The Build Your Private Practice Podcast

A slower August calendar can feel like a warning sign.

Clients are travelling, appointments get cancelled, and the white space in your schedule can quickly start to look like lost income.

But what if that space is not a problem?

What if it is the runway you need to prepare for the busiest season of the year?

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane is reframing the summer slowdown and sharing practical ways to use August to create a smoother, stronger, and more sustainable fall.

Because September's momentum does not come from nowhere.

It comes from the quiet work you do before the inquiries arrive.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why a slow August does not mean something is wrong with your practice

• How unused quiet time can contribute to an overwhelming September

• When to review your fees before the fall rush

• How to make your website clearer and easier to navigate

• Why an efficient intake process matters during busy seasons

• How to reconnect with referral partners without feeling pushy

• How to prepare marketing content before your schedule fills up

• Why real rest is an important part of preparing for fall

• How reviewing the past year can help you decide what you want more—and less—of

• A simple 90-minute action step to make the most of your August calendar

You do not need to complete everything on the list.

Choose the one move that would make the biggest difference to your September self, and block 90 minutes to work on it.

That empty appointment slot is not necessarily lost income.

It may be the space that makes the rest of your year more profitable, calm, and sustainable.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join our Facebook community for Canadian therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

Listen and subscribe here: https://thebuildyourprivatepracticepodcast.libsyn.com

Build Your Private Practice is turning 10!

Celebrate with us on Friday, September 25, 2026, live in Toronto or online.

Register here: https://pages.buildyourprivatepractice.ca/bypp-10yr-registation

Have you ever wondered whether you could travel the world without stepping away from your private practice?

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane sits down with Maria Tsoukalas, Calgary-based psychologist and founder of Nomadic Minds, to talk about what it really takes to work with clients while living and travelling abroad.

Maria shares how discovering her regulatory college's telepsychology guidelines opened up a new possibility: as long as her clients were located in Alberta, she could provide care from elsewhere. That realization led her to digitize her practice, build strong virtual systems, and eventually spend more than a year travelling while continuing her clinical work.

This conversation explores both the freedom and the responsibility involved in working abroad as a therapist. Maria explains why it is essential to check your own regulatory requirements, have reliable privacy and technology systems in place, and make sure your clients are appropriate for virtual care.

She also shares how she manages time zones, scheduling, internet access, and continuity of care. While the logistics can feel overwhelming at first, she has found that clients are often more flexible than expected when communication is clear and the quality of care remains consistent.

Maria also speaks honestly about the challenges of long-term travel, including decision fatigue, constant planning, and the importance of keeping a manageable caseload. At the same time, working while travelling helped her recover from burnout, slow down, reconnect with her interests, and become more grounded in her work.

Most importantly, Maria wants therapists to know that this kind of freedom is possible. It does not have to mean becoming a full-time digital nomad. It may simply mean allowing yourself to imagine a different way of working and taking the first practical steps toward it.

In This Episode, You'll Learn

• How Maria began working with clients while travelling abroad

• Why checking with your regulatory college is an essential first step

• What systems you need for a strong virtual practice

• How to manage time zones, scheduling, and continuity of care

• Why clients may be more flexible than you expect

• How to decide whether your caseload is appropriate for virtual work

• The difference between vacation travel and living abroad while working

• Why long-term travel can create decision fatigue

• How travel helped Maria recover from burnout

• The first step to take if you are considering working while travelling

Connect with Maria Tsoukalas:https://nomadicminds365.substack.com/ https://www.instagram.com/nomadicminds.ca

Learn more about Maria and Nomadic Minds:

https://nomadicminds.ca

Explore the Nomadic Minds Live group program:

https://nomadicminds.ca/live-group

Build a Practice That Supports Your Life

For practical resources, programs, and support created for Canadian therapists, visit:

https://www.buildyourprivatepractice.ca

The middle of the year is a natural time to pause.

You have six months of real information about how your private practice is working — not just what you hoped would happen when you made your plans in January.

But looking at your revenue, caseload, fees, cancellations, and referrals can bring up a lot of feelings.

