Conversations With a Wounded Healer

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...

If therapists can't feel, they can't help. Christian Snuffer dives into psychedelics, spirituality, and the future of therapy—and why curiosity and compassion matter more than any modality. We met on Instagram and immediately bonded over, well, everything! While every tangent in this episode is just so compelling, three topics really reinforced my belief in the future of psychology and the clinici...

What if the biggest problem in therapy is therapists who haven't done their own work? Jamie Marich explores recovery, spirituality beyond religion, and why no modality, guru, or system can replace embodied healing. I love show-and-tell as a teaching method, especially because it emphasizes the importance of therapists doing their own work. Dr. Jamie Marich is the perfect participant. They have a s...

Frank Gruba-McCallister on why therapy is political, compassion is nonnegotiable, and healing must include social change. If I had to choose one episode to light my way through the collapse of capitalism, it would be this conversation with Frank Gruba-McCallister. Truth is, there's no escaping the darkness of our current timeline. That said, there are dozens of reasons to remain hopeful, and thous...

How Kristen Wynns built an award-winning practice without insurance dependence and with a good dose of humor. Group practice owners have a decision to make right now: continue treading water or get more creative in how they operate. The field of therapy is lucky to have many examples of group practice owners who embody innovative leadership. One of those is my "conference bestie", Dr. Kristen Wynn...

Are therapists ready for the next era of healing? Dr. Caroline Fernandes on complex trauma, mediumship, and what the therapy field has to learn from the spirit world. I'm spinning all the hits on this episode: grief, ghosts, and the energetic shifts that happen when we incorporate the spiritual into processing personal, cultural, or systemic wounds. That's little "s" spirituality, not the patriarc...

In this special 9th birthday episode of Conversations With a Wounded Healer, Sarah Buino and Lane Essex explore healing at every level—from individual mental health to group practice dynamics and systemic transformations in the therapy field.  What does it mean to sustain a therapy career in these challenging times, while embracing authentic and clinical leadership approaches that foster collectiv...

A funeral director turned therapist on meaning-making, unfinished business, and why grief needs more truth and less cheerleading. Ready for a life-affirming episode about death? I'm excited to introduce you to my longtime friend Rachel Hauck. She's a funeral director and embalmer. After 20 years in business, she's decided to go back to school to become a therapist. I love chatting with people who...

When the world is burning, old business paradigms collapse—here's what replaces them. Self-assessment time. For group practice owners: Do your internal systems align with the company's client-facing messaging? For group practice employees: Is fear (of failure, of retaliation) holding you back from calling out harmful behaviors or leaving altogether?  Alicia Murray, LMHCD, is the creator of Therapi...

Trauma-informed leadership, psychological safety, and accountability in group practice culture. The TL;DR takeaway from today's episode is: to change the systems and institutions harming us, we must commit to the work. All of it, the intra- and interpersonal.  Poonam Natha can help us with this assignment. She views "the work" as a lifelong process of balancing individualism and collectivism rathe...

Shawn Hondorp on creativity, IFS protector parts, and building a practice that actually feels alive. This episode is your practical guide to feeling alive in messy times. But "feeling" is only part of the equation. "Doing" is what drives change. It transforms our private creative practices into a collective, disruptive force.  Shawn Hondorp, PhD., is a maven of creativity and as the creator of The...

From Boomer Hierarchies to Gen Z Autonomy, revolutionary communication insights for owners, managers, and clinicians in group practice. If you're navigating leadership across multiple generations and feeling the strain, this episode is for you. And yes, before you ask, we're talking about generational dynamics without turning this into a "kids these days" rant. Let's get to the heart of what's bre...

What 2026 astrology reveals about responsibility and power. This episode of Conversations With a Wounded Healer is for you if:  you feel paralyzed by current events, yet hopeful  you throw major side-eye at the phrase "unprecedented times" you think astrology can help us forge a better future for all Or, as my guest Steve Judd puts it, "Astrology has outlasted every religion, empire, and political...

The end-of-year mental health-related assessments are in and, y'all. You. All! These reports offer some bad news and worse news. Sorry, I ran out of sugar-coating; it's been a long year.  Psychotherapy Action Network's latest survey uncovered a substantial disconnect between what PMCs, for-profit private management companies like Alma, Headway, and Rula, promise therapists and what they deliver. S...

Gen Z is at the mic, and they have some thoughts. I can feel my fellow "olds" getting their hackles up. But, hold on! I'm asking all of us to stay curious, regardless of generational or career-stage identity. Isn't that what we instruct our clients to do when faced with new information or complicated emotions? Time to take our own advice! Maddie Tonjes, LCSW, is an early-career therapist at Center...