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Episode 3 - Being A Heart Centered Therapist with Sindee Gozansky
112 Plays1 year ago
Sindee Gozansky, LCPC, is a therapist with over 18 years of experience in the mental health field. She holds a master's degree in clinical mental health and rehabilitation counseling, and her dedication to helping others has been the driving force behind her successful career.
From her early days in community mental health to establishing a thriving private practice in 2011, Sindee's journey has led her to become the proud owner of a group practice based in Maine. Through her practice, A Simple Therapy, LLC, she has been able to fulfill her passion for therapy and provide accessible mental health treatment to individuals across the state.
In addition to her clinical work, Sindee is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of therapists. Over the past 5 years, she has served as an internship training site, offering guidance and support to master's level students embarking on their own counseling journeys.
Her most recent endeavor, The Heart-Centered Therapist Podcast, reflects her unwavering dedication to cultivating connection, enhancing therapist identity, and promoting mastery among fellow professionals. Through this platform, Sindee strives to share valuable insights and empower therapists in their journey to make a positive impact on the lives of others.
Connect with Sindee:
Podcast: The Heart-Centered Therapist Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-heart-centered-therapist-with-sindee-
gozansky-lcpc/id1660648538
FB Group: The Heart-Centered Therapist Community: Supporting Therapist Life and Work:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/478651669638167
Mental Health Threads Boutique: https://mentalhealththreads.com/
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Transcript
Introduction to 'From Intern to Entrepreneur'
00:00:00
Speaker
This is from intern to entrepreneur, the podcast for counseling and therapy graduate students who want to start planning their journey to private practice while they're still in grad school. I'm your host Corey White.
Corey's Journey to Private Practice
00:00:11
Speaker
And within three years of graduating from my master's program, I had a six figure thriving private practice in large part because I started planning my path while I was still in grad school.
00:00:21
Speaker
This podcast is full of stories and information meant to give you ideas about how you can carve your own path to the therapy career that you want. Please note that when you're listening to this podcast, licensure laws and requirements vary from state to state. So check with your state board about what you can and can't do on your journey. And without further ado, enjoy this episode of From Intern to Entrepreneur.
00:00:46
Speaker
Okay, grad students, this is episode three of From Intern to Entrepreneur. And if you are listening to this when it gets released, it's the very end of August, which means if you're in grad school and you're in a traditional semester style program, you're probably going back to school this week, which is probably mixed feelings, super exciting, maybe a little bit of nerves.
00:01:08
Speaker
probably found a lot of different ways about it. I always kind of miss going back to classes this time of year, which I will say that for like the first three years after grad school, I did not feel that way. I was so grateful to not be in grad school anymore, but the further I get away from it, the more nostalgia I have around it. And so I hope that you're all taking the time to set yourself up for success in this semester.
Introducing Cindy Gozansky
00:01:33
Speaker
even if this isn't when your semester is starting you can use this as a little nudge to maybe take some time to sit down and think about what do I need in all the different aspects of my life and how do I realistically make that happen because we can't do everything all the time for everyone and so we need to find a way to prioritize some things but this episode I interview
00:01:56
Speaker
Cindy Gozansky who is so awesome and I'm so glad that she is the episode for this sort of back-to-school time because she works with a ton of interns and she has worked with so many over the years and you can just tell by the way that she talks during her interview like you can just tell that she works with students and that she works with new professionals and
00:02:18
Speaker
She has so much wisdom around trying to integrate your career and your personal life in a way where you're able to still have a personal life and take care of yourself and take care of the people that you love and take care of your clients.
00:02:34
Speaker
She has a podcast called The Heart-Centered Therapist. Highly recommend that you check it out. There's so many different people that she interviews that give their perspective on being a heart-centered therapist. Anybody can find an interview on her podcast that will resonate with you or that you might be able to pull some inspiration from.
Cindy's Path to Group Practice
00:02:51
Speaker
We talk a lot in this episode about how to be a heart-centered therapist. I hope that as you're listening to it, you're thinking about what does being a heart-centered therapist mean to you.
00:03:03
Speaker
So without me continuing to recap this, let's just hear from Cindy yourself. Listeners, meet Cindy. Hi, Cindy. I'm so happy to have you here on From Intern to Entrepreneur. Welcome.
