Intentional Therapist: Putting You In Your Schedule

E37: REPLAY - You are a human being, not a human giver: 3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women and how you can fight back

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0500

As we continue to give ourselves permission for a summer break (and hope you are too!), we wanted to highlight this past episode about some of the important issues that effectively rig the self-care game for female therapists. And as always, some steps you can take to start to change this.

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Ever feel like you’re always giving—whether it’s to your clients, your family, or even strangers on the street—and somehow your own needs get pushed aside? You're not alone. In fact, this might be part of a much bigger issue that’s rigged against women when it comes to self-care. If you're a female therapist, juggling the demands of your clients, family, and personal well-being, this episode is going to shine a light on why that balance feels so elusive—and what you can do to break the cycle.

Today, we're talking about the hidden forces that keep women stuck in the 'human giver' role and leave little room for genuine self-care. We’ll dive into the cultural expectations and productivity systems that make it harder for women to prioritize themselves. But here's the good news: You can change the game. Join us as we explore how to reclaim your time, passions, and well-being—without guilt, shame, or burnout. Ready to shift the paradigm? Let’s dive in.

Episode Highlights:

3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women:
- Seeing ourselves as ‘human givers’
- Pressure to fit into male-dominated productivity systems
- Not feeling permission to have passions
Self-Care Experiments:
- Let yourself be a human being, not a human giver
- Gather up the ‘time confetti’
- Focus on integration over ‘greatness’
- Give yourself permission to have passions

Resources Mentioned:

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
Find Your Unicorn Space and Fair Play, both by Eve Rodsky
Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte
The Plan: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi
This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something - Anything - Like Your Life Depends On It by Tabitha Carvan
Our past podcast interview with Tabatha Carvan
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Connect with Melissa & Karen at Intentional Therapist:
https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca/ | intentional@intentionaltherapist.ca | https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmelissatiessen/

Share one of your own self-care experiments via our SpeakPipe page at: https://www.speakpipe.com/intentionaltherapist

Ready to upgrade your self-care? Check out the independent study version of our course, Thrivival Skills for Therapists, and earn 3 CE credits! Because self-care is PART OF our jobs! More info at: https://intentional-therapist.newzenler.com/courses/thrivival-skills-for-therapists-independent-study

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E36: REPLAY - Treat your time like diamonds, not like sand: How to break free from toxic time messages

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 06:00:00 -0500

While we give ourselves permission for a break over the summer months (and we hope you are doing the same!), we thought it was a great time to revisit this early podcast episode. How we think about time really is the foundation for building more effective and sustainable self-care practices.

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Ever feel like there’s just never enough time in the day? You’re juggling client sessions, family responsibilities, and maybe even a little bit of a social life—if you’re lucky. And yet, somehow, taking care of yourself always falls to the bottom of the list. Sound familiar? In today’s episode, we’re breaking down the toxic time messages that keep us stuck in this endless cycle of overwhelm. We’re diving into how these hidden beliefs sneak into our everyday decisions and offer some practical tips to reclaim your time—and your energy.

We’ll be talking about why saying, “I can do it better and faster,” or, “I should spend my time doing X, Y, Z,” might be costing you more than you realize. So, if you’re tired of feeling like time is slipping through your fingers and ready to start putting you back in your schedule, please stick around.

Episode Highlights:

Toxic Time Messages:
- “I can do it better and faster”
- “I can save time by doing it myself”
- “I should be spending my time doing x, y, z”
Time reframes
- "Even if I can do it better, that doesn't mean I should be the one to do it"
- "Saving time now isn't worth the long-term cost to my well-being"
- "I will not let 'shoulds' rob me of time for myself"

Self-Care Experiments:

Delegating a task
Pausing before agreeing to new commitments
Setting aside uninterrupted time for yourself

Resources Mentioned:

Book: Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E35: Time for a summer self-care check-In

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 06:00:00 -0500

How often have you actually taken the time to think about and plan your self-care? If you’re like most therapists this likely hasn’t been a regularly occurring event and, in fact, may have never even crossed your mind. Yet doing this is such an important component of ensuring that our self-care is matching our current realities. Especially when our responsibilities, energy, and capacity often shift without us even realizing it.

That’s why in today’s episode, we are re-visiting the concept of seasonal self-care check-ins. We will walk you through a simple 5 step reflection process to help you assess what’s draining you, what’s sustaining you, and what small adjustments may better support you in this season of life. Because the most meaningful self-care happens when we respond to ourselves with honesty, flexibility, and discernment as the seasons change.

Episode Highlights:

Why seasonal self-care check-ins matter
A 5-step seasonal check-in practice
What's standing out for each of us in this season
Self-care experiments:
- Assess your self-care needs in this specific season
- Share your self-care assessment with a trusted colleague or loved one
- Take some baby steps

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E34: The Power of Discernment, Bonus Episode – Hidden leadership beliefs, or, What are you modelling about self-care, intentionally or not?

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Leaders often shape the culture of self-care in their workplaces — whether intentionally or not. And sometimes the most compassionate, competent clinicians are also the ones unintentionally modelling overwork, over-responsibility, and depletion as normal.

Today we are closing out our discernment series with a bonus episode, where we’re exploring the hidden leadership beliefs that can inadvertently influence workplace culture, team wellness, and even our own professional satisfaction. Because regardless of your title, the beliefs you hold about boundaries, commitment, productivity, and self-care are more important than you may realize.

Episode Highlights:

How leadership beliefs intersect with discernment and self-care
5 key categories of leadership beliefs that can impact self-care of leaders and those around them
1. Over-responsibility and identity beliefs
2. Productivity & performance beliefs
3. Scarcity & fear-based beliefs
4. Boundary confusion beliefs
5. Cultural & gendered conditioning beliefs
Our own reflections on leadership beliefs
Self-care experiments
- Separate the association between working extra hours and professional commitment
- Assess your organizational culture of self-care
- Leadership belief audit

Resources Mentioned:

Does Self-Care Make You a Better Leader? A Multisource Study Linking Leader Self-Care to Health-Oriented Leadership, Employee Self-Care, and Health
Burnout Study in Women: https://www.egonzehnder.com/insight/super-burnt-out
Centre for Patient Safety, Fostering a Culture of Self-Care: https://blog.centerforpatientsafety.org/fostering-a-culture-of-self-careblog.
55 Limiting Beliefs That Hold Leaders Back from Success and Fulfillment

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E33: The Power of Discernment, Part 4 – It’s not you, it’s the job, or, How to know when a genuinely unhealthy environment is the real problem

Mon, 18 May 2026 06:00:00 -0500

What if the stress you’re carrying at work isn’t a sign of something you are doing wrong, but a sign that something around you isn’t healthy? Many therapists are quick to assume burnout, frustration, or dread must be a personal failing: poor boundaries, weak coping, not enough self-care. But sometimes the problem isn’t you. Sometimes the workplace itself is the problem.

In today’s episode, we explore how to recognize a genuinely unhealthy work environment. We talk about psychological safety, the traits of healthy workplaces, and how to discern when your stress is coming from the system rather than from yourself. Because the wisest forms of self-care begin with clarity.

Episode Highlights:

Unhealthy environments vs belief, boundary, or values misalignment
5 characteristics of psychologically healthy workplaces
Questions to ask about whether a workplace embodies psychological safety
Our own experiences with unhealthy workplace settings
Self-care experiments:
- Reflect on whether your own work setting is psychologically healthy
- Reflect on whether your own work setting offers psychological safety
- Identify how you incorporate healthy workplace practices into your own clinical practice and setting

Resources Mentioned:

The Psychologically Healthy Workplace: Building a Win-Win Environment for Organizations and Employees: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/The-Psychologically-Healthy-Workplace-Intro-Sample.pdf
What is psychological safety at work? Here’s how to start creating it: https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-workplaces/psychological-safety

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E32: The Power of Discernment, Part 3.2 – Seasonal capacity misalignment and the importance of values and value domains for sustaining ourselves in the long term

Mon, 04 May 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Have you ever had a point in your career where it felt as though something shifted for you, and not in a good sense? Maybe it was a general sense of feeling more drained or perhaps noticing a shift in your ability to keep up with the myriad of tasks and responsibilities related to your professional role. If so, you’re definitely not alone.

And, unfortunately, when those things set in it’s easy for us to assume that there is something wrong with us and to begin questioning our suitability for our professional role. But what if the issue isn’t that there is something wrong with you but rather a misalignment between your current seasonal capacity and your expectations for yourself? The good news is there are ways to better align our work with our values and our capacity, and that’s what we will be exploring today.

Episode Highlights:

Discernment category #3 (part 2): Seasonal capacity misalignment
Values versus value domains
What is seasonal capacity misalignment
How values and value domains will shift over time
Our own seasonal capacity mis/alignment examples
Self-care experiments:
- Identify your current value domains and notice how they show up, or not, in your work week
- Identify one misaligned value domain or capacity expectation and initiate a conversation about it with a trusted colleague
- Reflect on how your values have been expressed over the course of your career

Resources Mentioned:

Russ Harris' website: https://www.actmindfully.com.au/
Valued living questionnaire: https://stevenchayes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/The-Valued-Living-Questionnaire.pdf
Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier's book, The Resilience Plan

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E31: The Power of Discernment, Part 3.1 - Values misalignment, or, why, as competent therapists, we can enjoy our work and yet still feel drained

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Have you ever been good at something (like your work), and still felt drained by it? It might sound strange, but it is not unusual to be competent and even excellent at what we do, and still feel that something about our work feels heavy, or off. And that is often the moment that we start to assume something is wrong with us. But what if that isn’t actually true?

What if the issue has nothing to do with your level of competence, but instead is about a misalignment between what is important to you and how your values show up in your work? And counter-intuitively, when we really value the work that we do, this can even at times contribute to feeling dissatisfied. The good news is there are ways to better align our work with our values, so that we can get back to enjoying the meaningful work we do. That's what we are exploring in today's podcast episode.

Episode Highlights:

Discernment category #3 (part 1): Values misalignment
What values are, and are not
The role of discerning values in our work life
Our own values mis/alignment examples
Self-care experiments:
- List your top 5 values and notice how they show up (or not) in your work week
- Notice how your top values show up in your treatment of yourself
- Check out the book, Values in Therapy, by Jenna LeJeune and Jason Luoma

Resources Mentioned:

Values exercise: https://www.actmindfully.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Values_Checklist_-_Russ_Harris.pdf

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E30: The Power of Discernment, Part 2 - Boundary misalignment and the art of balancing yes with no

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:00:00 -0500

If you’re anything like us you probably remember times in graduate school where you told yourself something like “This won’t last forever, once I graduate I’ll have more time for myself.” And, at the time, it made sense, you truly believed it, and it worked, because, these kinds of thoughts helped us say “no” to things that would take us away from our studies and say “yes” to things that ensured our academic success.

And because it worked so well we continue to use this as a way of motivating self-sacrifice during other points in our professional journey, by simply substituting the phrase “once I graduate” for things like “once I’m licensed”, “once I get the hang of this new job”, and “once things slow down at work.”

But of course, the problem is, there will always be something else we can put into that slot. And, before we know it, we may find ourselves resenting our jobs when, in fact, what we really resent is the fact that we can’t seem to stop saying “yes”.

In today’s episode we are talking about boundary misalignment and how discernment can help us start saying “no” to the things that take us away from self-care, and start saying “yes” to things that support our self-care and, by extension, our ability to continue doing great work with our clients.

Episode Highlights:

Discernment category #2: Boundary misalignment
Common risks and outcomes of misaligned boundaries
Our personal misaligned boundaries examples
Self-care experiments:
- Commit to ending one meeting exactly on time
- Delay responding to non-urgent messages
- Practice saying 'Let me think about that and get back to you'
- Publicly protect one recovery window

Resource Mentioned:

Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier's book, The Resilience Plan, and our past podcast interview with her

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E29: The Power of Discernment, Part 1 - Belief misalignment and the stories we tell ourselves about our work and self-care

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Pop quiz: How many of these beliefs resonate for you?

If I’m not exhausted, I must not be working hard enough.
My schedule reflects my value.
My clients’ outcomes are my responsibility.
Nice therapists don’t rock the boat.
If I charge more, I’m exploiting people.
If I don’t know the answer, I’m failing.

