Therapist Clubhouse A Podcast For Private Practice Entrepreneurs With Annie Schuessler

You want to run a group program? One common question from my participants is: “What skills do I need to learn in order to facilitate a group really well?” I’ve got someone here on the pod to share her unique process of leading large groups in an expansive, liberated and trauma informed way. Introducing Tracy Gantlin-Monroy. Tracy Gantlin Monroy is a licensed professional counselor and resident therapist at Grace Community Counseling & Social Services in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a brain-wise, body therapist passionate about trauma healing. Tracy is the first Black female Brainspotting trainer in the world having been mentored by Dr. David Grand, founder & Developer of Brainspotting. Tracy also runs healing retreats for Black women. Her attendees call Tracy engaging, loving and caring, and they talk about feeling safe in her groups even when they don’t USUALLY feel safe in groups. You’re about to hear how she does it. You’ll hear how she prepares for trainings, holds people as an empath, and teaches at

I got a message from one of the grads of Create Your Program recently saying that she was in the middle of launching her program. She said that launching was both a soul expanding and soul draining experience. I want to talk about some ways to protect and take care of your soul while you’re launching your program. First I’ll define “launch”: The time when registration is open for a time limited with a deadline, and the things you do to promote your program during that time. When we’re launching, we’re opening ourselves up to a lot of different feelings and voices, both internal and external. Some of these feelings and voices can be really painful. Scarcity, shame, and fear can come in. We might have thoughts like : ”Who am I to offer this?” “What if no one signs up?” “I’m annoying people.” Some of these feelings and voices are exciting. You might feel joy that you’re offering a wonderful program, and excitement that people are asking questions and signing up. You might have fun talking about your program and

Heidi Savell is a therapist and polyamory coach. She helps those newish to polyamory find more steadiness and fulfillment in their relationships. You’re about to hear about the business she’s created beyond her therapy practice, how she built it and why she loves running her program. Heidi’s giving us a masterclass on using Tiktok and Instagram to move the needle on your business. She gets 40-80 people per month from Tiktok and IG over to her email list. 10 out of 12 of her last participants came from those platforms. You’ll hear exactly how she’s created those referrals. As Heidi points out, she is not working to become an influencer, and her main goal is NOT to grow her Tiktok or IG following. Rather, she’s an educator, and she uses these social media platforms to help people and to grow her business. Her primary work happens in her program, not on social media. You’ll hear Heidi and I talk about why I use social media very little and she uses it quite a lot but how we are running similar businesses in a fu

This episode is all about my 2022 year in review in my business. I needed a minute to reflect and prepare this for you, hence the March release date. Listen right here if you like, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Some highlights. My gross revenue for 2022 was just shy of 332,000 That’s my biggest year yet, 78,000 over 2021. I took a 2 month sabbatical as well as several other weeks off throughout the year. And my biggest highlight: WAY less hypervigilance thanks to trauma healing! It turns out I was living in hypervigilance while doing a decent impression of a calm person. I didn’t know this because I didn’t have anything to compare my feeling state to. I just thought that was how I was. I might talk more in upcoming episodes about the way trauma had been impacting my work and my business and how healing is changing my work and my business. For now I’ll say, I’m in a really different spot! Work feels easier and more joyful. I’m less worried about how everyone is doing every moment. And whether I’m di

Want to start a membership community? Have you thought about creating a paid community about a topic you care deeply about? I’m glad you’re here. My guest this week founded and runs a membership for Trauma Therapists called Trauma Therapist Network. You’ll hear an honest break down of exactly how she created it, how the membership works, how she brings in new members, and what you need to have in place before you consider starting a membership community of your own. Laura Reagan, LCSW-C is an integrative trauma therapist, group practice owner, podcaster, consultant and coach. In 2021 she founded Trauma Therapist Network, a membership community where trauma therapists can gather for support while building their therapy skills. She hosts Therapy Chat and Trauma Chat podcasts and lives in Maryland with her husband, 2 dogs and a cat. Here's some of what we talked about: How the Trauma Therapist Network was born Hiring people to set up the website Changing the primary focus from therapist directory to supportive

