The Build Your Private Practice Podcast

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.
In This Episode, You'll Learn
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

Ready to Scale Your Practice?
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
Connect with Amanda Hill
Website: https://connectionsofhope.com
Instagram: @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.
In this episode, we cover:
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.