If you said all of them, congratulations, you are a typical hardworking and dedicated female therapist! And you suffer one of the most common ailments in our profession – belief misalignment. Thankfully, in today’s episode, we are kicking off our new discernment mini-series by sharing some ways to combat this ailment, so that the stories we tell ourselves about our work and our self-care can be better aligned with the truth.

Episode Highlights:

Discernment category #1: Belief misalignment
Common risks and outcomes of misaligned beliefs
Our personal misaligned beliefs examples
Self-care experiments:
- Consciously evaluate one belief
- Ask a trusted colleague for a reality check
- Replace 'It's all on me' with 'What is actually mine?'

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E28: The Power of Discernment & the Importance of Knowing Where to Target Your Self-Care Efforts

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0500

If you’re like most therapists, there have undoubtedly been times in your career when you’ve found yourself struggling with work and trying to figure out why. Figuring out the “why” to our struggles can be a great step towards finding ways to reduce our struggles. Yet, at the same time, it’s not always easy to identify the source and, in fact, we believe it can be easy to get it wrong. And when we misidentify the source of our struggles we’re at risk of feeling even more deflated and discouraged because our self-care solutions don’t create the change we’re hoping for.

In today’s episode we’re kicking off a new podcast mini-series where we’ll be highlighting the importance of discernment by looking at four discernment categories related to beliefs, boundaries, values, and our work environment, and ways of better targeting our self-care to the specific source of our workplace struggles. Because when we target the true source of our workplace struggles good things start to happen.

Episode Highlights:

Why professional dissatisfaction is rarely a binary 'it's me' vs 'it's the job'
The 4 discernment categories:

(1) Belief misalignment

(2) Boundary misalignment

(3) Values (and seasonal capacity) misalignment

(4) Genuinely unhealthy environments

Our own discernment experiences
Self-care experiment

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E27: Why and how to do a seasonal self-care check-in

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0600

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “Why does self-care feel harder right now, even though I’m doing all the right things?”, you’re not alone. For many therapists, the struggle isn’t a lack of discipline or commitment, but a mismatch between what we’re asking of ourselves and the season we’re actually in.

Our energy, capacity, and needs aren’t fixed—they shift over time, just like the seasons do. That’s why in today’s episode, we’re inviting you to pause, step out of self-improvement mode, and intentionally check in with what this season is asking of you, so your self-care can feel more aligned, supportive, and sustainable.

Episode Highlights:

Why seasonal self-care check-ins matter
A 5-step seasonal check-in practice
What's standing out for each of us in this season
Self-care experiments:
- Assess your self-care needs in this specific season
- Share your self-care assessment with a trusted colleague or loved one
- Take some baby steps

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E26: What the movie Groundhog Day can teach us about therapist self-care

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0600

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you think, “Wait, didn’t I already do this yesterday? And all the days before?” Same alarm. Same email inbox. Same clients with eerily familiar struggles. Same promises to yourself that next week will be different. If that resonates, you’re not alone — and you’re definitely not failing.

Today, we’re taking inspiration from the movie Groundhog Day to talk about self-care, burnout, and why so many therapists feel stuck in patterns that don’t seem to change — even though they’re working so hard to make things better.

Episode Highlights:

How the movie Groundhog Day relates to therapist self-care
Why insight alone isn’t enough to make changes - and what helps instead
Why being human is better than being perfect
Self-care experiments:
- The Ned Ryerson
- The Let’s Drink to World Peace
- The Nice Young Man From the Motor Club
- The Groundhog

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E25: Upgrade your self-care belief system wrap-up: The ongoing practice of believing differently

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0600

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk about self-care with our clients, and how incredibly hard it can be to actually practice it in our own lives? As therapists, we can quote the research, share the strategies, name the patterns. And yet, when it comes time to recognize our own needs, something in us hesitates and our own needs quietly slip to the bottom. But what if self-care isn’t something extra to squeeze in — what if it’s something to build everything else around?

In this episode, we’re wrapping up a very special journey — one that’s been all about rewriting the stories we tell ourselves about self-care. Over the past 8 episodes, we’ve been rethinking the myths, guilt, and cultural expectations that have shaped how we care for ourselves. And today, we’re bringing it all together — to reflect, to re-anchor, and to remind ourselves that tending to our own well-being isn’t indulgent. It's integral.

Episode Highlights:

Recap of the 8 belief upgrades
Which belief resonates most for you?
We can each help shift the culture of care in our field
Self-care experiment:
- Meet old beliefs with curiosity and compassion when they creep back in

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E24: Belief system upgrade #8: Self-care needs community

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 06:00:00 -0600

What if the strongest form of self-care isn’t what you do by yourself… but who you allow in? As therapists, we spend our days holding space for others. We encourage our clients to lean into support, to reach out, to know they don’t have to carry it all alone. And yet — how often do we allow the same for ourselves?

In this final episode of our Upgrade your self-care belief system mini-series, we’re exploring the powerful truth that self-care isn’t meant to be a solo project. Real self-care grows in community — through connection, accountability, and the gentle presence of people who remind us that we matter, too.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #8: Self-care needs community.
Why the old view doesn't serve us: Thinking that we don't need support and that we can 'do this on our own' keeps us disconnected from each other and reinforces shame.
The new view: Self-care is relational; it thrives with support. Seeking and accepting support makes us more resilient.
Self-care experiments:
- Identify one area of your life or work where you've been 'going it alone'
- Reach out intentionally
- Reflect on how receiving support feels

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E23: Belief system upgrade #7: Self-care needs our intentional attention

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0600

How often do you intentionally sit down to reflect on your self-care? If you are like most of us, probably not very often! Even if you are a regular listener of this podcast, and hopefully check in with your self-care more often than not, you are also human! The reality is that it takes energy and awareness to make our self-care a priority. And we can do this, but it won’t happen automatically.

That’s why in this episode, we’re talking about what might be the most important belief shift of all: that self-care requires our intentional attention. In other words: self-care doesn’t just happen by accident. It happens because we choose to bring it into focus, and trust that we will be better off for it. So stick around as we share how to bring more intention to your self-care too.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #7: Self-care needs our intentional attention.
Why the old view doesn't serve us: Self-care rarely magically fits itself into our lives, yet we rely on hope that it will. Which leaves us constantly depleted, because hope without intention results in inaction.
The new view: Self-care with intention sends a clear message that we matter.
Self-care experiments:
- Anchor check-in
- Calendar commitment
- End-of-week reflection

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E22: Belief system upgrade #6: Self-care needs to be personalized and revisited often

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0600

How many of you remember the ‘set it and forget it’ rotisserie oven infomercials from the 1990’s? Even if that doesn’t ring a bell, the fact is that as humans we love the idea of only having to do something once, and then not having to think about it again.

In this episode, we’re talking about how this allure creates a sneaky but very common belief: that self-care is also something you can just check off once and be done with. Maybe it’s the spa day. Or the weekend away. Or the one good routine you set up years ago. And while those things can help in the moment, the truth is: self-care doesn’t work like a kitchen appliance that you can just ‘set and forget’. But we are here to convince you that this can be a good thing!

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #6: Self-care needs to be personalized and revisited often.
Why the old view doesn't serve us: We feel disappointed and even ashamed when a one-size-fits-all, one-time fix doesn't address all our self-care challenges.
The new view: Self-care is a living practice that evolves with us, and needs to fit our own needs as well as our season of life.
Self-care experiments:
- Self-care inventory
- Micro-pivot
- Seasonal reset

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E21: Belief system upgrade #5: Self-care challenges are shaped by gender and professional socialization – NOT personal failings!

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

When you think about why self-care is hard, what comes to mind? Maybe not enough time, or feeling guilty, or just forgetting until you’re completely burned out. The dominant story says: if you can’t manage your self-care, you’re not disciplined enough. You’re not resilient enough. Maybe you’re just not cut out for this work.

But here’s the twist: what if these struggles aren’t actually personal failings at all? What if they’re the result of how we’ve been socialized — shaped by gender expectations and professional norms — in ways that make self-care feel unnatural, even wrong? This really important point, and how we can counter it, is what we are diving into in this episode.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #5: Self-care challenges are shaped by gender and professional socialization – NOT personal failings!
Why the old view doesn't serve us: It turns self-care into a moral failing, so then we blame ourselves for struggling.
The new view: Gender norms and professional socialization are powerful forces working against our self-care. When we recognize this we can release the shame and reclaim our agency.
Self-care experiments:
- Name the script
- Flip the praise
- Try a micro-boundary experiment

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 5: You are a human being, not a human giver: 3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women and how you can fight back
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E20: Belief system upgrade #4: Self-care doesn't have to cost a lot of time, energy, or money

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 06:00:00 -0600

How many times have you said — or thought — ‘I’d love to take better care of myself, but I just don’t have the time’? Or, ‘I’m way too tired.’ Or maybe, ‘I can’t afford it right now.’ These are probably the three biggest roadblocks therapists and other caring professionals name when it comes to self-care: time, energy, and money.

And we get it — those are real constraints. But here’s the thing: when we define self-care as something that requires extra time, energy, or money, we actually make it harder to sustain. We set ourselves up for a cycle of guilt and avoidance. So in this episode, we are here to convince you of a better way of dealing with these very real but ‘overcome-able’ constraints.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #4: Self-care doesn't have to cost a lot of time, energy, or money
Why the old view doesn't serve us: We wait for 'perfect' conditions — which never occur — that instead make us feel like we are falling short
The new view: Sustainable self-care happens by weaving it into our days
Self-care experiments:
- Anchor to what you already do
- The one-minute reset
- Reframe endings

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E19: Belief system upgrade #3: Self-care can be uncomfortable (but worth it!)

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Here’s something that might surprise you: some of the best self-care doesn’t feel good in the moment. Think about it — how many times have you dreaded going for a run, having that hard conversation, or finally making the dentist appointment you’ve been putting off… only to feel so much lighter, clearer, and better afterward?

We often expect self-care to look easy and comforting, like bubble baths and spa days. But sometimes, self-care looks like sweating, crying, or facing something you’ve been avoiding. And if we expect it to feel good all the time, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment — and avoidance. So stick with us, because in today’s episode we are going to convince you that the best self-care often doesn’t feel so good in the moment, but can have lasting positive effects.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #3: Self-care can be uncomfortable (but worth it!)
Why the old view doesn't serve us: We end up chasing quick and easy fixes, that don't actually sustain us, and instead deplete us in the long run
The new view: Real self-care isn't always comfortable, but it is always worthwhile
Self-care experiments:
- Do the 'one thing' you've been avoiding
- Practice micro-discomfort
- Journal on discomfort

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E18: Belief system upgrade #2: Self-care is NOT selfish & is NOT just about treating ourselves

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0500

When was the last time you said ‘no’ to someone? And we don’t mean a playful no, or a no with an apology attached, but a real, solid, unapologetic ‘no.’

If you’re anything like most therapists — especially women in our field — that question might make you squirm a little. Because somewhere along the way, we got the message that taking care of ourselves means we’re taking something away from someone else. That it’s indulgent. Or worse — selfish.

But what if we told you that choosing yourself isn’t selfish at all — it’s actually one of the most generous things you can do for others? That’s what we hope to convince you of in this episode.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #2: Self-care is not selfish, and is not just about treating ourselves
Why the old view doesn't serve us: Our worth becomes equated with how much we give to others, and how little we need
The new view: Self-care is in fact stewardship, and resource management
Self-care experiments:
- Say no once
- Protect one block of time
- Challenge your definition of selfish

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E17: Upgrade your self-care belief system! Upgrade #1: Self-care is PART OF our work

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0500

If you’re a therapist who feels like self-care always comes last, you’re not alone. Most of us were trained—implicitly or explicitly—to treat our own needs as optional, something to squeeze in after clients, paperwork, and family demands. But what if that belief is exactly what’s draining your energy, your clarity, and even your ability to show up fully for the people you serve?

In today’s episode, we’re kicking off a new series that challenges outdated ideas about self-care and replaces them with essential upgrades. We’ll start with one of the most important shifts: recognizing that self-care isn’t extra—it’s part of the work. Because when we stop treating our well-being as optional, everything changes: our presence in sessions, our resilience, and the sustainability of our careers.