You hear me talk a lot about metrics like gross revenue, hours, number of participants, audience size, and other measurable things. These metrics matter because I want you to make great money and help even more people. Another metric we need to pay attention to is your joy metric.  On our pod in episode 148 , Thea Monyee talked about making business decisions based on what brings joy to her and her team. One way to bring joy to your business is to set up your signature program in a way that delights you. As you create an amazing program in which you serve the people you most want to serve and use the methods you really want to use, you’ve got an opportunity to create something that delights and liberates you. You can lean into your superpowers and step away from doing things that drain you. You can ask yourself: What would delight me? And yet it’s too easy to create a program we think people are expecting, based on what we’ve seen before. It’s WAY too easy to create something we don’t really love. We’re so us

Some of us fit right into the middle of our own niches. We have created the programs we really needed ourselves. That would definitely describe me, and it describes this week’s guest. My guest this week is someone who created a totally unique and expansive program for women with ADHD. Liz Adams is a neuropsychologist specializing in ADHD. She is also a woman with ADHD. Liz has a huge passion for empowering women with ADHD, and she's excited to bring her novel approach out into the world! Here's some of what we talked about: Providing over 28 neuropsychological evaluations each month Discovering that she wanted to create a program for women with ADHD to truly fall in love with their brains and their particular strengths Working through fears and getting more and more vocal about being a person with ADHD Reframing ADHD as a mismatch between a person’s gifts and their environment Creating her 6-week small-group program for women with ADHD Why she mails a paper copy of the guidebook to each participant rather th

Here’s the question I answered from a listener I’ll call Susan: I pretty much constantly have a full caseload. I know that staying full and seeing this many people is burning me out. How do I find time to build a program with a full caseload? I'm really struggling on how to shift slowly out of private practice and into something more sustainable for my own mental health, while also being financially stable. I love my clients but it's exhausting. I hate telling people no, but I'm maxed out and turning multiple people away every week. I've spent the last couple weeks setting schedule boundaries of when I am and am not seeing clients. Here's some of what I talked about in my answer: Get clear on why you want to create a signature program. If you love your reason, it’s time to take action sooner rather than later. Evaluate your capacity to do this including money, time, energy, health, support and other areas. If you don’t have the capacity to start your program, look at some ways to build your capacity. Break t

Many of us get stuck. We wait to create a program beyond private practice because we want it to be perfect before we launch it. And that can leave us waiting forever. My guest today is going to help you let go of that idea. She’s letting us in on the many iterations her programs have gone through. The business she has now is thanks to being willing to get started imperfectly. Meet Reverend Maureen Cotton, an Interspiritual minister, serving the spiritual-but-not-religious. She’s a spiritual wedding coach and officiant with her business The Soulful Wedding, which helps couples experience their wedding as a transformative rite of passage. Here's some of what we talked about: Starting her pilot with just one couple Realizing she tried to cover too much material too quickly in the first round and making adjustments to simplify it Creating a 2 hour group workshop on vow writing Embracing her role and identity as a spiritual guide Creating The Soulful Wedding Roadmap, her 1:1 offer for engaged couples Using the Ma

I thought this episode was going to be titled “A Little Dose Of Healthy Narcissism.” One of my brilliant past clients pointed out that a little dose of healthy narcissism seems to be necessary in order to grow a program beyond private practice and step into the world of marketing. Their idea was that perhaps you’ve got to step into a tiny bit of narcissism to have the courage to grow your audience and sell your offer. Disclaimer: We’re not talking about narcissism like what we see in Elon Musk or Donald Trump. We’re not talking about a diagnosis either. We’re really talking about a bit of bold inner confidence. I mentioned this concept to a coach I was working with and she said “That’s a great podcast episode!” So I put “A Little Dose Of Healthy Narcissism” in my list of future podcast episodes. And it sat there…and sat there… for a year. Then I realized that a little dose of healthy narcissism isn’t really what I focus on or where my clients, friends or colleagues who are making great money with simple busin