00:03:21
Speaker
Thank you so much, Corey. I am thrilled to be here. I love what you are putting out into the world. I'm super excited to be here. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, let's jump right in. So I want to start with you giving our grad student audience a little bit of an idea of what it is that you're doing now at this point in your career, and then we'll go to the beginning.
00:03:43
Speaker
Sounds great. Right now I am busy running a group practice here in Maine. I have been running my group practice for a little over a year now and
00:03:57
Speaker
Part of that is also not just having employees who are therapists, clinicians, but also being an internship site. So I currently have five student interns, which is a lot. That is a lot. That's awesome that you're helping five student interns kind of on their path to career. I love it.
00:04:15
Speaker
I love working with grad students. In the past, I know we're not really there yet, but I used to also be an adjunct instructor teaching counseling skills, multicultural counseling, things like that. And then eventually it just made more sense for me to be an internship site and work with students, you know, for six or nine months or however long they needed to have their placements.
00:04:41
Speaker
That's awesome. And you are going to be a very valuable resource to anybody listening right now because you sort of have a couple multi prong approach to like, okay, you're a clinician in the field, you're a group practice owner, and you're also getting this experience in working one on one with the people who are listening to this podcast.
Balancing Community Mental Health and Private Practice
00:05:00
Speaker
So take me all the way back though, tell me about your journey to becoming a therapist.
00:05:05
Speaker
OK, sure. Well, we're going back a ways since I'm a midlife therapist now. But I started, I went to grad school and did some work in mental health while I was in grad school, kind of part time. That I think is really, really helpful. I encourage people to get a feel for that.
00:05:32
Speaker
And my internships were actually not in private practice. So it wasn't as much of a thing then. So we're talking like, I don't know what, 18 years ago. It wasn't as much of a thing, maybe. And I did community mental health. I did employee assistance program and also residential dual diagnosis program as my internship sites.
00:05:58
Speaker
And so then when I graduated, I worked in community mental health as a crisis worker, mobile crisis worker on our suicide hotline and mobile crisis team. It's amazing work. It's and it's amazing connections and skills that you learn. I highly recommend it.
00:06:19
Speaker
And I was a clinical coordinator there for a while. I did some work in disability services at the university. I continue to do some employee assistance work and then probably about
00:06:34
Speaker
a year into my agency work, I started a tiny private practice on the side, you know, so like if you're working, say, you know, three or four long days a week, then maybe two nights, I would sublet space and see a few clients. And so I had always done that kind of at the beginning. And then at one point, I decided to go full time into private practice. So then I had a solo private practice for
00:07:02
Speaker
since the, you know, I don't know 2011 on and
00:07:07
Speaker
Here I am. Yeah. So when you're saying that you've been in group practice for about a year, you were in solo practice for many years before that. Correct. For many years. Hosting interns during that time, continuing to do my own trainings. I started as an individual therapist primarily. Then I also started studying couples counseling, got trained in that.
00:07:33
Speaker
I continue to work now both as individual and couples counselor. So as a group practice owner, I'm also still working as a clinician, training my interns, running a group practice, and then I do a couple other things on the side. Yeah. Yeah. And what are those couple other things on the side? Because I think it's really interesting for grad students to also hear what therapists do.
00:07:56
Speaker
Outside of clinical direct clinical work and outside of supervising whether that's in the therapy realm or even outside of that Yes, exactly. Well One thing I realized in this field is often it can get very isolating and we We get so much intimacy in our work with clients, but sometimes we don't have the connection and the support we need and so
00:08:25
Speaker
I can't actually remember when it was a few years ago.
The Role of Mentorship in Therapy Careers
00:08:28
Speaker
I decided to start a Facebook group for therapists and so that's called the heart-centered therapist community on Facebook and it's really about supporting therapists like in their work and in their personal life kind of like that sense of we really are humans and therapists and being whole people and it's been a really
00:08:47
Speaker
Wonderful labor of love and just connecting with other therapists. I've made some some friends It's really growing nicely and then from there. I also launched a podcast the heart center therapist podcast. I have amazing guests and Really just love talking to therapists about what does we do? How we can survive being therapists because this is hard work, you know
00:09:15
Speaker
how we thrive as therapists, how we can gain more mastery and get results. And so sometimes the results are clinical, sometimes they're entrepreneurial. I love launching therapists into their own prior practices as well. So yeah. Yeah. And I love that what you're describing is that like we are whole people and so we're not just clinicians who can only do one-on-one work.
