How To Set Your Goals For The New Year | TPOT 159
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Release Date: 01/04/2021
Treating Neuroplastic Pain in Therapy and Private Practice | Dr. Melissa Tiessen | TPOT 419
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
What if chronic pain isn’t a sign that your body is broken—but that your nervous system is trying to protect you? In this episode, Dr. Melissa Tiessen, a clinical psychologist and neuroplastic pain specialist, joins the show to unpack a paradigm-shifting way of understanding chronic pain and persistent physical symptoms. Drawing on neuroscience, trauma-informed therapy, and real-world clinical experience, Melissa explains how pain can exist without tissue damage—and why that realization can actually be good news. You’ll learn how neuroplastic pain develops, why symptoms can move,...
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Diversifying a Private Practice Through Couples Work | Erin Valente | TPOT 418
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
What if couples therapy isn’t about fixing the other person at all? In this episode, Gordon sits down with Erin Valente, a couples therapist based in Los Angeles, to talk about one of the most common mistakes couples make when they come to therapy—and why real change doesn’t live with one partner, but in the relationship itself. They explore why couples work can feel intimidating for therapists, how regulation and co-regulation shape meaningful conversations, and what it really takes to help couples move out of blame and into connection. Erin also shares how she’s structured her...
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Free Continuing Education for Therapists | Tobin Richardson | TPOT 417
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Tobin Richardson, the founder of a platform called Save the Therapist. When I first learned about what Tobin is building, I knew this was something many of you would want to hear about. Continuing education is a requirement for all of us, but let’s be honest. It can be expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes hard to fit into an already full schedule. Tobin saw that problem firsthand and decided to do something about it. He created a platform that offers high-quality, accredited continuing education for therapists that is completely...
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Preventing Burnout in Private Practice | Dr. Julie Merriman | TPOT 416
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
There are some conversations you record where you know right away that they’re going to land differently. In today’s episode, I sit down with Dr. Julie Merriman, a therapist, professor, and longtime advocate for helpers who are quietly burning out. We talk about something that hits close to home for many of us in this profession: what happens when we’re really good at helping everyone else, but don’t know how to receive ourselves. Julie shares how so many therapists become what she calls “floating heads of competence.” We’re full of knowledge, skill, and clinical insight, yet...
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When Narcissism Walks Into Your Therapy Office | Dr. Anthony Mazzella | TPOT 415
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “Why is this client so hard to reach?” or “Why does every conversation turn into a power struggle?” this episode is for you. Today, I’m joined by Dr. Anthony Mazzella, a psychoanalyst who specializes in working with narcissistic dynamics. We go far beyond surface-level conversations about narcissism. This isn’t about labels, buzzwords, or quick fixes. It’s about what’s actually happening underneath the behavior and what truly helps. We talk about why arguing over “reality” never works, why confrontation often backfires, and how...
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The Unconventional Path: Why Your Practice Doesn’t Need Another Resolution | TPOT 414
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
As we step into a new year, many of us feel it—that quiet but persistent pressure to do more, fix more, and somehow have everything figured out right now. New goals, new systems, bigger numbers—and for practice owners, that pressure can feel especially heavy and often pretty lonely. In today’s episode, I want to invite you to think about January differently—not as a month for pushing harder or becoming more efficient, but as a chance to slow down and get honest about what you can actually hold. Drawing on Barbara Brown Taylor’s Home by Another Way and Oliver Burkeman’s 4,000 Weeks,...
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How AI Can Transform Private Practice Marketing | Greg Goodman | TPOT 413
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
I am so excited for today’s episode because we’re diving into one of the most transformative tools in private practice right now: AI. And joining me is someone who has been living at the intersection of mental health, creativity, and digital marketing for nearly two decades—Greg Goodman of Goodman Creatives. Greg isn’t a therapist, but his story is rooted deeply in the world of mental health. Inspired by his father’s work as a clinician, he built a career helping therapists share their voice, grow their practices, and create meaningful impact through smart, authentic marketing....
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Why Private Practice Owners Feel Overwhelmed (and How to Fix It) | Samantha Parrinello | TPOT 412
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
If you’ve ever ended a workday wondering, “Where did all my time go?”—this episode is going to change the way you run your business. In today’s conversation, I sit down with executive coach Samantha Perinello, a powerhouse in helping business owners reclaim their time, streamline their operations, and finally build the kind of practice that doesn’t rely on them for every little task. Samantha has a remarkable track record—her clients regularly get back 10 to 14 hours every single week—and she’s here to break down exactly how that happens. We dive into the real reasons so many...