How do you create and fill a group program? How do you navigate a full therapy practice at the same time? We’re about to go behind the scenes and find out exactly how my guest has done it. Meet Sonya Brewer, a trauma specialist and relationship expert who specializes in creative life and relationship design for overachieving trauma survivors and their partners. She created Badass Boundaries, a 12-week group mentorship program for overachieving trauma survivors. Here's some of what we talked about: Sonya’s framework to help trauma survivors transform their relationship to boundaries Creating Badass Boundaries, her 12-week group mentorship program for overachieving trauma survivors How Sonya helps people befriend their bodies as they do boundary work The benefits of offering 1:1 asynchronous coaching in the program How she filled her program Sonya’s advice about running valuable and joyful free workshops (engage with your participants!) How and why Sonya runs her discovery calls Navigating building this progra

People ask me all the time “What should I do now to grow my business?” Often they say: “I heard….is a good idea. Should l do that?” Every online business expert is selling their thing to us. (Including me!) Our friends and colleagues tell us that what they are doing now is THE thing that works. It’s confusing to figure out what to invest our time and money in and what to try. What should YOU focus on next? People ask me whether they should: Figure out their visual Branding. Uplevel their Website design. Learn Copywriting skills Learn email marketing skills Dive into Social media strategy Get on Tiktok Buy legal templates Redesign their curriculum Join a high priced mastermind Buy another business course Learn how to run paid ads Start a podcast Start being a guest on podcasts Create a self-led course Hire a virtual assistant or an online business manager Invest in a new tech platform to get organized Create a monthly membership How do you figure out what you should do? I’ve gotten really clear that before w

My approach to goal setting and productivity have changed in a big way based on what you’re about to hear. Listener favorite Tara McMullin is back on Rebel Therapist Podcast, talking about a huge pivot she’s made in her work life. She's also sharing her new book, What Works, A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting. A bit more about her: Tara McMullin is a podcast host, writer, and speaker who’s been making business make sense for small business owners for over 12 years. She’s the host of What Works, a podcast about entrepreneurship for humans that’s been downloaded over 4 million times. She’s also the co-founder of YellowHouse.Media, a podcast production agency. Tara brings a unique perspective to business thinking informed by her background in theology, interests in endurance training and critical theory, and strengths as an autistic creator. Also, Tara was my business coach/strategist for as long as she WAS a business coach/strategist. Here's some of what we talked about: Makin

People ask me all the time: How can I compete with the big names? My short answer: Don’t. Your program has the potential to be better than those of the big names, if you lean into providing a high touch, highly intimate experience. In this episode I share how and why you can ignore what the big names are doing and instead be a valuable disruptor in your field. “We spend a lot of time and energy trying to mimic the big names and their current programs when really we should be leaning into what is not so easy to scale.” Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/186

If you’re wondering what kind of program you should create when you move beyond private practice, keep listening. Our guest has created a totally unique program. She figured out its format by trusting herself. She had to move through the doubt and questions that so many of us deal with. Is this enough? Am I enough? Mishara also talks about why she’s retired her license. You’re going to love her reasons even if you know you’re keeping yours. Introducing the brilliant Mishara D. Winston. Mishara is a former adventure therapist who is passionate about the power of play. A self proclaimed play historian and cultural healthcare nerd, she helps communities celebrate the mental health care systems within their own cultures and helps health care professionals save their own lives. Here's some of what we talked about: Mishara’s realization that people have been healing in community in particular ways for thousands of years, and that she could help facilitate and nurture that process Creating Crave, a radically differ

