Frequently Asked Questions
Foundations for Practice provides free information and personalized business guidance for Canadian healthcare and helping professionals who are considering, building or operating an independent practice. Below are answers to common questions about our assessments, articles and Professional Practice Review.
Is Foundations for Practice only for mental health professionals?
No. Although some of our experience comes from the mental health field, the business realities explored through Foundations for Practice apply across many healthcare and helping professions. These include workload, finances, referrals, boundaries, administrative systems, professional responsibilities and long-term sustainability.
Foundations for Practice supports Canadian healthcare and helping professionals who are considering private practice, building a new practice or trying to strengthen an established one. This includes mental health professionals, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech-language pathologists, dietitians, nutrition professionals and others providing professional services independently.
What free resources are available?
Foundations for Practice provides practical articles and two free assessments. The Private Practice Ownership Readiness Assessment is for professionals considering or preparing for practice ownership. The Private Practice Health Assessment is for professionals who already operate a practice and want to understand how it is functioning.
All of our initial inquiries are handled directly to ensure you get the clarity you need.
General Information
Location and Scope
We specifically serve the Canadian healthcare landscape, ensuring all advice remains relevant to local regulations and market conditions.
Commitment to Quality
Our objective is to empower you with the tools necessary to build a sustainable and fulfilling independent career.
Free Private Practice Assessments
What is the Private Practice Ownership Readiness Assessment?
The Private Practice Ownership Readiness Assessment helps you consider whether private practice ownership fits your goals, capacity and current circumstances. It examines areas such as financial readiness, risk tolerance, workload capacity, professional support and the responsibilities involved in operating a business.
It will not tell you whether you should or should not open a practice. It provides a clearer picture of what is already in place and where additional thought, preparation or support may be helpful.
What is the Private Practice Health Assessment?
The Private Practice Health Assessment is designed for professionals who already operate an independent practice. It examines the financial, operational, structural, referral, workload and sustainability factors affecting the practice.
Your results will identify areas of strength, areas carrying strain and the parts of the practice that may need attention first.
Professional Practice Review
What is a Professional Practice Review?
A Professional Practice Review is an in-depth examination of how your private practice is functioning. It looks beyond a single concern to consider how workload, finances, referrals, fees, boundaries, systems, administrative responsibilities, professional demands and personal capacity may be interacting.
The purpose is to help you understand what is working, where pressure is developing and which changes deserve priority. You receive practical direction based on your actual practice rather than general business information.
Who is the Professional Practice Review designed for?
The review is designed for healthcare and helping professionals who want a clearer understanding of their practice and its future direction. You may benefit if your practice feels financially uncertain, administratively heavy, difficult to grow, constantly busy, personally draining or out of alignment with the life you want it to support.
You do not need to be in crisis or considering closing your practice. A review can also help when a practice appears successful but no longer feels sustainable.
Is the review suitable for a new practice?
Yes. A review can help someone building a new practice examine whether its proposed finances, workload, services, systems and boundaries are realistic and sustainable. The process will differ from reviewing an established practice because there will be less historical information available.
What areas of my practice may be examined?
The areas examined will depend on your practice and the concerns bringing you to the review. They may include:
Practice goals and direction
Workload and use of time
Revenue, expenses and financial pressure
Fees and practice policies
Referral patterns and client flow
Administrative systems
Professional boundaries
Sources of instability or unnecessary strain
Leadership and decision-making
The relationship between the practice and your personal capacity
Whether the practice supports the life you want to build
What happens after I request a review?
Complete the request form with your contact information and a brief description of your practice. John Morris, owner of Foundations for Practice, will personally call you within two business days.
John will answer your questions, explain the review process and discuss the next available opening. You will know what the process involves before deciding whether you want to proceed.