00:09:40
Speaker
We are clinicians that have skills that transfer outside of one-to-one clinical work. We are people that have families that need to be able to leave work at work and then go be a part of a different community. We are therapists who need
00:09:57
Speaker
community within therapists. So I just love what you're talking about, and I think it's so important for grad students to hear. There's got to be a way to both integrate and separate. Ooh, that's a therapy concept, actually, differentiation, my ability to be close, but also separate.
00:10:13
Speaker
differentiation so yeah so as therapists we need to learn how to really use differentiation in our lives to be able to blend you know who we are and who we are as therapists but who we are then also outside of being therapists so yeah thank you for explaining that more. I am really curious about this idea that you were in the field for about a year
00:10:39
Speaker
You were doing agency work, community mental health work, and then you decided to start, in your words, a tiny little private practice. Yes. Where did that idea come from? Or what was that? How did that get planned? Right.
00:10:54
Speaker
So Corey, this is great because I did have some colleagues who had also started private practices. And so again, one thing that I think is really important is to network and maintain like your, your friendships or your peer relationships with your fellow grad students. And so I real quick, I want to say that again, it is very important to maintain
00:11:20
Speaker
the relationships that you have with the people in your program and your mentors. Okay. I'm sorry, I wanted to pause you just to reiterate that. Please go again, Cindy. It's so important. And shout out to my colleague, Tom. And he had started his private practice and he was running
00:11:41
Speaker
residential program and still start his private practice and so like okay and you know you get guidance from your colleagues and from your peers so that was part of it but here's a great story um of course we see our own therapists right as therapists
00:11:58
Speaker
Which is good. My therapist at the time was like, Oh, your clients won't care like where you see them. They don't have to have a super fancy office. You know, she would tell me like my, my first office I had to have a lawn chair or something and I don't think it was really that bad. But anyhow, so my first sublet I rented
00:12:19
Speaker
from a pediatric speech pathologist, but I was seeing adults. So instead of using her therapy room, which was like the little kid room with the baby kitchen and all of that, I used her waiting room, you know, and just kind of turned the chairs around. And so, you know what, your clients don't care. You do what it takes.
00:12:40
Speaker
And that's definitely an entrepreneurial move is to go, what do I have to work with to make my dreams come true? I have this office waiting room and I will figure out a way to use it so that I can get to the next stepping stone, which is for you. It was opening your practice. That's awesome. I love that story.
00:12:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah, me too. Yeah. Was that scary for you? Like, you know, I think that the more I talk to therapists, I hear that there's varying levels of being afraid and doing this or just feeling like no, like it didn't even question it. Where were you in that? Hmm.
00:13:16
Speaker
I was not really scared. I was excited about it. And I really wanted to see like, what would that be like? And I think in part because during that time, I also had great supervisors and supervisors and mentors that I knew would help me, right? So I remember that I think I had like a 16 year old come then and that wasn't really in my niche.
00:13:43
Speaker
And my supervisor was like, well, don't worry, I'll help you if you run into trouble. How reassuring is that? Right. You know, and one thing that I think is so important for for grad students is to seek out the mentors or the supervisors that will really be good fits for you. So I was in an agency and I had a wonderful supervisor there. That was part of my employment. But then I also
00:14:12
Speaker
had another supervisor on the outside that I paid separately because she was able to help me in different ways. And you just can't understate what mentors and supervisors can do for you.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yes. And I think that's such an important point that we don't have to just accept what is given to us or what's available to us. We have the ability to seek out the people who are going to help us grow professionally in the ways that we want to. And so sure, I imagine that was an investment of your money on top of, you know, maybe you were getting free supervision at your agency.
00:14:50
Speaker
But it sounds like it was worth it to you and maybe it even fast tracked you in some of your professional goals to be able to seek that outside supervision with someone who is more in alignment with what it is you were trying to do with your career.
00:15:05
Speaker
100%. And fast tracked is a great word because as as I was preparing for this and thinking about what was important for me, this was a while ago, you know, your mentors can help shorten the learning curve, right?