This is the final episode in a miniseries featuring entrepreneurs who have created phenomenal programs, and the lessons they’ve learned. Today you’ll hear why one of these entrepreneurs needed to bring her farmer self to her program, why a solo mom realized she needed to create a different program, why one psychologist finds her coaching program liberating, and why collaboration is so so important. I’m so glad you’ve been with me on this series. Introducing four fabulous entrepreneurs: Laura Kasper, Rebecca Lee, Monica Bahan, and Gail Reich. Laura Kasper, PhD, helps burnt out Silicon Valley executives with their stressful personal and professional relationships. She was a manager at Accenture before becoming a psychologist 17 years ago. The tools she uses in her program are grounded in her work as a Modern Analytic group therapist and her training as a facilitator for Stanford Business School's famous emotional intelligence class, Interpersonal Dynamics. https://www.cofounderconflictdisruption.com Rebecca Lee

This is part 5 in a podcast mini series featuring rebellious entrepreneurs. This is a treat. I’ve roped these four wonderful entrepreneurs into showing up and sharing their stories with you. You’re about to hear about the programs beyond private practice they’ve each created, and one lesson each person learned in the process of creating and marketing their program. These lessons cover everything from mindset to marketing strategy. Introducing Alice Huff, Dr. Vanessa Freeman, Melissa Susman, and MereAnn Reid. Alice Huff is a holistic healer and creator of the integrative Mind-Body-Space Method. She combines her training and experience as a psychotherapist, yoga instructor and interior decorator to help women restore balance and create calm in their mind, body and physical and energetic spaces. https://www.mindbodyspacemethod.com Dr. Vanessa Freeman is a licensed psychologist with a passion for supporting Black women in learning to access ease, joy, and pleasure. She is excited about creating a group coaching p

This week on the podcast, we're hearing from four entrepreneurs who have created phenomenal programs beyond private practice. This is part four in a pod mini series featuring cameo appearances (or a-hear-ances?) from folks who have been through Rebel Therapist programs this year. You’ll hear what they created and the biggest lesson they each learned in the process. Here are the rebellious entrepreneurs in this week's episode: Mara Gutierrez is a highly sensitive and inquisitive human. She’s also a therapist, a guide, and a coach working with highly sensitive folks. Her work explores the use of entheogenic and somatic practices for personal growth and collective liberation. https://thehealingexhale.com/program/ Danika Maddocks is a parent coach who's passionate about supporting parents of gifted and twice-exceptional kids. She's been partnering with bright kids and their families for over a dozen years as a teacher and therapist. She lives in Minneapolis, where she spends a lot of time exploring parks and libr

Here's part three in a series within Rebel Therapist Podcast sharing the voices of people who have been through Rebel Therapist programs recently. They have created some phenomenal offerings. I want you to hear from them because It will inspire you to realize you can create something amazing too. You will get to hear a bit about what they learned in creating these programs and that will help normalize the process entrepreneurs go through. You may fall in love with them. I know I have. They're sharing all about the programs they've created and the lessons they've learned so far in leveling up beyond private practice. Here are the rebellious entrepreneurs in this week's episode: Staci Boden is a somatic energy healer, facilitator, ceremonialist and author who teaches people to turn dead ends into doorways through following energy. After 20 years of designing and leading countless groups, retreats and trainings in-person and online, Staci currently sees clients, coaches online, holds ceremony and mentors leade

This is part 2 in a series sharing the voices of people who have been through Rebel Therapist programs recently. They have created some phenomenal offerings. I want you to hear from them because It will inspire you to realize you can create something amazing too. You will get to hear a bit about what they learned in creating these programs and that will help normalize the process entrepreneurs go through. You may fall in love with them. I know I have. So for this series, you’ll be hearing from these incredible folks. Introducing: Heidi Savell, (she/her) is a therapist, coach, and educator who has been working with polyamorous people for almost a decade. She believes that polyamory can be a satisfying and empowering relationship model, and is passionate about helping folks find confidence and joy in their relationships. https://www.shelovesradically.com/ J Carlin has over 32 years of experience providing training, workshops, and coaching for leaders of all levels in diverse organizations; been a psychotherap