You've been recommending Attached for years. Your client has read it twice. They can name their attachment style, walk you through the childhood wound, and articulate exactly why they do what they do. And they are still, every few months, processing another version of the same painful cycle in their relationship.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Amir Levine, the Columbia psychiatrist and molecular neuroscientist whose first book Attached has now sold over three million copies in 42 languages and become a permanent fixture on every therapist's clinical shelf. His follow-up, Secure, just came out from Penguin Random House, and it answers the question therapists keep asking after handing Attached to a client: how do clients actually change their attachment style?

In This Episode:

Why This Matters

This episode is for any clinician who has ever sat across from a self-aware, hard-working client and quietly thought: I am not sure what I am supposed to do with this. The ones who have read every book, named every pattern, and still cannot move. What Amir is offering is a clinical reframe that does not ask you to throw out what you already know, but adds something most of us were never explicitly trained to do. If you have been sitting with a stuck client lately wondering whether your method is the problem or your client is the problem, this conversation is going to land somewhere specific.

Resources

If this conversation opened something up for you clinically, please share it with the colleague you were thinking about as you were listening. The work we do matters, and so does the way we do it together.

XO,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

You had a first meeting with a prospective therapy client that YOU thought went great… but the client never came back. Here’s why: Therapists don’t know how to communicate their value.

Why do amazing therapists struggle with ⁠therapy client engagement⁠? Spoiler alert: It’s not about your clinical skills, it's about how you connect. Engaging therapy clients isn’t just about being good at what you do; it’s about helping prospective clients see the unique value you bring.

In this episode of Love Happiness and Success for Therapists, I’ll walk you through actionable steps to engage therapy clients, communicate your unique value, and grow a thriving private practice. You’ll learn how to structure consultations that naturally build trust and connection, how to address common concerns around cost, time, and readiness, and how to effectively communicate your process and unique approach to therapy.

Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Why Client Engagement Matters 00:45 The Common Struggles of Private Practice Therapists 01:47 Overcoming the Fear of Self-Promotion 03:33 Connect with Clients Before They Meet You 11:57 Helping Clients Define Their Goals 15:14 Explaining Your Therapy Process with Clarity 23:59 Tackling Client Objections Gracefully 28:18 Highlighting Your Unique Value Proposition 31:13 Mastering Post-Consultation Follow-Ups 34:12 Reflect, Refine, and Grow Your Practice 38:17 More Resources to Support You

Your clients need more than what conventional therapy alone can offer. The reality? “Coaches” without formal training are scooping up the opportunities you’re missing, because they have a structured framework of change that they can communicate - and clients love it. You can learn how to do this too!

In my free ⁠ “What Every Therapist Must Know About Coaching” Masterclass⁠, you’ll discover how to integrate evidence-based coaching techniques to stand out in a crowded field and enhance your therapy practice. Coaching tools can help you empower clients to achieve goals faster, deepen their engagement, and create lasting change—all while staying true to your professional integrity.

👉 ⁠ Join the Masterclass Now⁠ and take your practice to the next level! Let’s make 2025 your breakthrough year. 

If you found this helpful, check out some of my other episodes for more tips and strategies to elevate your private practice! And hey, share this with your professional community—let’s help each other grow. 🌱

Xoxo

⁠Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby⁠

⁠ www.growingself.com⁠

P.S. Let’s Connect! I’d love to hear your thoughts and be part of your professional journey. ⁠Connect with me on LinkedIn⁠ to join an amazing community of therapists growing and thriving together.

If you’ve been trying to figure out how to stop thinking about your therapy clients once the workday is over, you’re not alone. One of the hardest parts of being a therapist is that the session may end, but your mind keeps going. You replay what your client said, wonder what you could have done differently, and carry the emotional weight of the work into the rest of your life.

In this episode, I’m revisiting a conversation about one of the most common therapist struggles and one of the biggest contributors to burnout: not being able to close the mental loop after a session. I’m talking about why therapists get stuck in post-session rumination, what that lingering activation is often telling us, and how to create more clarity so you can care deeply about your clients without carrying them with you at all hours.

