Private Practice Elevation with Daniel Fava

Growing a solo counselling practice into a 19-person team sounds like it takes a master plan. Barbara Egan didn't have one.

She built Alive Counselling in Kelowna, BC through a cold call, conversations at the hockey rink, and a lot of trial and error. In this episode she walks Daniel through the whole thing: from a career-ending hockey injury at Ohio State, to sole proprietor juggling nap times and clients during COVID, to an award-winning clinic with 19 therapists.

If you're a solo practice owner wondering whether to hire your first associate, or how to grow without losing what makes your practice yours, this one's for you.

• Barbara's first hire came from a cold call. A therapist found her website, connected with a quote on it, and asked to move across the country to work for her.
• Most of her growth started with regular conversations at the rink and at school pickup, where people kept asking her for a trusted referral.
• People connect through pain, not highlight reels. Share the scar after it's healed, not while it's still raw.
• The business side isn't in the grad school curriculum. Barbara learned bookkeeping, contracts, billing, and hiring as she went.
• Her biggest lesson: delegate. A growing practice runs on a team, not the owner doing everything.
• What's next: a move to the US, a Tennessee license, and a new coaching business with her husband.

• Alive Coaching Group: alivecoachinggroup.com
• Alive Counselling: alivecounselling.com
• Barbara's free resource, Top 10 Tips for Mental Preparation (for athletes and their parents)
• Ready to reach more of your ideal clients? Book a free call: privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

This episode is brought to you by Zanda. Zanda is practice management software built for health and wellness practices, with scheduling, client records, billing, and telehealth in one place. Learn more at zandahealth.com/us.

This episode is also brought to you by Alma. Alma gives providers the tools to build thriving in-network private practices: insurance support, teletherapy software, client referrals, automated billing and scheduling, and a community of clinicians. Learn more at helloalma.com/elevation.

If you're deciding whether to build your own therapy website or pay someone to do it, this episode gives you a clear way to make the call based on where your practice is right now.

The hard part is that both paths can go wrong. You can lose a month of weekends to a DIY site that still doesn't bring in clients. Or you can hire on price alone and end up redoing the whole thing a year later.

You might think the deciding factor is a nicer template or a better designer. It's the strategy underneath the site, and that's true whether you build it yourself or hire out.

This episode gives you a simple way to know which option fits your practice today, so you can stop second-guessing and move forward.

• The DIY site that never gets finished is the most expensive kind. It sits at 80% done for months and helps no one.
• Sending ads or SEO traffic to a site that doesn't convert just means more people landing and leaving.
• Picking a web designer on price alone often means paying twice, once now and again when you redo it in a year.
• "Looks good" and "gets clients" are two different goals. A pretty site that doesn't convert still isn't doing its job.
• Before you spend a dollar driving people to your site, make sure it's ready to turn that attention into inquiries.

When was the last time you looked at your payment processing statement? A 3% flat rate on one session feels small. Across a full caseload, it adds up to thousands of dollars a year just to accept payments.

Helcim works differently. Instead of a flat rate, they use Interchange Plus pricing, which passes the real bank rate to you plus one clear margin. That cuts processing fees by about 25% on average. No monthly fees, no software fees, no contracts, and full HIPAA compliance. You also get digital invoicing, automatic payment reminders, and cards on file for easy post-session billing.

Start now and your first $5,000 in transactions is completely fee-free. Head to helcim.com/PPE or click the link in the show notes.

If you’d like help improving your website and turning more visitors into clients, you can schedule a Clarity Call here:

https://privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

Your client decides whether they feel safe in your office before they say a word. The room does that work.

Most therapists put real thought into their clinical skills, but what about the space a client walks into? 

Harsh lighting, a stiff waiting room, a cold and sterile feel. When a client shows up nervous and the space adds to it, you spend the first session rebuilding trust you didn't need to lose.

Samantha Barash is a registered dietitian and the founder of The Practice Collective, a shared office space for mental health providers in Metro Detroit. She's designed several offices around one question: how do I want people to feel when they walk in? In this episode she shares the small, low-cost changes that make a space feel warm and safe.

