Angela Bishop: Build Your Career in Canadian Private Practice | Ep 104

Fearless Practice

What works for you one day, one year, or one decade may not stay the same. As you change and develop as a person, so will your needs, and what you need from your environment to feel supported and to offer your best work.

In this podcast episode, I talk with Angela who used to have zero interest in running a Canadian private practice but who is now on track to hit her second year of being a solo practitioner! We discuss how she got into therapy, the challenges she faced, and how she is overcoming them.

MEET ANGELA

Angela is a Registered Social Worker and perinatal mental health provider, specializing in maternal mental health and all things parenthood. She has a wealth of experience in helping individuals move through transitions, worries, low mood and general day to day struggles. She opened up her own private therapy practice "Bloom & Thrive Therapy" in 2022 where she has a strong focus on Perinatal Mental Health.

Learn more about Angela on her practice website, Psychology Today, and LinkedIn profiles.

In this episode:

• Recognizing and honouring the desire to change

• Becoming a therapist

• Creating a job that you like doing

• Offering in-person and virtual therapy

• Networking with fellow therapists

Recognizing and honouring the desire to change

Angela got her Masters of Social Work in 2008. She worked for a counselling agency for a short period of time before getting a long term job at a hospital where she worked for 14 years.

Then, when Angela had her second child in 2021 and went on maternity leave, she felt that she was ready for something new in her professional life.

Becoming a therapist

Angela extended her maternity leave and began dipping her toes into private practice by working as an associate.

In January 2022, Angela started learning more about private practice. By March she was working as an associate, and then registered her own practice in May 2022.

Creating a job that you like doing

Angela describes the things that she misses from working in the hospital, such as:

• Bouncing ideas off of other clinicians

• Chatting with other medical staff to better understand a diagnosis

• The community of working as a team

All these aspects can be implemented into a private practice over time.

There are ways to create the job that you enjoy working and want to do because, even though there are benefits to contract work, there are downsides too.

Starting up a private practice gave Angela the opportunity to create a work environment where she could have a professional career that wasn’t intruded on my politics or issues from a contract or agency job.

Offering in-person and virtual therapy

Nowadays, people are used to virtual therapy and are okay with it. It can be expensive to have an in-person space and to rent an office to use for therapy, however, Angela knew that she wanted to invest in one.

Offering in-person therapy has become a great way for new clients to first meet Angela and get to know her before moving to virtual therapy.

Networking with fellow therapists

Angela shares an office space with another therapist who she used to work with back at the hospital. They see different client groups and can refer to one another.

Having this type of small camaraderie is incredibly useful and supportive for therapists, to help one another out and to share the load, since it can feel lonely from time to time.

Connect with me:

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Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 103: Why Taking Breaks is Important in Private Practice | EP 103

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

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

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Learn more about Angela on her practice website, Psychology Today, and LinkedIn profiles.

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