The Innovative Therapist

Episode 133. The 1st Annual Innovative Therapist Retreat is in the books! It’s been almost 3 weeks, and it’s time to share how it went. This episode is more about my experience hosting and some early reflections.

More later on the healing power of community, and other’s experiences.

If you are thinking of creating something innovative, this episode is for you!

I cover:

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 130. This episode is the first I’ve talked about my relationship to food in a while, but I woke up feeling compelled to share on this topic, so I went with it.

I cover how our relationship with food can have parallels to our relationship to money and how all of this can impact our ability to trust ourselves and pursue work that feels aligned and good to us.

I hope you find it helpful!

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

I cover:

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 129. I have loved this quote from Howard Thurman for years:

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

The concept of Zone of Genius was introduced to me 2 years ago and I find it so incredibly helpful. So today, I’ll be sharing it with you.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

I cover:

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 128. I’ve never been more convinced of the power of creativity in creating amazing things in the world, in our bodies, and in our businesses.

Today’s episode is a solo episode where I dive into my thoughts on this based on my conversation last episode with Marlys Woods, LMFT.

Check out that conversation here.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

I cover the following:

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 127. Saddle up and get ready listeners! We are talking about music and healing today. Yes! I hope you are as excited as I am. I’ve been searching for the perfect guest to come on and talk about this, and let me tell you, I found her.

Marlys Woods of Get In Tune Music Therapy is a board certified music therapist and also a licensed marriage and family therapist.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

We cover the following:

Watch Marlys’s video about how music can harm here.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 126. Welcome to the first solo episode of an experiment I’m really excited about! I’ve done around 60 podcast interviews now (!!) and I LOVE it. So freaking much.

I want them to last forever and I have so much to say, but also I learn so much during and after the interviews.

So my new experiment, starting now is I will do a solo episode where I dive in to the topics that arose for me during the previous interview episode, where I can reflect on it, what I learned, and share more of my experiences related to the topic in a way that we didn’t have time for (without a 2 hour episode)!.

For today’s episode, I expand on my talk with Megan Gunnell. To here the initial interview, go here. I am setting these episodes up so that you don’t have to listen to the interview episode first, but you may want to go back to it after you listen to this episode.

Topics and questions covered:

To listen to my interview with Megan Gunnell, go here.

To get on the waitlist for the next retreat, sign up here!

To sign up for online events for therapists, go here to sign up for our next virtual event. Even if you can’t make the date, you will be the first to know about future free or paid community virtual events.

If you are local to Michigan sign up here for details about local events!

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 125. This week’s podcast episode was so good.

I had been following ​Megan Gunnell’s​ work for a while.

And then unexpectedly, she reached out to me. (!!)

This sort of feels like what it might feel like for a celeb to reach out and ask to hang out.

She asked if I might want to meet up and talk about the potential for collaboration.

Umm… yes please!

We talked about potential for collaboration sometime next year (yay), but first, we decided to record this podcast.

Megan really is a representation of how I want to feel about my business and frankly, she’s doing a lot of things that look amazing, like hosting retreats in Costa Rica and Italy.

She’s such a model of what creative thinking can do for you, and how it can help you develop more healing modalities as a therapist in and out of the therapy room.

I think this is a model any human can follow. And we cover the simple, but not easy steps to tapping into her intuition and having the courage to follow her path.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

We cover the following:

Megan Gunnell, LMSW is Founder & Director of the Thriving Well Institute, psychotherapist, group practice owner, speaker, #1 bestselling author of “Thriving as a Therapist” and international retreat leader with over 25 years experience. She provides coaching, online courses, retreats and summits to therapists who want to learn how to build and scale their business. She’s the admin of the Thriving Therapists® FB group with over 20,000 members. Megan received the Meta Community Accelerator Award for 2022-2023 for having one of the highest engaged facebook communities in all of North America. She has presented and facilitated workshops and retreats globally and nationwide. A recovering perfectionist and recklessly brave, she’s not afraid of most challenges. You can find out more at: www.thrivingwellinstitute.com

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 124. I get a lot of podcast pitches. Many of them, it’s clear they’ve never listened to my podcast and have zero idea about my audience. Others are pitching people that have truly nothing to do with what a do (men’s hair removal expert, anyone? Just why?).

Someone reached out to me to introduce Ann though and I was intrigued (I mean, read the bullets below, wouldn’t you be?). I did my due diligence and listened to another podcast interview she did. And I immediately knew I had to have her on.

Her willingness to be open about her unique experiences growing up with her dad, his partner, and her mom all the in same house in the 80s is really fascinating. And her compassionate take on the evangelical conservative Christian approach to LGBTQ+ is really quite inspiring.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

We cover the following:

Ann Russo, is a business founder, psychotherapist, author, and mental health advocate with an MA in Theology from Loyola Marymount and an MSW from Long Beach State. In 2018, she founded AMR Therapy to provide culturally sensitive mental health services to queer communities and other underserved populations. Under her leadership, AMR Therapy has served over 1500 clients with a dedicated team of just 15 therapists and administrators.

