Finding Your Rhythm in Private Practice: Breathwork, Business, and the Power of Presence with Zach
So, you’re growing a private practice, maybe even daring to do it in a world that seems to get weirder by the month. There’s paperwork, there are panels, there’s the ever-moody EHR system, and (let’s be honest) there are days you wish “deep breaths” paid the mortgage.
But what if (stay with me here) deep breaths could move the needle?
Today we’re talking about more than just collecting client forms or optimizing your Psychology Today listing. Let’s step a little outside the therapy box and into a conversation that might just shift the way you run your business, support your clients, and take care of YOU.
On a recent episode of the Starting a Counseling Practice Success Stories podcast, we welcomed Breathwork Facilitator Zach Rehder (right this way to his website!), who’s helped therapists and clients alike discover wisdom, healing, and business growth… all in the space between inhale and exhale.
Whether you’re a clinical newbie or a seasoned therapist, get ready to bring a burst of creativity, presence, and, dare we say, ease to your private practice journey.
1. Breath, Business, and Building Something That Lasts
If you’re feeling jittery about the current mental health landscape (who isn’t?), you’re not alone. Therapists everywhere are “scared, nervous, stressed,” notes Kelly. Her hunch? What gets us through is not clinging to the medical model or the latest therapy sub-specialty. Instead, she says, “creativity, thinking outside of the box, stepping away from the medical model, and finding ways to serve that are more aligned with our truth and community, building connection with other like-minded people,” that’s the magic formula for both business and client transformation.
And in moments of change or uncertainty, sometimes the best thing you can do is… breathe.
Zach puts it simply: “Breath work is… any conscious practice with the breath. There’s so many ways to play with it. What does it mean to me? It’s my favorite thing. I think it’s such a key in any sort of healing or opening or awakening or shifting of our consciousness.”
You don’t have to become a breathwork facilitator overnight to bring these lessons into your practice. Just start with a curious heart (and maybe a willingness to actually exhale).
2. The Breath Tells All (And So Does Your Business)
Ever notice a client’s breath shallow when you ask about a tough subject? Or your own, tightening when you send that late-night invoice or update your paperwork template for the fourteenth time?
As Zach points out: “If you watch someone breathe for a day, you have a good idea of where they’re at and what’s going on in their body and their lives and their health.”
That held breath isn’t just about blocking feelings; it also shows you where someone might be hiding, stuck, or struggling. Unaddressed, it can keep us stuck in our own practice growth, too.
Try this: Pay attention to when you (or your client) start holding your breath, when you hit publish on your website, during first consult calls, or even while tallying business expenses. What’s the story the breath is telling? What might loosen if you let yourself really exhale?
3. Trust the Breath, Trust the Process
Just about every therapist wonders at some point: Can I really do this? Can I run my own practice? Am I going to fail publicly, spectacularly?
According to Zach: “The business building journey is about building your self-trust. Like, knowing yourself and trusting yourself and trusting your capacity, listening to the body and its wisdom. And I love that about what you say with the breath. Like, it'll never give you more than you can handle.”
Success, in business and breathwork, is about stretching gently, never forcing, and letting that edge move out a little farther each time. “The edge keeps expanding and growing,” he says. So does your courage.
Business tip: Trust your intuition, a business skill as real as any marketing hack. When you feel yourself hitting the edge, pause. Breathe. Then see if you’re ready to take just one step further.
4. Triggers: Annoyances... or Opportunities?
Confession: running a business will trigger you, probably a lot. From tough clinical cases to tax time panic, private practice can feel like one long exposure exercise. That’s actually good news, says Zach: “What’s being triggered is our opportunities for growth. What’s being triggered is our traumas or the places where we’re playing small... There’s magic in those feelings we don’t want to feel. Those are absolutely the places people are holding their breath.”
The point? If you’re getting reactive or overwhelmed, you’re not failing at therapy-ing or business-ing. You’re being shown exactly where your next growth point is.
Practice growth tip: Make a little space to notice what triggers you in the business-building process (fees, visibility, boundaries), then get curious, not punitive, about it. What if, as Zach asks, “everything you were looking for was found in all the places you didn’t wanna look”?
5. Real Connection > AI (Yes, You’re Irreplaceable)
Scared the chatbots will take over the therapy world? Pause for a breath. Zach and Kelly agree: “There is something about the attunement, the embodiment, and the attunement between you, the practitioner, and the client that is necessary… There’s something magic about human connection.”
The future is human, embodied, and yes, sometimes a little messy. So keep reaching out, keep collaborating, and don’t worry: you can’t automate the real magic of this work.
Business boost: Seek out in-person or virtual breathwork sessions, supervision, or simply a connection with other clinicians. Remember, you don’t have to DIY your business healing: connection is the secret weapon.
6. Breathwork In Practice: Simple Ways to Begin
Interested in bringing breathwork into your sessions without adding a certification to your endless to-do list? Here are a few simple (and ethical) ways to start:
Get curious about the breath. Notice your client’s breath patterns and gently reflect what you see (‘I noticed your breath got shallow as you talked about that’).
Teach foundational techniques. Try simple tools like box breathing or 4-7-8 breathing.
Pair talk with breath. After an intense share in session or group, pause for a breath together before moving on.
Know your lane. Want to go deeper? Collaborate with a qualified breathwork facilitator like breathwork facilitator Zach - therapists and somatic practitioners make great referral partners!
As Zach says, “It’s not for every part of the journey, but there are absolutely breath practices that are always gonna be good no matter where somebody’s at.”
7. Give Yourself the Gift of Space
Around here, we love a checklist (hello, therapy brain!). But Zach nudges us to add something new to our daily list: “Every day for five minutes, I’m gonna sit down and let myself be triggered and feel all the stuff that’s coming up today and, like, letting it bother me... just giving it the space to feel while I breathe with it and see what happens.”
If you want to model resilience and presence for your clients, start with yourself. That’s how you build a thriving practice that’s not just profitable, but peaceful.
Step Into Your Own Expansion
If you take nothing else from this conversation, take this: you don’t have to build your private practice from a place of force, frantic hustle, or fear. Try building it from breath, from presence, and from, dare we add, a dash of playfulness.
Want to breathe new life into your business? Curious how support and community can help you build a private practice that supports you (not just your clients)? Check out the Business School for Therapists: a step-by-step program for therapists who want a profitable, sustainable private practice, built with heart.
Explore the next step for your practice and join a nurturing community of fellow healers at Business School for Therapists.
And if you’re inspired to learn more about breathwork (or looking for the breathwork facilitator to partner up with), check out Zach. Your next breakthrough might just be one exhale away.
Here’s to full lungs, brave hearts, and the practice you’re meant to create!
