Advertise on podcast: A Simple Therapy Podcast: Honest Conversations on Therapy, Mental Health, Healing and Self-Growth

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky unpacks the overthinking so many therapists experience but rarely discuss openly, tracing it back to perfectionism, fear of causing harm, and countertransference. She offers a few gentle shifts to soften the loop rather than suppress it: naming it out loud, separating reflection from rumination, leaning on supervision, and trusting presence over performance.  00:00 - Welcome to the Podcast 00:48 - Naming the Therapist Overthinking Spiral 02:31 - Roots of Overthinking 05:59 - Shifting Out of the Loop 08:40 - Reflection Versus Rumination 11:17 - Letting Supervision Hold It 13:22 - Permission to Be Human Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky talks with Pam Skop, LMHC, CEDS, and founder of EveryBody Psychotherapy NYC, about eating disorders, body image, and what recovery actually looks like once you get past the surface. Pam's own eating disorder went unnoticed through her teens and twenties, even in therapy, because no one ever asked her the right questions — an experience that now shapes how she trains therapists to check in about food and body with every client. Her central reframe: an eating disorder is not a weight disorder, and disordered eating usually isn't a problem to eliminate so much as a protector to understand.  Together, they work through what that looks like in practice — simple, non-shaming intake questions modeled on how clinicians already ask about sleep, the role of curiosity over advice-giving, and why "you look so healthy" can land as harder than helpful. The conversation moves through the cultural pressure driving harder relapses right now, from GLP-1 messaging to 15-second social media clips to the perinatal period and bounce-back culture. Pam shares what healing can look like using deeper somatic and IFS-informed work of reconnecting people to their bodies.  00:49 - Meet Pam Skop  02:53 - Pam's Personal Recovery Journey  05:19 - What Gets Missed, and How to Ask  10:23 - Redefining Recovery and Its Protective Roots  13:30 - Misconceptions About Bodies and Diagnosis  16:00 - Why This Cultural Moment Feels Harder  20:09 - What People Wish Others Understood  24:38 - Signs of Healing and Flexibility  26:01 - Somatic Work and Reconnecting to the Body  29:06 - Perinatal and Postpartum Body Image  36:42 - Nourishment and Resources for New Parents 39:02 - Building EveryBody Psychotherapy NYC 40:58 - Interns and the Next Generation of Therapists  46:24 - Taking Risks and a Message for Anyone Struggling  49:22 - Where to Find Pam Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Pam Skop:   Website: https://www.everybodypsychotherapynyc.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everybodypsychotherapynyc/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everybodypsychotherapynyc/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaksandtranquilitytherapist/    Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky talks with Randall Avery, CFP and owner of Deasil Wealth Management, about the part of private practice ownership most clinicians were never trained for: money. Randall built his career in corporate financial planning, but it wasn't until a therapist friend described the impact of her work that he found the "soul" missing from the numbers. His central reframe for the conversation: every practice owner is quietly running two sets of books, business and personal, and most therapists have only ever been taught to ignore both. Together, they work through what it actually looks like to build financial competence without shame. