A Different Pace, A Different Perspective: Why Group Practice Owners Need to Retreat

Hello and welcome back to the Empowered to Lead podcast. I'm so glad that you are here. This podcast was created to support therapists who own and run a group practice or a clinic, whatever word that you might want to use. With that, you own a business where other people come and work and see clients under your umbrella, and this is meant to be a place where you know that you aren't alone. Where you get some tips on how to do your business, you hear different experiences from other group practice owners across Canada, and gain some insights through that. Today we're going to talk about retreats, and I know I've talked about them a few times over the last year or so, but I just came back from our annual retreat. This time we are in Muskoka, which is an area about an hour and a half outside of Toronto. It is beautiful. We were almost at the highest color of the trees there, but the the lake and the setting is just amazing, and that's one of the things when I do my retreats. Getting away, having nature is such a key part of it because that does ground us. And also, if you have to drive a little bit of a way to get there, there's a little bit of settling in, and then there's a little bit of returning back to your world after the retreat. So why do I do retreats? I think that retreats are so important. Whether you're retreating by yourself once or twice a year, if you're retreating with other group practice owners, with somebody in your team getting away from all of the things that you face in your life and having time to just breathe-you're going to hear that term a little bit today-is so refreshing, and I think does wonders for your business, for your life. A lot of times, I wanted to share a little bit of like why that's part of group practice network, and so some of you know some of my story, but I'm going to share a little bit of the part of my role as a coach and in group practice network. So when I started my first group practice, I

don't even. I think it's like nine years ago now. There was not a lot out there, especially for Canadians and the how to do this. Let alone do it well. There were not a lot of Canadian coaches. There was Maureen Warback of the group practice exchange for group practice, and it didn't really feel like there was a lot of other support. And then every time I turned around and asked another group practice owner, "Hey, how do you do this, or can I learn from you? Maybe not every time, but quite often it felt like they needed to keep their secret safe because maybe I was going to steal from them. And I am so much about connection, support, knowing that you've got people in your corner, and finding ways to know that you aren't alone. So I believe when you're in private practice, it feels like your world gets small, and then you become a group practice owner, and your world gets even smaller. And that was really evidenced when I started out. And so I wanted to help people learn how to do a group practice, learn to do it well, avoid some of the mistakes that we made in getting started, know that they weren't alone. And in my life leading up to that, getting away with people had already been a huge part of how I operated, seeing the value in connection, and just the difference that happens when you are away from home and work, and so retreats, conferences were all part of that vision. I remember sitting with Laura Long and talking through; she was my coach at the time, talking through how this was going to work, and that was always a key part of it. I believe that it's the ultimate in getting to know other people. Sometimes that's awesome, and sometimes that can be like, okay, they're not my person. Let's be real. It's also the ultimate in knowing that you aren't alone. You get a different perspective on you, who you are as a leader, what you want, and where your business and where you want to be as you move forward.

So, what happens at a retreat? You may be like, I am not a people person. I don't want to go away and be around. Maybe I'm going to find some of those people that you just talked about, and they are not my people. So, what is the advantage of getting away on a retreat? Some of the pivotal moments that I've witnessed in the retreats in the last five years that I've done. For me, one of the pivotal moments was naming of my own burnout. I was speaking at a retreat. That Nicole Balance had with retreat season, and she-I think it was her-that really named. I think you're burned out, Lisa. And so having somebody outside of my world who didn't have an investment in my world to listen to what I was experiencing, to hear some of the things that I was sharing, and name that was huge. And we've seen that in my retreats, naming. Hey, like it sounds like you maybe are pushing really hard. Are you keeping your boundaries? Are you protecting you and your time? And so some of that has flowed through in other participants as well. I remember the first retreat that we ran. We were standing in the lobby of the house that we stayed at and saying goodbye. And one of our participants was just crying because that was the first time she had ever experienced such camaraderie between women, let alone business owners, and she was so impacted by that. She said back to a few of the retreats. Another one, a pivotal moment that happened at one of the retreats was one of our owners was terrified to let a therapist go because the number that they had in their mind that they were going to lose as a result of this person leaving was overwhelming, and at the time it just felt like that was going to make such a huge impact on their business. And as we slowed down, as we asked more questions and got clarity, as we looked at the actual numbers, because they had time to do that, realized that it was actually they were only bringing half of the number that they thought, and the relief on her

face was visible, and you could feel the energy change. And she, they walked away, saying, "Okay, so I'm going to implement a plan in how I release this person because now I'm not so scared anymore. And then there's so many other moments in between, moments of, "Oh, now I see where I was doing this wrong, or "Oh man, that's how I do that. I never knew that you could do it that way, or even just listening in some of the pivotal moments that I've heard have been, oh, I was listening to this conversation and I realized that I'm doing the same thing, and I really want to make change. Coming back to one of those things that I said earlier is like maybe you don't want to come to a retreat because you're not really sure about the people, or you feel like you're an introvert, and it's a lot to be around other people. I want to normalize at least with the retreats that I'm planning. I know the ones with retreat season are primarily with therapists. If you find a place where there are people who already are therapists and now are business owners. So I'm gonna name just with group practice networks. That's the whole premise. I support therapists who are business owners, and so when you go away for a weekend with people who are already at that level with you, that's the foundational belief system structure understanding-you already start with common experiences to get where you are, and so you don't necessarily have to explain it all to anybody. You don't have to try to understand why somebody would choose to have a group practice or why you don't want to just do therapy? You already know you're already on the same page, and then with having therapists be the people that are there, it's actually not a lot of fluffy conversations. There is depth of conversation, whether it's about your business and how you show up in it. Two really intimate conversations as you build relationships, or if you come with a friend, there's just opportunity to have that connection. It's also not

just problem solving.