We’ll talk about the role of therapeutic orientation, case conceptualization, writing things down in a more intentional way, and learning how to gently redirect your attention back to the present. This conversation is a reminder that therapist self-care is not only about better boundaries. It is also about having a process that helps you trust your work, settle your mind, and return to yourself after doing deep emotional labor.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 How to stop thinking about your therapy clients after sessions

05:25 How your therapeutic orientation helps you find clarity

10:04 Why writing things down helps close the mental loop

12:39 Mental redirection and getting back to your own life

15:56 What post-session rumination may be telling you

If you’ve been feeling isolated in your work, or quietly wondering how to keep caring deeply without carrying everything alone, I want you to know you’re not alone. One of the primary ways I support therapists beyond this podcast is through The Growth Collective for Therapists, a professional home I created for clinicians who want real consultation, meaningful connection, and support building a practice that feels sustainable and life-giving, not depleting.

The Growth Collective brings together licensed therapists who are ready to receive the same level of care they give every day through monthly consultation, clinical supervision, CEU trainings, and practical guidance for building a stable, fulfilling private practice. If you’ve been missing community, feeling isolated in your work, or edging toward burnout, this space was built with you in mind.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

The research on psychedelic therapy is becoming too compelling to ignore. While it’s easy to dismiss this work as fringe—or assume it’s not relevant if you don’t plan to practice it—the reality is that, in the hands of skilled providers, these approaches can be profoundly effective. As therapists, it’s our responsibility to stay informed so we can have thoughtful, ethical conversations and help clients access the most powerful healing options available—even if we’re not the ones delivering them. Join me for a free CEU training with Dr. Scott Shannon on May 1st at 11am MT, where we’ll dive deeper into the world of psychedelic therapy.

How can psychedelic-assisted therapy create deep, lasting transformation where conventional treatments only manage symptoms?⁠ Psychiatrist and integrative medicine pioneer Dr. Scott Shannon joins me to talk about how this emerging field is reshaping what’s possible for healing, not just for our clients, but for the future of mental health care itself.

Dr. Shannon shares his decades of work exploring MDMA, psilocybin, and other psychedelic medicines as catalysts for safety, openness, and profound personal growth. We talk about how these experiences can unlock trauma healing, relational breakthroughs, and spiritual integration in ways that expand beyond traditional talk therapy. We also get into the ethics, boundaries, the training this work requires, and what it means for therapists who feel called to be part of this next frontier in care.

Dr. Shannon is a psychiatrist, author, and founder of Wholeness Center, the largest integrative mental health clinic in the U.S., and a leader in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy research and education.

Episode Breakdown:

Conversations like this remind me how much our field is growing and how important it is that we grow right along with it, in integrity and community. If you’ve been craving that kind of connection and support in your own work, come join me in ⁠The Growth Collective for Therapists⁠!

It’s a space where therapists can show up as real people to talk honestly about the work, get meaningful consultation, and be part of a community that understands what it takes to do this job well and stay well.

And if you want to keep this conversation going, ⁠find me on LinkedIn⁠. I’d love to hear what stood out to you from this episode and what’s inspiring your own path forward right now.

xoxo,

Therapist boundaries are essential to ethical, effective care, but from a client’s point of view, they can sometimes feel confusing, distancing, or just plain weird. A long pause. A declined social media request. No direct advice. No follow-up between sessions after something heavy. If you’ve ever felt a client pull back after one of those moments, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Love, Happiness, and Success for Therapists, I’m revisiting a conversation about the subtle ways therapist boundaries can create misunderstandings in the therapeutic relationship. I’m talking through the real-world moments that can leave clients feeling confused, rejected, or unsure about what’s happening, and how to handle them with more transparency, warmth, and clarity.

We’ll walk through some of the most common examples, including public encounters with clients, awkward silence in session, dual relationships, inactive file closures, not giving direct advice, and why therapists usually do not reach out between sessions. More importantly, we’ll talk about how to explain these choices clearly so clients feel safer, more respected, and more connected to the work.