Am I earning enough?

Am I working too much?

Is my practice actually sustainable?

Before those questions turn into judgment or panic, it helps to remember:

Your numbers are not a grade.

They are information.

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane is walking you through a calm, grounded mid-year checkpoint so you can understand what the first half of the year is telling you — and make thoughtful decisions for the months ahead.

Because a number rarely tells the whole story.

Lower-than-expected revenue may not mean you need more clients. It may mean your fee needs attention.

Strong revenue paired with exhaustion may point to a capacity problem.

An unpredictable income pattern may be connected to your cancellation policy.

And relying on one referral source may leave your practice more vulnerable than it appears.

The goal is not to judge the first six months of the year.

It is to take an honest compass reading and decide where you want to point next.

In this episode, we cover:

Why the middle of the year can be more useful than January for reviewing your practice

How to look at your business numbers without treating them like a measure of your worth

The key numbers to review, including revenue, sessions, new clients, referrals, fees, cancellations, and no-shows

How to complete a simple mid-year checkpoint without fancy software or a complicated accounting project

Why your revenue may actually be telling you a fee, capacity, policy, or referral story

How to identify what is working — and what may need to change before the fall intake surge

Why a full caseload does not always mean your practice is financially sustainable

How to protect your energy by choosing a realistic caseload for the fall

Why you should choose only one or two intentions for the second half of the year

A simple "what, what, and when" structure for turning your insights into action

This episode is not about creating a giant list of everything you need to fix.

It is about looking gently and honestly at what has happened so far, choosing one or two meaningful priorities, and making decisions based on evidence instead of fear.

You do not need a perfect audit.

You need an honest, good-enough picture.

Rough and real beats precise and never done.

Your numbers do not define your value as a clinician or a person. They simply help you understand where you are so you can build a practice that remains financially healthy, ethically grounded, and sustainable for the long term.

Take your compass reading.

Be kind to yourself while you do it.

Then point yourself toward a second half of the year that supports the life you actually want.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join us inside our Facebook community for Canadian therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Build Your Private Practice Podcast and share it with another Canadian therapist who may need a gentle reminder that looking at their numbers is not greedy — it is part of building a practice that can last.

Build Your Private Practice is turning 10!

Celebrate with us on Friday, September 25, 2026.

We'll be gathering live in person in Toronto, Ontario, with a virtual option available for those joining us from home.

You can view the details and register here: https://pages.buildyourprivatepractice.ca/bypp-10yr-registation

Have you ever felt guilty for wanting to earn more, raise your fees, or build real financial security as a therapist?

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane sits down with Kris Sabramsky, certified financial planner and founder of Therapist Financial, to talk about how therapists can build lasting wealth without compromising their values or their commitment to client care.

Kris shares what he has learned from working with more than 100 therapists across Ontario, including why so many practice owners feel unclear or overwhelmed when it comes to their money. From unpredictable session-based income and cancellations to taxes, retirement planning, and the lack of an employer pension, therapists face financial realities that traditional advice does not always account for.

This conversation offers a grounded, practical look at what financial stability can mean for therapists—not a lavish lifestyle or chasing arbitrary income goals, but having the clarity and security to pay your bills, plan for the future, enjoy your life, and continue doing meaningful clinical work without constant financial stress.

You'll hear why getting organized is the first step, how a financial plan can reduce anxiety and support better decisions, and why starting small is still worthwhile when it comes to saving and investing.

Kris also breaks down Canadian savings and investment accounts in plain language, including RRSPs, TFSAs, corporate investment accounts, and FHSAs. He explains why keeping your investment strategy simple may be more effective than trying to outsmart the market—and why incorporation is not automatically the right choice for every successful therapist.

