Productive Therapist Podcast

You didn't start your practice because you love spreadsheets. You started it because you wanted to help people.

In this episode, I sit down with James Childress, CPA, and founder of CAC Advisors, a financial advisory firm built specifically for therapy practice owners.

James's perspective is one I hadn't heard framed this way before: the revenue cycle starts at the inquiry, not the invoice.

That first phone call, that first contact form; that's already a financial decision. Most practices are treating it like admin, and it's costing them.

He breaks down his wish list vs. strategy filter, three green lights you can check today even if your books aren't perfect, and why the financial decisions that matter most happen before you ever send a bill.

Links:

• CAC Advisors, financial guidance built for mental health practice owners 
• SimpleIntake, all-in-one mental health CRM with a 24/7 AI receptionist 
• Therapy Intake Pro, done-for-you intake coordination with US-based, HIPAA-trained specialists

What happens when someone finally works up the nerve to call your practice?

Someone who's been sitting with something heavy for weeks. Maybe months. Who talked themselves out of reaching out over and over again. Who finally said, "Okay, I need help," and picked up the phone. 

That moment is everything.

And what your practice does in the next few minutes (or hours) determines whether that person becomes your client or ends up on someone else's intake form.

In this episode, Uriah shares a story that kind of changed how he thinks about all of this (a personal one, from the other side of the phone) and then breaks down a framework that completely reframes intake. Not as an admin problem. As a care problem.

This is the AI Receptionist Blueprint. 🎙️

https://productivetherapist.com/blueprint/

What happens when someone finally works up the nerve to call your practice?

Not a hypothetical someone. An actual person who's been sitting with something heavy for weeks. Maybe months. Who talked themselves out of reaching out over and over again. Who finally said okay, I need help, and picked up the phone.

That moment is everything.

And what your practice does in the next few minutes (or hours) determines whether that person becomes your client or ends up on someone else's intake form.

In this episode, Uriah shares a story that kind of changed how he thinks about all of this ( a personal one, from the other side of the phone) and then breaks down a framework that completely reframes intake. Not as an admin problem. As a care problem.

This is the AI Receptionist Blueprint. 🎙️

This week's guest is Lisa Catallo, group practice champion. 

Nobody hands you a leadership manual when you start a group practice. You just... figure it out. Or you don't. 😬 Lisa Catallo figured it out, twice, and now she helps other group practice owners do the same.

Lisa Catallo is a psychotherapist turned business coach who helps Canadian therapists build profitable, sustainable group practices, without losing their minds (or their values) in the process. She's the founder of the Group Practice Network, host of the Empower to Lead podcast, and someone who has genuinely lived the messy, beautiful, complicated journey of building not just one but two group practices from scratch.

And fun fact, she got her master's degree the week she turned 50. Late bloomer energy, fully activated. 🌟

Ever wonder if your intake process is quietly costing you clients?

Yeah, we hear that a lot. That's why in this episode, Uriah is tackling the real problem practice owners keep running into — not marketing, not clinical skills, but intake. Specifically, what happens in that critical window between someone reaching out and someone actually responding.

We're talking about the stats that will make you rethink everything. The four solutions most practices try. The honest pros and cons of each. And the one combination that actually works: AI for speed, humans for care.

These aren't hypothetical scenarios. This is what's happening in group practices every single day. So we figured it was time to lay it all out, plain and simple. Hit play, and find out what your intake process has been missing.

Ever wonder if AI actually belongs in a therapy practice?

Yeah, we get that a lot.

That's why in this episode, I'm sitting down with Luci to tackle the real questions practice owners are asking before they take the leap with Simple Intake; the AI-powered intake system built specifically for mental health practices.

We're talking about stuff people are actually nervous about. The "but what if my clients hate it" fears. The phone number drama. The crisis call scenarios. All of it.

These aren't hypothetical questions. These are the conversations we're having every single day.

👉 Curious about what AI intake could look like for your practice? Learn more at productivetherapist.com/simpleintake

Ever wonder what AI tools are actually worth your time, and which ones are just hype?

Yeah, same.

That's why I'm pulling back the curtain on the 4 AI tools I use every single day to run Productive Therapist and InTune Family Counseling.

In this episode, I'm walking you through Claude (my go-to for basically everything), Gemini (underrated until recently, trust me on this one), Wispr Flow (the dictation tool that types faster than I think), and SimpleIntake, which is doing things I honestly didn't expect, like booking calls at 6:30am while I was still asleep.

These aren't tools I'm testing. These are tools I can't work without.

If you've been curious about AI but don't know where to start, or you're already using some of these and want to go deeper, this episode is for you.

Check it out at productivetherapist.com/simpleintake.

Ever find yourself drowning in software subscriptions and wondering if there's a better way?

Yeah, me too.

That's why I wanted to pull back the curtain and show you exactly what's in my 2026 tech stack: the tools that actually run both InTune Family Counseling and Productive Therapist.

In this episode, I'm walking through my practice management tools, team collaboration setup, phone system (and why I don't recommend what I currently use 😬), and how SimpleIntake replaced SIX different platforms I was paying for.

The best part? I'll share my golden rule for choosing tech tools that'll save you from the shiny object syndrome.

Whether you're building your first practice tech stack or looking to simplify the one you've got, this episode will help you make smarter choices.

Want to see SimpleIntake in action?

Check it out at productivetherapist.com/simpleintake.

Ever feel like you're running on empty trying to do it all yourself?

I used to feel that way too!

That's exactly why I finally hired an executive assistant, and within a week, she freed up 5-10 hours of my time. Wild, right?

In this episode, I'm breaking down the four support services that truly unlock growth in your practice (plus two that are nice to have).

We're talking about the kind of leverage that doesn't just save you time, it actually opens up opportunities you didn't even know were waiting for you.

Whether you're a solo practitioner white-knuckling it or a group practice owner trying to scale past that 3-5 clinician mark, this one's for you.

Want more options?

Check out our business directory for providers across all these categories.

And if you’re curious about our intake and admin support, let’s talk.

In this episode, I sit down with Wendy McSparren, licensed clinical social worker, group practice owner, and co-founder of Admirra, a CRM built specifically for mental health practices.

Wendy’s story is one of my favorite kinds, she didn’t wake up one day and decide to build software.

She was living inside the chaos of running an insurance-based group practice during the pandemic and simply needed a better way to survive it.

When the tools on the market didn’t fit the reality of how therapy practices actually operate, she and her husband (a software engineer) built what they couldn’t find.

Links:

Admirra - CRM for mental health practices

Westmoreland Psychotherapy Associates