Balancing Business and Human Connection with Amy Zajakowski Uhll - Group Practice (R)evolution
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Release Date: 07/23/2025
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Trauma-informed leadership, psychological safety, and accountability in group practice culture. The TL;DR takeaway from today’s episode is: to change the systems and institutions harming us, we must commit to the work. All of it, the intra- and interpersonal. Poonam Natha can help us with this assignment. She views “the work” as a lifelong process of balancing individualism and collectivism rather than choosing one over the other. Poonam’s nuanced opinion is rooted in her lived experience as the eldest daughter of immigrant parents and a self-described cycle-breaker. GUEST BIO...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
Shawn Hondorp on creativity, IFS protector parts, and building a practice that actually feels alive. This episode is your practical guide to feeling alive in messy times. But “feeling” is only part of the equation. “Doing” is what drives change. It transforms our private creative practices into a collective, disruptive force. Shawn Hondorp, PhD., is a maven of creativity and as the creator of The Innovative Therapist podcast and community, she supports therapists and helpers in creating the work that feels fully alive and authentic, blending psychology, creativity, and courageous...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
From Boomer Hierarchies to Gen Z Autonomy, revolutionary communication insights for owners, managers, and clinicians in group practice. If you’re navigating leadership across multiple generations and feeling the strain, this episode is for you. And yes, before you ask, we’re talking about generational dynamics without turning this into a “kids these days” rant. Let’s get to the heart of what’s brewing in group practices right now: intergenerational tension. My guest, Calle Foster, professionals go from quiet contributors to confident, influential, credible leaders. Calle has...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
What 2026 astrology reveals about responsibility and power. This episode of Conversations With a Wounded Healer is for you if: you feel paralyzed by current events, yet hopeful you throw major side-eye at the phrase "unprecedented times” you think astrology can help us forge a better future for all Or, as my guest Steve Judd puts it, “Astrology has outlasted every religion, empire, and political system. It's been around since humanity got off its knuckles on the East African plains, looked up at the sky and went, Wow! I can see patterns there!” GUEST BIO Steve Judd is...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
The end-of-year mental health-related assessments are in and, y’all. You. All! These reports offer some bad news and worse news. Sorry, I ran out of sugar-coating; it’s been a long year. Psychotherapy Action Network’s latest survey uncovered a substantial disconnect between what PMCs, for-profit private management companies like Alma, Headway, and Rula, promise therapists and what they deliver. Shocker, I know. While demand for mental health is exploding, power and influence are shifting to insurers and investors at the expense of patients and providers. But we possess the...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
Gen Z is at the mic, and they have some thoughts. I can feel my fellow “olds” getting their hackles up. But, hold on! I’m asking all of us to stay curious, regardless of generational or career-stage identity. Isn’t that what we instruct our clients to do when faced with new information or complicated emotions? Time to take our own advice! Maddie Tonjes, LCSW, is an early-career therapist at Centered Therapy Chicago with keen insights into what her generational cohort needs to thrive. And, honestly? I’m here for two suggestions in particular: creating space for client population...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
Before pursuing a career as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and founder of Fermata Psychotherapy, a psychoanalytic group practice in Chicago, Santiago Delboy, MBA, LCSW, spent over a decade climbing the corporate ladder in the US and his home country of Peru. The shift forced him to grapple with the “disagreeable” parts of himself. In a nod to the educational children's shows of old, this episode is brought to you by the word "becoming." Part two of my conversation with Santiago explores the art of becoming, a process he defines as connecting with our authentic self. GUEST...
info_outlineConversations With a Wounded Healer
All of us show up with multiple identities (partner, parent, revolutionary, etc.). How do we, as therapists, get better at existing in discomfort and creating space where everyone can explore without rushing to define themselves? Santiago Delboy, MBA, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and founder of Fermata Psychotherapy, a psychoanalytic group practice in Chicago. I consider Santiago a true in-betweener (or, n’betweener©, the term coined by previous guest Nora Alwah for those who, like herself, feel suspended between two (or more) identities; not fully inhabiting one or the...
info_outlineConversations 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...
info_outlineConversations 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...
info_outlineGood people create great group practices. Eventually. I tacked that adverb on the end not to undermine anyone’s ability to craft cultures of transparency and inclusivity, but to acknowledge that the whole shebang requires constant work.
Amy Zajakowski Uhll, LCPC, founder and director of Chicago Center for Integration and Healing (CCIH), is an excellent example of an accomplished leader and eternal learner, the latter contributing so much heart to the former. Amy and I discuss her 30-year career evolution from nervous newbie to seasoned practice owner. We also explore her strategies for cultivating harmony and opportunity at CCIH, as well as her commitment to community building and healing.
***
Join the Group Practice (R)evolution! GPR is a new platform and podcast series offering insights from owners, employees, and experts, and resources to support this wildly ambitious vision for the future. For a limited time, podcast listeners can get a full year of membership for only $19.99 by using the discount code PODCAST.
Visit: https://tinyurl.com/GPRPodcast and click on “have a coupon” and enter PODCAST to enjoy all the perks of Group Practice (R)evolution for a year!
Get Support! Earn CEs!
-
Care in Chaos: https://tinyurl.com/CareInChaosRec
-
Bridging Heart and Practice: https://tinyurl.com/TheSarahsOnlineSupe
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch
Join our Patreon for gifts & perks
Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers
Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts
***
Let’s be friends! You can find me in the following places…
Instagram @headheartbiztherapy
***
About Our Guest:
Amy Zajakowski Uhll, LCPC, is the founder and director of the Chicago Center for Integration and Healing. For more than 30 years, Amy has been committed to exploring the harm caused by traumatic experiences. She helps individuals discover their own unique journey toward healing and supports other therapists in their work with trauma.