317 - Power Isn’t the Problem—It’s How We Use It with Francine Proulx-Kenzle
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Release Date: 05/06/2026
329 - Therapists Can't Fix Everything with Sivie Suckerman, Therapist Unchained
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Releasing the pressure to have all the answers, confronting broken mental health systems, and reclaiming the art of being present. Get The Wounded Healer’s Toolkit . Invite Sarah to speak about Psychotherapy for a Changing World: A Practice of Unlearning for Uncertain Times Beyond Sivie Suckerman’s formidable credentials as a practice owner, podcaster, and creator of the Therapists Unchained community, her compassion for mental health providers shines through. She built Therapists Unchained as a resource hub to empower professionals amid a tidal wave of changes to our field. Sivie...
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328 - The Vulnerability of Being Seen with Noelle McWard Aquino
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
On self-promotion, authentic marketing, and finding your own way to be visible as a therapist. Anxiety is as old as humankind. Maybe that’s why every person has a different definition of the uneasy state that derails our thoughts or actions. Time to connect with an expert. Noelle McWard Aquino, LCSW, is a Chicago-based therapist and soon-to-be major TED Talk alum. She has three decades of experience supporting clients with anxiety and is the bestselling author of Anxiety Unpacked: Discover Your Type and Recover Your Peace. Now, Noelle is navigating the excitement and...
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327 - Suicidal Ideation Is Information with Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Why therapists need compassionate curiosity, not fear, when talking about suicide. Suicidal thoughts or suicidal ideation (SI), like the emotions that swirl around it, is a source of information. That perspective-altering declaration comes from my guest, Sally Spencer-Thomas, Ph.D. She's a brilliant, internationally recognized suicide prevention leader who lost her beloved brother to suicide. Sally urges cautious mental health professionals (and worried friends/family members tbh) to build their capacity for curiosity around suicide and SI. Together, Sarah and Sally explore how clinicians can...
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326 - Neurodivergence, Trauma & the Problem With Normal with Kory Andreas
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
An autism specialist and a skeptical therapist debate diagnosis, accommodations, masking, burnout, and who gets to define a “normal” brain. I love a debate; they make for great podcast episodes. While their official goal is to generate effective critical thinking, that skill is often missing from the “debates” favored by social media algorithms, especially when the topic strikes a chord of cultural conflict like educational curricula, gender identity, and neurodivergence. It’s neurodivergence that gets the legit debate treatment in my conversation with new friend and fellow...
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Owning Your Power as a Group Practice Employee with Lee Thompson - Group Practice (R)evolution
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Career paths, mentorship, workplace power, and finding your voice as a therapist. When we met a few years back, Lee Thompson, LCSW, was an early career therapist, a “COVID baby” of sorts. She inherited a professional space acclimating (or not) to rapid changes in the field, like the use of conferencing tools and the growing popularity of VC-backed virtual “wellness” platforms. Lee is part of a broader, younger cohort that has opted to enter private practice upon graduation rather than pursue experiences in community mental health. There are many reasons for this generational...
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325 - What is Human Therapy in the Age of AI? with Ted Faneuff
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
AI Can Reduce Symptoms. But Is That Therapy? Ted Faneuff on artificial intelligence, human connection, therapist burnout, and what technology can—and can’t—replace. I’m gonna potentially anger some folks, but here I go: I understand that AI has become a moral issue (on top of being an environmental one). That said, while I agree with some of the concerns, the tech does offer major benefits. Don’t @ me. You can find plenty of recent episodes where I wrestle with the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in therapeutic spaces. Add this conversation with Ted Faneuff, LCSW, to...
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Who Will Control the Future of Therapy? with Steve Duke (Interview Refresh)
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
AI, venture capital, tech platforms, and the fight to preserve quality and human connection in mental health care with Steve Duke, creator of The Hemingway Report. We're at a tipping point in the evolution of our field, especially when it comes to the rapid ascendancy of venture capital, consolidation, and technology—those AI chatbots lurking and learning in the digital shadows. I sound the alarm not to incite panic but to encourage resistance. We don’t have to bow down to the homogeneity of late-stage capitalism. We do have to recalibrate outdated modes of operation and revamp our...
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Data, Dollars, and the Future of Therapy with Sharon Harper (Therapists Unchained | Sivie Suckerman)
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Sarah shares an episode from a podcast (and therapist) she'd like to introduce you to: with Sivie Suckerman In this episode of Therapists Unchained, Sivie interviews Sharon Harper, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of the Therapist Resource Institute (TRI). The conversation explores the necessity of reclaiming professional autonomy and building sustainable careers through authentic human connection and systemic advocacy, while also delving into the Therapist Resource Institute as a national platform designed to unify mental health professionals across all licenses and career...
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Cultural Humility and Authentic Presence in Therapy with Gino Titus-Luciano (A Simple Therapy Podcast | Sindee Gozansky)
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
Sarah shares an episode from a podcast (and therapist) she’d like to introduce you to: with Sindee Gozansky. Sindee Gozansky welcomes Gino Titus-Luciano, LMHC—CEO of Kokua Mental Health and Wellness Group, president of the Hawaii Counselors Association, and a therapist who believes you can't show up as a textbook and expect real healing to happen. Gino brings insight into what culturally grounded care actually looks like and why bringing your authentic self into the room doesn't mean losing your professional boundaries. Together, Sindee and Gino explore how to balance being real...
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324 - The Fall of the Traditional Therapist (and What’s Next) with Josie Rosario
Conversations With a Wounded Healer
What if the future of therapy asks clinicians to stop checking their humanity at the door? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: There’s a gap between the world we were trained for as therapists and the world we find ourselves in now. And here to explore that gap with compassion, curiosity, and a dose of reality is relational therapist, writer, mentor, and founder of Venus + Legacy, Josie Rosario. Keep listening if you are curious about: The evolving role of the therapist to meet the needs of today’s clients Therapists doing their own healing work and examining one’s...
info_outlineWhat if power isn’t something to avoid—but something to learn? Francine Proulx-Kenzle and Sarah Buino explore sociocracy, personal power, burnout, and how early childhood experiences shape the way we show up in systems.
I’m going to say something that might make a few therapists squirm: power is not the enemy. And yet… so many of us act like it is.
In this conversation with Francine Proulx-Kenzle, I kept coming back to a core truth that I think we—especially in the therapy world—need to hear again and again: power simply exists. What matters is how we relate to it.
Key takeaways from this episode:
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Power isn’t something you have or don’t have—it’s something you learn to use
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Avoiding power often leads to recreating the same harmful dynamics
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Burnout is often a sign of disconnection from your own needs and agency
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Systems like sociocracy show us what shared, humane power can look like
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Healing isn’t about becoming perfect—it’s about staying in relationship with your humanity
If there’s one thing I want you to take from this conversation, it’s this: you don’t have to reject power to be a good person. You just have to learn how to use it differently. And that work starts with you.
Join the waitlist for the next Authentic Leaders Group!
This is a journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll not only enhance your leadership skills but also forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Apply now!
Thank you to The Therapist Network for sponsoring the show!
The Therapist Network is a global community built by and for therapists. You’ll find live consult groups, an ever-growing library of workshops and courses, plus a community that really sees you. Sarah’s group, Tending to the Wounded Healer, meets every other Monday from 1–2pm CT, and it’s a space to explore the intersection of your lived experience and your clinical work.
So if you want to feel more supported and less alone, visit TheTherapist.Network—or join Sarah’s group directly at tinyurl.com/HealerConsultTTN.
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