In Episode 3 of My Aligned Practice, host Dr. Stephanie Dinsmore (psychotherapist, social worker, and group practice owner) guides listeners into a deeper understanding of their business as a sacred container. Building on last episode’s journal prompts, Stephanie revisits the questions of your why and your identity as a person, clinician, and leader, and invites you to explore how those three roles intertwine within your business. Stephanie explains that your sacred container is the integration of your mission, vision, values, and the authentic expression of who you are. She shares how her own therapeutic modalities—Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatics, polyvagal theory, and bottom-up trauma work—deeply inform not only her clinical identity but also the decisions she makes as a practice owner. Your clinical way of being, she emphasizes, becomes the foundation of your business way of being. Drawing from her experience at Mindful Path Counselling, Stephanie gives real examples of how aligning values with business practice can shape everything from community partnerships to student internship programs. She also introduces the idea of energetic environments—physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and digital—and encourages listeners to begin noticing which areas fuel them and which areas drain them. This episode encourages vulnerability, authenticity, and aligned decision-making, reminding therapists that building a practice is not just about logistics—it is an extension of their healing work and a representation of their deepest values. The episode closes with a creative journal prompt inviting you to draw and define your sacred container, forming the foundation of your mission, vision, and values.

Apply for the Aligned Practice Blueprint

Request a consultation call for Stephanie’s new business mentorship program, the Aligned Practice Blueprint—a small, high-support container designed to help clinicians move from solo to group practice with clarity and confidence. We’re only taking six practitioners!

More info: https://therapistsofftheclock.ca/the-aligned-practice-blueprint/

Aligned Action Item — Journal Prompt

This week’s prompt invites you into a creative, visual, and intuitive exercise to explore your mission, vision, and values from the inside out.

Draw Your Sacred Container

1. Choose any shape or visual structure that feels aligned with you.
2. Inside it, jot down the words, values, emotions, and themes that feel true to:
3. Who you are as a person
4. Who you are as a clinician
5. Who you are as a business owner or leader
6. Let this become the earliest form of your mission, vision, and values.

This is an art-based reflection—do it if it feels supportive, or simply imagine it while listening. There is no right or wrong way to approach this. Your only job is to notice what feels authentic, energizing, and aligned.

Want to share your sacred container? Visit the “Episode Three” video on Instagram and post your reflections or message Stephanie picture of your drawing. https://www.instagram.com/myalignedpractice

About Dr. Stephanie Dinsmore

Stephanie Dinsmore, MSW, RSW,...