Teaching Interns About Therapy (Q&A)
00:15:20
Speaker
And and that could be in various ways, not just like teaching new skills, but I had a wonderful supervisor who was a couples therapist,
00:15:30
Speaker
And he allowed me to come in and sit in on his sessions. And this was before telehealth, right? So it's kind of easy to sit in and observe a telehealth session. But this was in person, and I would travel and go there. And what an amazing, amazing opportunity. So I always encourage students to find mentors or supervisors, even as you're looking at your internship site, let's say.
00:15:57
Speaker
who are doing things that you want that you can learn from that will go a little bit outside the box too to help you with your learning. That's so important. Yeah. And one way that you might be able to find that is to like go and research people, stalk them on the internet and see what these supervisors are doing outside of, you know, wherever you're seeing them in their setting. I love this idea too, because you're also not directly saying this,
00:16:23
Speaker
But I think you are still saying that finding people that are going to push you out of your comfort zone.
00:16:30
Speaker
Absolutely. Push you out of your comfort zone and get to watch the therapist being pushed out of their comfort zone. Oh, yeah. Right. So, you know, just last night I had one of my student interns observe a couple session and that went pretty well. But I will share that I had another student intern and she got to observe two sets of individuals where it didn't go so well. You know, like maybe the couple broke up and
00:17:00
Speaker
Sometimes what we want as therapists doesn't happen for our clients. And so she got to observe, right, all of the issues that were going on. She got to observe maybe me feeling frustrated. And I think it's really important to be able to have somebody that can be a role model for you.
00:17:23
Speaker
in real life that can role model like what it is, and also call you out on whatever you're doing. And to share that as an example. Yeah, I love that. And also I love, you know, you're talking about like, Oh, yeah, I'm bringing student interns in and I've had a couple experiences where I've said, Okay, yeah, you can come and join this session. And I'm thinking, Oh, all of these sessions go like this with this client, and then blows the roof off. And I'm in a position where I'm like,
00:17:54
Speaker
All right, well, I guess we are just going to play this one by ear and see how it goes and and then processing that with the student so that they get to hear. Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing for about five minutes there because I was not prepared for that. And here's how I got my bearings. And and you know, what was your experience of that? So right?
00:18:11
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. You know, I really see therapy as an equalizer in a way that we can learn from it. And I think so many therapists tend to be high achievers. Sometimes we're perfectionists that goes hand in hand, right? And we want to help so much. And so one of the things that I like to think about too is like,
00:18:34
Speaker
great analogy is like a sport, you know, if you're really good at running or golf, and then you try a different sport, like paddle boarding or skiing, right, you're not gonna you're not going to excel or be as good at that.
Empathy and Boundaries in Therapy
00:18:47
Speaker
But you're going to gain flexibility. You're going to relax a little bit as you learn. And it's kind of the same thing for therapy. We go in and we think we're really good. We know this sport. We know our techniques. But you have to be ready for, just like you said, that weird session.
00:19:07
Speaker
or something new to come up and ultimately, that's what therapy is about. We'll go in with our approaches and interventions and it doesn't always work and we need to learn to pivot and use different choice points and be open and flexible in that intimate eye valve space where you're available to your client.
00:19:29
Speaker
Hey, grad students. Real quick, before we get back to this interview, if you are loving the idea of being a part of a community of like-minded graduate students who want to own their own private practice one day, then you need to head to Facebook and join my Facebook group from intern to entrepreneur. There's already a community set up of graduate students who one day want to own their own private practices and be entrepreneurs just like you.
00:19:56
Speaker
So head over to Facebook, join that group, and stay in the loop and get connected with people who are doing things that you want to do. Back to the interview. Yeah, I really like that. I work with interns quite frequently, too. And one of the things that I notice, especially during their practicum phase, especially during those first one to five months, is they'll come in.
00:20:23
Speaker
they will ask me for interventions they can do.
00:20:27
Speaker
where they will say, I tried this and it didn't work. Or just yesterday, I had a therapist, an intern therapist say to me that they were frustrated with a client. And what came out of that was that they were frustrated with a client because the interventions they had been practicing weren't quote unquote working with that client. And so we had to really distill down like, hold on a second, that's about you, not about the client. And why were you so focused in that session about you
00:20:56
Speaker
pulling a trick out of a hat, you know, in order to make something happen. So I think that it's really important that we're balancing, yes, when you're in your graduate program, you need to be learning intervention, skills, theories, conceptualizations, and you have to keep in mind that so much of the work that gets done is about rapport and presence and creating safety and all of that. And so I think that I'm hearing, yeah, that's heart center therapist.