Episode Highlights:

Self-care belief system upgrade #1: Self-care is part of our work
Why the old view doesn't serve us: Self-care is seen as optional and exhaustion is normalized
The new view: Self-care is a core professional competence and part of our deliverables
Self-care experiments:
- Create a reset/recovery ritual
- Audit your schedule
- Professional alignment reflection

Resources Mentioned:

Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E16: Check-in on your self-care along with us! The importance of seasonal self-care check-ins

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0500

What if your to-do list isn’t the problem — but rather a quiet signal that one of your self-care pillars is out of balance? As therapists, we’re trained to notice these signs in others, but we often overlook the gentle nudges from within: things like a creeping sense of resentment, a loss of joy, or a growing disconnection from the parts of ourselves that used to feel vibrant. As we kick off a new season of Putting You In Your Schedule, we’re inviting you to slow down with us and take stock — not with judgment, but with curiosity and compassion.

In this episode, we’ll walk you through a seasonal self-care check-in using our 4 C’s framework: Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity. Whether or not you’ve used our self-care assessment tool before, we’ll help you pause to notice what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s room for small but meaningful shifts. Let’s begin this season with intention around the foundation that supports everything else — our own well-being.

Episode Highlights:

A refresher on the 4 C's model
The 4 C's self-care assessment
Signs that we might need to pay attention to each of our 4 C's

Self-Care Experiments:

Assess your self-care needs in this specific season
Share your self-care assessment with a trusted colleague or loved one
Take some baby steps

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E15: Experimenting With Experiments: Season 1 Self-Care Experiments Round Up

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0500

What if the real secret to sustainable self-care isn’t about working harder—or even trying to be “better”—but simply about noticing, connecting, and giving yourself permission to take small, imperfect steps? In today’s episode, we’re taking a second look at the many self-care experiments we’ve shared throughout the year to reveal a refreshingly doable framework that can support you, not just in theory, but in real life.

As we wrap up the season and head into summer, we’re reflecting on the common threads woven through our self-care experiments— and offering you a fresh way to approach your own self-care journey. Whether you’re just tuning in or have been with us all season, you’ll leave today’s episode with a clearer, kinder path forward—and a little extra inspiration to carry you into your next season.

Episode Highlights:

Round-up of self-care experiments shared throughout this season
Themes in experiments
Notice/monitor/observe (kindly and non-judgmentally!)
Connect with colleagues
Challenge unhelpful beliefs with permission and imperfect action

Self-Care Experiment:

Use the Notice-Connect-Challenge framework

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E14: Why can’t I actually put myself in my schedule?! 3 ways to more intentionally protect your self-care efforts

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Have you ever looked at your schedule and wondered why everyone else’s needs made the cut—but yours didn’t? In this podcast episode, we’re exploring a question we hear all the time: Why can’t I actually put myself in my schedule?! If you resonate with this question, know that you are not alone, and, that you are not doing anything wrong.

Please stick around as we explore what contributes to this struggle of protecting the time we want to devote to our self-care. And most importantly, we will be sharing three practical, intentional ways to support your self-care efforts—without adding more pressure or guilt. These are simple shifts that can help you hold space for yourself, just like you do for everyone else. Let’s talk about how to stop squeezing yourself out of your calendar and start making your needs a priority again.

Episode Highlights:

Change is hard, even for therapists
Impact of our beliefs
Impact of life circumstances and readiness for change
Remember that change is a process

Self-Care Experiments:

Use permission liberally
Use scaffolding liberally
Figure out what doesn’t work for you

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 2 on Toxic Time Messages
Episode 11 on Self-Care Sabotage
Episode 12 on Personal Rights
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E13: This is your brain on breaks: 3 benefits of incorporating breaks into our days

Mon, 19 May 2025 06:00:00 -0500

What does your typical day look like? Does it include regularly occurring breaks or do you often find yourself constantly on the go? If you’re like most of the female mental health therapists we’ve spoken with, most of your days probably feel like you’re going non-stop, both at work and at home. And while there can admittedly be some sense of accomplishment that comes with fitting as many things from our never ending “to-do list” into our days, it comes at a cost.

In today’s episode we’ll talk about the concepts of energy expenditure and energy recovery and three important ways that breaks can contribute to your self-care. And, as always, we’ll wrap up the episode with some practical self-care experiments, because taking breaks is often much harder than it seems! So if you’re in need of some justification for yourself, or others, about why we truly need breaks, then stay tuned.

Episode Highlights:

The importance of both energy expenditure and energy recovery
Work and rest are partners
We can get better at rest
3 benefits of taking breaks

Self-Care Experiments:

Monitor your energy patterns
Add in some breaks to your schedule
Experiment with how you spend your breaks

Resources Mentioned:

2021 study by the Microsoft Human Factors Lab
Book: The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
Book: Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Podcast: Episode 258 of The Lazy Genius Podcast with Kendra Adachi, about the 7 different kinds of rest
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E12: Therapists have rights too! 3 personal rights to embrace for better self-care

Mon, 05 May 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Have your sessions with clients ever incorporated the topic of assertiveness and its related benefits? If so, then you’re likely familiar with the “Personal Bill of Rights” and how eye opening this resource can be to clients, particularly those who’ve regularly either ignored their needs or put them well below those of others. The Personal Bill of Rights can offer our clients a different way of thinking about themselves which, in turn, can help them start shifting their actions in ways that align more so with their Personal Bill of Rights.

But have you ever thought about how incorporating a Bill of Rights might actually support your self-care? In today’s episode we take a look at three rights, in particular, that can be particularly powerful in supporting female mental health therapists’ self-care. So if you’re interested in finding ways to use personal rights to support your self-care, this episode is for you!

Episode Highlights:

What is a Personal Bill of Rights
3 key rights for therapists:
- I have the right to my own needs for personal space and time
- I have the right to make mistakes and not have to be perfect
- I have the right to change my mind

Self-Care Experiments:

Be an objective observer
Embrace a right and act accordingly
Imagine a female mental health therapist bill of rights

Resources Mentioned:

Kristin Neff's website: https://self-compassion.org/
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E11: Self-care sabotage: 3 types of beliefs that may be hurting your self-care from the inside out

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0500

How often do you take time to reflect on your beliefs and the ways they might be influencing your self-care? If you’re like most female mental health therapists, you’re likely so busy tending to your professional and personal roles and responsibilities that this hasn’t even crossed your mind. Yet, the reality is many of us may be unknowingly buying into beliefs that could be sabotaging our self-care.

In today’s episode we look at three types of unhelpful beliefs and the ways they might be sabotaging your self-care efforts. We're also talking about how connection, compassion, and courage can provide powerful antidotes to these unhelpful beliefs. So if you are ready to stop “shoulding” on yourself, please tune in!

Episode Highlights:

Three types of beliefs that can sabotage our self-care
- Therapist "musturbations"
- "Shoulding" on our self-care
- "Canning" our self-care

Self-Care Experiments:

Be an objective observer
Connect with others
Challenge your unhelpful beliefs

Resources Mentioned:

Book: Leaving It at the Office by Drs. John Norcross and Gary VandenBos
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E10: Connection in a post-pandemic world: 3 ways connecting with others can change the self-care game

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 06:00:00 -0500

As a mental health professional, you undoubtedly know the significant role our relationships can have on our overall well-being. In fact, it’s probably something you discuss with most, if not all your clients at some point during therapy. But how often do you take the same time and care to reflect on your own relationships with others?

In today’s episode we revisit the connection pillar of our 4 C’s model, this time, focusing on our connections to others and the important role this plays in our self-care. We’ll also be talking about how connection plus courage can offer a particularly powerful boost to our self-care and our self-care culture and how all of this relates to compassion.

Episode Highlights:

The powerful benefits of connection plus courage
Connection and compassion
Connection as a way of overcoming limiting beliefs

Self-Care Experiments:

Taking stock of our connections with others
Adding a dose of courage to our connections
Connection as a way of overcoming limiting beliefs

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E9: Documentation is not the enemy! How to use the 4 C’s to make documentation your self-care ally

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0500

Have you ever thought of documentation as a form of self-care? Of course, probably not! We know that more likely, documentation often feels like a time-consuming, mentally draining task that takes away from the work you truly care about. But we are here to try to convince you that documentation can actually be a key part of our self-care. Yes, you heard that right. There are ways to turn this often stressful task into a tool for personal and professional well-being.

So what if, instead of adding to our stress, documentation could be part of the solution? In this episode, we’ll discuss how our 4 C’s model—Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity—can transform your approach to notes and reports. Whether you’re already overwhelmed by your documentation or just looking for a more intentional approach, we’ll share actionable strategies and experiments to help change the way you think about both self-care and documentation.

Episode Highlights:

How documentation fits into self-care
How normal it is to struggle with documentation
Applying the 4 C's to documentation

Self-Care Experiments:

Create a notes template
End your sessions on time

Resources Mentioned:

Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey's website, QA Prep, and her book, Stress Free Documentation
Our past podcast interview with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E8: How to use our values to work for our self-care, instead of against it

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 06:00:00 -0600

How often do you think of values when you think about self-care? If you’re like many of us, probably not very often or at all. Yet the reality is our values can play a huge role in our self-care, whether we think about them or not. In this week's episode we explore three important ways values are related to self-care.

And although most of the time connecting with our values is truly a valuable thing to do, you might also be surprised to hear that sometimes values can actually get in the way of our self-care. So we hope you will stick around to hear more about how we can get our values to work for us, not against us!

Episode Highlights:

3 ways values can impact our work life and self-care
- Values and our work setting
- Self-care as value-driven
- Value-driven work and burnout

Self-Care Experiments:

Ideal work day
Relationship values
Planning for getting wet

Resources mentioned:

Book: Values in Therapy by Drs. Jenna LeJeune and Jason Luoma
Book: The Resilience Plan by Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier
Our past podcast interview with Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E7: Let's embrace our differences instead of apologizing for them: 3 ways individual differences factor into personalized self-care

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0600

Do you ever find yourself wondering why self-care seems to come so easily for some of your colleagues or why you and your colleagues struggle in different ways with self-care? Or maybe you’ve been disappointed with the “one-size fits” all self-care messages you’ve been fed. If so, you’re not alone.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into the topic of individual differences. As female mental health clinicians, we share a lot in common, but we’re also each unique, and that uniqueness can play a huge role in how we approach self-care. We hope you will tune in as we explore how unique aspects of ourselves can impact the way we experience work, self-worth, and even the imposter syndrome. And what we can do to use this information to tackle self-care in a truly personal way.

Episode Highlights:

3 Individual differences we need to consider:
- Neurodiversity
- Image of a “successful therapist”
- Personal history and life circumstances
Self-care experiments
- Review your workday
- Talk about individual differences with trusted colleagues
- Find colleagues who share similar life circumstances
- Celebrate the everyday “wins” at work

Resources Mentioned:

Our past podcast interview with April Snow
Our past podcast interview with Dr. Kelly Yanek & Dr. Michele Kinderman
Our past podcast interview with Silvana Espinoza Lau
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E6: It’s not you, it’s your wiring: 4 ways our evolutionary wiring makes self-care challenging (but not impossible!)

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0600

We’re about to explore something that may surprise you—your brain’s survival instincts are still influencing how you approach self-care, and they might be working against you. Have you ever wondered why saying "no" feels impossible or why you can't seem to prioritize yourself no matter how hard you try? What if the answer lies in how our brains are wired for survival, and how that wiring affects everything from guilt to stress?

In this episode, we’re going to unpack how your evolutionary wiring could be sabotaging your best self-care efforts. But here’s the good news—once you understand this, you’ll have the power to work with your brain, not against it. We’re sharing insights on why it’s so hard to break the cycle, along with practical strategies you can start using today to make more room for yourself. So, stick around—by the end of this episode, you’ll have a whole new perspective on your survival and your self-care.

