From Teacher Burnout to Thriving Group Practice: Lessons from Latasha in San Antonio
So you’re dreaming about starting or maybe revitalizing your counseling practice. You crave a sustainable, purpose-driven business (and maybe a little more time to just breathe). You want to help people, build a career that lights you up, and avoid the dreaded burnout trap that so many therapists know all too well.
If you nod along, therapist-to-therapist, you’ll want to hear the story of Latasha, a San Antonio group practice owner who went from classroom burnout and underpaid nonprofit work to leading a thriving, mission-driven counseling team. Her journey is a playful, real-world playbook for charting your own path to fulfillment and financial stability in private practice.
Let’s unpack Latasha’s story for some major aha moments and practical takeaways, so you can build your own therapy business on solid ground (and with a lot more joy).
The Path Isn’t Straight And That’s Okay
Latasha didn’t plan her group practice. In fact, the idea sort of snuck up on her. “It was actually not a conscious decision. I had an intern that I was supervising at the time, and she was like, you should start a practice. You should start a practice, and kind of came along with me. And so it just kind of morphed into this thing of being a group practice and grew from there.”
Sound familiar? Whether you intended to be your own boss or stumbled into it, the winding road is the normal road for most therapists. The trick is to notice when the right doors open (even if you don’t feel ready) and to walk through with curiosity.
Takeaway: Your practice doesn’t have to unfold exactly according to plan. Be open to opportunities (and interns with big ideas!).
Success Is Surreal And Possible
Fast forward to today, and Latasha oversees a tight-knit group: four licensed clinicians, two master’s-level interns, and a client care coordinator serving 100-150 clients per week. When asked how this feels, she says, “It feels a bit surreal… to know that that has truly come into fruition is a really, it's an amazing feeling. And to know that, like, our practice is, you know, something that people actually seek out...it really does feel good. And like, I'm walking in my purpose.”
Hear that little voice doubting you can make an impact? Tell it to hush. The ripple effects of your work reach further than you imagine.
Tip: Pause occasionally to take pride in what you’ve built, even if you still feel like a ‘regular person’. You’re also the one changing 100+ lives a week!
You Can’t Pour From an Empty Pitcher
Latasha’s road wasn’t paved with gold and rainbows. She began her career as a teacher (and, like many educators, as an unofficial therapist-in-residence), but she also confesses: “I knew I always wanted to counsel, but I would say early on, I don't, I didn't think that I had the discipline to really, like, go, go through school and all of the hours.”
A pivot to nonprofit counseling followed. The catch? “I took a significant pay cut going to the nonprofit,” even as her young family grew.
She held two demanding roles (teaching for the paycheck, counseling for the soul), but the outcome was predictable: “It was kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul and going from one high area of burnout to potentially another one.”
Eventually, COVID-19 and her body forced her to a halt: “At the very end of my go back to teaching Covid year, I had gotten really sick and had to stop teaching because my body was like, you're done...I also knew my body could not sustain what I was doing and trying to create.”
Takeaway: Burnout is not a badge of honor. If your body (or soul) is waving the red flag, heed that call now, don’t wait until you’re running on fumes.
When Helping Hurts: Transforming Money Mindset
Let’s talk money trauma. Latasha admits: “I have to know all of the numbers and all of the things. And that in and of itself seemed extremely overwhelming. And I recognized through doing a lot of the lessons in [Business School for Therapists] that I had money trauma. And I was like, oh, that explains a lot of things.”
Like so many in the helping professions, Latasha absorbed beliefs about sacrifice: “I grew up in this church culture where everything’s so sacrificial and you ask for nothing, but you do it all.” When she transitioned to business ownership, she realized those patterns kept her (and her employees) from true sustainability: “I was serving from this place of deficit and making sure everyone’s needs were met and mine wasn’t, and I was feeling really resentful … I did not like what I was doing.”
Tip: If you bristle at spreadsheets and rate-setting, you’re not alone! But understanding your numbers is an act of service, not just to yourself, but to your staff, your family, and your clients.