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How Personal Calling Shapes Your Private Practice | Derrick Boger | TPOT 411
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
In today’s episode of The Practice of Therapy Podcast, I’m excited to introduce you to someone who made a big impact on me at the Wise Practice Conference—Derrick Boger. Derrick is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, military veteran, former firefighter, and the founder of Transformation Christian Counseling in Greensboro, North Carolina. His journey into the therapy world is rooted in a lifelong commitment to serving others, and you’ll hear that passion come through in every part of our conversation. In this episode, Derrick and I dive deep into what it really looks like to...
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The Exit Plan Every Therapist Should Have (But Most Don’t) | Carla Titus | TPOT 410
The Practice of Therapy Podcast with Gordon Brewer
Welcome back to the Practice of Therapy Podcast! I’m Gordon Brewer, and I am so glad you’re here today because we’re diving into a topic that every private practice owner needs to be thinking about—whether you’re brand new or decades into the work. I’m thrilled to welcome back my friend and financial powerhouse, Carla Titus. Every time Carla joins us, she brings clarity, strategy, and a whole lot of honesty about what it really takes to run a profitable, sustainable practice. And today, we’re talking about something most of us don’t think about until we’re exhausted, burned...
info_outline"If you don't know where you're going, then how are you going to get there?" It's essential to have goals that are tangible and written down. In this episode, I walk you through part of the process that I use to develop plans for myself and how I'm able to stay on track and organized. As you move through 2021, one of the things that I would encourage you to do is to spend some time writing things down and doing quarterly reviews. Tune in as I talk about planners, SMART goals, and The Big 3.
Find A Planner
When we think about goal setting and all that we do to run a practice and manage our own lives, I think it's essential to have some goals. Make sure that your goals are tangible and written down. You have a forty percent greater chance of completing a goal just merely by writing it down. One of the tools that I use pretty consistently now and for the last several years is the Michael Hyatt Full Focus Planner. My friend Michelle makes another planner that I recommend. You can hear Michelle Hardman, LPC from The Primed Practice on TPOT 101; the planner she developed is called the Primed Planner. It is one that she created specifically for therapists. Whichever tool you choose to use, I think it's good to have a way that you can use to keep yourself organized and on track.
Know Your Domains
The other thing about having a plan or having a system is it should be very goal-directed because, like the quote says, "if you don't know where you're going, how are you going to get there?" It's essential to break things down into smaller pieces to know how to accomplish what you want to achieve for the year. I think the other thing about goal setting is that when we think about our lives, our businesses, and what we do in our practices, we have many different domains or different areas of our life.
Most of us are kind of interconnected; we have our home life, private life, what we do with our friends and family, and all of that. There is probably a whole set of goals that you want to have around your personal life, like your health, taking care of yourself, and self-care. Then we have our business goals that revolve around our private practices. Think about what growth you want to have, how you want to build your practice, the milestones you wish to set for yourself, and moving forward in your practice.
Brain Dump
One exercise that I think is always helpful is, and this is my brain dump exercise. Use your planner, and jot down and label each of the domains in your life. For example, you might have your practice; you might have a church community domain, personal finances domain, and business finances. Plus, you've got your family life; you have your immediate family and extended family. It's essential to jot those down, and then under those different domains, do a brain dump. When we write things down, our brains process that information a little differently.
The Big 3
The Big 3 allows you to work on three big goals per quarter. When working on big goals, break them down into smaller pieces. There's a thing called SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). When you think about making goals, they need to be specific. They need to be measurable, and they need to be actionable. They also need to be risky to some degree. In other words, you need to get out of your comfort zone a little bit with making goals. Goals need to be time-sensitive. You need to be able to have an end date in mind when setting a goal. Also, they need to be exciting and something that you can get behind rather than something you dread. Lastly, goals should be relevant and aligned with your own values.
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Resources
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Focus Groups
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The Primed Planner
Michelle Hardman | Having A Primed Practice | TPOT 101
Full Focus Planner
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Getting Things Done
Money Matters in Private Practice | The Course
G Suite for Therapists | The E-Course
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Cool Resources
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Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT
Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast wherever you listen to it. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn, and Pinterest, “Like” us on Facebook.