NADIA AND DEBORA D’IUSO: A SISTER-TEAM IN PRIVATE PRACTICE | EP 188

How Nadia and Debora became therapists

Both Nadia and Debora experienced grief in their youth: their uncle, whom they were close to, died by suicide. This moment became a turning point for them both, because they turned their grief into a passion for helping others.

‘I’ll never forget when I heard the news, I’ll never forget every moment of that experience. It stayed with me for a long time, but what really drew me to understanding what I wanted to do with my life was that experience of grief … I remember thinking, “How do I help my family through this? What do I do with this?” … It led me into this thought of, “I want to help others.”’ – Dr. Nadia D’luso  

Debora remembers when their mother came back from seeing a therapist, and how much she remarked that the experience had helped her process her grief, and it stuck with her. 

In their early 20s, Nadia encouraged Debora to study psychology. Since then, they both fell in love with the subject, which has steadily developed into a career that they share together. 

‘I think for me, my decisions to … pursue a PhD in psychology were driven by research. I was part of a psychotherapy process group, and what really attracted me to the research was studying what worked in therapy, and that’s a bit of my mindset, where it is just the recognition of, “What are we doing? What is working, what isn’t working?” and it spoke to my curiosity.’ – Dr. Nadia D’luso

Both sisters completed their PhDs separately, which helped them to develop independently and then regroup later to start a Canadian private practice. 

Building a private practice together

Now, Nadia and Debora have been able to link arms in a shared private practice, continue learning together, and pool their skills and expertise – coupled with sibling compassion and understanding – into an aligned practice. 

‘We had spent a number of years working in different settings … Having worked in hospital settings, I loved my experience, but I remember having conversations: “I wish I could do more” … Ultimately, we know in real life that change takes time, and therapy takes time, and we came together with that idea of, “Let’s hone in on our strengths, on our specializations, and really come together to build a practice that was consistent with how we saw effective therapy.’ – Dr. Debora D’luso 

So far, it has been going really well! Being in private practice for Nadia and Debora has been an incredible experience for both of them. 

They purchased Jules’ workbook to help them launch their new private practice together, which helped them tremendously. They took the information and applied it day by day, and week by week, to slowly create the most aligned practice that they could.

Marketing the private practice

Thinking about marketing their private practice was made so much easier when they considered what their brand would be. 

Discovering and building their brand helped them to stay consistent and aligned with their values throughout the process of thinking through their business, and how they would put the word out about it into the digital and local spheres around them. 

‘Thinking about our brand … and writing posts that were also consistent with our voice, and consistent with our values and being able to express that on [social media] platforms was something that was really exciting! So I know that we all talk about marketing as feeling initially quite scary … but it was also something for me [that was] really exciting with that opportunity of being able to speak to how I saw myself as a clinician and how I wanted to forge that connection with potential clients down the road.’ – Dr. Debora D’luso

For Nadia, authenticity was a big part of how she and Debora were able to market their practice effectively as well. Marketing authentically translates into marketing effectively, because it clearly brings in the best-fit clients for your practice.

To better connect with their audience, the sisters have started using newsletters alongside social media to diversify their marketing efforts and give their audience a way to know them that is not entirely based on social media, which is effective in an age when people are intentionally reducing their scrolling.