00:21:24
Speaker
Absolutely. And that rapport and presence, it's so beautiful. It's critical. And I'm also encouraging folks to slow down all the time, which is part of that rapport. Slow down, have that silence, have that space, and stay really close to the client. So I always say, like you just said, maybe you don't know what intervention to use or you're caught up.
00:21:54
Speaker
Oh, I just tried this thing and it didn't work, right? Just stay close to the client. Stay so close to what they're giving you and you'll be fine. Yeah. Now, I'm going to, this is just a question that I thought of based on that.
00:22:09
Speaker
how do you help therapists stay close, but also create boundaries for themselves? Because I know that it's really easy. I know that for a lot of therapists, there's this idea of like, no, my, my empathy means that I'm supposed to feel what the client's feeling.
Cindy's Heart-Centered Approach
00:22:25
Speaker
And how do you be a heart centered therapist while also protecting your own self?
00:22:32
Speaker
Yeah, great question. Great question. Here's an example. So let's think about it like in terms of boundaries and self-disclosure. So let's say you are working with a client and they're describing some kind of anxiety, anxious situation that you've also experienced.
00:22:55
Speaker
And so one of the best ways would be to just do a really powerful simple reflection, but you're coming from your own experience. So you might say,
00:23:09
Speaker
something like you just felt frozen right there or you were terrified. I don't know. I'm trying to come up with like something like that, but you're using your experience, but you're not saying, Oh yeah. And when I had this happen, I was scared to death and I started hyperventilating. I couldn't catch my breath. So instead you might say to the client,
00:23:33
Speaker
You couldn't even take a breath. So you're using your experience, staying really close to theirs to kind of make that connection, but you keep your boundary. Yeah. I really like that. Yeah. Because what you're saying is a very basic therapy technique, right? It's so basic. It's all basic reflection, but also you're conceptualizing it in a way that's saying,
00:23:59
Speaker
if things are coming up for you where you're recognizing some type of similarities or you're recognizing you're really feeling what the client's feeling in that moment, frame it for yourself and the client in a way that is clear using language that it's about them. Right. Yes. I think we can simplify things a lot. It's really helpful. That's how I think it helps me. Yeah, absolutely.
00:24:25
Speaker
So, okay, let me ask another kind of heart centered therapist question. How has that helped you in building your private practice? Hmm. Um, I think I'm pretty real. I think that helps. Um, very relational and
00:24:51
Speaker
Having just having so much respect for the other person, I really believe in being accessible. So that's one of my values. My group practice takes insurance. And so that's important for me and for the community I serve.
00:25:10
Speaker
You know, it's not super like affluent community and people have insurance and want to use it. So that's In terms of accessibility. I think that that's an important value that I connected to the Business that I created sure
00:25:30
Speaker
for being heart-centered and getting clients, they know that I care about them. They know that the other therapists care about them. I share with my interns that it's okay to love your clients. You don't learn that in grad school, but if you don't find a way to see that connection, again, I would say like that I-thou connection,
00:25:57
Speaker
it's going to fall flat. And so I think it's a very relational piece that keeps people coming back. And the other part to this, which we talked about the beginning Cory is just networking, right? I am who I am also with my colleagues and
00:26:15
Speaker
It really helps in networking and building up a practice. And what I do, and I've spent a lot of time this past week, right? Because maybe I don't have space in my practice. Anytime I get a referral, I am writing back to the clients in question, we don't have space. I can recommend these three people who recently shared that they have openings, right? And so that's another way to serve. And so I really feel like it's important to
00:26:45
Speaker
Be yourself and do what you say. Yeah. I love that. I want to ask a couple questions about how being heart centered and how having a private practice has maybe enhanced your life in personal ways, in financial ways, in ways in which you're able to take care of yourself.
00:27:13
Speaker
Okay, that's a big question. Yeah, you can interpret that as you wish and answer in any way that aligns with you. Right, right. Huh? Okay, let's see. Well, I think it enhances my life just because again, it's aligned with my values of really wanting to help others wanting to serve the community and
00:27:42
Speaker
advocating for mental health awareness, reducing the stigma, that's so important.
Self-Care and Work-Life Balance
00:27:48
Speaker
I'm all about that. For me, it's a great platform. People in the community know that that's part of my messaging.