• Why financial stability can help you show up more fully for your clients

• How guilt around fees and wealth can affect therapists

• Why understanding your income and expenses is the first step toward financial clarity

• What a financial plan can tell you about your current position and future goals

• How living within your means can support both your present lifestyle and long-term plans

• Why starting to save early makes such a significant difference

• How compound growth and the Rule of 72 work

• Why simple, long-term investing strategies can be so effective

• The differences between RRSPs, TFSAs, corporate accounts, and FHSAs

• What to consider before deciding to incorporate your private practice

• The first practical step to take when you feel behind or overwhelmed by your finances

Learn more about financial planning created specifically for therapists and book a short fit call with Kris:

https://therapistfinancial.com

For practical resources, programs, and support created for Canadian therapists, visit:

https://www.buildyourprivatepractice.ca

The summer slowdown can feel unsettling.

Clients go on vacation. Families get busy. Sessions get rescheduled. Your calendar may suddenly have more white space than usual.

And if you are newer in private practice, it can be easy to wonder:

Is something wrong? Did I do something? Are people not coming back?

But what if the summer slowdown is not a sign that your practice is failing?

What if it is actually build season?

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane is talking about the seasonal rhythm many Canadian therapists experience in the summer — and how to use the quieter months of June, July, and August with intention instead of panic.

Because the fall wave is coming.

Every year, as routines return and school starts again, inquiries tend to pick up. The things people put off over the summer often move back to the top of the list in September.

The question is not whether the wave will come.

The question is whether your practice will be ready to receive it.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why the summer slowdown is normal for Canadian therapists

• Why a quieter caseload does not mean your practice is failing

• How to reframe summer as build season instead of panic season

• Why fall often brings a back-to-school intake surge

• How to strengthen your intake process before inquiries pick up

• Why a simple wait list system can help you hold clients with care

• How to build referral relationships before you urgently need them

• Why summer is a good time to review your fee, capacity, boundaries, and offers

• How to choose one small area to build without turning summer into another grind

This episode is not about packing your summer with more work.

It is about using a small slice of the quieter season to build intentionally, gently, and steadily.

You do not need to overhaul everything.

You can choose one area — systems, referral relationships, or your own readiness — and give it a small, regular place in your week.

Because steady always beats frantic.

And when the fall wave comes, you do not want to be building the boat while you are already in the water.

You want to be standing on solid ground, ready to catch it well.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join us inside our Facebook community for Canadian Therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Build Your Private Practice Podcast and share it with another Canadian therapist who may need this reminder that the quiet season is not something to fear.

Build Your Private Practice is turning 10! 🎉

Celebrate with us on Friday, September 25, 2026.

We'll be gathering live in person in Toronto, Ontario, with a live-stream option available for those joining us virtually.

You can view the details and register here: https://pages.buildyourprivatepractice.ca/bypp-10yr-registation

Have you ever looked at your full caseload and wondered, "Could this become something bigger than just me?"

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane sits down with Amanda Hill, founder of Connections of Hope, to talk about the real-life experience of growing from solo therapist to group practice owner.

Amanda shares how she went from a practice of one to five practice locations, what she learned about hiring, delegation, leadership, and systems, and why growth requires more than just strategy. It also requires learning to manage fear, protect your energy, and trust yourself as a business owner.

This conversation is honest, grounded, and deeply encouraging for therapists who feel the pull to grow but are unsure what the next step should look like.

You'll hear why Amanda believes time is one of your most valuable assets, how trying to do everything yourself can actually hold your practice back, and why self-care becomes non-negotiable when you are holding a bigger vision.

• Why Amanda decided to grow beyond solo practice

• What it felt like to hire and expand into multiple locations

• The biggest lessons Amanda learned about time, billing, and delegation

• How to preserve the heart of your practice as your team grows

• Why fear and doubt are normal parts of scaling

• How systems and planning make growth feel more manageable

• What Amanda would say to therapists who are scared to take the next step

If you're ready to grow beyond one-to-one work with more strategy, support, and sustainability, explore Scale Your Practice here: https://www.buildyourprivatepractice.ca/scale-your-practice

Website: https://connectionsofhope.comInstagram: @connectionsofhope4u

You may have rolled your eyes at the annual renewal email, felt frustrated by CE requirements, or dreaded the thought of an audit.

