Purpose and Profit: The Sustainable Therapy Practice Podcast

When things slow down in your therapy practice, the summer slowdown, the cancellations, the no-shows, the ebb and flow every group practice owner feels this time of year, the instinct is to panic and hustle for more clients. In this episode of Purpose & Profit, Cecilia Mannella challenges that narrative and reframes the slow season as your single best opportunity to do the deeper work of leade...

In this special announcement episode, Cecilia Mannella and Steph Davis share the exciting story behind their upcoming virtual summit: Together in Practice . They dive into the distinct shift from being a stellar clinical therapist to embracing the seat of a business leader and CEO. If you are a private practice owner—or are simply "group curious"—this episode is your sneak peek behind the curtain...

If you are a Canadian therapy practice owner who has spent years leading teams and still feels surprised by how different it is to lead your own group practice, this episode is for you. Cecilia sits down with Laura Boyko, MSW, RSW, founder of BeWell Therapy in Whitby, Ontario, to talk about the emotional reality of going from solo to group, why a decade of leadership experience doesn't fully prepa...

If you are a Canadian therapy practice owner looking to grow a virtual group therapy practice and have noticed that you're leading more like a friend than a boss, this episode is for you. Cecilia sits down with Haley Moore, RSW, founder of the virtual group practice Therapy Uninterrupted, to unpack how she transitioned from a solo and lonely practice to a team of six in just two years, and the lea...

If you are a Canadian therapy practice owner who keeps being told to "just raise your rates" but senses that isn't the real answer, this episode is for you. Cecilia breaks down how to increase revenue without raising rates by restructuring two things most established practice owners never question: free consults and the unpaid work happening outside the session hour. This is the Profit pillar in a...

If you are a Canadian therapy practice owner who is mid-scale and feeling business thinking leak into every hour of your personal life, this episode names the real cost of scaling a therapy practice — and what it actually takes to get your business and your life back. Cecilia walks through what no one warned her about: how the more you scale, the wider your world gets, and the more complexity quie...

If you are a therapy practice owner who treats her own time as a discount line and dresses up depletion as service, this episode reframes treating yourself as the asset of your therapy practice — not as selfishness or entitlement, but as the most ethical leadership stance you can take. Cecilia walks through why your wisdom, energy, decisions, and creativity are appreciating assets in your business...

This episode names the CEO identity shift group practice owners actually need — and why every other decision in your business gets easier the moment you sit in that seat with intention. Cecilia shares what three months inside her own mastermind, The Practice CEO Circle™, taught her: the women who broke through didn’t get there by learning more tactics. They got there by occupying the CEO seat with...

"Therapy, at its core, is about relationship. And relationship is the one thing AI cannot replicate." I've been sitting with a Facebook post I came across this week — one of dozens I've seen in therapist groups about AI therapists — and I can't stop thinking about the words we're using. Not just what we're debating, but the language we're reaching for to describe it. In this solo episode, I'm deco...

"I've never wanted to be in a position where I'm making decisions based on I just need this session booked because otherwise I can't pay my bills." That's how Nicole Neufeld, Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), describes the financial philosophy behind building The Commons Wellness — a virtual group practice based in Vancouver, BC. In this episode, Nicole shares what most therapists are never ta...

"If you've been waiting for your practice to feel calm, predictable, and maybe even low effort before you call it sustainable — that moment is not coming. Not because something is wrong with your practice. Because you've been working from the wrong definition." In this solo episode, I'm taking on the fantasy that's been sold to therapy practice owners - the passive income, the systemised-while-you...

"People treat you the way you teach them that they can treat you." That's how Rebecca Steele, therapist and depth-based coach, opens one of the most honest conversations this podcast has had about why therapists over-give and what that costs a practice. In this episode, Rebecca brings a depth psychology lens to a problem most practice owners feel every single day but rarely name out loud. What doe...

