Sep 29, 2026 · 59 min · 12 segments
A conversation on growing a private practice from solo work into groups, supervision, on-demand programs and training. Damien Adler speaks with Cassandra Gavel about expanding beyond 1:1 therapy…
Damian AdlerHostYeah, so I think that it's quite funny and, you know, I think we all sort of sit in this illusion of being professional 100% of the time and the truth is it was bathroom thoughts, to be honest.
Being in the shower and thinking, okay, I feel like I'm comfortable and I think I mentioned to you the last time we caught up that I believe that growth comes from discomfort.
when you're too comfortable, you're probably not stretching yourself to your full limits.
And so for me, I always had a vision moving into this that I wanted to have clinics sort of all over Australia that were known for having social workers and seeing social workers in that therapist spotlight as well.
But I'm also aware that for some people, that's not the case they're very happy doing one-to-one work but for me I I wait for those moments where I start feeling like I'm comfortable in the work that I'm doing my books were full and um I had just started diversifying my work I had as I said my my um now mentor and um my supervisor contacted me and started inviting me to consult for her and do some external supervision for some companies.
And I really started to enjoy that and I really started to become invigorated and inspired by what I could achieve.
And so I took the plunge and I thought, okay, we're going to start adding these to the mix.
But I also knew that although clients were asking for certain services, it wasn't going to be that straightforward.
I knew that it was going to be trial and error and I felt like so much of my journey up until that point was trial and error.
It's sort of like I sort of picture it as... you know trying trying on the different shoes until you find the one that's the most comfortable so i decided i would start small and um we started with just offering the virtual uh groups and i really into the networks that i had built so i had you know a lot of support from professionals in the hubs that I worked within, but then also growing networks outside of that with other professionals that I either previously worked with or that I was supervising.
And so the first few rounds of those groups were coming purely from those clinicians saying, I actually have clients that would really love to be a part of this.
So to hear about what you were, so you've got this idea, you're feeling, okay, a little bit too comfortable, I want to kind of push outside of that.
Did you, how did the other people find out about that? Did you put a web page up? Did you contact people on your mailing list? Did you, you know, to get, and you were saying those referrals or those participants were coming from this network.
Yeah, so I think that it's quite funny and, you know, I think we all sort of sit in this illusion of being professional 100% of the time and the truth is it was bathroom thoughts, to be honest.
Being in the shower and thinking, okay, I feel like I'm comfortable and I think I mentioned to you the last time we caught up that I believe that growth comes from discomfort.
when you're too comfortable, you're probably not stretching yourself to your full limits.
And so for me, I always had a vision moving into this that I wanted to have clinics sort of all over Australia that were known for having social workers and seeing social workers in that therapist spotlight as well.
But I'm also aware that for some people, that's not the case they're very happy doing one-to-one work but for me I I wait for those moments where I start feeling like I'm comfortable in the work that I'm doing my books were full and um I had just started diversifying my work I had as I said my my um now mentor and um my supervisor contacted me and started inviting me to consult for her and do some external supervision for some companies.
And I really started to enjoy that and I really started to become invigorated and inspired by what I could achieve.
And so I took the plunge and I thought, okay, we're going to start adding these to the mix.
But I also knew that although clients were asking for certain services, it wasn't going to be that straightforward.
I knew that it was going to be trial and error and I felt like so much of my journey up until that point was trial and error.
It's sort of like I sort of picture it as... you know trying trying on the different shoes until you find the one that's the most comfortable so i decided i would start small and um we started with just offering the virtual uh groups and i really into the networks that i had built so i had you know a lot of support from professionals in the hubs that I worked within, but then also growing networks outside of that with other professionals that I either previously worked with or that I was supervising.
And so the first few rounds of those groups were coming purely from those clinicians saying, I actually have clients that would really love to be a part of this.
So to hear about what you were, so you've got this idea, you're feeling, okay, a little bit too comfortable, I want to kind of push outside of that.
Did you, how did the other people find out about that? Did you put a web page up? Did you contact people on your mailing list? Did you, you know, to get, and you were saying those referrals or those participants were coming from this network.
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