Veronica Loffreda: Why Diversifying Brings You Success in Private Practice | Ep 113

Fearless Practice

When we want to do something really well, we may pick one path and stick to it, but hyperfocusing can cause us to develop blind spots to where we could improve. Sometimes there is success and new possibilities available to you when you try new things, diversify your approach, and look at things differently - without a fear of failure!

There are multiple ways of helping your community, creating strong referral networks, and finding clients. When you diversify your private practice, success and new opportunities may more easily find their way to you.

By being brave in your actions and trying lots of new things, you can develop your skills as a counsellor and a practice owner! In this podcast episode, I chat with Veronica about her amazing experiences - and how being diverse helped her to succeed!

MEET VERONICA

Veronica is a licensed psychologist and certified counsellor with 20 + years experience. She owns a private practice in Quebec and specializes in complex trauma, multicultural groups, and immigrant populations.

Learn more about Veronica on her LinkedIn profile and her website

In this episode:

• Veronica’s journey into counselling

• Starting a private practice

• Diversifying your clientele in private practice

• Learning a new language to work with clients

Veronica’s journey into counselling

Veronica completed her bachelor's degree in psychology, and it encouraged her to finish her masters degree in psychology, which is where she got her certification.

Afterward, Veronica got her licensing as a psychologist and went to a university in Montreal to finish her doctorate degree.

Veronica wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t accidentally close herself off from opportunities. Therefore, to have more opportunities for clinical work, Veronica made sure to get the correct licensing and certifications.

Starting a private practice

In the beginning of Veronica’s career after her bachelor years, Veronica worked in a community centre.

Even though she was so excited and resolved on opening her own Canadian private practice, Veronica felt strongly that she first had to gain more experience in the field.

After many years, Veronica was working with a boss that she fundamentally disagreed with when it came to providing the right care for clients. So, Veronica decided to put her efforts elsewhere.

Diversifying your clientele in private practice

In the beginning of her private practice, Veronica had an “open door” policy.

Veronica built up her referral network, and she was fully booked. She worked from 09:00 to 21:00 in her first year, and even though she had $0 profit, all her debts were paid off.

When Veronica is working with government groups, she learnt to work with multiple groups at once since their payments don’t always come in at the same time. So, you need to be working with different entities so that you can often have an income stream. Veronica’s advice is that you need to fulfil your client base with different areas, because this is what will keep your Canadian practice afloat.

Learning a new language to work with new clients

Apart from developing herself with professional skills, Veronica went the extra mile and learned an additional language to be able to work with clients who were seeking counselling that could not speak English or French.

As a fluent polyglot, Veronica understands the power of a mother tongue, and the emotional language that a bi- or multilingual person has. To understand a person also means to speak to them in their language, and that’s what Veronica did.

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Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 112: Great Platforms You Can Use in Your Private Practice | EP 112

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Learn more about Veronica on her LinkedIn profile and her website

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