Therapy Tea: Demystifying the Mental Health Profession

This week we’re talking to the inspirational Kate Walker about being in that dreamed about phase of motherhood: they’re independent adults and you’ve got an adorable grandbaby! Quite frankly, it sounds like Kate’s doing it right. She’s sharing how this stage of motherhood still really connects with counseling work: constant awareness of countertransference and boundaries! Want more Jonnie? Check o...

This week we’re talking to Kelly Martin about the pros and cons of getting into the teens stage with your kids! Now they’re more independent and able to take care of themselves, but we’re also in the thick of bigger, scarier emotional and life altering issues. Setting the groundwork early is necessary for your kids’ success at this stage.  Want more Kelly? Check out our prior episode with her: Ep....

This week we’re talking to Candice about having middle schoolers now - with all the awkwardness and hilarity that that includes - and how she’s changed her work focus because of it. Want more Candice? Check out our prior episode with her: Ep. #15: Owning Being a "Generalist" and Boring CEs (ft. Candice Fraser, LPC) Candice’s podcast: The Couch Next Door Podcast Candice’s Instagram: @candicefraserl...

This week we’re talking to Britney Eglinton about the grey area of motherhood: stepmotherhood. For her it’s a privilege and joy, but also often tricky to navigate and lonely. Britney has always been a career-oriented, driven individual who then fell in love with and married a father of two girls, and now structures her life choices around her instant family, while simultaneously struggling to feel...

This week we’re talking to Kristin Sharp about what it’s like to be a divorced co-parent, struggling to navigate the boundaries of sharing parenting when not living together. There’s so much loss of control and grief in the divorce experience and when it’s happening in-tandem with trying to parent a small child, it’s really tough -- we’re grateful that Kristin gets vulnerable and goes into it all...

This week we’re talking to Sena Moran about terrible twos and threenagers! It’s that joyful time of being a parent where they still need you all the time and they’ve also got big opinions! Plus, they’re enrolled in daycare and school, but they still seem to be home sick more than they aren’t. Sena talks about learning how different each kid can really be and about adjusting her own boundaries and...

This week we’re talking to Kelsea Puckett about having more kids than adults in the house and the extra challenges (and trauma!) that comes with having an infant (or two!) with medical issues right from the jump.  Want more Kelsea? Check out our prior episode with her: Ep. #6: All the “Extra Work” and Self-Care Makes No Money (ft. Kelsea Puckett, LPC, LSOTP) Kelsea’s practice, San Marcos Counselin...

This week we’re talking to Kim Knox about her new baby girl, her miserable pregnancy, and then the mess of trying to return to work while still nursing.  Want more Kim? Check out our prior episode with her: Ep.#3: Navigating Your “Trauma Season” and Prevailing Through Hard Days (ft. Kim Knox, LMFT) Kim’s practice: Holistic Solutions, https://holisticsolutionsnb.com/   Resources mentioned:  Baby Br...

This week we’re talking to Bobbie Melton about having her first baby and the sheer volume of planning she did before becoming pregnant and taking her maternity leave from her private practice.   Want more Bobbie? Check out our prior episode with her: Ep. #8: Petting a Cat Backwards and Asking Leading Questions (ft. Bobbie Melton, LPC) Bobbie’s practice: Circle M Counseling, https://circlemcounseli...

This week we’re introducing our upcoming special 10 part series, Mental Motherhood. In this episode we’re sharing details about the series including why we’re doing this and what you can expect. We’re getting to the truth about being a mom and a mental health professional, just in case you think you want to try and do both.  Mental Motherhood starts next week with new episodes in the series releas...

This week Karen shares some stuff she learned about in an interesting recent training. Check out the book if you're curious too! Personality and Wholeness in Therapy: Integrating 9 Patterns of Developmental Pathways in Clinical Practice by Daniel J. Siegel, MD, and the PDP Group This week we are sharing our conversation with Shawna Lovin who is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in Texas...

This week Jazmin learned so much about balancing returning to school while being a practicing counselor. What she’s learning in school - all about applied behaviorism - is also dove-tailing into her counseling work with her clients because it’s enabling her to explain so much so differently than before. We should all learn our ABC’s! (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence) Don't forget to check out Th...