This conversation is a reminder that therapist boundaries are not just about ethics. They are also about trust. When clients understand the why behind the work, they are much more likely to experience therapy as collaborative, supportive, and meaningful rather than confusing or distancing.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why therapist boundaries can feel weird to clients

04:35 The importance of explaining boundaries early

09:20 Common therapy moments clients misunderstand

14:50 Why therapists do not give direct advice

20:35 Client autonomy, trust, and rupture repair

If you’ve been feeling isolated in your work, or quietly wondering how long you can keep doing this on your own, I want you to know you’re not alone. One of the primary ways I support therapists beyond this podcast is through The Growth Collective for Therapists, a professional home I created for clinicians who want real consultation, meaningful connection, and support building a practice that feels sustainable and life-giving, not depleting.

The Growth Collective brings together licensed therapists who are ready to receive the same level of care they give every day through monthly consultation, clinical supervision, CEU trainings, and practical guidance for building a stable, fulfilling private practice. If you’ve been missing community, feeling isolated in your work, or edging toward burnout, this space was built with you in mind.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

Marketing for therapists is harder than it should be and most aren’t getting clients.

In this episode, I'm sitting down with marketing specialist Jenny Arroyo to unpack what actually drives client growth in private practice and why so many therapists struggle to gain traction despite being excellent clinicians.

Jenny Arroyo is the founder and owner of Strategy Solutions. Her journey into the world of business growth is fueled by a genuine passion for helping others succeed. Together, we’re talking about private practice marketing in a way that feels practical, honest, and reassuring for therapists who want to grow without feeling forced into a version of marketing that does not fit who they are.

We talk about why private practice marketing feels so difficult for so many therapists, what may be getting lost on your website, why social media does not have to feel performative, and how AI is changing the way prospective clients search for support. We also get into authority, differentiation, and the quiet truth underneath all of this: private practice marketing is often less about doing more and more about helping the right people quickly understand who you are, what you do, and why they might want to work with you.

If you are excellent at the clinical side of the work but feel less confident about visibility, messaging, or growth, this conversation will give you a lot to think about. It is full of grounded ideas you can take back to your practice right away.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why Marketing Is So Hard for Therapists

09:03 What Private Practice Marketing Actually Requires

14:54 Social Media Without Feeling Performative

19:21 How AI Is Changing Private Practice Marketing

25:29 How to Stand Out and Attract the Right Clients

29:56 Private Pay, Authority, and Why Clients Choose You

If this conversation is stirring up bigger questions about your own practice, I hope it helps you remember that struggling with private practice marketing is not a sign that you’re failing. Most therapists were never taught how to build a business, and there is a lot to figure out along the way.

And if you’ve been feeling isolated in your work, second-guessing yourself with clients, or wanting more support as you grow, I’d love to invite you into the Growth Collective for Therapists. It’s a professional home for clinicians who want real consultation, meaningful connection, and thoughtful support as they build a practice that feels sustainable and life-giving.

Inside the Growth Collective, licensed therapists come together for monthly consultation, clinical supervision, CEU trainings, and practical guidance for building a stable, fulfilling private practice. If you’ve been craving community, feeling stretched thin, or looking for a place to keep growing, this space was created with you in mind.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

Somatic therapy is changing trauma treatment—but what happens when therapists can’t provide it?

In this episode, I'm chatting with Keeley and Michelle, practitioners of a consent-based relational touch modality, to explore a provocative question: what do we do when our clients need experiences we ethically cannot provide?

This is a rich conversation about the gap between insight and lived experience. We talk about why somatic therapy for trauma can be so powerful, and why there are moments when even excellent therapy, strong psychoeducation, and all the right language around boundaries still do not create the kind of embodied, relational experience a client may be longing for. If you’ve ever wondered what is somatic therapy when it moves beyond talking and into something more experiential, this episode opens up a fascinating and sometimes uncomfortable question.