Ann is a trained domestic violence and sexual assault advocate, specializing in trauma-informed care and first responder crisis management. She is currently developing specialized Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for therapists, focusing on critical topics such as ethical non-monogamy, sexual empowerment, religious trauma, and queerness. These CEUs are essential for professionals seeking to enhance their skills and better serve diverse populations. Ann also offers consulting services to mental health providers on these topics.

Her upcoming book, “Her Own Terms,” delves into modern female sexuality using cognitive behavioral therapy, sex-positive perspectives, and psychodynamic insights. Raised in a queer, non-monogamous household, Ann’s personal and professional experiences enrich her approach, making her a relatable and insightful figure in the mental health field.

Ann is a prominent advocate for mental health and sexual positivity, frequently featured in articles, podcasts, and interviews. You can work with a therapist at AMR Therapy or connect with Ann directly by visiting the websites below.

You can connect with Ann by joining her email list here.

Website for Ann’s group practice is: https://www.amrtherapy.com/

Ann’s website: https://www.annrusso.org

To work with Ann or a member of her team, email her at [email protected] and mention “Body” in the email to let her know how you heard about her work.

For 20% off CEU coursework, sign up here.

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 123. Today’s solo episode is all about my thoughts about Creativity. I’ve been thinking about this topic a LOT lately. And it’s been incredibly fun.

I read this book recently and already am re-listening to it. It’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert and I’ve found it really inspiring. I have really been slowing down to think about how I can add creativity into my personal and professional life and how others can do the same.

So this podcast episode is all about my thoughts on creativity, including how I’ve evolved to use creativity as a psychologist and also in my personal life. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Quote from Elizabeth Gilbert:

“You’re not required to save the world with your creativity. Your art not only doesn’t have to be original, in other words, it also doesn’t have to be important. For example, whenever anyone tells me that they want to write a book in order to help other people I always think ‘Oh, please don’t.”

That quote actually really makes me laugh out loud.

So much of what I’ve learned in the online marketing world is about knowing your audience and speaking to their pain points.

In my training as a psychologist, I was taught to always focus on the other person and their needs, helping them to conceptualize their struggles, and from there, give suggestions to help.

None of these suggestions are bad, and yet, none of them teach us how to listen to our own bodies as we are marketing or delivering therapy.

And the more I do both of those things, the more I think that’s actually the most essential skill to learn…

I’ve said this so many times. I still sometimes say it.

But now at least I’m catching myself.

We all have creativity in us. It maybe got shoved down, but it’s there. And re-engaging with it can be deeply healing.

In IFS it is said that when we can notice and get space and separation from our Parts, the 8 C qualities of self emerge: Creativity, Curiosity, Connection, Courage, Calm, Clarity, Compassion, and Confidence.

There are also 5 P words that can emerge, including, Presence, Persistence, Perspective, Playfulness, Patience.

Play and creativity are essential for how kids learn and I for one am excited to continue to rediscover this as an adult.

“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner – continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you – is a fine art, in and of itself.”

-Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ll be perfectly honest, I want to convince you that creativity is important.

I went online and started searching in Google Scholar. There are definitely some articles to support this. Liz Gilbert’s book has more ideas on this.

I come from a heavily science and math focused background. My dad was an engineer, and my mom taught math, and later computers, and then taught technology to other teachers.

I can’t say that I grew up truly understanding the immense value of creative works. When I did art at school, perfectionism was majorly on the scene. If it wasn’t perfect, I’d freak out (internally or externally, depending on my age).

My main exposure to the arts and creative expression was the fact that I danced from age 8 to 18, and the again for a few years in college on a college Pompon team.

I witnessed creativity, but I never felt creative. I struggled with choreography. I would just put together tricks I already knew, do a double turn into an axel jump, then jump forward and do a kick and a leap.

Note: If you are like me, you might have a Part of you that gets overwhelmed by all of this, especially if you have a part of you that wants to be the perfect and best therapist for everyone all the time. That part of you means well. And also, you bring tremendous healing and value already. So maybe we can appreciate that part for what it’s trying to do for you, and just know that you can choose 1 small area and that’s great. Or skip this whole section and just explore creativity outside of the therapy room!

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).

Episode 122. In deciding which episodes were worth replaying for you this summer, this one immediately came to mind for a few reasons.

First of all, I’ve referenced this conversation many times since I had it in July 2021 (3 years ago!!). I’ve talked about it on the podcast, and I’ve referenced it in my head.

To share how it’s impacted me, we have to review one of my favorite Maya Angelou quotes:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

– Dr. Maya Angelou

I’ll be honest, it’s been 3 years and my memory is not great. So I don’t remember exactly all the things Adia and I talked about (although I reviewed some of the topics in the lists below).

But I remember exactly how I felt when she was modeling how you might talk to yourself when you were feeling shame.

It felt like a gut punch. A big puzzle piece clue. Saying, “Hey Shawn, if you were wondering where else you need to look to take your next step in healing, it’s here!” Overall message: “You still have some shame to unpack and work out!”

Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.

Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).