Conversations With a Wounded Healer

Releasing the pressure to have all the answers, confronting broken mental health systems, and reclaiming the art of being present. Get The Wounded Healer's Toolkit here .   Invite Sarah to speak about Psychotherapy for a Changing World: A Practice of Unlearning for Uncertain Times here. Beyond Sivie Suckerman's formidable credentials as a practice owner, podcaster, and creator of the Therapists Un...

On self-promotion, authentic marketing, and finding your own way to be visible as a therapist. Anxiety is as old as humankind. Maybe that's why every person has a different definition of the uneasy state that derails our thoughts or actions.  Time to connect with an expert. Noelle McWard Aquino, LCSW, is a Chicago-based therapist and soon-to-be major TED Talk alum. She has three decades of experie...

Why therapists need compassionate curiosity, not fear, when talking about suicide. Suicidal thoughts or suicidal ideation (SI), like the emotions that swirl around it, is a source of information. That perspective-altering declaration comes from my guest, Sally Spencer-Thomas, Ph. D. She's a brilliant, internationally recognized suicide prevention leader who lost her beloved brother to suicide. Sal...

An autism specialist and a skeptical therapist debate diagnosis, accommodations, masking, burnout, and who gets to define a "normal" brain. I love a debate; they make for great podcast episodes. While their official goal is to generate effective critical thinking, that skill is often missing from the "debates" favored by social media algorithms, especially when the topic strikes a chord of cultura...

Career paths, mentorship, workplace power, and finding your voice as a therapist. When we met a few years back, Lee Thompson, LCSW, was an early career therapist, a "COVID baby" of sorts. She inherited a professional space acclimating (or not) to rapid changes in the field, like the use of conferencing tools and the growing popularity of VC-backed virtual "wellness" platforms.  Lee is part of a br...

AI Can Reduce Symptoms. But Is That Therapy? Ted Faneuff on artificial intelligence, human connection, therapist burnout, and what technology can—and can't—replace. I'm gonna potentially anger some folks, but here I go: I understand that AI has become a moral issue (on top of being an environmental one). That said, while I agree with some of the concerns, the tech does offer major benefits. Don't...

AI, venture capital, tech platforms, and the fight to preserve quality and human connection in mental health care with Steve Duke, creator of The Hemingway Report. We're at a tipping point in the evolution of our field, especially when it comes to the rapid ascendancy of venture capital, consolidation, and technology—those AI chatbots lurking and learning in the digital shadows.  I sound the alarm...

Sarah shares an episode from a podcast (and therapist) she'd like to introduce you to: Therapists Unchained with Sivie Suckerman  In this episode of Therapists Unchained , Sivie interviews Sharon Harper, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of the Therapist Resource Institute (TRI). The conversation explores the necessity of reclaiming professional autonomy and building sustainable career...

Sarah shares an episode from a podcast (and therapist) she'd like to introduce you to: A Simple Therapy Podcast with Sindee Gozansky.  Sindee Gozansky welcomes Gino Titus-Luciano, LMHC—CEO of Kokua Mental Health and Wellness Group, president of the Hawaii Counselors Association, and a therapist who believes you can't show up as a textbook and expect real healing to happen. Gino brings insight into...

What if the future of therapy asks clinicians to stop checking their humanity at the door? I've said it before, and I'll say it again: There's a gap between the world we were trained for as therapists and the world we find ourselves in now. And here to explore that gap with compassion, curiosity, and a dose of reality is relational therapist, writer, mentor, and founder of Venus + Legacy, Josie Ro...

What if the biggest challenge facing therapists isn't burnout… but evolution? In this special bonus episode, Sarah shares her keynote from the inaugural Revolutionary Practice Summit , exploring why therapists must evolve—not just professionally, but personally—to meet the realities of practicing in today's world. Drawing from trauma theory, developmental psychology, leadership research, systems t...

Donna Sky on Employee Ownership, Legacy, and the Future of Private Practice. Lemme ask the group practice owners a question: What's your business plan for the end of capitalism? OK, so we're not quite there yet, but "something" is pushing private practices closer to the cliff's edge of capitalism, the inevitable collapse of unbridled growth for no other reason than greed. Group practice owners who...

