Mila Arsenijevic: Balancing Growth in a Canadian Private Practice | Ep 121

Fearless Practice

Do you feel pressured to always be scaling and growing your Canadian private practice? In modern business, the idea is usually to push growth - but that’s not always the case! Sometimes not growing can also help private practice.

Every now and then you need to intentionally stop growing and instead focus on the foundations of your private practice, so that any future growth down the line actually holds and sticks because growth for growth’s sake is not necessarily everyone’s preference.

In this podcast episode, Mila and I discuss how she launched her practice and how sometimes not aiming for growth is the best way to success!

MEET MILA

Meet Mila, the driving force behind Toronto Therapy Practice. With over a decade of experience specializing in perinatal mental health at esteemed institutions such as Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Mila is a compassionate and dedicated therapist committed to fostering trust and connection with her clients. Her journey in the mental health field began as a social worker, evolving into her role as the founder of Toronto Therapy Practice.

Learn more about Mila on her Psychology Today profile and her Canadian practice website.

In this episode:

• How Mila became a social worker

• Getting into private practice

• Mila’s advice on scaling via hiring

• Dreams and aspirations for a growing practice

How Mila became a social worker

Since Mila had experience traveling internationally, she decided to study International Relations in Canada. She didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought she would, but Mila did take psychology as a minor and ended up loving it enough to focus on social work in her masters.

In her second year of placement in the masters program, Mila was at Sunnybrook hospital providing counselling. The job that she worked there went well enough that once she completed her studies, she decided to get a more permanent position and started her work experience.

However, she was offered a position in England which she ended up taking, and went to London to live and work. Mila was in England for some time before returning to Canada.

Getting into private practice

While Mila was working at the hospital, she was doing outpatient counselling.

She experienced some limitations in terms of how she was able to provide therapy within the hospital system. Mila noticed long wait lists, loads of people seeking access and care, and within the specific hospital rules, she thought that she could offer these necessary services in another way.

Mila’s advice on scaling via hiring

One associate hired was a friend of Mila’s, one was through word of mouth, and the other two were through Indeed.

With a flexible schedule system that all her associates have, Mila is able to connect clients and clinicians on schedules that suit both of their needs. Additionally, Mila’s practice and her associates have a hybrid model of offering in-person and online therapy.

Dreams and aspirations for a growing practice

Even though Mila has a lot of dreams for her private practice, she wants to make sure that she firmly establishes it now.

With appropriate scheduling, processes, and systems in place, Mila wants to give her private practice the best shot at success as she can, and that means taking the time and making the effort to lay strong yet flexible foundations for it - and her - to depend on.

There are also so many ways to get to the same place, so explore to find out what works well for you!

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Resources mentioned and useful links:

Ep 120: 5 Ways to Tackle Isolation with an Online Private Practice | EP 120

Learn more about the tools and deals that I love and use for my Canadian private practice

Sign up for my free e-course on How to Start an Online Canadian Private Practice

Jane App (use code FEARLESS for one month free)

Learn more about Mila on her Psychology Today profile and her Canadian practice website

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