• Why the space sets the tone before the work even starts
• The lighting change that shifts the whole feel of a room
• Simple ways to make an office feel like a home, not a clinic
• The fastest, cheapest upgrades you can make this month
• Why your office should match what clients see on your website

• The Practice Collective: https://www.practice-collective.com/
• The Practice Collective on Instagram: @practice.collective
• Tap Into Nutrition on Instagram: @tap.into.nutrition

This episode is brought to you by Zanda. Zanda is practice management software built for health and wellness practices, with scheduling, client records, billing, and telehealth in one place. Learn more at zandahealth.com/us.

This episode is also brought to you by Alma. Alma gives providers the tools to build thriving in-network private practices: insurance support, teletherapy software, client referrals, automated billing and scheduling, and a community of clinicians. Learn more at helloalma.com/elevation.

Ready to bring your brand to life on a website that matches the experience your clients get in person? Book a free call at privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff.

If you're planning a new website this year, the most important work happens before anyone starts designing. 

Get that part right and you build the site once, instead of paying to redo it in 18 months.

Many therapists treat a website like a one-time purchase. You pay for it, it launches, you move on. 

Then a year and a half later you're back where you started, writing another check for another site, because the first one never actually fit the practice.

You might think the fix is a better designer or a nicer template. It's not. The projects that work start with strategy, not design. 

This episode walks through what that planning looks like, and why it's the difference between a site that works and one you'll replace.

• A homepage that tries to speak to everyone connects with no one. Name your priority client first.
• "Look professional" isn't a goal. A booked consult call is a goal.
• Words come before design. Design makes a message land, it can't create one.
• Your analytics already hold answers. Before rebuilding, check what's working and what isn't. Sometimes 2 pages are doing all the work.
• Client language belongs in your headlines. The exact phrases people use ("I feel stuck," "my nervous system feels broken") become the pages that answer them.
• Sequence matters. Build the pages that convert first, then add ongoing content. Publishing blog posts on a site that doesn't convert is a common way to waste money.

• Learn about the Digital Trailmap Session: privatepracticeelevation.com/digital-trailmap-session
• Book a free 15-minute call to talk through your plan: privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

When was the last time you looked at your payment processing statement? A 3% flat rate on one session feels small. Across a full caseload, it adds up to thousands of dollars a year just to accept payments.

Helcim works differently. Instead of a flat rate, they use Interchange Plus pricing, which passes the real bank rate to you plus one clear margin. That cuts processing fees by about 25% on average. No monthly fees, no software fees, no contracts, and full HIPAA compliance. You also get digital invoicing, automatic payment reminders, and cards on file for easy post-session billing.

Start now and your first $5,000 in transactions is completely fee-free. Head to helcim.com/PPE or click the link in the show notes.

Is your website actually bringing in clients, or are you just guessing?

Most practice owners track their website traffic, watch the number climb, and assume things are working. Then the schedule stays quiet.

Traffic is only the first step. Where most practices lose clients is everything that happens after someone reaches out.

Whitney Owens tracks all of it. She runs Water's Edge Counseling, a private-pay group practice in Savannah, and coaches practice owners through Wise Practice Consulting.

In this episode she shows you where the leaks really are, and what to do once you can see them.

• Why website traffic is the wrong place to stop looking
• The first thing to track when you feel overwhelmed
• How to find out which marketing actually brings clients
• The conversion gap between a phone call and a contact form
• Why no-show numbers matter more than you think
• How often to check your numbers without it eating your week

If you've got Google Analytics installed and haven't opened it in months, this one's for you.

• Wise Practice Consulting: https://wisepracticeconsulting.com
• Water's Edge Counseling: https://watersedgecounseling.com

Alma simplifies access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools to build thriving in-network practices. Learn more at helloalma.com/elevation.

Zanda gives practitioners simple, secure tools that reduce admin and strengthen operations. Start your free trial today.