Can therapists ethically work with clients whose values oppose their own? Sarah Buino and Jordan Conrad explore professionalism, self-disclosure, political identity, and the future of psychotherapy in an increasingly polarized world. Is therapy political? That's a good question and one that provokes an array of answers (just peruse any therapists' Facebook group). I've talked with a decent number...

What therapists often misunderstand about DID, childhood trauma, shame, attachment, and the therapeutic relationship—with psychotherapist and author Sally Maslansky. **If you find conversations about childhood sexual abuse activating, please take care with this episode. Although our discussion doesn't contain explicit details, abuse is a central theme.**  Because hindsight is 20/20, allow me to ad...

Why therapists must do their own work: leadership, integrity, and the future of therapy with Sarah Buino and Lane Essex. We made it! To the middle of 2026. I realize that's a bit of a good-news/bad-news scenario given the current political climate. Still, the fact that we're all here is something worthy of celebration. Or, at the very least, reflection. Where do we, as therapists, want to grow nex...

Sarah reflects on selling her therapy practice, surviving burnout, and discovering that healing sometimes means walking away. This week we're sharing a conversation that originally aired on Lonely at the Top, hosted by Rachel Alexandria.  Rachel works with CEOs, founders, executives, and high performers navigating the emotional weight of leadership, so it makes sense that this conversation was abo...

Sarah and Rebecca discuss trauma culture, healing, political consciousness, and building the capacity to stay present with life's messiness. This week, we're sharing a conversation originally recorded in 2024 for The Unburdened Leader with my friend and colleague, Rebecca Ching. Truthfully, this felt less like an interview and more like one of those conversations you have with someone who speaks t...

Chronic shame, developmental trauma, healing in community, and why the future of therapy depends on therapists embracing their own growth. This week, we're sharing a conversation originally recorded for The Innovative Therapist with Shawn Hondorp. What started as a typical podcast interview quickly became a conversation that helped me better understand my own work (thank you very much!) We talk ab...

AI researcher and former Google employee Earl Wagner helps unpack AI therapy bots, emotional attachment to technology, and what makes healing deeply human. You know how I'm always encouraging therapists to sit with the unknown? Well, fair warning: this episode may test your limits in the same way that a good fitness coach might test your stamina. It's time for the AI conversation. AI's growing rol...

Why therapists feel anxious at work, why practice owners feel overwhelmed, and how both sides can rebuild trust and psychological safety. You know how we are always talking about dismantling harmful systems on this podcast? Well…what happens when those systems show up inside group practices? This conversation with Andie Baumgartner and Nadia Parfenova from Rowan Tree Counseling goes deep into the...

Why trauma-informed therapists are questioning the medical model, rethinking therapist education, and redefining what healing can look like in a disconnected world. In my ongoing effort to "future-proof" the field of therapy, I'm encouraging practitioners to dream beyond the conventional session model. How do we move our profession and the world closer to a truly person-centered ethos? How do ther...

What if power isn't something to avoid—but something to learn? Francine Proulx-Kenzle and Sarah Buino explore sociocracy, personal power, burnout, and how early childhood experiences shape the way we show up in systems. I'm going to say something that might make a few therapists squirm: power is not the enemy. And yet… so many of us act like it is.  In this conversation with Francine Proulx-Kenzle...

Sarah explores sociocracy with Ted Rau, discussing models of shared leadership, and what it really takes to bridge the gap between overwhelmed owners and under-resourced clinicians. Our third cohort of the Authentic Leaders Group starts this spring and it's got me thinking about systems that need to change. While change may be inevitable, it's far from easy. That's especially true in the therapy f...

What happens when therapists stop performing growth and actually practice it together? Kathryn Esquer shares how The Therapist Network emerged from a real need for authentic connection—and why community, vulnerability, and accountability are essential for sustainable clinical work. You know how I'm always going on about a) doing your work, and b) doing that work alongside others? It occurred to me...

Group practices are changing fast—and the legal stakes are rising. This episode unpacks the employment risks, structural tensions, and workplace dynamics shaping the future of therapist employment. This realignment impacts you whether you're a group practice owner OR a therapist staffer.  If you take only one lesson away from my conversation with Lori Goldstein, award-winning employment lawyer, le...