. Creating this video was expensive, but it was so worth it because I definitely started to get more clients.

Supplementing my income

In that first year, I was seeing a few clients but not enough to feel secure. As I was building my private practice and doing all these things, I got a job for 2 days a week, counselling university students at Dalhousie University.

I felt so lucky, I could live off of this income very frugally, I had posted my video at the end of the summer and I was starting to see a couple more clients in my Canadian private practice. I had completed all my foundational work in building the practice.

But then sh*t hit the fan…

Connect with me:

Website and Instagram

Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:

Ep 01: Why I Started a Canadian Private Practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

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