The State of Therapy: From Burnout to Embodiment for Today’s Therapists with Barbara Griswold
Thinking about starting or growing your private practice? If you’ve got a heart full of dreams, but maybe a calendar full of doubts, you’re in the right place. Whether you’re a seasoned therapist disenchanted with the system or a freshly minted grad itching to create something meaningful (and sustainable), there’s something universal here: everyone is navigating a tug-of-war between what they ought to do and what truly lights them up.
Step into the therapist lounge with Kelly, Miranda, and Barbara, who get beautifully honest about what it really takes to build a thriving practice: intuition, embodiment, and the radical act of trusting yourself.
Ready for mindset shifts, therapy-world truths, and some real talk about mixing head, heart, and business? Let’s roll!
Rediscovering Your Intuition: The Real Superpower for Therapists
Most of us entered the therapy field with a sense of calling that whispered (or roared): You’re meant for this. But somewhere between writing treatment plans, wrangling insurance paperwork, and 45-minute sessions stacked back-to-back, that clarity can slip away.
As Miranda reflects, “This profession did a really powerful number on me in disconnecting me from, from my own knowing, from my own intuition.” If you’re nodding your head, you’re not alone. The culture of clinical training doesn’t always leave much room for being present with your gut or your heart (“There was no room for intuition. There was no room for authenticity.”).
Takeaway: Reconnecting with your intuition isn’t just ‘woo-woo’, it’s necessary for both your well-being and your business. And it’s not about throwing away everything you learned; it's about bringing back the parts of yourself the field sometimes sidelines.
Try This: Regularly ask yourself, When’s the last time I really trusted my intuition, in the therapy room, or in my business? What did that feel like in my body? If it’s been a while, that’s okay. Noticing is step one.
When the System (and the World) Tries to Flatten Your Spark
Okay, confession time: was anyone else taught, ‘Leave your stuff at the door’ or ‘It’s all about the client’? While boundaries are healthy, sometimes what sneaks in is a quiet lesson that you or your feelings, perspectives, or intuition don’t belong. That’s a fast track to disconnection, exhaustion, and even self-blame.
Barbara Griswold puts it perfectly: “I thought I was the problem. Like, I'm not coping well, I'm not dealing with this well. Not that our mental health system is broken.” It’s a double bind: you care deeply, want to do good work, but the system wants more output, less ‘mess’, and little room for the fullness of real, human experience.
Takeaway: The system isn’t always set up for your thriving; it’s often built on therapist disconnection and ‘push as much as you can’. If you catch yourself feeling like the problem, pause. What if it’s not you that needs to change, but the environment and expectations around you?
Mic Drop Moment: “The system is set up so that it thrives on us being disconnected. Because if we are connected, then we might ask for different or demand better, and as a collective... shifts continue to happen where therapists aren't paid well and there's not adequate supervision and all these kinds of things.” (Barbara, you’re speaking to the choir.)
Compartmentalization Is a Survival Skill, Until It’s Not
Raise your hand if you’re a compartmentalizing, life-juggling, boundary-superstar who’s mastered the art of ‘I’m fine’? (We see you.) As Miranda recounts, “I didn't identify it as dissociation, but I definitely had a strong history of being dissociative in my way of, like, compartmentalizing in my life.”
Sound familiar? Therapists, especially in agency and non-profit settings, learn to “put up boundaries” and “leave work at work.” But here’s the shadow side: over time, you might find yourself so walled off from your own intuition and emotions that even joy feels muted.
Practical Tip: Begin a practice of gently checking in, before and after sessions, with your body. Miranda suggests moving the microphone from your mind to your belly, then to your heart, and simply asking, ‘How are you doing?’ You might be surprised by what surfaces, sometimes numbness (which is a protective response), sometimes exhaustion, sometimes a clear yes or no. The goal isn’t to analyze, just to notice.
Embracing Authenticity (Even When It Feels Scary)
What happens when your real self leaks out in session? Maybe your laugh bursts through, unfiltered. Miranda tells the story: “I just had this like, big laugh and like, had this, like, it just came like tumbling out of my mouth... I remember like leaving that day from work and being like, I didn't think that through. That is not an appropriate intervention. I probably caused so much shame for the client.”
But here’s the twist: “The client was like, you know, what was most powerful was like your response to what I said. Like, there was something about it that I realized, like the absurdity of it... it just helps, it like diffuses it.”
Takeaway: Sometimes, your spontaneous, authentic being - your laugh, your presence, your realness - is the most healing tool you have. Permission granted to bring more of you into the therapy room and your business.
Creativity, Intensives, and the ‘Right’ Way to Practice
If you’re drawn to do things differently (hello, weekend intensives or creative group offerings), you may hear that familiar, inner ‘you shouldn’t want this’. Barbara describes therapists fretting over new, intuitive ways of working: “There's a part of me that's telling me I shouldn't want this...Even though this is how I love to work, I get great results with it.”
Key Insight: There is no one way that works for everyone. As Miranda notes, “This is a co created service to your client.” You get to design a practice that honors your rhythms and your gifts. And when you do, not only do you thrive, your clients do, too.
Business Systems and Embodied Wisdom: You Need Both
Here’s where lots of therapists get stuck: thinking business is all in the head (spreadsheets, marketing plans, systems). Barbara points out, “You can have all these great systems and all this kind of stuff, but if you are offline, it all is hollow.”
Mindset Shift: Sustainable private practice isn’t about choosing between systems or soul, it’s about integrating both. Use all parts of you: the head (for analysis and systems), and the heart and body (for intuitive, creative flow and deep knowing).
Pro Tip: Before making a big decision (niche, fee, new offer), ask: ‘What’s my body telling me? Does this feel like a yes or a no?’ If it’s fuzzy, get curious, not judgmental.
Healing Yourself Is Not Selfish, It’s Actually Great Business
You know that advice you give your clients about self-care? It applies, big time, to your business journey. Miranda and Barbara share honestly about autoimmune conditions flaring when disconnection reigns, and the burnout that comes from ignoring your body’s no.
Big Aha: The therapists who thrive financially, energetically, and creatively are the ones who are “in their intuition. They are embodied. And that takes time and patience and nurturing.”
Try This: Practice regular (and radical) self-check-ins. Block time for rest that you treat as non-negotiable. If you’re not sure where to start, try guided meditations, somatic practices, or even (if it fits your path) exploring modalities that connect you to your own body and feelings.
Permission to Be Human: The Best Business Practice There Is
It turns out that running a heart-centered, profitable practice isn’t about perfection or pushing through. It’s about curiosity, compassion, and the courage to listen to what you actually want.
Kelly and Miranda give us this beautiful permission slip: “Could we just, in this moment, take a couple of, like, deep breaths?...Can you even be with that without trying to change it? But just an understanding that I am protected right now. I am disconnected from the sensation in my body.” It’s about noticing without fixing, without judgment. That’s where change begins, inside and out.
Your Practice, Your Creation, Your Rules
What could you build, if you tapped deeper into your inner wisdom? Barbara asks: “What is the possibility of your creation when you're really tapped into your own wisdom? How much better could life be? How much more deeply connected could your relationships be? How much more fulfilling could your work be? That intuition piece of, like, being in your knowing, being embodied. That's what we want for you. So, so much.”
Take that in, and let it simmer.
Resources Mentioned:
Feel like you want to go deeper, recalibrate, or just need some intuitive support? Check out the other resources and community at zynnyme, and know you’re never alone in this journey.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Now, let’s make your practice feel like home.