Episode Highlights:

4 ways evolutionary wiring impacts self-care:
- Conservation of energy
- Acceptance of the tribe and the role of guilt
- Scarcity of resources
- Living for today
Self-Care Experiments:
- Recognize your signs of ‘survival mode’
- Respond kindly to guilt
- Create a ‘Not to do’ list

Resources Mentioned:

Healthy Habits Suck: How to Get Off the Couch and Live a Healthy Life...Even if You Don't Want To by Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley
Work, Parent, Thrive: 12 Science-Backed Strategies to Ditch Guilt, Manage Overwhelm, and Grow Connection by Dr. Yael Schonbrun
Our past podcast interview with Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley
Our past podcast interview with Dr. Yael Schonbrun
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E5: You are a human being, not a human giver: 3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women and how you can fight back

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0600

Episode Highlights:

3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women:
- Seeing ourselves as ‘human givers’
- Pressure to fit into male-dominated productivity systems
- Not feeling permission to have passions
Self-Care Experiments:
- Let yourself be a human being, not a human giver
- Gather up the ‘time confetti’
- Focus on integration over ‘greatness’
- Give yourself permission to have passions

Resources Mentioned:

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
Find Your Unicorn Space and Fair Play, both by Eve Rodsky
Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte
The Plan: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi
This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something - Anything - Like Your Life Depends On It by Tabitha Carvan
Our past podcast interview with Tabatha Carvan
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E4: Feeling like an imposter and a perpetual student? You are not alone! And here are 4 things you can do about it

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0600

Do you often find yourself working hard, yet questioning your abilities, feeling like you’re just pretending to be competent, waiting to be found out? If you’re a female therapist wrestling with imposter syndrome and the pressures of a lingering student mindset, you’re not alone, and this episode is for you. We’ll explore how these internal struggles can impact your self-care and professional fulfillment.

Join us as we explore the traits that once helped you succeed but may now be holding you back. How can recognizing these patterns empower you to move past the fear of being an "imposter"? Listen in as we share valuable insights and actionable strategies to help you push back on that inner critic and reclaim your confidence.

Episode Highlights:

Understanding the ‘student mindset’ and ‘imposter syndrome’
Factors that increase the likelihood of experiencing imposter phenomena
Key starting points:
- Know that you are not alone
- Understand how and why imposter feelings show up so can respond with compassion
Self-Care Experiments:
- Notice your perfectionism cycle
- Relax your standards
- Get to know your inner critic
- Embrace your non-student life (*assuming you are no longer a student!)

Resources Mentioned:

Book: Imposter No More: Overcome Self-Doubt and Imposterism to Cultivate a Successful Career by Dr. Jill Stoddard
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E3: Our work should come with a warning label: How to navigate the #1 hazard of our work

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0600

Have you ever felt the weight of your clients' struggles lingering long after your sessions end? Spent evenings and weekends fretting over whether you used the right interventions, or should have tried something different? We sure have, and we know we aren’t alone in this. That’s why in this episode, we’re shining a light on the hazards of the mental health profession—those challenges that often go unspoken but can weigh heavily on our shoulders.

And what if we told you that acknowledging these challenges could be the first step toward building a more resilient practice? Join us as we uncover some unexpected truths about working in the mental health field, as well as share insights to help you embrace the complexity of our work while prioritizing your own well-being.

Episode Highlights:

Understanding the hazards – inherent challenges including challenging patient behaviours, emotional depletion, psychic isolation, and more
Particular impact of the uncertainty of success
Risks of highly valuing our work
Repeat as needed: Psychotherapy is one of the most taxing endeavours known to mankind
Self-Care Experiments:
- Know your risks
- Create a strategic resilience plan
- Build your ability to tolerate uncertainty
- Reflect on your 4 C’s

Resources Mentioned:

Book: Leaving It at the Office by Drs. John Norcross and Gary VandenBos
Book: The Resilience Plan by Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E2: Treat your time like diamonds, not like sand: How to break free from toxic time messages

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0600

Episode Highlights:

Toxic Time Messages:
- “I can do it better and faster”
- “I can save time by doing it myself”
- “I should be spending my time doing x, y, z”
Time reframes
- "Even if I can do it better, that doesn't mean I should be the one to do it"
- "Saving time now isn't worth the long-term cost to my well-being"
- "I will not let 'shoulds' rob me of time for myself"

Self-Care Experiments:

Delegating a task
Pausing before agreeing to new commitments
Setting aside uninterrupted time for yourself

Resources Mentioned:

Book: Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment: https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

E1: Traditional self-care is broken! How you can use the 4 C’s to actually take good care of yourself

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:00:00 -0600

When was the last time you felt truly in control of your schedule? Or had a day when your to-do list didn’t just overflow with everyone else’s needs, leaving yours at the bottom? If self-care feels like just another item you’re not quite managing to cross off, you’re not alone – and that’s exactly why we created this podcast.

In this first episode, we’re introducing a game-changing approach to self-care – one that’s tailored to the unique challenges of being a female therapist. We’ll be sharing our 4 C’s model, a simple yet powerful framework to help you start putting more of you back into your day. It’s a fresh approach that goes far beyond bubble baths and massages to help you carve out space for what actually matters to you. If you’re tired of self-care advice that doesn’t stick, and you’re ready to learn how to make real, sustainable changes, please tune in.

Episode Highlights:

Why we created this podcast
Our new definition of self-care: Putting more of you in your schedule and creating a life from which you don’t need to escape
The 4 C’s model: Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity

Self-Care Experiments:

Which of your 4 C’s pillars feels strongest?
Which needs more attention?
What is one thing you can do to give that pillar a bit more attention?

Resources Mentioned:

Visit our website to get your own copy of our FREE 4 C's Self-Care Assessment:
https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Introducing: Putting You In Your Schedule

Sun, 03 Nov 2024 16:00:00 -0600

Self-care shouldn’t be another task on your to-do list! Hosted by Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen, clinical psychologists, founders of Intentional Therapist, and self-care advocates, this podcast is for female mental health therapists who are ready to redefine self-care.

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Replay: Owning Your Therapist Sensitivities: A Conversation with April Snow

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 06:00:00 -0500

As regular listeners know, we are (still!) in the process of working on a new format for our podcast which we hope to share in the very near future. So please stay tuned!

Until then, we are continuing to go into our podcast archives to replay some past episodes that we feel deserve a repeat performance. This month we are re-sharing another one of our favourite podcast interviews, where we discuss the importance of owning our therapist sensitivities. As a self-described Highly Sensitive Therapist (HST), April Snow shares her perspectives on what it means to be a HST and why honouring our unique qualities is essential in setting up a practice that truly allows us to thrive, both at work and beyond.

So, whether you identify as a HST or not, we hope you will join us in re-visiting this important and highly relevant topic for us all. Because the reality is effective self-care involves knowing ourselves and aligning our self-care to our unique qualities and circumstances. And, for some of us, that might just mean working in bed! And that’s okay.

Episode highlights:

What it means to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
What lead April to specialize in working with Highly Sensitive Therapists (HSTs)
Some of the biggest misconceptions of being a HST
One step listeners can take today to work in alignment with being a HST
April’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

April Snow, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and consultant in California who specializes in working with Highly Sensitive Introverts. April strongly believes that being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) doesn’t have to stop you from living a fully engaged life and is on a mission to help HSPs create a life on their own terms so they can manage the overwhelm and start to thrive.

Connect with April:
https://www.aprilsnowconsulting.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Replay: This is NOT an Episode About Benedict Cumberbatch: A Conversation with Tabitha Carvan About Reclaiming Our Passions

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:00:00 -0500

As you may already know, we are in the process of working on a new format for our podcast which we hope to share in the very near future. So please stay tuned!

Until then, we are continuing to go into our podcast archives to replay some past episodes that we feel deserve a repeat performance. This month we are re-sharing one of our favourite podcast interviews, which was with Tabitha Carvan, the author of This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends on It.

As the name might imply, what this book is really about is the importance of women reconnecting with our passions and joyful pursuits. Tabitha does a wonderful job of mixing humor and levity with some profound insights into why women often struggle with doing things that can give us pleasure. So we hope you will join us in revisiting this important and highly relevant topic to self-care because we can all use reminders (and perhaps even permission) to truly reconnect with our passions and joyful pursuits.

Episode highlights:

What brought Tabitha to write a book full of references to Benedict Cumberbatch but ultimately not actually about him at all
Why its so easy for us, as women, to get disconnected from our passions
Why connecting with joyful pursuits can cause women to feel like there’s something “wrong”
How embarrassment and shame get in the way of our passions
Tabitha’s important take-home message
Tabitha’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Tabitha Carvan is the author of This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch and a science writer for the Australian National University. She lives in Canberra, Australia.

Connect with Tabitha:
http://www.tabithacarvan.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Replay: Fitting Finances Into Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Linzy Bonham

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 11:00:00 -0500

As we shared last month, we are busily working on a new format for our podcast which we’re planning on unveiling in the next few months. Until then, we’re continuing to go into our podcast archives and resharing episodes on topics we thought warrant a repeat performance.

So with that in mind, this month we are resharing our podcast interview with Linzy Bonham on the important topic of finances. We hope you’ll join us in revisiting this important and highly relevant topic to self-care. As we often say, self-care isn’t one and done and the reality is we often need reminders to keep us on track.

Whether you are in private practice or in a salaried position, this episode has great information that will help you reflect on your own finances and provide some potential steps you can take to start making this part of your self-care plan. Because as Linzy points out finances are foundational to self-care!

Episode highlights:

What led Linzy to create her signature course, Money Skills for Therapists
How money skills fit into self-care
Factors that contribute to unique money related issues for female therapists
Steps you can take today to start feeling more on top of your finances
Linzy’s best “non-conventional” self-care practice

Linzy Bonham is a therapist in private practice, a consultant who helps therapists feel calm and in control of their finances, and the creator of the Money Skills for Therapists course. As the daughter of an accountant, Linzy inherited a good dose of bookkeeping brain. She's like half therapist, half bookkeeper. So when she went into private practice, she dug right into all the ways to build a healthy business that pays for her life and always has extra money in the bank.

Now Linzy helps therapists develop peace of mind about their money. Since so many of us were never taught about money, she focuses on the 'how' of making the financial side of private practice doable, and even super satisfying - feeling competent and calm about your money is pretty swell!

Resources:

Free Mini-Training: The Secret to Getting Unstuck in Your Business Finances (this and other resources are available on this page):
https://moneynutsandbolts.com/resources

Connect with Linzy:
https://www.moneynutsandbolts.com
hello@moneynutsandbolts.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Replay: Documentation IS Self-Care! A Conversation with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 12:00:00 -0500

We are very excited to share that we are in the process of reformatting our podcast! We are aiming to launch the new format in the coming months, and in the meantime we will be sure to share more updates as well as we would love to get your feedback. So please stay tuned for more details!

In the meantime, we decided to go into our Thrivival 101 archives to share a replay of our most popular episode: Documentation. In this conversation with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey, we covered not only what gets in the way of clinicians staying on top of their clinical documentation, but also what any of us can start doing today to make this a little easier. And most importantly, Maelisa shares how incredibly common of a challenge documentation can be.

If you haven't listened to this episode before, we really encourage you to do so now. And if you have listened to this episode, we also encourage you to give it another listen! Self-care is never a 'one-and-done' (just like documentation!), and we absolutely benefit from revisiting these topics on a regular basis.

New resource mentioned in the introduction to the episode: Maelisa's Reviews of AI for Progress Notes

Episode highlights:

What led Maelisa to create QA Prep
How staying on top of our documentation fits into self-care
Factors that contribute to clinicians’ struggles with documentation
Some warning signs that we need to change our approach to documentation
One step you can take today to start getting on top of your documentation
Maelisa’s best non-conventional self-care practice

Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey is a licensed psychologist, nail design enthusiast, and multi-passionate entrepreneur. With her business QA Prep, she empowers therapists through trainings and consultation on clinical documentation. Maelisa focuses on the “why” behind the usual recommendations and encourages clinicians to think outside the box, while also keeping their ethics intact. As someone with ADHD who’s had to figure out what works through trial and error, Maelisa aims to make sure her trainings are practical, while also allowing for plenty of laughter and fun.

Connect with Maelisa:
https://www.qaprep.com/
https://www.instagram.com/maelisamccaffrey/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maelisa-mccaffrey/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCytXRIFI17MtbmTh5QTJhsg

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Thriving in Our Parenting and Professional Roles: A Conversation with Lori Mihalich-Levin and Arianna Taboada

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 11:00:00 -0500

Many women at some point in their careers will experience the major milestone of becoming a mother. It's a life-changing experience, yet how often do we talk about how this transition impacts our work?

In this month's episode of Thrivival 101 we were so pleased to speak with Lori Mihalich-Levin and Arianna Taboada about the work they do to help parents thrive in both their parenting and professional lives. Lori shares some of her own challenging experiences as a new working parent and how this led to her creation of Mindful Return, an organization supporting parents in their working parent journey.