But what if your regulatory college is not the enemy?

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane is talking about the way many Canadian therapists relate to their regulatory colleges — and why that relationship may need a reframe.

The frustrations are real. Annual fees, documentation standards, complaints processes, CE logs, renewal portals, and audits can feel clunky, stressful, and sometimes poorly designed.

But your college does not exist to make practice easier for therapists.

It exists to protect the public.

And in doing that, it also protects the trust your private practice depends on.

Every client who books a session with you is trusting more than your website, your warmth, or your credentials. They are trusting that therapy is a regulated, accountable profession — and that someone is maintaining the standards behind the scenes.

That is what your college does.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why your college exists for the public, not therapists

• The difference between regulation and professional support

• Why public trust matters to your private practice

• How fees, CE requirements, documentation, audits, and complaints processes protect the profession

• The difference between advocating for reform and treating the college as the enemy

• The question to ask when a requirement frustrates you: "What is this actually protecting?"

This episode is not about pretending every policy is perfect.

It is about holding the bigger picture.

You can disagree with your college, advocate for change, and push for better systems — without relating to the institution as an adversary.

Because your private practice is downstream of public trust in the profession.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join us inside our Facebook community for Canadian Therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Build Your Private Practice Podcast and share it with another Canadian therapist who may need this reframe.

Build Your Private Practice is turning 10!

Registration is now OPEN for the BYPP 10th Birthday Celebration happening on Friday, September 25, 2026.

We'll be gathering live in person in Toronto, Ontario, with a live-stream option available for those joining us virtually.

You can view the details and register here: https://pages.buildyourprivatepractice.ca/bypp-10yr-registation

You may have a cancellation policy, office hours, an email autoresponder, or a beautifully worded intake document.

But if that boundary has never been tested — or if it has been tested and quietly not held — it may not be a boundary yet.

It may still be a plan.

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane is talking about one of the most common hidden issues in private practice: boundaries that exist on paper, but not yet in real life.

This topic came up in three separate coaching calls in one week. One therapist had decided she would no longer respond to client emails on weekends. Another had a clear late cancellation policy that was never actually being charged. Another had a 50-minute session boundary that was only being held a couple of times a week.

The policies were thoughtful and well-intentioned.

But the boundary does not become real when you write it down.

It becomes real the first time someone presses against it and you hold the line.

For therapists, this can be especially hard. Your clinical training has taught you to be flexible, accommodating, attuned, and responsive — all beautiful clinical skills. But when those same instincts bleed into the business side of your practice, they can quietly cost you your time, energy, income, and sustainability.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why a boundary that has never been tested may still be a plan

• The difference between writing a policy and holding the line

• Why therapists often struggle to defend their own practice boundaries

• How small exceptions can become the real rules of your practice

• The difference between a conscious exception and a default cave

• How to hold boundaries with warmth, clarity, and care

• The two questions to ask yourself about any boundary in your practice

This episode is not about shaming you for the places where your boundaries have slipped.

It is about helping you see the pattern clearly — and decide in advance what you will do when the test arrives.

Because the calm version of you can prepare the tired, pressured, in-the-moment version of you.

And the boundary becomes real one held line at a time.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join us inside our Facebook community for Canadian Therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Build Your Private Practice Podcast and share it with another therapist whose boundaries may exist in writing — but not yet in real life.

Save the date for the BYPP 10th Birthday Celebration happening on Friday, September 25, 2026.

We'll be gathering live in person in Toronto, Ontario, with a live-stream option available for those joining us virtually.

More details are coming soon, but for now, mark your calendar and plan to celebrate this milestone with us

Your fee is not a measure of how good a therapist you are. It is not a measure of how much you care about your clients. And it is definitely not a measure of your worth as a person.

It is a number that, when set well, allows you to keep doing this work sustainably.

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane is talking about one of the most loaded topics in private practice: your fee.

But this is not a money episode designed to shame you, pressure you, or tell you what you "should" be charging. Instead, it is an invitation to look at how your fee was set in the first place — and whether that number actually supports the practice, income, and life you are trying to build.