68% of Google searches now end without a single click. When someone searches for a therapist, most of the time they never reach a website at all.

That's a problem if your practice depends on being found online. You can have a beautiful, well-written site and still get skipped, because people are getting their answers before they ever click.

The way people search for a therapist has changed fast. AI summaries now sit at the top of Google, and more people are skipping search altogether and asking ChatGPT for a name. Your future clients are forming opinions about you before they land on your site.

In this episode I break down what's happening with AI search, why it hits therapy practices harder than most local businesses, and what it takes to make your website one that AI can read and recommend.

If you've wondered whether your site is ready for how people search in 2026, this one's for you.

• 68% of Google searches end without a click (SparkToro, June 2026)
• 45% used AI to find a local business last year, up from 6% (BrightLocal, 2026)
• AI Overviews on 92% of informational local searches
• Most therapy sites bury the facts AI needs
• AI-ready: plain facts up top, answer-style content, current GBP, schema, specific copy

• SparkToro zero-click study, June 2026 (via Search Engine Land) — the 68% zero-click stat
• BrightLocal 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey — the jump from 6% to 45% AI adoption
• How AI Is Impacting Local Search (ALM Corp) — the 68% local and 92% informational-search numbers (Whitespark data)
• How AI Overviews Impact Local Businesses (LocaliQ) — why pages that persuade instead of explain get skipped

If you’d like help improving your website and turning more visitors into clients, you can schedule a Clarity Call here:

https://privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

Your practice is making money. Your bank account doesn't seem to know it.

If that sounds familiar, this one's for you. A lot of practice owners hit a point where the numbers say "profitable" but the account always feels empty, and they can't figure out why.

My guest is Emily Bowie, a CPA and Cash Flow Strategist with more than 15 years of experience, including her time as an audit manager in Big Four accounting. She's the CFO at Thorne Advisors, where she helps therapists and other service-driven professionals find the money that's slipping out of their business.

We get into where practices quietly lose cash, why pricing is almost always the biggest leak, and what your balance sheet is telling you that your profit and loss isn't. Emily also shares the difference between the person who files your taxes and the person who actually helps you pay less. They're not always the same.

If you've ever looked at your books and thought "where did it all go," Emily will help you find the answer.

Key Takeaways:

• Get your books done monthly, not just at tax time. You can't fix leaks you can't see.
• Pricing is the biggest leak in most practices. If you've never checked your fees against your overhead, you're probably undercharging.
• Raise prices with new clients first, then bring existing clients up slowly.
• Run an expense audit at least once a year. For every expense, ask: what is this, do I still need it, and is it giving me a return.
• Keep personal and business spending separate. Mixing them muddies your numbers and adds liability risk.
• A tax preparer files your return. A tax strategist helps you lower the bill. They're not always the same person.

• Thorne Advisors
• Emily on Instagram: @emilyvbowie

Alma simplifies access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools to build thriving in-network practices. Learn more at helloalma.com/elevation.

Zanda gives practitioners simple, secure tools that reduce admin and strengthen operations. Start your free trial today.

Welcome back to On The Trail, where we cover the common questions therapists and private practice owners have about websites, SEO, and online marketing as they grow their practices.

A lot of therapy websites have the same gap. No real logo. Just the practice name typed in a nice font, sitting up in the corner.

It feels like a small detail. It carries more weight than that. In this episode, we look at what a logo actually does for your practice, the mistakes most owners make when they try to fix theirs, and what a good therapy logo really needs to pull off.

If your site has a text-based logo right now, or no real logo at all, this one's for you.

• It works in about 3 seconds — When someone lands on your site, a real logo tells them they've found a legit practice run by someone who pays attention to the details.
• It makes you memorable — Most people aren't looking at only your site. They've got 4 or 5 therapist tabs open and they're comparing. A clear logo makes you the one they remember.
• It ties your brand together — Your website, Psychology Today profile, Google Business profile, and directory listings all point back to one recognizable identity. That consistency reads as trust to clients, and it's a signal Google and AI tools notice too.