Keeley and Michelle walk us into the world of consent-based relational touch work and explain how it can support clients healing from relational trauma, childhood sexual abuse, grief, loneliness, people-pleasing, avoidant attachment, and disconnection from their own bodies. We also talk about ethics, referral decisions, and the responsibility we carry as clinicians when we introduce clients to any modality that asks them to be vulnerable in a new way.

Keeley has practiced as a full-time Cuddle Therapist since 2015, supporting clients in both individual and group settings. She is a certified Cuddle Party facilitator and has taken every training program that exists for professional cuddlers. She continues her education in IFS, EFT, somatic experiencing, embodiment practices, the Wheel of Consent, and racial equity. In 2017, she became the Director of CuddleXpo, the first-ever professional cuddlers convention.

Michelle Renee has been a pioneering force in the field of professional cuddling since joining Cuddlist as a Cuddle Therapist at its inception in late 2015. She is a certified Cuddle Party facilitator and trained surrogate partner, bringing deep experience to the intersection of relational touch and therapeutic practice. From 2016 to 2020, Michelle served as Cuddlist’s Director of Operations. In 2023, she returned to Cuddlist leadership as Director of Training and officially became a co-owner in early 2025.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why This Conversation Matters

08:20 What Cuddlist Work Actually Is

12:05 Somatic Therapy, Trauma, and Safe Relational Touch

24:28 What Happens in a Session

32:55 Boundaries, Consent, and Bodily Autonomy

38:12 Neurodivergence, Sensory Needs, and Relational Safety

41:36 When Therapists Might Consider a Referral

55:00 Ethics, Risk, and Safe Referrals

And if this conversation stirred something in you, professionally or personally, I want to offer you a gentle next step. Sometimes the most important shift is not figuring it all out alone, but finding the right kind of support. At Growing Self, thousands of people have transformed themselves, their relationships, or their careers with the help of the right counselor or coach, and you can too. Answer three quick questions so we can help you book your free consultation meeting with the right expert. It’s private, secure, only takes a couple of minutes, and it’s here for you whenever you’re ready.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

Sometimes, being a better therapist has less to do with learning a new intervention and more to do with paying attention to the pace of the work. Are you moving too fast with clients, or not moving things forward enough? I’m revisiting this episode because therapy pacing is one of the most common and overlooked reasons clients get stuck, lose momentum, or start to wonder whether therapy is really helping.

In this episode of Love, Happiness, and Success for Therapists, I’m talking about how to recognize when you may be pushing clients too hard, how your own reactions can quietly influence the pace of therapy, and what it looks like when the work slows down so much that it starts to lose traction. We’ll also talk about client readiness, the difference between insight and action, and how to find a pace that feels both thoughtful and productive.

This conversation is a reminder that being a better therapist is not about doing more. It’s about learning when to challenge, when to pause, and how to stay attuned to what each client actually needs from you.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 How to be a better therapist through therapy pacing

05:10 Moving too fast in therapy

11:40 When slower therapy is the right call

18:35 Moving too slow in therapy

23:10 Finding the right pace with clients

If you’ve been feeling isolated in your work, second-guessing yourself with clients, or wanting more support as you grow, I want you to know you’re not alone. One of the primary ways I support therapists beyond this podcast is through The Growth Collective for Therapists, a professional home I created for clinicians who want real consultation, meaningful connection, and support building a practice that feels sustainable and life-giving.

The Growth Collective brings together licensed therapists who are ready to receive the same level of care they give every day through monthly consultation, clinical supervision, CEU trainings, and practical guidance for building a stable, fulfilling private practice. If you’ve been missing community, feeling stretched thin, or wanting a place to keep growing, this space was created with you in mind.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

Therapists are being targeted by scams in ways that are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect. These therapist scams often involve threats to your license, your clients, or your private practice, and they are designed to create urgency so you act quickly without verifying. If you’ve ever had a moment where something felt off but serious enough that you thought, “What if this is real?” this episode is for you.

This week on Love, Happiness, and Success For Therapists, I’m revisiting an important conversation about the growing number of scams targeting therapists and private practice owners. These are not rare or hypothetical situations. They are real scenarios that have impacted clinicians in my own practice, including one where a therapist was pressured into handing over money after receiving a call from someone posing as law enforcement.