This week Karen learned that she does not have a good way to re-calibrate to client work after a long vacation. We’ve talked about having transitions from client work back into home life, but what about the reverse? Let us know if you have any suggestions here because we both really wonder what are some options for how to transition back into therapeutic work-mode after being in vacation-mode.  Ch...

This week we're sharing an episode of Kate Walker’s podcast! Badass Therapists Building Practices That Thrive podcast is a consistent, relatable, Crucial resource for any mental health professional trying to navigate private practice. Kate’s always got tips, tools, advice, and interviews about everything private practice related on her podcast and in her Facebook group. If you’re working in privat...

This week Jazmin wants to normalize the “summer slump”. It’s a real challenge for lots of mental health professionals in private and group practice and it’s not about you! Seasonal impacts are a little-discussed reality of this profession, particularly when you’re working outside of an agency or treatment center setting. Our recommendation, don’t take it personally, don't make big changes to how y...

This week we're sharing an episode of the Couch Next Door podcast! This particular episode is Jazmin and Karen's conversation with Candice Fraser on her podcast, The Couch Next Door, about the story and depth of our friendship, which is at the foundation of our own podcast. Listen in and hear more about us and our origin story! Also, check out the rest of the series that Candice has done on friend...

This week Karen learned something the hard way: always actually check your license date online before you cram for your required CE hours. Yep. Learn from her complete and utter brainfart. Here’s the link to check your date: https://bhec.texas.gov/renewing-a-license/ Do it now, y’all! Shout out!: Go Brewing Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer: https://gobrewing.com/   Check out The Couch Next Door podcast! h...

Warning: this episode contains discussions of cyberstalking, harassment, and trauma.  This week Jazmin learned how fun it is to work with clients on writing and editing their text messages to others. It’s a perk of the job that we didn’t really learn in grad school, but it’s the opportunity to interrupt patterns and reinforce skills in real time. Perhaps only Jazmin and Karen think this sort of th...

This week Karen learned how much sex education is required in counseling work, especially in couples counseling. The truth is that sex, intimacy (and the difference between those two!), basic sexual functioning, and consent are regular and frequent areas of focus in sessions with clients. Grad school did not prepare us for this! So, learn the facts and get comfortable talking about this stuff, cuz...

This week Jazmin learned about a unique career path in the mental health profession: a counseling consultant. What’s that, you say? We’re all learning together here, but it sounds like a cool job to be the expert customizing connector for treatment options, and we’re both intrigued! #flowchartmaker #rolodexmanager #treatmentmatchmaker This week we are sharing our conversation with Lisa Kruse who i...

This week Karen learned how important it is to continually remain attuned to and check in with your own bias and alignment with each person in the relationship (or lack thereof…) when you’re working with a couple, and shares some of the things she does to make sure she’s showing up ethically when working with clients who are more than one person.  This week we are sharing our conversation with Sar...

This week Jazmin learned she might have a previously unrealized session number threshold level. We talk about paying attention to one’s own feelings and emotional reactions when working with clients and the lack of education and preparation around termination, which is another skill needed for private practice that we didn’t know we needed.  This week we are sharing our conversation with Kristin S...

This week Karen learned about poverty. Karen shares details about her experience participating in a poverty simulation - which we learned about from Kaimi - including the emotions triggered and insights gained. We encourage everyone to find a poverty simulation near you to participate in because there’s a difference between intellectually getting it and experientially getting it. In our interview,...

In celebration of the one year anniversary of publishing Therapy Tea episodes, we are releasing a super special episode! (whoo hoo!) Today, we’re opening up about our journey into the mental health podcasting fray, sharing the origin story of the Therapy Tea podcast, the details of our planning and preparing stage, and - of course - what we wish we had known before we started podcasting.  We are b...

This week Jazmin goes into the impacts of being ill-equipped in graduate school to properly identify and assess for personality disorders. It’s been such an eye-opener to get out into the actual work of counseling and find high-conflict personalities, disordered personalities, and attachment disordered folks just running amok and wrecking havoc, while also feeling shell-shocked and ill-prepared to...