• A name in a font is a starting point — A real logo pairs a mark, a color system, and a font that work together as a set.
• The opposite mistake is just as common — Some owners pay for an elaborate, over-designed logo before they have consistent branding anywhere else, so the fancy mark ends up on a site that doesn't match it.

• It scales both ways — Simple enough to work as a tiny favicon and clear as a large header image.
• It works in one color — Print it in black and white. If it still reads, it's solid.
• It matches your practice — A trauma-focused practice and a couples intensives practice serve different people, so their logos should look different too.

• You don't need a full brand overhaul — A simple wordmark, a consistent color palette, and one supporting icon covers about 90% of practices.
• Typography is okay for now — Especially in your first 1 to 3 years. It beats a blank space. Getting a real logo sooner rather than later still pays off.
• Affordable options exist — Real designers on 99designs, Upwork, and Etsy can create a logo without a four-figure rebrand.
• We settle this before design starts — The brand details behind a logo are exactly what we map out in a Digital Trailmap Session, before any design work begins.

• 99designs 
• Upwork.com
• Etsy.com
• Our Digital Trailmap Session

If you’d like help improving your website and turning more visitors into clients, you can schedule a Clarity Call here:

https://privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

You can build a group practice with a full team and still feel like nothing runs without you. That's the trap this episode is about.

Daniel opens by sharing something that came up on a recent family vacation: his wife, who leads a team of 5 clinicians, often had to field texts and questions while trying to enjoy family time. It's a familiar pattern for a lot of practice owners, and Brittany Schank knows it well.

Brittany is the owner of Solace Counseling, a 13-clinician group practice in Fargo, North Dakota. She's also a mom of 4, a nearly 20-year member of the Air National Guard, and runs the business alongside her husband, who serves as COO. 

In this conversation, Brittany talks about why being needed feels good long before it starts costing you, and the real systems she put in place to change it.

• Why do practice owners end up as the bottleneck by default?
• What made Brittany realize she needed to change this?
• What are the practical steps to build a team that doesn't need you for everything?
• Plus: why some tasks that drain you might genuinely fulfill someone else on your team, and how Brittany went from overseeing 13 clinicians directly to overseeing 2 team leads.

Our sponsors:

Alma simplifies access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools to build thriving in-network practices. Learn more at helloalma.com/elevation.

Zanda gives practitioners simple, secure tools that reduce admin and strengthen operations. Start your free trial today.

If you've been wondering where to actually start with AI in your practice, this episode is for you.

Documentation, insurance, intake, session prep. For every 45 to 50 minutes of therapy, a clinician spends about 90 minutes total, and most of that is admin that eats into your evenings and weekends.

Daniel talks with Ian Knox, Chief Product Officer at SimplePractice, about the 4 places AI saves therapists the most time, why you don't need AI to start automating, and how to add these tools without losing the human side of care.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• You don't need AI to start. Appointment reminders, online scheduling, auto pay, and mass document sharing save real time and are already built into your tool.
• Note-taking is the biggest early win. SimplePractice sees an average of 5 hours saved per week and documentation done 40% faster.
• The 4 buckets where AI helps most: clinical support, insurance and billing, practice operations, and building your business.
• Beyond time, you get better care. When you're not writing notes mid-session, you're more present with the client.
• The next wave of AI does tasks for you: verifying benefits, catching claim errors before submission, and deciphering insurance denials.
• AI can fill cancelled slots, pull from your waitlist, and match new clients to the right clinician in a group practice.
• SimplePractice doesn't train its base model on your data. A clinical team grades notes to guide quality, and they just launched a Trust Center.
• AI supports clinical judgment. It never replaces it.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• SimplePractice Trust Center
• Book a free 15-minute call with Daniel: privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff

Our sponsors:

Alma simplifies access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools to build thriving in-network practices. Learn more at helloalma.com/elevation.

Zanda gives practitioners simple, secure tools that reduce admin and strengthen operations. Start your free trial today.