If you are a therapy practice owner who makes business decisions every day but still defaults to leading with compassion when clarity and strategy are what's actually needed, this episode is for you. Cecilia names the specific identity shift from clinician to CEO that most established practice owners never recognize is happening — and shares exactly what it looked like in her own group practice an...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE In this episode, I’m joined by Stefanie Denluck-Larkin, RCC, and Lucinda Wray, RCC — the co-founders of New Ground Wellness in the Okanagan. What started as two therapists sharing office space in Penticton eventually grew into a multi-location group practice serving clients across British Columbia. But like most real practice-building stories, it didn’t start with a perfectly ma...

You have absolutely no idea what you're doing financially, operationally or strategically. Nobody told you what was actually coming — but here's the kicker. Everybody told you to do this. That's Cecilia Mannella, RSW, RCC, naming the thing most therapists in private practice have carried quietly for years. Grad school celebrated private practice as the destination. Supervisors recommended it. Prog...

We worked literally next to each other. We didn't meet for eight months. That's how Steph Davis describes the beginning of her business partnership with Laura — the woman who would become her co-founder at Shoreline Counselling, a 25-therapist practice in Fort Langley, BC. In this episode, Stephanie Davis, RCC-ACS, PCC, COC shares: → How a group therapy invitation (and a weekend with a stranger's...

When you've got unfinished PESI courses piling up and a background in OT, how do you actually translate all that knowledge into shameless self-promotion? Lisa Kessier-Brock is a registered clinical counsellor who blends her occupational therapy roots with psychotherapy to support parents navigating the messy, never-ending journey of parenthood. Cecilia coaches her through the permission piece, tec...

What happens when everything you learned in graduate school about grief contradicts what you experienced in real life? Eliezer Moreno, grief and loss therapist in Vancouver, shares the powerful story of losing his friend Ryan shortly after learning "all the right things" about supporting people in grief—only to find himself confused, lonely, and unable to cry at the memorial. This conversation exp...

Social workers are trained to fight capitalism and poverty—so what happens when you decide to open a private practice and charge for your services? April Griffin, MSW and group practice owner, gets brutally honest about the identity crisis, money shame, and values conflict that social workers face in the private sector. This conversation tackles the elephant in the room that nobody in social work...

What do you do when you have two completely different niches that you're equally passionate about? KelliWheatley is a first-year therapist in North Vancouver who loves working with both chronic pain/mind-bodyconnection AND walk-and-talk nature therapy. On the surface, they seem unrelated—but Cecilia coaches herthrough discovering the powerful connection that makes both niches work under one cohesi...

New Year's resolutions feel empty because they skip the most important part: honest reflection. This isn't another "new year, new you" message—it's the anti-resolution episode you need. Before you set any goals for2026, you need to pause and look honestly at where you've been and who you're becoming as a practice leader. What You'll Learn: + Why reflection matters more than resolution-setting for...

You've got your purpose clear, your profit strategy solid, and your team aligned with your values. So why are you still spending 17+ hours a week drowning in administrative chaos? Here's the truth nobody tells you: You can have the best vision, strongest profit margins, and most authentic leadership—but if your operations don't have clear systems, they're going to burn you out. This final episode...

You've built a thriving practice, you're at capacity, and you know the next step is hiring—but here's what nobody tells you: being an excellent therapist doesn't automatically make you a great leader. Most therapy practice owners struggle to scale not because they can't, but because we were never taught how to shift from clinician to leader. And the fear of becoming the kind of manager you never w...

How much money would you be making if you didn't have beliefs about what therapists are "supposed" to charge? This episode tackles the profit problem in our profession: why therapists with incredible expertise, advanced training, and transformational impact are charging as if they're fresh out of grad school—and leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table every single year. What You'll Learn...

You've hit your revenue goals, your calendar is full, and your practice looks successful from the outside. So why does it feel hollow? This episode tackles the growth paradox nobody warned you about: you can build a massively profitable practice that feels like a complete betrayal of why you became a therapist in the first place. What You'll Learn: Identify the growth paradox - Why hitting revenue...