00:28:02
Speaker
i also feel like you don't separate it as much we are humans and therapists but who i am i bring into the other realms of my life too and so it allows you to in a way have a more integrated identity um so i i hope and i try hard and this is actually a practice that i can
00:28:27
Speaker
show my husband the same level of attention, right? So this is the thing, you get worn out. And I've had to practice this. I've been lousy sometimes and come home and I'm fried and I don't want to talk. I'm more introverted. So I come home and I'm just done.
00:28:43
Speaker
And you know what, in a relationship, that does not work. And as a couples therapist, I can tell you that. So I learned to practice what I preach and what I share with my clients or my couples, I have to take in and practice those lessons myself. And that is from the heart.
00:29:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's really, I think this could, that could be its own, uh, that could be its own podcast episode, just helping new therapists and all therapists understand that you can't be putting all of your energy and effort into your career and then come home and be burnt or give your family, your husband, your partner scraps of you.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah. And I will also also cosign. Yeah. That is a practice. That is something that you have to be aware of. That is something that is constantly fluctuating. I mean, I could name a couple of times. This has been a wild month at my practice in, in a lot of ways. And there's definitely been two or three days where I've come home and I've been there later than normal. And you know, I've asked my husband like, can you just tell me about your day today? I really don't have anything to say. And you know, 145 things happen during my day, but I don't have anything to give. And so,
00:30:00
Speaker
I've had to really be mindful of, okay, I can't come home like that every night because if my marriage falls apart, what does my career matter? Right? So they have to be educated in a way that you're taking care of yourself and being able to show up the way that you want. I love that.
00:30:18
Speaker
Absolutely. I just am really touched that you would share that, Corey. I think that's so important. Similarly, we don't want to give scraps to anybody, our families, our partners, whatever, but also ourselves. The second part of your question would be,
00:30:40
Speaker
really finding ways to take care of myself. I don't always do such a good job, but things like having a practice, having some kind of spiritual practice has been helpful for me. Also,
00:30:57
Speaker
exercise is super helpful. If I don't get my exercise in, I'm really grumpy. So every day that I work, I must go for a run or do some high intensity workout or whatever it is. That's just what I need. That's like air because it helps my nervous system. I'm aware that my nervous system gets really, really charged. So we have to take care of ourselves that way.
00:31:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And to kind of connect some bigger picture things for our grad student listeners, you have to be thinking about that stuff now while you're in grad school, while you're thinking about picking an internship site, does it fit in your life? Does it offer you the things that are going to fill your cup?
Advice for Grad Students and Interns
00:31:46
Speaker
When you're thinking about where you take a job, if you start a practice,
00:31:50
Speaker
if you wait, the setting that you wanna work in, how many hours you wanna work, the kind of clients you wanna work with. I think that we have to do a better job of encouraging grad students to really think about that in real time, not as like, okay, let's do this assignment and tell me how you do self care. We have to really be telling them like, no, you have to start planting seeds and making steps toward that now, or it's not gonna happen.
00:32:19
Speaker
I don't know if that resonates with you at all. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I think it's not rehearsal, even though people think it might be, right? It's not pretend. And even when you're working with clients in your practicum or internship, it really isn't rehearsal. And so
00:32:41
Speaker
That's reality, the context you're making, choosing supervisors or internship sites where they're doing something that you might really want to do, right? So I have grad students who are serious about doing private practice or doing group practice or something like that. I have launched some of my past interns
00:33:06
Speaker
One of them joined one of my good colleagues group practice because she was so interested in doing EMDR. And I said, great, reach out to Laura and you'll love working with her practice. I gave her glowing review and she's been there a couple of years already. That's wonderful. I love that. But this is how you can get a supervisor or your mentor who's going to advocate for you as well. And that's really important.
00:33:33
Speaker
Right. I just keep thinking like, wow, you are not operating from a scarcity mindset at all, which is really powerful. And I can only attribute that to the fact that you are so in touch with what is an alignment for you and your values and being heart centered.
00:33:50
Speaker
But yeah, it can be really hard, and I've heard so many stories of people leaving practices, and it's stirring up so much in the practice owner that they left, or all kinds of stuff like that, that I love to hear a story of you going, you know what, someone left my practice because it was best for them, and I supported that, and I think that's a testament to you living your values.