Lori and Arianna discuss some of the biggest misconceptions about integrating parenting into our careers, how parental leave can actually enhance our leadership skills, and some steps we can take to create a more positive workplace for working parents. Arianna and Lori share their favourite non-conventional self-care activities and we end this episode with Lori reading a touching segment from a letter to herself (and to all of us) about being enough.

Even if you aren't a parent, this discussion is so valuable for understanding the challenges and opportunities facing working parents.

Highlights:

What led Lori to create Mindful Return
The common misconceptions and mindset challenges for working parents
How scenario mapping can be a helpful way of addressing catastrophizing
How parenting out loud at work can create positive change
Some impactful steps parents can take to support their success
Lori and Arianna’s favourite nonconventional self-care activities

Lori Mihalich-Levin, JD, believes in empowering working parents. She is the founder and CEO of Mindful Return, author of Back to Work After Baby, and co-host of the Parents at Work Podcast. Lori is mama to two wonderful red-headed boys and is a health care lawyer in private practice. Arianna Taboada is the co-creator and lead for the Mindful Return Maternity Leave Course for Entrepreneurs. She is a public health social worker by training and author of The Expecting Entrepreneur.

Connect with Lori:
https://www.mindfulreturn.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorimihalichlevin/
https://www.instagram.com/mindfulreturn/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parents-at-work/id1239258343

Connect with Arianna:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/81917905
https://www.instagram.com/thexpectingentrepreneur/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

You Are Fabulous AND You Need a Resilience Plan: A Conversation with Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier

Thu, 02 May 2024 12:00:00 -0500

As clinicians we’re familiar with the concept and importance of resilience but how many of us actually think about resiliency for ourselves? In this episode we speak with award winning workplace mental health expert and psychologist, Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier about her recent book The Resilience Plan: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Your Work Performance and Mental Health. Marie-Helene explains how a resilience plan differs from traditional self-care and identifies the key elements involved in developing a strategic resilience plan that’s as unique as our DNA. She also shares how value-driven work can place us at increased risk of burnout and the importance of not tipping too far toward optimism. We wrap up the episode by learning about a couple of activities that are regularly part of Marie-Helene’s strategic resilience plan.

Episode highlights:

The difference between a resilience plan and traditional self-care
The key elements in developing a strategic resilience plan
How value-driven work can place us at risk for burnout
How optimism can become a liability
Two activities that are regularly included in Dr. Pelletier’s strategic resilience plan

Throughout her career in business management and psychology, Dr. Pelletier has spearheaded the dialogue on the crucial issues of leadership resilience and work performance. Drawing on her extensive background in corporate, insurance, governance and public sectors, she brings an international perspective and unique expertise on leadership. She is a practicing leadership psychologist and executive coach with over 20 years of experience and holds a Ph.D. and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. Marie-Helene is a Member of the Global Clinical Practice Network of the World Health Organization, and past Director on the boards of the Canadian Psychological Association and the International Association of Applied Psychology. She has presented and authored and co-authored a number of industry and academic publications and has won numerous academic and industry awards. In 2024, Dr. Pelletier published her award-winning book, The Resilience Plan: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Your Work Performance and Mental Health.

Connect with Marie-Helene:
www.theresilienceplan.com
https://drmarie-helene.com/
https://twitter.com/drmhpelletier
https://www.facebook.com/drmhpelletier/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmhpelletier/?originalSubdomain=ca
https://www.instagram.com/drmhpelletier/?hl=en

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Courage is a Requirement for Self-Care: A Conversation with Our Intentional Therapist Community

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 12:00:00 -0500

In this special podcast episode, we, Dr. Melissa Tiessen and Dr. Karen Dyck, dedicate our discussion to what is perhaps our favourite 'C' from our 4 C's model of self-care—Courage. We provide a quick overview of our 4 C’s model of self-care and why Courage is the C that we like discussing the most, as well as why we view it as the essential fuel that helps to move us from thinking about and planning self-care activities to acting on them. And we had the pleasure of incorporating audio clips submitted by members of our Intentional Therapist community to highlight the importance of Courage in self-care as well as how Courage intersects with our other C’s and with a willingness to be vulnerable. We end the episode by sharing some of the ways Courage has shown up in our own self-care journeys.

Episode highlights:

A brief overview of the 4 C’s model of self-care
Why Courage is such an important part of our model
How Courage can show up in both our work and personal life
The connection between Courage and a willingness to be vulnerable
How we have incorporated Courage into our own self-care

Thank you so much to all the like-minded Intentional Therapist community members who shared their courageous self-care examples for this episode!

We would love to hear your own courageous self-care acts and plans! Just go to: https://www.speakpipe.com/IntentionalTherapist

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Leading Ourselves Through the Body: A Conversation with Courtney Amo, Dr. Julie Beaulac, and Casey Bergland

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 12:00:00 -0600

Listening to the wisdom of our body is an essential component of self-care, yet how often do we truly embrace this? Do we even know what that would look like?

In this episode we speak with Courtney Amo, Dr. Julie Beaulac, and Casey Bergland, the authors of the book entitled The Mind Body Way: The Embodied Leader’s Path to Resilience, Connection, and Purpose. Our guests use the term “leader” in a broad sense to include both the traditionally recognized leadership roles but also those that we might not ordinarily think of. So, whether you’re in a supervisory role where you’re leading a team or simply just leading yourself, this episode is for you. Our guests discuss exactly what is meant by the term “embodiment” and some of the reasons we struggle to listen to our bodies. We also explore the authors’ 6 pillar framework and it’s overlap with our 4 C’s framework, focusing specifically on the importance of courage and connection. We end off by hearing about our guests’ favorite “non-conventional” self-care practices.

Episode highlights:

What exactly is “embodiment” and why is it so important
Why we ignore the wisdom of our bodies
How taking on risks and practicing courage contribute to embodied leadership
The role of connecting with ourselves and others in being an embodied leader
Julie, Courtney, and Casey’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practices

Courtney Amo is a certified yoga instructor and the founder of Mahaa, an independent yoga, retreat, lifestyle coaching, and consulting practice that promotes inclusive and barrier-free access to well-being. Dr. Julie Beaulac is a certified yoga teacher and a clinical, health, and rehabilitation psychologist in private practice who helps individuals, groups, and organizations enhance their performance and satisfaction by becoming more engaged in their lives. And Casey Bergland is a yoga instructor and certified professional coach who recently founded Worthy and Well, an online coaching and training company. Casey focuses on helping her clients become embodied leaders without burning out or neglecting their bodies’ wisdom.

Connect with Courtney:
https://mahaa.ca/

Connect with Julie:
https://drjuliebeaulac.com/

Connect with Casey:
https://letyourbodylead.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

“No” is a Complete Sentence: A Conversation with Kim Long about the Importance of Boundaries

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0600

As clinicians we often speak with our clients about the importance of boundaries but how often do we actually apply that same wisdom to our own self-care?

In this episode we speak with psychologist Kim Long about the incredibly important yet uncomfortable topic of boundaries. Kim shares some of the common misconceptions about boundaries, some of the reasons why this is so hard for female clinicians, and how this might show up differently if we’re working in a public versus private setting. We go on to explore the warning signs that might suggest we need to strengthen our boundaries and Kim shares her perspective about how resentment is actually envy in disguise. Kim also explains why listening to our bodies is such an important step in identifying our boundaries.

Episode highlights:

The common misconceptions about boundaries
Why setting boundaries is so hard for female clinicians
Warning signs that suggest we need to work on our boundaries
Why listening to our bodies is such an important step towards identifying our boundaries
Kim’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practices

Kim Long has a master’s degree in counseling psychology and is a registered psychologist in Alberta. In 2016 Kim opened Dochas (the Gaelic term for hope) Psychological Services. Kim’s practice has grown over the years and now includes a team of professionals who work with clients to discover their strengths, identify what’s getting in their way, and help them find the life they want. Kim and her team have also developed The Dochas Life Jacket App, a free app that provides self-regulation support: https://www.dochaspsych.com/lifejacket-app/

Connect with Kim:
https://www.dochaspsych.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dochaspsych/
https://www.facebook.com/DochasPsych/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

The Impact of 'Scripts' and Oppressive Systems on Our Self-Care: A Conversation with Silvana Espinoza Lau

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 11:00:00 -0500

As female mental health clinicians we receive multiple messages or “scripts” through our socialization as women and mental health clinicians about things like professionalism, productivity, caregiving and even what it means to be a “good therapist” and a “good woman.” And the reality is, these messages come from systems that are based in a western, capitalist, patriarchal society. In this episode we speak with Silvana Espinoza Lau about how these “scripts” and oppressive symptoms impact female mental health clinicians in general, as well as some of the unique impact these messages have on female clinicians with marginalized identities.

Episode highlights:

How the “scripts” we receive about professionalism, productivity, serving others, and being a “good therapist” impact female clinicians
The key topics missing from clinicians’ conversations with one another
Factors contributing to the Imposter Syndrome and how it affects clinicians differently
What clinicians can do to limit the negative impact of oppressive symptoms on their self-care
Why embodied connections are so important
Some of Silvana’s best non-conventional self-care practices

Silvana Espinoza Lau is an embodied liberation and decolonization consultant and coach for mental health professionals. Silvana coaches mental health professionals who want to incorporate decolonized, liberation focused and anti-oppressive values in their practices in an embodied way and consults with mental health agencies that want to center therapy seekers with minoritized identities. Silvana is also an LMFT in private practice in the unceded Kalapuya territory (Oregon), and a clinical supervisor and consultant to both licensed and pre-licensed clinicians with a focus on anti-oppressive and decolonized practices.

Connect with Silvana:
https://seventhselfcounseling.com
https://www.instagram.com/seventhselfcounseling/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Behind the Scenes of Intentional Therapist & Thrivival 101: A Conversation with Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 12:00:00 -0500

In this long overdue episode, we, Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen, discuss the factors that led us to start Intentional Therapist and begin hosting this podcast, Thrivival 101. We also explain why we believe self-care is a four-letter word, share how we are redefining self-care, and how our 4 C’s framework - Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity - can help female clinicians (regardless of our work setting) put more of ourselves into our schedule and create a life from which we don’t need to escape.

Highlights:

What led Melissa and Karen to start Intentional Therapist and Thrivival 101
How self-care has become a four-letter word
How we’re redefining self-care for female clinicians
The 4 C’s framework: Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity
How getting “messy” is such an important part of self-care
Some more of Melissa and Karen’s favourite nonconventional self-care practices

Dr. Karen Dyck completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of South Dakota. She currently works in private practice in Oakbank, Manitoba and is also the Executive Director of the Manitoba Psychological Society. Before shifting to private practice, Karen spent the bulk of her career working within the Rural and Northern Psychology Program at the University of Manitoba’s Department of Clinical Health Psychology and was the founding chair of the Rural and Northern Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA).

Dr. Melissa Tiessen completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at McGill University and currently works in private practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba, having recently moved from a group practice in Ottawa, Ontario. Melissa has previously worked in the Rural and Northern Psychology Program at the University of Manitoba’s Department of Clinical Health Psychology, within the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program through the University of Ottawa/The Ottawa Hospital Heart Institute, and has served as the Education Director for the CPA, overseeing the organization’s accreditation and continuing education activities.

In 2019 Karen and Melissa co-founded Intentional Therapist, which we developed to help female mental health clinicians redefine our approach to self-care and start putting more of ourselves into our schedule.

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Intentionally Incorporating Self-Care to Create Sustainable Success: A Conversation with Dr. Stephanie Grunewald

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 12:00:00 -0500

In this episode we connect with Dr. Stephanie Grunewald, psychologist, coach, and entrepreneur, to learn more about her RESET model and how she helps her clients achieve a life and business aligned in purpose. Stephanie shares some of the common traps impacting ambitious women and how her own experience of connecting with her values resulted in her making the very intentional decision against expanding her own counseling business. She also explains her RESET model and how her work highlights the importance of community and nature. We end the episode, as always, hearing about Stephanie’s “non-conventional” self-care practices.

