Conversations With a Wounded Healer

Change may be inevitable, but it's far from easy. That's especially true in the therapy field. Part of my own shift is a greater focus (on this podcast and IRL) on system-wide transformation, especially in the group practice realm. How do we bridge the gap between employees and owners when both feel overworked and underpaid?  Sociocracy could be the answer. But first, what the heck is sociocracy?...

In the words of my esteemed co-host, Anne Remy, "There's a difference between an elder and a person who is older than you." Judith Lewis Herman, MD, is wise––a psychiatrist, professor, researcher, author, and advocate who helped establish the diagnosis of PTSD back before many of us were born. In addition to her work with veterans and children, Judith fundamentally altered the discourse around wom...

There's no denying that our systems and selves are at a crossroads. So, my fellow therapists, will we accept the universe's invitation to evolve, or will the profession regress beyond the point of no return?  Ki Smith believes in the potential of the collective to transform and transcend our current fractured moment. They're a psychotherapist, coach, mediator, and facilitator of power-conscious no...

Let's play fill-in-the-blank: Sex is _____ . The possibilities are endless! But, my word of choice is intimate. It's a perfect shorthand for the spectrum of desires, experiences, and, yes, traumas that inform every sexual encounter––even if the act in question is fake. As in: part of an acclaimed Hollywood film in which sex represents the main character's evolving agency.   Intimacy Coordinator El...

Oh, fellow therapists, how I love you! That said, I'm super-concerned about our capacity to move through interpersonal challenges exacerbated by, among other things, a volatile election season. My question is: How do we model being with folks outside the profession––even those we disagree with––if we can't make space for complexities of thought and motivation within our own community? Marc Mathys...

Self-care is a basic human right. Sadly, intuitive healing practices like acupuncture are often dismissed, especially in Western society, as woo-woo or pseudoscientific time-wasters. Thank goodness for practitioners like the delightful Jo Darling in Brighton, UK!  Jo is passionate about women's health and healing, and she's also co-host Anne Remy's acupuncturist, so we'll finally get to the core o...

Discomfort doesn't automatically denote danger. Identifying the difference and holding those nuances takes practice. Let this episode be part of the lesson plan. Deborah Ooten, PhD., is the founder/director of the Conscious Living Center, and she's the first person to successfully merge the teachings of the Enneagram with the Spiral Dynamics evolutionary model.  I'm a fan of both models; my co-hos...

Disclaimer: No! Anne's conversation isn't with that Alex Jones. Instead, it's with Alex Jones, the creator of Humans of Brighton And Hove, an Instagram account featuring candid street photos and stories of folks in the UK's eclectic, beloved seaside village.  While Alex's photography is stunning, the captions create a broader community of compassion. They're real, raw glimpses into the subject's w...

If you're one of the 43 million Americans currently living under the crushing weight of student loan debt, that's by design, not personal failure. Under our late-stage capitalist system, the cost of a college degree has far outpaced the wages offered to pay for it.  Tiffany Konyen, a Doctoral Candidate in the Anthropology and Social Change department at the California Institute of Integral Studies...

Independent bookshops are magical places. But building that mix of quiet corners and convivial community doesn't come without a lot of sweat equity. Indie bookshops thrive because of the booksellers behind them, real live humans who concentrate on more than just commerce.  Carolynn Bain, founder, and owner of Afrori Books in Brighton, UK, is "that" indie bookseller, an award-winning entrepreneur w...

With the amount of time folks invest in their news feeds, social scrolls, podcasts, and hot-takes, you'd think we'd have a better grasp on "the whole picture." But we only operate with a partial perspective regardless of the situation or issue. This universal truth pushes many of us toward the false comfort of binary thinking. Podcast host and Professor of Criminal Justice at Plymouth State Univer...

If you like your woo-woo grounded in modern scientific understanding, this convo is for you!  Khaled ElSherbini, PhD, is the founder of Consciousness Academy (CA), the leading IEA-accredited Enneagram school located on the Sinai Peninsula, which is, coincidentally, a place that three of the world's major religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) believe holds spiritual significance.  CA quickly...