Many therapists choose their fee based on what feels right, what colleagues are charging, or what seems socially acceptable in their area. That may feel safe, but it does not necessarily tell you whether your practice actually works.

Because your fee is not an input.

It is an output.

Your fee should be reverse engineered from the real numbers of your practice: the income you want to take home, the number of clinical hours you can sustainably work, your fixed costs, and your variable costs.

When you calculate your fee instead of guessing, everything changes. You stop apologizing for your rate. You make clearer decisions about referral fees, percentage-based platforms, EAP contracts, associate splits, and other arrangements that may quietly erode your income. And you begin adjusting your fee on a schedule instead of waiting until you feel brave enough.

If your current fee was chosen quickly, emotionally, or based on what everyone else seemed to be doing, this episode will help you look at the numbers with more clarity and less shame.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why so many therapists set their fee based on what "feels right"

• The difference between polling your peers and actually calculating your fee

• Why the middle of the market is not always the right benchmark

• How undercharging can quietly compound over time

• Why your fee should be treated as an output, not an input

• The four key numbers that belong in your fee calculation

• How referral platforms and percentage-based arrangements can erode your income

• Why a fee that is too low for too long can threaten the sustainability of your work

• What changes when your fee is grounded in math instead of emotion

• Why scheduled fee increases are maintenance, not greed

This episode is not about blaming yourself for the past.

It is about choosing differently from here.

Because therapists are not bad practice owners. Most were simply never taught the business side of private practice. And when nobody teaches you how to calculate your fee, it makes sense that you would look around, pick a number that feels safe, and try to make it work.

But you are allowed to run the math.

You are allowed to see what your practice actually requires.

And you are allowed to set a fee that supports your clients, your business, and your life.

This is the kind of grounded, practical work we focus on at Build Your Private Practice, where we help Canadian therapists build practices that are sustainable, aligned, and supportive of their lives.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join us inside our Facebook community for Canadian Therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Build Your Private Practice Podcast and share it with another therapist who may need permission to look honestly at the math behind their fee.

If something in your practice has been quietly nagging at you, even though nothing is technically "wrong," this episode is for you.

Maybe your waitlist is not moving the way it used to. Maybe you have been postponing a fee change for months. Maybe there is a conversation you keep rehearsing but never actually having. Or maybe your practice still looks successful from the outside, but inside, you can feel that it no longer fits the therapist or business owner you are becoming.

These moments can be easy to dismiss because they do not feel urgent. They are not a crisis. They are not burnout. They are not the kind of problem that makes you send a panicked email or ask for help right away.

But those quiet signals matter.

In this episode of The Build Your Private Practice Podcast, Liane shares the story of four discovery calls that all seemed different on the surface, but had the same underlying theme: each therapist had noticed something small in their practice and finally decided to stop ignoring it.

We are talking about the moment before the breakdown. The moment when something is still small, manageable, and solvable. The moment when you still have options.

Because the truth is, waiting until something is "bad enough" often makes the repair harder, heavier, and more costly than it needed to be.

If you have been carrying a quiet concern about your practice, this episode will help you take it seriously without shame, panic, or overreacting.

• Why many therapists wait until things feel "bad enough" before asking for help

• The quiet practice signals that often show up before a bigger problem

• Why a waitlist slowing down, a postponed fee change, or a difficult conversation can matter more than you think

• How small issues become more costly when they are ignored for too long

• Why therapists are often conditioned to handle things quietly on their own

• The difference between overreacting and catching something early

• Why naming the issue can reduce the emotional weight around it

• How early support gives you more options, more clarity, and less repair work later

This is the kind of grounded, practical work we focus on at Build Your Private Practice, where we help Canadian therapists build practices that are sustainable, aligned, and supportive of their lives.

Explore tools, programs, and support at: https://buildyourprivatepractice.ca

Join us inside our Facebook community for Canadian Therapists: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildyourprivatepractice

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to The Build Your Private Practice Podcast and share it with another therapist who may be carrying a quiet signal of their own.