Don’t Skip the Small Steps (Trust the Process!)
Here’s a place where many therapists (self-starters, dreamers, perfectionists) get stuck: skipping steps because we already know or don’t want to get bogged down.
Latasha confesses: “I was like, I don’t need this lesson. I don’t need this lesson...I was like, oh, you do? Okay, all right. Trust the process, Tasha. Trust it. Get out of your own way.”
The surprising magic of following a proven framework? “If I just took the simple steps that I had honestly been avoiding, all of that other stuff would honestly be this domino effect that really did kind of line up. When I was trying to jump and outrun myself, I was just making more work for me.”
Takeaway: Before you overhaul your marketing, hire three new therapists, or get lost in website redesign, make sure you’ve built a foundation, business plan, finances, systems, and vision. Trust the process. It saves you years of frustration.
Honoring Yourself Makes Your Practice Stronger
Latasha’s biggest lesson, several years in? “Honor yourself first, because when you are showing up for you, you can certainly show up for your clients, your clinicians, your admin, all of the people that represent your practice, even better.”
This isn’t about ego or greed. It’s about building from abundance, not deficit. She learned: “You’re serving people from this place of overflow and love, not from this deficit of trying to scrape by.”
Tip: Regularly check in: Am I caring for me as intentionally as I care for my clients? If not, what little (or big) shift is needed?
Boundaries, Niches, and Saying ‘No’ (Without Guilt!)
In group practice, it’s tempting to chase everyone’s passion or specialty. Latasha played this game (‘more people want to come. Yes, we’re growing!’) but realized, “We weren’t growing in a way that was actually fruitful and it wasn’t healthy.” She now sets clear boundaries for her group and does regular health checks (using templates and data, not just gut feelings).
Latasha found freedom in niching her business’s mission, not just her own services: “This is what hope does. And if you align with that, great.”
Her new guiding principle? “If it’s not 100% yes, it’s a no...For the longest time, 63% was good enough for a yes. And depending on how desperate I was, I’ll take 37%. But really being able to understand where I’m trying to be, where I’m trying to grow, what my actual vision is for my practice and are the things that are happening inside of it, is it really aligning with that vision? Because if it’s not, then it’s okay to say no.”
Takeaway: Define your vision. If a new opportunity or hire (or insurance contract, partnership, side hustle) isn’t a heck-yes, it’s a no. No need to people-please your way to exhaustion!
Practical Habits for Thriving (Steal These!)
Here are some habits Latasha swears by, and you can, too:
Track your practice health. Use real data, not guesswork. “Utilizing a lot of the templates and stuff... and using it correctly...has been so freeing for me.”
Regular vision check-ins. “Are the things that are happening inside of [my business], is it really aligning with that vision?”
Say NO more often. Let someone else run with projects that aren’t a fit. You’ll both be better for it.
Let your YES be full-hearted. “I'm being more intentional about loving me so that I can show up well, for my family, too, because they were the ones that were getting the brunt of exhausted Latasha.”
You Can Build a Practice That Serves You (Yes, Really)
Latasha’s transformation (teacher to nonprofit burnout to empowered group practice owner) didn’t happen overnight. But it did happen when she invested in clarity, structure, community, and self-worth.
If you’re feeling stuck, tired, or unsure where to turn next, take it from Latasha: “You can be both [a business owner and a counselor] and you can thrive at both, and you cannot continue to live in this narrative because you’re only making things harder for yourself.”
Ready for Your Own Success Story?
If you want to see how Latasha and her team are making an impact in San Antonio, keep an eye out for her practice at Hope, serving trauma and relationship recovery and Christian counseling.
You get to build a practice that lights you up - one step, one mindset shift, one ‘heck yes!’ at a time.
Here’s to your winding, beautiful, deeply impactful journey ahead.
Resources Mentioned:
Hear what Latasha has to say about joining Business School for Therapists and how it changed her life and her practice.
Reminder: You’ve got this. And when you need support, structure, or just a reminder that you’re not alone - reach for it. The clients, community, and your own wellbeing are worth it.