00:34:15
Speaker
No, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, absolutely and you know, it's it's true and I I recently write my practice my group is is relatively young and yet I have Already had three clinicians who are associate level leave because they stayed they got the the practice and
00:34:39
Speaker
assurance they needed that they can do this on their own and now they have private self-pay practices. How about that? That's wonderful. Yeah, and how wonderful that you've supported them and that they're able to go off and make decisions that are about their career, not about being afraid of some authority over them.
00:35:03
Speaker
That's right. And look, there's enough clients. Unfortunately, there are enough clients for everyone. Oh my gosh, yes. Right. And that's important to keep in mind. There's always going to be that need. So let's move into the final two questions. OK. What is one piece of practical advice that you would offer to people interested in an entrepreneurial journey?
00:35:34
Speaker
I really believe, we've already said this, it's connecting with a mentor who is doing what you want to do. So whether it's your entrepreneurial journey of going into private practice, of having a coaching business, of doing something else related, you want to start your own nonprofit
00:35:57
Speaker
connect with somebody who's doing what you want to do. I think that's really important. And let them help build your own confidence in this. Yeah, I love that. Find somebody who's doing what you want to do and who wants to teach you. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You don't. You just need to learn the wheel. And you need someone who's going to teach you the wheel. So I love that.
00:36:25
Speaker
There's really nothing new. Find somebody, right, who can be aligned with you. And this goes from every stage of your journey. Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree. Love that. All right. So then what's one piece of mindset advice that you would offer to someone who was interested in an entrepreneurial journey?
00:36:44
Speaker
Mm-hmm. My mindset advice goes back to leading with your heart. Yeah, because That's where you're gonna get the information that you're on the right track that you're pursuing your passions. You're not gonna keep getting like Interrupted by those thoughts of am I doing this right? I mean sure that will come but you know that your your mind is gonna follow and
00:37:14
Speaker
when your heart is aligned.
Conclusion and Future Directions
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah. That's such an interesting perspective. I really want to keep that like your mind is going to follow when your heart is aligned. I need to write that down. We should put that on a pillow.
00:37:28
Speaker
We could put it on a pillow. Absolutely. It's a little paradoxical but when you think about when For students and therapists out there think about when you've done your best work. You are not in your head You're using your heart your intuition and then you go into your head, but then you're going back down and so Also for you know
00:37:53
Speaker
It's both. You're using your work and you're working together. It's integrated. It's the same thing that we've been talking about, the differentiation. There's a separateness, but there's a togetherness. Yeah, that's such a wonderful way to look at it. And we are going to put that on a pillow. I have had such a great time interviewing you.
00:38:17
Speaker
I, so I know that when we were sort of doing our pre-interview, I talked a lot about getting you to talk a little bit more about internship and things when it turns. I think we're going to have to have you back on so that a whole episode dedicated to internship and talking a little bit more about that process and how graduate students can use that their advantage in
00:38:39
Speaker
becoming heart centered therapists, advancing their careers, things that they might need to know. I don't know what you have to offer to them, but I know it's something. So I would love to have you back. And if people want to follow you or contact you, what's the best way for them to stay in touch with you or what you're doing?
00:38:56
Speaker
Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you so much, Corey. I would love to come back because I have a bunch of notes. We didn't even talk about all of it. And this is just a huge passion of mine. So shout out to you for all the amazing work you're doing to really help.
00:39:12
Speaker
graduate students and new emerging therapists. It's so, it's so needed and they're really lucky to have you. I think the best way you could check out my podcast, the heart centered therapist podcast, and it's on all the platforms. And there are links that way that you can find me or on Facebook, the heart centered therapist community. That's probably those two are the best ways, right? Yeah. And I will make sure that in the show notes that you see those things so that people can easily just click on them.
00:39:42
Speaker
listen to your podcast, join your Facebook group and connect with you. And then they'll follow up with that next time I have you back here. And we talk more about the graduate student experience with internship. How's that sound? That sounds great. Wonderful. Thank you so much. And we'll catch up with you soon. Thank you.
00:40:02
Speaker
I hope that you love this episode of From Intern to Entrepreneur, and if you want to learn more about what we talked about, check out the show notes. If you love this podcast and you want to support me in continuing to create content for entrepreneurs, then please share this with a friend, a grad student who you think might want their own private practice one day, and also like, subscribe, and review this podcast wherever you're listening to it.