Episode highlights:

Common traps impacting ambitious women’s self-care
How connecting with her own values influenced Stephanie's decision to NOT grow her own business
How she incorporates her RESET model into her work
The importance of community and nature
Stephanie’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Stephanie Grunewald, PhD is a psychologist and holistic coach. After experiencing burnout while building her group counseling practice, she realized the toll of deprioritizing herself. Following the death of her mother, she felt a calling to incorporate lessons from nature to change the way women build their businesses. She expanded her work to coaching where she focuses on developing the whole person — working on the personal mindset and habits that unlock business growth. Dr. Grunewald offers mastermind groups and reset retreats to help women entrepreneurs prioritize their wellbeing to create intentional and sustainable success.

Connect with Stephanie:
www.ancorio.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-grunewald-phd/
Instagram: @stephanie_grunewald

FREE Guide to Break Free from Busy: Unlocking Success through Efficiency
https://ancorio.com/guides/break-free-from-busy

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Embracing Spiritual Self-Care: A Conversation with Whitney Owens

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 12:00:00 -0500

For those of you who are familiar with Intentional Therapist and the 4 C’s model of self-care you know our Connection pillar includes not only connecting with others but also connecting with our own values. For many people, faith and spirituality are important values that we often don't talk enough about.

In this episode we speak with Whitney Owens about the ways she incorporates faith into her practice. Whitney talks with us about some of the common misconceptions about faith-based practice, some important considerations for running an ethical faith-based practice, and how connecting with her faith has been an important component of her own “soul-care.”

Highlights:

Differences between incorporating faith into our business practices versus clinical practice
Common misconceptions about faith-based practice
How Whitney defines ethical faith-based practice
How to ethically counter religious messages that negatively impact women’s’ self-care
The distinction between “tired” and “weary”
Whitney’s favorite “self-care” and “soul-care” practices

Whitney Owens is a licensed professional counselor, group practice owner, and faith-based private practice consultant. She is located in Savannah, Georgia, where she manages a private pay group practice with 10 plus clinicians. Along with running her practice, she consults practice owners around the country on how to start and grow a successful faith-based practice. She hosts summits, a weekly podcast, and a membership community for faith-based practice owners called Wise Practice. She has spoken at numerous events such as both the Georgia and Maryland annual professional counselors conferences as well as trainings for Florida’s Counseling Association. In 2023 she will be speaking at Meet you in Kentucky, which is for group practice owners, as well as hosting her own summit in Savannah. In her free time, Whitney enjoys spending time with her husband and two girls, running, reading, and relaxing in the backyard.

Connect with Whitney:
whitney@whitneyowens.com
https://www.whitneyowens.com/
https://watersedgecounseling.com/

Instagram: @WhitneyOwensConsulting

FREE PDF on Tips for Marketing with Churches:
https://www.whitneyowens.com/

Free Facebook Membership Community for Faith-Based Practice Owners:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/533909554128629

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

How Supervision & Consultation are Fundamental to Self-Care: A Conversation with Shannon Heers

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 12:00:00 -0500

Supervision and consultation are important components of mental health clinicians’ training and professional development. These activities can also play an important role in clinician wellness and self-care. In this episode we speak with Shannon Heers, founder of Firelight Supervision, about the differences between consultation and supervision, how these activities contribute to clinician wellness and what we can do to get the most out of supervisory/consultation experiences. Shannon also shares her perspective about what tends to get in the way of clinicians accessing these beneficial activities.

Highlights:

Differences and similarities between supervision and consultation
How supervision and consultation contribute to clinician well-being
What clinicians can do to get the most out of their supervisory/consultation experience
Reasons why clinicians don’t access supervision and consultation
What clinicians can do to access supervision/consultation supports
Shannon’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Shannon Heers is a therapist, approved clinical supervisor, and the founder of Firelight Supervision. Firelight Supervision provides clinical supervision to counselors and social workers pursuing licensure, as well as clinical consultation for post-licensure professional growth and development. Shannon is also the owner of Catalyss Counseling, a private-pay group private practice located in Colorado. Shannon is passionate about burnout prevention in the counseling field and ensuring that all therapists and supervisors get the clinical support they deserve.

Connect with Shannon:
info@firelightsupervision.com
https://firelightsupervision.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

This is NOT an Episode About Benedict Cumberbatch: A Conversation with Tabitha Carvan About Reclaiming Our Passions

Thu, 18 May 2023 12:00:00 -0500

Remember that feeling you had as a kid, when your interests were held with such intensity and passion that they couldn’t help but bring you joy?

When was the last time you experienced - or allowed yourself to experience - that type of passionate interest in something?

In this special bonus episode we speak with author Tabitha Carvan about how Benedict Cumberbatch helped her do just that, and why it’s so hard, yet so important, for women to reclaim this part of themselves. Although Tabitha may not be a mental health clinician by training, the insights she shares with us offer a very therapeutic and fresh perspective on the importance of connecting with joyful pursuits and how this is such a foundational part of our self-care.

Highlights:

What brought Tabitha to write a book full of references to Benedict Cumberbatch but ultimately not actually about him at all
Why its so easy for us, as women, to get disconnected from our passions
Why connecting with joyful pursuits can cause women to feel like there’s something “wrong”
How embarrassment and shame get in the way of our passions
Tabitha’s important take-home message
Tabitha’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Tabitha Carvan is the author of This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch and a science writer for the Australian National University. She lives in Canberra, Australia.

Connect with Tabitha:
http://www.tabithacarvan.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Developing an Authentic, Energy Protecting Lifestyle: A Conversation with Enid De Jesus

Thu, 04 May 2023 09:00:00 -0500

Female mental health clinicians face many barriers to engaging in truly meaningful self-care practices, perhaps the most powerful of which are societal messages that encourage us to adopt a self-sacrificing way of being that focuses primarily on the needs of others. In this episode we have the pleasure of speaking with Enid De Jesus, a Florida Licensed therapist and coach who’s made it her mission to help sensitive introverted women create lives that honor their own needs.

Enid shares how her own experiences of breaking free from unhelpful narratives and unapologetically honouring her own introverted needs led her to creating an authentic, energy protecting lifestyle. Now if that isn’t self-care, we don’t know what is! Enid also discusses the fears that showed up along the way, what she found helpful to overcome them, and how protecting her energy was an integral component of this process.

Highlights:

What is meant by the terms “introverted” and “highly sensitive” women
Some of the unhelpful narratives that were particularly impactful for Enid
The patterns/trends of energy draining activities for women
How Enid managed the fears that showed up in her journey to live a more authentic life
One step listeners can take to develop a more authentic, energy protecting lifestyle
Enid’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practices

Enid De Jesus is a Florida licensed therapist and introvert coach for sensitive women around the world. She’s figured out the secret to being a successful, sensitive, introverted woman — and loves to help other ambitious introverts do the same. As a highly sensitive person (HSP) and introvert herself, Enid knows the challenge of balancing authenticity with societal pressures. That is why she created The Radical Introvert coaching program designed specifically for sensitive introverted women who want to live life on their terms.

Connect with Enid:
https://eniddejesus.com - The Radical Introvert Coaching Program

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

The Benefits of Working in Alignment with Your Values and Priorities: A Conversation with Lisa Mustard

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 12:00:00 -0500

When’s the last time you sat down to really reflect on your values? In this busy world it’s so easy to go through life without really giving this much thought. Yet, setting some time aside to do just that can help us truly create a life from which we don’t need to escape. In this episode we speak with Lisa Mustard, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (and co-member of the PsychCraft Network), about a pivotal time in her career and how examining her values and priorities set her on a journey to becoming a Coach and podcast host of The Therapy Show. Lisa speaks with us about how these side businesses align with her values and how the concepts of “grace” and “fail forward” have helped her remain compassionate towards herself and stay motivated even in the face of disappointment.

Highlights:

The “wake-up” call that triggered Lisa’s revised self-care journey
Lisa’s top values and how these shape her work
The importance of adopting “grace” and a “fail forward” attitude to move through challenges
How the concept of “courage” showed up in Lisa’s journey
How creativity shows up for Lisa
One step female clinicians can take today to start developing a work life that aligns with their values
Lisa’s best non-conventional self-care practice

Lisa Mustard is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in South Carolina. She’s also a wife to Billy, mama to two daughters, puppy wrangler, lover of health, wellness, and fitness, and a personal development junkie. When she turned 40 she decided to pivot her skill set and try some new things which has brought her to where she is today – a Podcaster and Coach. Her podcast, The Therapy Show, provides therapists with a convenient way of accessing continuing education and professional development and her coaching sessions help her clients move forward in living their best lives.

Connect with Lisa:
https://lisamustard.com/
https://www.instagram.com/lisamustardpodcaster/
https://www.facebook.com/thetherapyshowwithlisamustard

Access a FREE CE hour by competing one of Lisa’s podcourses: https://www.lisamustard.com/podcourses
Use the code: intentional (before June 1, 2023)

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Making Organizational Systems Part of Self-Care: A Conversation with Liz Gray

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 10:00:00 -0600

When female clinicians think of self-care the term “organizational systems” probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind (probably not even the last thing). Yet, having effective organizational systems in place at work (and home) can be such an important step in our self-care journey as they have the potential to help us feel less overwhelmed, work more efficiently, and (by doing so) can help us put more of ourselves into our day. In this episode we speak with Liz Gray, the founder of Organize and Thrive, about her passion for organizational systems, why so many of us avoid putting them in place, some early warning signs that suggest a clinician might need some support with organization, and some simple steps clinicians can take right now towards developing a more organized work system.

Highlights:

How organizational systems fit into self-care for Liz.
Some common barriers to setting up effective organizational systems
How the barriers differ across settings and gender
Simple steps clinicians can take to become more organized
How Focusmate has become an important part of Liz’s accountability system
Liz’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practices

Liz Gray is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and "Organization Queen" on a mission to help highly sensitive entrepreneurs gain time, flexibility, and freedom by harnessing the power of systems in their businesses. Using her royal combination of mindset and systems savvy, Liz delivers powerful transformations for overwhelmed therapists during her signature Organize & Thrive VIPDays. When she's not creating spreadsheets or color-coding lists, you can find Liz cuddling with her mini goldendoodle Bailey or exploring Chicago with her husband Dave.

Connect with Liz:
https://organize-and-thrive.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizeandthrive1
https://www.instagram.com/organizeandthrive1/
https://www.focusmate.com/organize-and-thrive.com

Schedule a Focusmate coworking session with Liz: https://www.focusmate.com/i/8eVvELjnFZ

Schedule a 90-minute consultation with Liz:
https://organize-and-thrive.com/quick-fix-consult-2022

Access Liz's free resource - Simple Screening System for New Client Inquiries

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Work-Family Enrichment: A Conversation with Dr. Yael Schonbrun

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 11:00:00 -0600

If you’re like us, there was probably a time in your career when you sought after that oh so elusive “work-life balance” and saw that as the true mark of self-care. The only problem, of course, is that “balance” is incredibly hard (if not impossible) to find and, as it turns out, may not actually be what we truly need to thrive.

In this episode we speak with clinical psychologist and parent of three, Dr. Yael Schonbrun about “work-family enrichment” and how adopting this mindset can help us appreciate the gifts inherent in our multiple roles and how these roles can work together to help us truly thrive. We also discuss the importance of values and how the evolutionary perspective can put us in a better position to understand and work with our hardwired tendencies to experience guilt and feel overwhelmed. Yael also shares her perspective on rethinking the concept of rest.

Highlights:

Why “work-family enrichment” is such a helpful mindset
How the evolutionary perspective can help us understand the common experiences of guilt and overwhelm
How values fit into helping us navigate our multiple roles
The importance of redefining the concept of rest
One step female clinicians can take today towards better “work-family enrichment”
Yael’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Dr. Yael Schonbrun is a clinical psychologist, assistant professor at Brown University, co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast, and author of Work, Parent, Thrive: 12 Science-Backed Strategies to Ditch Guilt, Manage Overwhelm, and Grow Connection (When Everything Feels Like too Much).

Connect with Yael:
https://yaelschonbrun.com/
https://twitter.com/DrYaelSchonbrun

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Intentional Time Off: A (Second) Conversation with Arianna Smith

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 14:00:00 -0600

In this episode we reconnect with Arianna Smith, licensed professional counselor (LPC) and copywriting coach for therapists, to learn more about her 2-month sabbatical and her transition back to work. Arianna shares some of the challenges associated with planning and returning from a sabbatical, what she learned about herself as a person and a therapist, and how she’s used this information to reshape her work and personal life. She also shares some tips for how to make the most of a sabbatical and talks about other ways therapists can intentionally take breaks in meaningful ways. We end this episode, hearing about Arianna’s newest “non-conventional” self-care practices.