When you go with therapists who are business owners, there's also a seeking to understand what the problem is before they actually offer supporter suggestions. Wouldn't that be nice if you had that in everyday world? And then one of the ultimate perks for me, at least, is I get to talk shop all weekend long, and nobody complains. Everybody's like, "Yeah, let's let's have another conversation about that. That art is awesome. And what do you walk away with if you attend a retreat that I run? Honestly, a little bit of coming back to that introvert part it can be a little bit exhausting, but when you have the freedom, the permission, the yeah, the flexibility. To take time out to be quiet, go for a walk or retreat to your room, and have that break to manage your capacity, because we are therapists and we know what we need technically. It is also energizing. Yes, you probably walk away a little bit tired, but you walk away motivated, energized, and full of life, you also walk away with a different perspective because you're not rushing to fulfill all of your roles in life or go from one task to the next. You actually spend a weekend following the lead of somebody else. They tell you when lunch is, when the next workshop is, when your free time is, and you don't have to think about how to structure two or three days, five days, depending on the length of the retreat that you're attending, you get to hear others talking about similar struggles, and you get to just breathe. It's one of the biggest things in the feedback that I got from this last retreat is it was just really nice to have an environment where I could slow down and spend time on thinking about dreaming and visioning all of these things that I have I don't have time to do when I'm in my life at home. You walk away energized to go back and do your business and your responsibilities a little bit different in a way that you feel refreshed and renewed, and you can see them in a different way. I have

this quote on the website on my website, and I'm I should have checked it before I started this, but a different pace plus a different location equals a different perspective, and I love that because it's so true. Get yourself out of your environment, and you're going to walk away with a different perspective. You also have ideas starting to flow, and creativity returns as soon as you not let the instant you get there, but as a result of taking that time to take care of you and get away. I wanted to share some of the feedback that came from this last retreat of what they walked away with. I walk away with the resolve to delegate to make room for CEO tasks and get rid of people who aren't actually helping me or are hindering our team from growing, I'm walking away with inspiration. For me, it was mostly great to connect, rest, and take some time to reflect on what's going on in my business right now. I felt supported, and the last one was I got some tangible takeaways around potential staffing changes, contractual agreement, fee structure, and some new ideas for succession planning and a potential sale. Doesn't that sound awesome? If you could walk away from a weekend with some of those takeaways. What would that be worst to you? I want to invite you. As a result of well, as a result of this being so important to me, retreats at the core. I like I've said are so valuable in so many different ways. If you're going by yourself, get away. Make sure that you block away a weekend to just get out of your environment, even if it's at a hotel in your city, and just be. Take care of you. Or if you want to come on one of our annual retreats, we go across Canada. I'm thinking about a retreat in Whistler in the spring to just get projects done. We did that last year, and that was a really big hit. And also the same things that I talked about in here. There's also a bigger invitation. So as a result of my passion, my commitment to retreats.

I have partnered with Jennifer Nagel, who is a satir therapist. She's amazing at the work that she does. She has such a way of inviting you in to notice what's going on for you. And so our retreat is in Costa Rica. It is january 31 through february 5, so five days in the cloud forest jungle. You have a mix of Jen's warm, inviting presence. I have that too, but she has it next level. And then in the afternoons, we're sitting down and we're talking about how to integrate, how to be congruent with who you are as a person and how that can show up in your business. And so the title of the retreat is "Coming Home to Congruence. It is in its Verdisana, which is an Imaloa property in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. We will. Be there january 31 through february 5, and right now, if you're listening to this as I release this, you're listening to it just after Thanksgiving. So from october 8 to 22nd, 2026, we are offering the Canadian Thanksgiving rate, and so we know that the U S exchange rate has been pretty difficult, and we wanted to meet that need for you. So, a period of two weeks where we are offering where you, as a Canadian, will pay the Canadian rate. So, if you chose the cabin that is 4250 U.S. that will be 4250 Canadian. Which, depending on the cabin that you choose, you can save about $2,000. So, why why come there? Why spend that money? That sounds like a lot of money. It is, and it's not. If you see this as an investment in you, as a person, as a owner, as a therapist, and the exchange on that, the return on investment will be huge. I see that in my weekend retreats. Never mind five days of being so out of your norm to be have every need taken care of. You got a coffee sitting on the porch in the morning that you are learning which one is your favorite one. Then there's breakfast laid out for you. You can be in nature just by sitting on your deck. There's a naturally heated hot tub. There are opportunities to connect. There's also

opportunities to go for a walk or a hike and just be quiet and be on your own to breathe, to get a different perspective, to refresh yourself, and to come home to congruence. Who are you? How do you want to show up in your life and in your business? And take that home. I think it's going to be amazing. I really hope that you will come and join us. You can learn more at www.congruentpractice.com, or you can send me a message and we can chat about how we can get you there. At the very minimum, I hope that you'll consider what it would be to retreat. What would be The impact, the benefit to you, the people around you, to your business, if you slow down and take some time away. My hope for you is that being in a different pace, at a different pace, will give you a fresh perspective. Thanks for joining in. Next week, we're going to hear from Allison Meritou, she's got a different way of doing group practice from a financial perspective, and I hope that you will tune in. Have a great day.