After 18 episodes featuring conversations with burnt-out (and not burnt-out) practice owners and some of their employees, I've got survey responses that prove we can band together to form the practices we desperately want to participate in. But, owners, we gotta have a chat… Employees feel underpaid, undervalued, and undersupported, while a lot of practice owners feel underappreciated and overwhel...

There's a universal truth that goes something like this: To get where we're going, it's a good idea to examine where we've been. I'll add that it's also in our best interest to chat up the elders. Charlotte Sills, MA, MSc, is a psychotherapist in private practice in the UK and also an elder with intelligence and foresight to spare, literal textbooks worth of knowledge, as her conversation with co-...

All good things must end, including this special series. But not before my chat with the delightfully analog David Clinton, a dear friend and former practice owner.  After exiting his group practice just as the pandemic hit, David found his happy ending (or beginning) as a solo therapist with a limited online presence. His 20+ year career reminds us that we can contribute good things to this field...

As therapists, we're famous for not doing our own work, so, of course, we shy away from acknowledging that we hold any power at all. Worse, we conflate power and cruelty, an assumption that keeps us mired in fear and inaction. But now that we've identified the issue, we can transform it.  Dr. Amanda Aguilera is one of my favorite facilitators for this kind of work. She's the executive director of...

Hey, white practice owners! The secret to building a business that embodies the principles of equity, inclusivity, and anti-racism is… Actually, I'll let my guests do the honors. Gabi Granoff, PsyD., is the co-owner of Solway Psychology, a racially diverse practice in Chicago. Evelyn Williams, LSW, is a clinician and intake manager at the practice. They personify what's possible when everyone take...

Confession time: I harbor biases against folks who call themselves coaches. The profession is completely unregulated, and many (most?) coaches lack the education necessary to help clients navigate change. Anne's conversation with longtime friend and, ahem, executive and team coach Whitney Capps challenged my prejudices as much as it corroborated my rationale for remaining skeptical. GUEST BIO Whit...

I live for the day when mental health providers can accept houseplants as payment for services rendered. Until then, money remains both the glue and the wedge of any practice owner/employee relationship.  Thankfully, Casey Gromer, founder of C-Suite Boutique, can help us all navigate the sticky financial realities of small business life and feel more empowered regarding "the money stuff."  GUEST B...

Finally! A catch-up with Rayell Grayson, LCPC CADC, owner and president of Head/Heart Therapy, the practice I built, owned for a decade, and sold last year. Tea is spilled, fears are expressed, and love is freely shared.  Our convo demonstrates the myriad ways owners can show up––for ourselves, our employees, and the leaders who will one day succeed us, especially if that future owner holds multip...

Part II of my conversation with Trace Bell shall forever more be referred to as "The One Where We Dig Into Spiral Dynamics". If you're new to SD, it helps to think of it as a modern language that expands our understanding of the stages of evolutionary development in individuals, organizations, or whole societies.  Still confused? Don't be. SD is simply another tool that therapists can reference, e...

The context of this rare two-part conversation is Spiral Dynamics (SD), a model that gauges the evolutionary development of individuals, societies, cultures, and organizations. Shepherding us through the details of this model is Trace Bell, an integration guide and transformational coach. Part I of our chat delves into Trace's background and the childhood forces that shaped his adult perspective....

Liberation is a two-way street, dear practice owner. Making an innovative, enlightened leap forward means going up against old ways of doing things.  Unsustainable management practices! Limiting mindsets! Antiquated business models! To say nothing of capitalism, racism, or the patriarchy. Jessica Eubanks Chavira, LCSW-S, wanted to liberate herself and her community. Once she articulated that desir...

I know from burnout, that combination of bone-deep mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that manifests in feelings of overwhelm, joylessness, and desperation. Sadly, you probably do, too. Anne's unexpectedly musical convo with author and choir director Amelia Nagoski, DMA, is the burnout primer we all need: the science behind it, the antidote for it, and why women experience it differently t...

Welcome to the reckoning––mine, not yours. I made dozens (hundreds?) of mistakes as a practice owner, and while I can't take any of them back, this series is a way of paying my accountability forward.  Jenna Alfaro, LCSW, CADC, is here to hold me to that promise. She's a former employee of mine and, while our professional association didn't end Bravo-Reunion-Special bad, its demise does confirm my...