Compassionate Climb

Meet Megan Tavares, a private practice therapist in Massachusetts. In her practice, Peace and Pearl Wellness and Counseling, Megan primarily works with perinatal mental health disorders. As a mom to two boys, and having dealt with her own postpartum anxiety and depression, she is able to share her own experiences and connect on a deeper level with her clients.  Key Takeaways: -Put time and effort...

Meet Paula Montgomery, the Women United Director for United Way of Greater New Bedford, in New Bedford Massachusetts. Paula started career climb in broadcast journalism, but soon found herself wanting a career that spoke more to her heart. A conversation with someone she was interviewing led to her first position in the nonprofit sector working with the American Cancer Society. In her role today,...

Meet Maggie Song, a leadership coach. Upon entering the workforce post college, Maggie found herself quickly climbing the corporate ladder. After just five years she was in a management position, but knew very little about being an effective leader. She has since taken what she has learned about her unique leadership style and created a program for new leaders to bridge that gap from me to we. Key...

Meet Brenda Cadman, a Canva Verified Expert. She has spent much of her professional life working with small businesses in a variety of areas. Having used and learned the ins and outs of Canva since 2014, she now teaches coaches, course creators and service providers how to use the program more effectively and efficiently for their business, saving time, energy, and frustration. Key Takeaways: -Usi...

Meet Sarah Rivera, owner of the group practice La Luz Counseling in San Antonio, Texas. After working in the nonprofit and agency worlds for nearly a decade, Sarah made the jump to solo private practice in 2017 where she began to learn the business side of counseling, and in 2020 expanded into a group practice. Sarah now takes what she has learned along the way and hosts mastermind groups that foc...

Meet Christina Kantzavelos, a mental health professional working with individuals with chronic illnesses. Living with various chronic illnesses of her own, Christina struggled to find a therapist that had an understanding of what she was going through, where the burden of education was not put on her as the client; but when she did, a whole new world opened up that led her to where she is today. A...

Meet Mandy Wannarka, owner of Mindful Wellbeing, a group practice in Minnesota. While building her group practice one of the challenges she faced was figuring out payroll and how to move it from slow and tedious to automated and efficient. With a background in coding, Mandy’s husband, Weston, was able to create a program that streamlined the process and eliminated the potential for human error. Fr...

Meet MacKenzie Bradke, a mother to an adopted daughter, private practice therapist, and founder of Theramama Haven, a community that focuses on helping therapist moms discover and practice self-care. She talks real talk about parenting and our profession and the experiences in her life that contributed to the development of her niche: therapists mothers who are doing all the things for everyone el...

In this episode we reflect on season 1 and the mission behind the show as well as providing insight on what can be expected in season 2! Send any feedback or suggestions to julianepini@compassionateclimb.com

Meet Sheri Jones, co-founder of Youth in Business, whose journey began as a school teacher with a passion for making a positive impact on the lives of youth. After getting married, Sheri and her husband embarked on a year-long adventure where they visited over 40 countries! When they decided to start a family, they decided to do things a little differently to allow them the lifestyle that they wan...

Meet Tyler, a private practice clinician in Tennessee and creator of Constructed Awareness Therapy. Following an initial career in the music industry and a personal experience in therapy, Tyler returned to school to pursue a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Quickly, he realized that traditional models of therapy, like CBT, were not a good fit for him or his clients which led him to E...

In this episode, I share the group coaching options I will providing for both solo and group practice owners. I review the benefits of participating including meeting with like-minded professionals, connection, support, accountability, information, resources, goal identification and achievement, and feedback. We will be meeting virtually twice a month for six months. Register here: https://forms.g...

Meet Audrey Schoen, a private practice clinician in California who explains how she is able to charge premium fees while maintaining integrity. When Audrey first made the switch to private practice after giving birth to twins, she was charging $100 per session and was thrilled about it. She shares how life circumstances and coaching resulted in a mindset shift that has allowed her to increase her...

Meet Jamie Roberts, a therapist and group practice owner in California. Equilibrium Counseling Services, her group practice, works specifically with LGBT+ and neurodivergent teens and young adults to help discover and understand their identity. Jamie is passionate about supporting young people and being for them the person she needed when she was younger.  Key Takeaways:  - If you’re looking for a...

Meet Rebeca Gilbert, a Florida therapist who has recently pivoted to building a virtual private practice specializing in holistic EMDR treatment for women. While Rebeca loved working in-person and having an office with her name on the door, balancing that while raising two elementary age kids was difficult and it began to take a toll on her mind and body. After a six month sabbatical, she decided...

Meet Sara Rodrigues, the Executive Director of Balanced Learning Center in Fall River, Massachusetts. The Balanced Learning Center is a collaborative, integrative, non-profit that combines mental health treatment with various other services as they focus on strength-building, teaching new skills and relying on individuals as the experts on their own lives. She shares how her own experience with he...

Meet Cameisha Brewer, a Licensed Professional Counselor based in Arkansas. During her time working at an inpatient psychiatric hospital it became clear it was time to start learning about business and make the shift toward private practice. She acquired all the information on business building she could through free courses, webinars, videos. Now, she shares the lessons and skills she has learned...

Meet Doreen Huffman LMHC PMHNP, a fellow group practice owner. Doreen started her career in community mental health and once fully licensed started working for a group practice. When she eventually decided to open a practice of her own, an issue she often encountered was finding prescribers for her patients who needed medication management. She decided to fix her own problem and went back to schoo...

Meet Carolyn Robistow, an entrepreneur helping other entrepreneurs create healthy relationships with alcohol, all while sailing the eastern coast and Bahamas. Carolyn coined the term Groundhog Day Drinker after recognizing in herself that she was tired of waking up on day one of her goals each time she drank. Throughout the process of redefining her relationship with alcohol, she determined three...

In this episode I review the book Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. I discuss their method of: 1. starting each day by choosing a highlight 2. making adjustments to avoid distraction in order to remain laser focused on the identified highlight 3. resetting our defaults and using our body to energize our brains 4. evaluating our process each night to...

Meet Ann Simmons, a clinical social worker and owner of Upstate Restorative Counseling, a group practice based in Greenville, South Carolina. As the practice has grown, Ann has been able to add services such as EMDR intensives, but questions how to best promote and market as well as how to divide her time between her practice ownership role and other pursuits. Key Takeaways:  - Communicate with th...

Meet Elise Gilbert Hall, owner of Attunement Counseling and Wellness Collective in Rhode Island. Throughout her professional career she has worked in community mental health, a school system, various agencies, and private practice; all of which have led to where she is today. In the two years since she founded Attunement Counseling, Elise has seen continual growth, but finds herself asking: “How d...

Meet Katie Gibbons, a counselor turned children’s book author. In the midst of treating chronic illness and having to scale back her counseling practice she turned to writing as something to keep her mind busy. Having been adopted, adopting, and working with those who have been adopted, Katie knew exactly what the story would be about. Key Takeaways:  - Do the research - Hire professionals because...

Meet Gordon Brewer, a therapist, group practice owner, host of two podcasts, and most recently, the president and founder of the PsychCraft Network of podcasts. As an auditory learner and processor, Gordon found himself drawn to the world of podcasts as he built his therapy practice. Since then, he has turned to sharing the lessons he has learned along the way and building a space for like-minded...

Meet Kim Spooner, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in private practice who facilitates a Narcissistic Abuse Peer Support Group. It is free, volunteer-based, and confidential with the mission to provide educational resources on how to reduce the effects of the abuse. Support peers who have experienced narcissistic abuse listen, validate their experiences, and provide non-judgmental feedback. The...