287 - David Allen, Part 1 - A Tattoo Artist Holding Space for Healing and Renewal
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Release Date: 05/07/2025
New Ways to Survive and Thrive as an Entrepreneur with Uriah Guilford, Productive Therapist - Group Practice (R)evolution
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Scan any therapists' forum and you’ll discover that the operational strategies that group practices have relied on no longer work. Could organizing principles like collaboratives, collectives, and cooperatives offer group practices new ways to thrive? Uriah Guilford, MFT, thinks so! He has had success bucking the industry’s tried-and-true practice model. Uriah’s evolution from traditional group practice owner to collaborative model speaks to his willingness to take on risks within reason. GUEST BIO Uriah Guilford, MFT, is a licensed therapist and a group practice owner. He's also...
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302 - Creating Conditions in Which People Can Heal with Michael Sykes
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
The answer to righting the world’s many wrongs is more love. Love is also the problem. If you’re new here, then solving this conundrum may seem hopeless. Fear not! In part one of my conversation with Michael Sykes, we began with a simple question: How can we encourage ideas or policies rich in love for each other when so many of us struggle to love ourselves? In part two, Michael and I dig into the societal pressures, inherited traumas, and self-doubts that have disconnected us from our authentic loving natures. GUEST BIO Michael Sykes is the founder of Equitable Solutions and...
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301 - Realize How Much You’re Worth with Michael Sykes
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Some people remind us to trust the process, even when it seems hopeless. Michael Sykes is one of those people. He's the cheerleader encouraging us on the uneasy journey to authenticity. What I appreciate most is his commitment to integrity, even when the path toward that innate wholeness feels inaccessible. He doesn't shy away from sharing the most heart-centered version of himself with the world. Sure, he may metaphorically faceplant from time to time (who hasn't?!). But, Michael stays the course—and he's created a guide to help us do the same. GUEST BIO Michael Sykes is the founder of...
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How Can We Support New Clinicians Through Imposter Syndrome And More? with Sierra Waller - Group Practice (R)evolution
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Chats with group practice employees are more fun when you’re not their practice owner! Maybe a bit more revealing, too. Such is the case with my guest, Sierra Waller, LCPC, an early-career therapist working at Health In Tandem, a small group practice in Chicago. Apologies if you’ve landed here hoping for a gripe-and-gossip session. Instead, Sierra and I dig into her experiences as a newer therapist in a group practice setting. This trajectory from grad school straight into private practice has become increasingly common. Subsequently, there’s a learning curve to be aware of on both sides...
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300 - How to Be a Conscious Leader Without Closing Off Your Heart with Julianne Guinasso
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
How do leaders keep their heads clear and hearts open in the heat of difficult conversations? I ask because it’s only natural for leaders (and any human, really) to bristle at opposition to their ideas, critique of their efforts, or recommendations for improvement. Being in community with each other requires a high level of mutual responsibility. But the practice of accountability can activate deeply entrenched defense mechanisms, even in the most self-aware among us (note to self). In part two of my conversation with Julianne Guinasso, LMFT, and co-founder of Level Up Leaders, we explore...
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299 - Changing Systems From the Inside with Julianne Guinasso
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Outward change (to our profession, our communities, and our world) can only happen when we start from within—and we're gonna need all the help we can get. Julianne Guinasso, LMFT, is a role model for these contentious times. She's a therapist in private practice and the co-founder of Level Up Leaders, a partnership that helps mental health group practice owners cultivate psychologically safe, trauma-informed work cultures. Our two-part conversation begins with an honest assessment of the "becoming" process and offers some helpful reframes for when things feel especially sticky. GUEST BIO...
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What the Growing Political Divide Means for Your Business with Gabrielle Juliano-Villani - Group Practice (R)evolution
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
I'll start by stating the obvious. Being a group practice owner or group practice therapist in "unprecedented times" is a challenging endeavor. Our people and profession are struggling under the pressures of late-stage capitalism, antagonistic politics, and rage-bait algorithms —the same forces that affect our clients. I'll follow up the obvious with a hard truth. Some of the ills are coming from inside the house, er, practice. I believe in the good and essential aspects of the group practice model. I also believe that the only way out is through. And together. As does Gabrielle...
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298 - What’s Wrong With Me If I’m Not Thriving? with Nora Alwah
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Are you an n’betweener? Before you answer, I recommend queuing up part one of my conversation with Nora Alwah, LPC, the coach, therapist, TEDx speaker, and community-builder. She coined the term n’betweener© to describe those who, like herself, feel suspended between two (or more) identities; not fully inhabiting one or the other. In part two, Nora and I explore ways that folks can expand their capacity for understanding in a world that increasingly devalues the experiences of n’betweeners. GUEST BIO Nora Alwah (she/her) - Coach. Therapist. TEDx speaker. Writer....
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297 - Global Perspectives on Identity, Mental Health, and Psychology with Nora Alwah
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Many of us know what it feels like to navigate a middle space. Folks who are gender-fluid come to mind. But I’m also thinking of those who balance a privileged identity with their relationship to a traditionally oppressed group. Or anyone whose ethnicity is not commonly associated with the culture in which they grew up. How do we express this complicated identity in terms that others might understand or empathize with? Nora Alwah, founder of n’betweener©, a global platform and space of belonging, helps folks voice their truth and transform the pain of being an n’betweener into...
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Managing Beginnings and Endings as a Business Owner with Rebecca Slusher - Group Practice (R)evolution
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
There’s an obvious throughline that runs from productive feedback to authentic relationships. And vice versa. Rebecca Slusher, LPCP, is the owner of Balanced Life Counseling in Chicago. She understands that managing the group's needs for connection, empathy, and equitable conflict resolution, while navigating the daily realities of doing business, is a work in progress — and that’s okay! GUEST BIO Rebecca Slusher (she/her) is the owner of Balanced Life Counseling and has been in practice for 15 years in the Logan Square community. The practice specializes in working with both individuals...
info_outlineLook for the helpers. It’s a simple axiom meant to comfort small children, a reminder to find supportive adults in times of distress. But good advice doesn’t stop being good just because we’ve aged out of the original target audience. Adults need helpers, too.
David Allen is an absolute gem of a helper, an art director turned tattoo artist who works with post-mastectomy clients in Chicago. While breast cancer survivors aren’t the whole of his business, David gratefully acknowledges the indelible mark that these warriors have left on his personal life and professional outlook.
GUEST BIO
David Allen is a Chicago-based tattoo artist known for his bespoke floral designs that transform mastectomy scars into powerful expressions of healing and renewal. With a deep respect for each client’s voice and story, David approaches tattooing as a collaborative process — one that centers agency, artistry, and emotional care. His work is rooted in compassion, intention, and connection.
Authentic Leaders Group
Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles?
Our Authentic Leaders Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners.
Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field.
Join the waitlist now to be part of the next Authentic Leaders Group!
1:1 With Sarah
Wounded healers need supervision too. Sarah is passionate about fostering therapists’ personal and professional growth through mentoring, supervision, and consultation.
Mentoring options are available for therapists who are looking for a transformative supervision experience and practice owners who are looking for customized support.
Supervision not only plays a crucial role in the professional development and ethical practice of therapists, but also provides parallel process for our own healing.
In consultations, Sarah helps practice owners align their business with their lifestyle goals. Together, we'll look at both the concrete business practices as well as the emotional stuff that complicates business ownership.
Reach out to find out more and book!
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