Highlights:

The important difference between “time off” and a “sabbatical”
Some of the challenges of planning for and returning from a sabbatical
Steps Arianna took to maximize her time away from work
What she learned about herself during her sabbatical
How pre-planning/over-planning for your return can interfere with the process
How her sabbatical helped her develop deeper connections
Arianna’s favourite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Therapist by day, copywriter by night, Arianna Smith, LPC (she/her), helps therapists write words that sound like them and attract their ideal clients. Her mission is to help therapists shatter their creative blocks and write words brimming with punch + personality.

Connect with Arianna:
arianna@thecopycove.com
www.thecopycove.com
www.courageouscopywriting.com
www.facebook.com/thecopycove

Access Arianna's free training Banish Bad Copy: Masterclass for Therapists to help you up-level your copy. This is also the best way to find out more about her upcoming webinars and other offerings.

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Side Business as Self-Care?! A Conversation with Dr. Tamara Soles

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 12:00:00 -0600

When most of us think of self-care we probably don’t think about developing a side business. We know that wasn't our expectation when we started Intentional Therapist. And yet, enhanced self-care is exactly what a side business can offer!

In this episode we speak with Dr. Tamara Soles about what led her to create her side business (including a podcast and online parenting course) and how these activities fit into her self-care. We specifically talk with Tamara about how the 4 C’s of self-care (connection, compassion, courage, and creativity) show up in her side business, as well as how to navigate some of the risks to our self-care that might show up when developing a side business. As always, we end the discussion with Tamara's favourite non-conventional self-care practices - which just happen to be things that each of us can likely do today!

Highlights:

What lead Tamara to develop her side business
How the 4 C’s of self-care show up in her side business
Ways to navigate some risks to self-care that may arise when developing a side business
Lessons learned along the way
One step to take towards developing your own side business
Tamara’s favourite “non-conventional” self-care practices

Dr. Tamara Soles is a child psychologist, parent coach, and founder of The Secure Child Center for Families and Children in Montreal, Canada. She’s also the mom of twins who present everyday opportunities to live what she’s practiced with families for over 15 years - that harnessing the power of connection helps children thrive! Dr. Tamara created No More Power Struggles, a positive parenting course using based-based and attachment-focused strategies. She’s also the host of a podcast for therapists called This Hour has 50 minutes, which offers continuing education credits.

Connect with Dr. Tamara Soles:
https://www.thesecurechild.com/
Listen to the episode on Writing Therapy Notes and get 1 hour of CE credit free:
https://drtamarasoles.com/episode-38/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Integrating Wellness Into Your Practice: A Conversation with Dr. Kimberly Grocher

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:00:00 -0500

All of us undoubtedly know firsthand how challenging it can be to regularly incorporate wellness strategies into our workday. The idea of moving into private practice can become particularly appealing as it is often seen as providing opportunities for us to take more control over our work life and build a practice that supports our wellness. Sadly, many female clinicians quickly learn that by moving into private practice they have simply traded one demanding boss (and work environment) for a new one (those darn unrelenting high standards!). Sound familiar? If so, please know that you’re not alone and that it doesn’t need to be this way. In this episode we had the opportunity to discuss how to combat these challenges with the lovely Dr. Kimberly Grocher, a licensed social worker and coach with the Private Practice Startup, who loves helping clinicians integrate wellness into their practice.

Highlights:

What led Kimberly to become a coach with the Private Practice Startup
How she helps other clinicians incorporate wellness into their practice
How the work she does honours her own values and why that’s important
What hinders clinicians from reaching out for help from a therapist or coach
One step clinicians can take to begin integrating wellness into their practice
Kimberly’s favourite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Kimberly provides psychotherapy to couples and women who are navigating mood, anxiety and trauma disorders as well as reproductive mental health. As an executive coach, she loves working with professional women and entrepreneurs to help them align their business/professional goals with their ideal lifestyle while being physically, mentally and spiritually healthy. She integrates yoga and mindfulness practices into her work with clients. Kimberly is also the coach for the Private Practice Startup, helping other therapists build and grow their dream private practices. Fun fact: Kimberly loves photography, has a background in film and media production, and is a huge Game of Thrones fan.

Connect with Kimberly:
https://kimberlybondsgrocher.com/
https://www.privatepracticestartup.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Building a Full and Happy Clinical Practice: A Conversation with Allison Puryear

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Unfortunately as women and mental health clinicians, we receive many messages (from society, and also through our training and work experiences) that contribute to us developing beliefs and behaviours that get in the way of creating full, sustainable, and happy private practices. In fact, these messages are so strong that many of us can’t even imagine what a full and happy clinical practice might look like. Allison Puryear knows this experience all too well and is using her “nearly diagnosable obsession with business development” to help other therapists break free from these unhelpful beliefs and behaviours and build practices that truly make them happy. Now, if that isn’t self-care, we don’t know what is!

Highlights:

What led Allison to develop Abundance Practice Building
Some of the biggest barriers for female clinicians building sustainable, full, and happy practices
Early warning signs that suggest a clinician needs extra support in building their ideal private practice
Some initial steps listeners can take today to develop their ideal practice
Allison’s favourite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Allison Puryear (rhymes with “career”) is a therapist who burned out on agency work & then built successful private practices in 3 wildly different markets. After her caseloads grew faster in each “saturated” market, Allison realized that practice building is not rocket science when you have clarity, confidence, and a figured-out-formula. So Allison started Abundance Practice Building to help other therapists build their own full and happy private practices – because a happy therapist is a better therapist, y’all!

Connect with Allison:
https://abundancepracticebuilding.com/
https://www.facebook.com/abundancepracticebuilding/
Instagram: @abundance_practice_building

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Creating a Practice that Enhances Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Kelly Yanek & Dr. Michele Kinderman

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:00:00 -0500

“I’m not sure I’m well suited for this profession.” Sound familiar? We’ve heard this from other female therapists more times than we can count. But is it really about us being ill suited for this profession or is it really more so that our practice/work setting is ill suited for us?

In this episode we speak with psychologists, Dr. Kelly Yanek and Dr. Michele Kinderman, about what led them to leave their standard jobs and develop their innovative therapy practice, Wellness Outside the Box – Therapy Redefined. Kelly and Michele talk with us about how they incorporate nature-based therapies and their unique Dual Therapist Model into their practice and how these approaches have been beneficial for both them and their clients. Our guests also offer tips on how other therapists can begin experimenting with novel approaches to treatment and we end off by hearing about some of Kelly and Michele’s favourite “non-conventional” self-care practices.

Highlights:

What lead Kelly and Michele to develop Therapy Outside the Box – Therapy Redefined
What helped and hindered their willingness to try something different and novel
Some of the logistical aspects of the Dual Therapy Model
How the development of Therapy Outside the Box contributed to their own self-care
Initial steps therapists can take to experiment with a new approach to their work
Kelly and Michele’s favourite “non-conventional” self-care practices.

Dr. Kelly Yanek is a nationally certified School Psychologist and co-founder of Wellness Outside the Box. She has a longstanding love for the outdoors and incorporates this passion for nature and adventure into her work, whether taking walks with high school students or leading mindfulness exercises with kindergarteners. Dr. Yanek has specialized training in adventure based counseling and the technical skills of high and low ropes/adventure courses. She is also a RYT- 200 yoga instructor. She combines her expertise in adventure, mindfulness, and nature-work to offer non-traditional paths to wellness.

Dr. Michele Kinderman is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and co-founder of Wellness Outside the Box. For nearly two decades, she has worked with children and adults struggling with trauma, depression, anxiety, relationships and parenting, and the stresses of everyday life. Dr. Kinderman combines the more traditional therapies (CBT, DBT, insight oriented) with music, movement, and nature to assist clients in building their strengths and achieving their goals. She also uses Pet Therapy to help individuals work through grief via connection and interaction with animals.

Connect with Kelly and Michele:
info@wellnessoutsidethebox.com
https://wellnessoutsidethebox.com
https://www.facebook.com/wellnessoutsidetheboxllc

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

How Copywriting Fits into Self-Care: A Conversation with Arianna Smith

Sun, 26 Jun 2022 13:00:00 -0500

Copywriting and self-care? In this episode Arianna Smith, licensed professional counselor (LPC) and copywriting coach for therapists explains exactly what copywriting involves, its appeal to her personally, and how it relates to self-care for therapists in both public and private practice settings. Arianna also shares how the pandemic contributed to her own burnout and the steps she took to plan her 2-month sabbatical. She offers some suggestions for therapists who are interested in attracting more of their ideal clients or are looking for ways to infuse more creativity into their work. We end this episode with all 3 of us sharing some of our best “non-conventional” self-care practices.

Highlights:

What led Arianna to include copywriting services in her practice
How the right “copy” can help us attract our ideal clients
How copywriting is relevant for therapists working in both public and private settings
Some initial steps therapists can take to infuse some creativity into their practices or to start attracting more of their ideal clients
The steps Arianna took to set up her sabbatical
Arianna’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice (and some of ours!)

Therapist by day, copywriter by night, Arianna Smith, LPC (she/her) helps therapists write words that sound like them and attract their ideal clients. Her mission is to help therapists shatter their creative blocks and write words brimming with punch + personality.

Connect with Arianna:
www.thecopycove.com
arianna@thecopycove.com
www.facebook.com/thecopycove

Download Arianna's free guide “Banish Bad Copy: 5 Copywriting Hacks for Private Practice Success!” for a no-nonsense approach to uplevel your copy.

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

How Rest Actually Leads to Success: A Conversation with Maegan Megginson

Wed, 18 May 2022 13:00:00 -0500

Can rest and success actually co-exist in the lives of female mental health clinicians? Indeed they can! In this episode we speak with Maegan Megginson, about her own experiences with burnout and how this ultimately led her to developing the Rest and Success Code. Maegan talks about how deep rest is an integral component of our success as therapists, some of the biggest barriers to adopting a less pressured approach to our work, and what we can start doing today to adopt a less pressured, more fulfilling approach to our work.

Highlights:

What lead Maegan to develop the Rest and Success Code
How the messages from capitalism, the patriarchy, and graduate school get in the way of female therapists adopting a less pressured approach to their work
Signs that tell Maegan it’s time to include more rest in her practice
Examples of ways to bring more rest into our work
The difference between rest and deep rest
Maegan’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Maegan Megginson is a sex therapist turned business coach on a mission to help successful entrepreneurs fall madly in love with their businesses. After years of struggling with overwhelm and burnout, Maegan finally figured out how to leverage her introverted and highly sensitive strengths to create two businesses she loves. She believes the key to happiness is to design your business to serve you first and your clients second – only then will you discover how to become deeply rested and wildly successful.

Connect with Maegan:
www.maeganmegginson.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Owning Your Therapist Sensitivities: A Conversation with April Snow

Mon, 02 May 2022 08:00:00 -0500

An essential component of having a sustainable and enjoyable psychotherapy practice is ensuring it’s set up in a manner that truly honors our unique qualities and needs. What happens, however, if what we truly need to thrive in our practice looks different than that of our colleagues?

Unfortunately, that can lead many clinicians to incorrectly assume it says something negative about them as a therapist or their suitability for the profession. As a self-described Highly Sensitive Therapist (HST), April Snow, LMFT, knows this experience all too well and has made it her mission to help Highly Sensitive Introverts and Therapists create a life that embraces their unique gifts. In this episode, April clarifies what it means to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), and talks about what lead her to develop a specialty in working with HSTs, some of the biggest misconceptions about being a HST, and how to start developing a practice that is better aligned with the unique qualities of being a HST.

Episode highlights:

What it means to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
What led April to specialize in working with Highly Sensitive Therapists (HSTs)
Some of the biggest misconceptions of being a HST
One step listeners can take today to work in alignment with being a HST
April’s favorite “non-conventional” self-care practice

Connect with April:
https://www.aprilsnowconsulting.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Documentation IS Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 22:00:00 -0500

Most therapists likely wouldn’t include “documentation” in their list of self-care activities but the reality is many of us struggle with documentation, whether that be writing progress notes or reports. If you’ve ever gotten behind in your documentation or struggled to know what to include then you know firsthand how overwhelming this can feel and the impact this can have on our perception of ourselves as therapists and on our overall well-being. In this episode we speak with the founder of QA Prep, Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey (who you might also know as Dr. Maelisa Hall) about how documentation fits into self-care, some of the factors that contribute to therapists’ struggles with documentation, and what we can start doing today in order to start feeling more on-top of our documentation.

