Gettin' Gritty for Mental Health Therapists: Clinical Confidence + Reassurance, Reframing Imposter Syndrome, Overwhelm and Burnout

If you’ve ever failed an exam by one point , questioned whether you learned “anything” in internship, or wondered if “grit” just means seeing 35 clients a week… this episode is for you. We sit down with Aubre, one of our own clinicians, who went from provisional therapist to fully licensed while navigating a major life curveball: pregnancy, a traumatic early birth/NICU experience, and the messy mi...

It’s officially that time of year; the holiday stretch where your nervous system is doing the most and your calendar is acting like you don’t need sleep. So consider this your gritty little holiday check-in. In this quick episode, we keep it real about what actually helps us stay sane during the holidays: the traditions that bring comfort, the boundaries we're holding (even when guilt shows u...

The holidays can be magical… but for therapists? They can also feel like a pressure cooker filled with client crises, family expectations, over-responsibility, and the quiet fear that taking time off means you’re “letting someone down." and going broke.  In this candid, cozy, and surprisingly hilarious episode, we get grinchy, in the best, most therapeutic way possible. If you’ve ever:  ✨ bo...

As a mental health therapist, do you ever secretly think, “How did I even get here… and do I actually know what I’m doing?” 👀 This episode is for every new, provisionally licensed, early-career therapist or even someone who's been doing this a while , who’s quietly spiraling over imposter syndrome, boundaries, and “faking it till you make it.” In this episode, we welcome our very first guest...

Ever find yourself checking your phone at 10 p.m., heart racing after a client text, wondering if you’re a “bad therapist” for not replying right away? You’re not alone. In this episode of The Gettin’ Gritty Podcast , we get real about our own internal voices that drove us to over-respond, over-give, and over-worry and how learning to wait can actually make you a stronger, more confident, more gro...

Are you too nurturing with your clients, too structured or just right?   In this episode of The Gettin’ Gritty Podcast for Mental Health Therapists we unpack the Goldilocks Principle for therapists, finding that “just right” balance between structure and nurture, both in the therapy room and in your own life. Drawing from our transformative experience with TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention...

Every therapist, including us, wishes there was an “easy button”, a magic fix to calm our nerves, silence imposter syndrome, and make sessions go smoothly. But the truth? There’s no shortcut to becoming a confident, grounded clinician. In this raw and relatable episode of The Gettin’ Gritty Podcast for Mental Health Therapists, we share our own gritty stories on what it really takes to build grit...

Ever wonder why you react the way you do as a therapist? In this episode of The Gettin' Gritty Podcast for Mental Health Therapists, we explore how understanding your emotional patterns and drivers through the Primal Question framework can build grit, deepen self-awareness, and transform both your personal growth and your clinical work.  You’ll discover how self-awareness not only deepens you...

Ever feel like you’re “bad” at therapy—fumbling through EMDR, forgetting your manual, or replaying every word after a tough session? You’re not alone. In this episode of The Gritty Therapist , Stefanie Armstrong and Cathy Schweitzer share real stories of learning new trauma-informed tools, bombing sessions, and still showing up anyway. We talk about why being bad is actually good —because grit and...

The Sunday Scaries hit hard when you’re a therapist. Your notes aren’t finished, your caseload feels overwhelming, and by 2pm you’re already bracing for another week of client sessions. In this bonus episode of Gettin’ Gritty, we share our own Sunday Scaries as trauma-informed therapists—and the practical tools we use to reset before Monday.  We also give a sneak peek of the tool we created to hel...

Welcome to The Gettin' Gritty Podcast , the podcast created for therapists who love this work—but sometimes wonder if they’re really cut out for it. If you’ve ever replayed a session on your drive home, felt stuck with a shut-down client, or gone to bed worrying you’re not doing enough, you’re in the right place. We’re Stefanie Armstrong and Cathy Schweitzer—two trauma-trained, EMDR-certified...

In our very first episode of The Gettin' Gritty Podcast , we share how we built our own grit—starting as teachers and school counselors, through cafeteria duty and pencil-sharpening, to launching a trauma-informed practice during the pandemic. If you’re a trauma-trained, EMDR, Somatic or attachment-focused therapist who struggles with burnout, session insecurity, or nervous system overload ,...