Paula Gonzalez: From Purpose to Practice and Scaling With Intention | Ep 197
Release Date: 05/20/2026
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Fearless Practice
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Fearless Practice
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Shulamit Ber Levtov: Building a Sustainable Practice Without Losing Yourself | Ep 198
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Paula Gonzalez: From Purpose to Practice and Scaling With Intention | Ep 197
Fearless Practice
Building a meaningful practice often starts with a personal story, and grows through courage, creativity, and a commitment to helping others. In this episode, I talk with Paula Gonzalez. We discuss her journey into mental health, which was shaped by both her background and lived experience, and how it led her from community work to launching and scaling her own private practice. From navigating the early days of going solo during COVID to building a supportive group practice, Paula offers an honest look at growth, purpose, and the systems that make it all sustainable. Join us for a...
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Amber Sperling: Three Years of Private Practice Growth | Ep 196
Fearless Practice
Growth rarely happens by accident because it’s built through intention, care, and a willingness to evolve. In this episode of my mini-series “Where Are They Now?”, Amber Sperling reflects on the journey of expanding her practice from a single basement setup to a thriving, multi-location space rooted in accessibility and community care. Amber and I first spoke on the podcast in 2023! To get the full experience of the there-and-now conversation, you can click here to listen to . In our conversation in this episode, she shares how prioritizing clients over waitlists, investing...
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How I Developed a Marketing Strategy for My Private Practice — Networking | EP 195
Fearless Practice
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Quiet Hustle: Offline Marketing for Introverts in Private Practice | Ep 194
Fearless Practice
If you have been listening to recent episodes of the Fearless Practice Podcast, you know that there are many ways to market your private practice, and that in a saturated market, you really need to make the effort to stand out! However, this can be really tough for the more introverted therapists, especially if you prefer doing offline marketing. In this podcast episode, I sketch out a few ideas with steps that you can try. Remember to take it slow and choose one system to implement and maintain, one step at a time! In this episode: Offline marketing benefits Why offline marketing...
info_outlineBuilding a meaningful practice often starts with a personal story, and grows through courage, creativity, and a commitment to helping others.
In this episode, I talk with Paula Gonzalez. We discuss her journey into mental health, which was shaped by both her background and lived experience, and how it led her from community work to launching and scaling her own private practice.
From navigating the early days of going solo during COVID to building a supportive group practice, Paula offers an honest look at growth, purpose, and the systems that make it all sustainable. Join us for a great conversation!
MEET PAULA
Paula Gonzalez is a Toronto-based Registered Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor, and the founder of Infinite Horizons Psychotherapy, located in North York. After 15 years working in community mental health and private practice, Paula made the decision to follow her passion and expand her solo practice into a group practice. Now, she works with a team of therapists who align with her mission to transform the way people experience therapy.
Learn more about Paula on her practice website, Psychology Today, Facebook, and Instagram profiles.
In this episode:
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Why Paula started working in mental health
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Starting a private practice
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Scaling from solo to group private practice
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Using Jane App in private practice
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Paula’s advice to listeners
Why Paula started working in mental health
Over the last 15 years, Paula has dedicated her career to the mental health field.
‘Even back in high school years, you know, when we had to volunteer, it’s always been in mental health. Even in university and placements, and my Master’s, and now being a therapist, so it’s been a long time in this field!’ - Paula Gonzalez
When explaining how Paula came into the world of therapy, and what encouraged her to pursue becoming a therapist and working in mental health, Paula recalls her family lineage and that she came from a long line of women who worked in various helping professions.
‘My mom being a social worker, my grandmother was a teacher, you know, my aunt is a doctor, so it’s always been a part of my life to be in the helping profession. For me, having gone through my own experiences, like immigrating to Canada at a young age … That experience was very difficult for me … That made it clear … that I really wanted to become the kind of person I wish I had had at that time to get me through that.’ - Paula Gonzalez
Starting a private practice
Paula completed her Master’s degree in 2016, and then she started working in community mental health, where she stayed for four years.
While Paula loved the community aspect of working with people in her city, it was difficult to find a full-time job at the time, especially since virtual sessions were not yet popular or common.
But when COVID hit in 2020, Paula started thinking about opening up her own solo virtual private practice.
‘I did start in community mental health, and then I worked at a group practice. As a new grad, very new territory for me. Eventually, I decided, “I miss community mental health!” So I decided to go back. But then COVID hit. What led me to open up my own … during COVID … I felt so called to doing my part in working with folks directly.’ - Paula Gonzalez
And so, Paula launched her online private practice! She would see clients in the evenings or even on weekends while she continued working in community mental health.
Scaling from solo to group private practice
‘Every day I wake up, and I’m like, “How, I can’t believe I get to do this!” I’m still figuring it out as I go, but I love it.’ - Paula Gonzalez
Creating the office spaces, editing the website, and social media content: all of these aspects are ways in which Paula gets to practice and unleash her creative freedom, and they are some of the things she loves the most about running a group practice.
More than that, Paula wanted to share the work and expand the impact by creating a team, which is what motivated her to take her practice from solo to group.
‘I knew that I wanted to create a team … I loved my role as a clinical supervisor, but there’s something about having a team of new grads, I love working with them, whether it is in a supervisory capacity or as colleagues, and knowing that we’re all trying to figure this out … I find it so important to have a team as a part of our support system, and that aligns with what I’m hoping to put out there in the world.’ - Paula Gonzalez
Using Jane App in private practice
From her solo practice to her current group practice, Paula has consistently used Jane App for her business admin.
‘[Jane App] is so user-friendly. It’s got everything that I need, I can pull the reports that I need to track metrics and see what’s working, what’s not … I’ve also gotten very good feedback from clients that use it too … Very user-friendly for both therapists and clients.’ - Paula Gonzalez
Jane App was designed to serve therapists and clients equally, while in different ways, and allows them both to navigate an easy interface that lets them communicate with each other smoothly. If you are ready to give Jane App a try, click here and use the code FEARLESS2MO for a two-month free trial!
Paula’s advice to listeners
Focus your marketing on your client niche, and don’t spread yourself too thin! The work you do is important, so take care of yourself to take better care of your clients.
Connect with me:
Resources mentioned and useful links:
Amber Sperling: Three Years of Private Practice Growth | EP 196
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 FEARLESS2MO for two months free)
Get started with Hushmail here and get one month for free!
Learn more about Paula on her practice website, Psychology Today, Facebook, and Instagram profiles
Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and TuneIn