We walk through eight common scams that therapists are facing right now, including fake insurance requests, phishing scams disguised as tech support, fraudulent credentialing services, misleading training and collaboration offers, and internal business scams like payroll diversion. I’ll also help you understand why therapists are uniquely vulnerable to these tactics, and what patterns to watch for so you can recognize them early.

This conversation is a reminder that therapist safety, client data protection, and private practice security are essential parts of ethical care. Knowing how to pause, verify, and reality-check before responding can protect not only your business, but the people who trust you with their information.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Therapist scams: why clinicians are being targeted

01:30 The “scary police officer” scam targeting therapists

04:30 Fake insurance scams and client data risks

07:00 Tech, telehealth, and phishing scams in private practice

11:00 Fake trainings, collaborations, and credentialing scams

14:30 EHR risks: the SimplePractice con explained

17:30 Therapist consultation and connection as protection

19:30 How therapists can protect their private practice

As you’re thinking about your own practice, I want you to remember that you don’t have to navigate situations like this on your own. One of the most important protections we have as therapists is connection with other professionals who can help us reality-check, consult, and stay informed. That’s exactly why I created The Growth Collective for Therapists, a professional community for clinicians who want ongoing consultation, practical support, and a space to build a sustainable, secure private practice.

And if you’d like to stay connected, come find me on LinkedIn. I share updates, resources, and insights about what therapists need to know, and I’d love to hear what’s coming up for you in your work.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self

If ending therapy sessions on time feels harder than it should, you’re not imagining things. Many thoughtful, dedicated therapists struggle with this, especially when meaningful work is happening in the room or when a client brings up something important right as the session is ending. But learning how to end therapy sessions on time is a professional skill that quietly shapes your boundaries, your energy, and the sustainability of your career.

In this episode of Love, Happiness, and Success for Therapists, I’m revisiting a conversation about why ending therapy sessions on time can be surprisingly difficult for even experienced clinicians. Over years of supervising therapists and running my own practice, I’ve seen how easily session boundaries can start to drift. Most of the time it happens for compassionate reasons. We care about our clients, we want to help, and sometimes the work is just getting interesting right when the clock runs out.

But when therapy sessions consistently run over time, it can create ripple effects that many therapists don’t anticipate. Clients may begin to expect extra time. Our schedules become compressed and stressful. Breaks disappear. And over time, what feels like a small act of generosity can quietly contribute to therapist burnout, administrative overwhelm, and a sense that the workday never quite has enough breathing room.

We also talk about the real reasons therapists struggle with therapist time management and session boundaries. We explore the emotional dynamics that make it hard to wrap up sessions, including empathy, discomfort around money, imposter syndrome, and the classic “doorknob moment” when a client reveals something significant just as the session is ending. I also share practical strategies therapists can use to maintain clear therapy session boundaries without feeling abrupt or uncaring.

Because ending therapy sessions on time isn’t about being rigid. It’s about creating a professional container that supports your clients, protects your energy, and allows you to sustain this work over the long term.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why ending therapy sessions on time is harder than it seems

05:40 Why empathy makes it hard for therapists to end sessions on time

11:20 The “doorknob moment” and managing last-minute disclosures

16:30 How poor session boundaries contribute to therapist burnout

22:10 Administrative stress and the importance of time between sessions

25:45 Practical strategies for ending therapy sessions on time

If you’ve been feeling isolated in your work or quietly wondering how long you can keep doing this on your own, this work was never meant to be done alone. One of the ways I support therapists beyond this podcast is through The Growth Collective for Therapists, a professional home for clinicians who want meaningful consultation, real connection, and support building a practice that feels sustainable rather than depleting. Through monthly consultation, clinical supervision, CEU trainings, and practical guidance for private practice, The Growth Collective brings together therapists who are ready to receive the same level of care they offer their clients every day. If you’ve been missing community or feeling the early edges of burnout, this space was built with you in mind.

xoxo,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Growing Self