Episode highlights:

What led Maelisa to create QA Prep
How staying on top of our documentation fits into self-care
Factors that contribute to clinicians’ struggles with documentation
Some warning signs that we need to change our approach to documentation
One step you can take today to start getting on top of your documentation
Maelisa’s best non-conventional self-care practice

Connect with Maelisa:
https://www.qaprep.com/
https://www.instagram.com/maelisamccaffrey/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maelisa-mccaffrey/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCytXRIFI17MtbmTh5QTJhsg

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Using Values to Guide Our Self-Care Journey: A Conversation with Dr. Dayna Lee-Bagley

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 08:00:00 -0600

Let’s face it: self-care is a journey. And like any journey, we’re bound to run into unexpected roadblocks and detours that are beyond our control (think pandemic, home schooling, client crises, etc.). Fortunately, we all have a built-in global positioning system (GPS) called values, that can help us navigate our journey, even in the face of roadblocks and detours. It can help keep us moving in the right direction, even if that might mean taking a slightly different path than we had initially planned.

In this episode, clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley, shares how her values have shaped the work she does and offers her perspective on some of the unique self-care, or 're-charging', challenges facing healthcare providers, the impact of the pandemic, and some easy ways we can start incorporating value-driven action into our own self-care.

Episode highlights:

What led Dr. Lee-Baggley to leave her hospital position after 15 years
How the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) framework can fit into self-care
Factors that make it hard for healthcare providers to take care of themselves
How the pandemic (or “apocalypse”) has impacted us
An easy way to start incorporating value-driven action into our lives

Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley is a Registered Clinical Psychologist in BC, AB, ON and NS. She is the director of Dr. Lee-Baggley and Associates, a virtual health psychology clinic specializing in clinical interventions, training for healthcare providers, and research in health-related issues. She worked for almost 15 years in multidisciplinary teams on medical, surgical and cancer care hospital units providing assessment, therapy and consultation for patients with chronic and life-threatening health conditions. She also conducts research as an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University and has an Adjunct Professor appointment at Saint Mary’s University. She has an active research program on behavior change, obesity, chronic disease, professional resiliency and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She is a senior consultant providing healthy workplace interventions for employees, teams, and leaders. She is an internationally recognized trainer in ACT and a certified therapist in Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples. She was the recipient of the 2017 Women of Excellence Award for her contributions to Health, Sport and Wellness (Canadian Progress Club Halifax Cornwallis). She is the author of the book “Healthy Habits Suck: How to get off the couch & live a healthy life…even if you don’t want to.”

Connect with Dayna:
http://drleebaggley.com
https://twitter.com/DrLeeBaggley
https://www.facebook.com/drleebaggley
https://www.instagram.com/drleebaggley

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Infusing Some Creativity Into Our Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jo Eckler

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 08:00:00 -0600

With all the heaviness and responsibility that often comes with our work - especially throughout the pandemic - it’s easy to lose touch with the more playful and creative side of ourselves. Yet the reality is, these are foundational to our existence as human beings (yes, even adult human beings) and can actually help us build complex, skilled, responsive, socially adept and flexible brains. Which, in turn, build complex, skilled responses, socially adept and flexible people and societies. Sounds pretty good hey?

In this episode we speak with Dr. Jo Eckler about their awesome books (with some of our favourite titles!) and get their perspective on how creativity fits into self-care and some warning signs that we need to infuse more creativity into our lives. We also get some great ideas about how to start bringing more creativity and play into our work and personal lives - including a pretty fun way to add a new 'client' to our caseloads!

Episode highlights:

What led Dr. Jo to write their book on therapist self-care
How creativity fits into self-care
Factors that make it hard for clinicians to bring creativity and play into our lives
Some simple steps to start bringing more creativity and play into our lives
Dr. Jo’s best “non-conventional” self-care practice

Dr. Jo Eckler is a licensed clinical psychologist with nearly two decades of experience helping people learn ways to cope with emotions and build more meaningful lives. They've worked in community mental health, university counselling centers, multiple Veterans Affairs hospitals, nursing homes, and now private practice. Since they're a recovering overachiever, Dr. Jo's also an author, a coach, a registered yoga teacher, and is trained as a death & mourning doula. The author of I Can't Fix You-Because You're Not Broken: The Eight Keys to Freeing Yourself From Painful Thoughts and Feelings and You Can't Fix Them--Because They're Not Broken: A Sustainability Guide for Tired Helpers and Healers, they've also appeared in numerous media outlets, including O Magazine, Health, Bustle, and Huffington Post. When not working, Dr. Jo is likely watching the Great British Baking Show, playing with their dachshund and polydactyl cat, or down an internet rabbit hole learning about something new.

Connect with Jo:
https://www.drjoeckler.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Fitting Finances Into Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Linzy Bonham

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 16:00:00 -0600

Finances and self-care? Yep, that’s right! Although not typically considered part of traditional self-care, money and finances figure prominently in our fresh take on self-care for female mental health clinicians. In this episode we speak with Linzy Bonham, MSW, RSW, founder of Money Nuts & Bolts, about the important role finances and money play in self-care, some of the warning signs that we might need some assistance with money related issues, and what we can do to start feeling more on top of our finances.

Episode highlights:

What led Linzy to create her signature course, Money Skills for Therapists
How money skills fit into self-care
Factors that contribute to unique money related issues for female therapists
Steps you can take today to start feeling more on top of your finances
Linzy’s best “non-conventional” self-care practice

Now Linzy helps therapists develop peace of mind about their money. Since so many of us were never taught about money, she focuses on the 'how' of making the financial side of private practice doable, and even super satisfying - feeling competent and calm about your money is pretty swell!

Resources:

Free Mini-Training: The Secret to Getting Unstuck in Your Business Finances:
https://moneynutsandbolts.com/resources

Connect with Linzy:
https://www.moneynutsandbolts.com
hello@moneynutsandbolts.com

Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

Intentional Therapist: Putting You In Your Schedule

E37: REPLAY - You are a human being, not a human giver: 3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women and how you can fight back

E36: REPLAY - Treat your time like diamonds, not like sand: How to break free from toxic time messages

E35: Time for a summer self-care check-In

E34: The Power of Discernment, Bonus Episode – Hidden leadership beliefs, or, What are you modelling about self-care, intentionally or not?

E33: The Power of Discernment, Part 4 – It’s not you, it’s the job, or, How to know when a genuinely unhealthy environment is the real problem

E32: The Power of Discernment, Part 3.2 – Seasonal capacity misalignment and the importance of values and value domains for sustaining ourselves in the long term

E31: The Power of Discernment, Part 3.1 - Values misalignment, or, why, as competent therapists, we can enjoy our work and yet still feel drained

E30: The Power of Discernment, Part 2 - Boundary misalignment and the art of balancing yes with no

E29: The Power of Discernment, Part 1 - Belief misalignment and the stories we tell ourselves about our work and self-care

E28: The Power of Discernment & the Importance of Knowing Where to Target Your Self-Care Efforts

E27: Why and how to do a seasonal self-care check-in

E26: What the movie Groundhog Day can teach us about therapist self-care

E25: Upgrade your self-care belief system wrap-up: The ongoing practice of believing differently

E24: Belief system upgrade #8: Self-care needs community

E23: Belief system upgrade #7: Self-care needs our intentional attention

E22: Belief system upgrade #6: Self-care needs to be personalized and revisited often

E21: Belief system upgrade #5: Self-care challenges are shaped by gender and professional socialization – NOT personal failings!

E20: Belief system upgrade #4: Self-care doesn't have to cost a lot of time, energy, or money

E19: Belief system upgrade #3: Self-care can be uncomfortable (but worth it!)

E18: Belief system upgrade #2: Self-care is NOT selfish & is NOT just about treating ourselves

E17: Upgrade your self-care belief system! Upgrade #1: Self-care is PART OF our work

E16: Check-in on your self-care along with us! The importance of seasonal self-care check-ins

E15: Experimenting With Experiments: Season 1 Self-Care Experiments Round Up

E14: Why can’t I actually put myself in my schedule?! 3 ways to more intentionally protect your self-care efforts

E13: This is your brain on breaks: 3 benefits of incorporating breaks into our days

E12: Therapists have rights too! 3 personal rights to embrace for better self-care

E11: Self-care sabotage: 3 types of beliefs that may be hurting your self-care from the inside out

E10: Connection in a post-pandemic world: 3 ways connecting with others can change the self-care game

E9: Documentation is not the enemy! How to use the 4 C’s to make documentation your self-care ally

E8: How to use our values to work for our self-care, instead of against it

E7: Let's embrace our differences instead of apologizing for them: 3 ways individual differences factor into personalized self-care

E6: It’s not you, it’s your wiring: 4 ways our evolutionary wiring makes self-care challenging (but not impossible!)

E5: You are a human being, not a human giver: 3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women and how you can fight back

E4: Feeling like an imposter and a perpetual student? You are not alone! And here are 4 things you can do about it

E3: Our work should come with a warning label: How to navigate the #1 hazard of our work

E2: Treat your time like diamonds, not like sand: How to break free from toxic time messages

E1: Traditional self-care is broken! How you can use the 4 C’s to *actually* take good care of yourself

Introducing: Putting You In Your Schedule

Replay: Owning Your Therapist Sensitivities: A Conversation with April Snow

Replay: This is NOT an Episode About Benedict Cumberbatch: A Conversation with Tabitha Carvan About Reclaiming Our Passions

Replay: Fitting Finances Into Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Linzy Bonham

Replay: Documentation IS Self-Care! A Conversation with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey

Thriving in Our Parenting and Professional Roles: A Conversation with Lori Mihalich-Levin and Arianna Taboada

You Are Fabulous AND You Need a Resilience Plan: A Conversation with Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier

Courage is a Requirement for Self-Care: A Conversation with Our Intentional Therapist Community

Leading Ourselves Through the Body: A Conversation with Courtney Amo, Dr. Julie Beaulac, and Casey Bergland

“No” is a Complete Sentence: A Conversation with Kim Long about the Importance of Boundaries

The Impact of 'Scripts' and Oppressive Systems on Our Self-Care: A Conversation with Silvana Espinoza Lau

Behind the Scenes of Intentional Therapist & Thrivival 101: A Conversation with Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen

Intentionally Incorporating Self-Care to Create Sustainable Success: A Conversation with Dr. Stephanie Grunewald

Embracing Spiritual Self-Care: A Conversation with Whitney Owens

How Supervision & Consultation are Fundamental to Self-Care: A Conversation with Shannon Heers

This is NOT an Episode About Benedict Cumberbatch: A Conversation with Tabitha Carvan About Reclaiming Our Passions

Developing an Authentic, Energy Protecting Lifestyle: A Conversation with Enid De Jesus

The Benefits of Working in Alignment with Your Values and Priorities: A Conversation with Lisa Mustard

Making Organizational Systems Part of Self-Care: A Conversation with Liz Gray

Work-Family Enrichment: A Conversation with Dr. Yael Schonbrun

Intentional Time Off: A (Second) Conversation with Arianna Smith

Side Business as Self-Care?! A Conversation with Dr. Tamara Soles

Integrating Wellness Into Your Practice: A Conversation with Dr. Kimberly Grocher

Building a Full and Happy Clinical Practice: A Conversation with Allison Puryear

Creating a Practice that Enhances Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Kelly Yanek & Dr. Michele Kinderman

How Copywriting Fits into Self-Care: A Conversation with Arianna Smith

How Rest Actually Leads to Success: A Conversation with Maegan Megginson

Owning Your Therapist Sensitivities: A Conversation with April Snow

Documentation IS Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey

Using Values to Guide Our Self-Care Journey: A Conversation with Dr. Dayna Lee-Bagley

Infusing Some Creativity Into Our Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jo Eckler

Fitting Finances Into Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Linzy Bonham

E1: Traditional self-care is broken! How you can use the 4 C’s to actually take good care of yourself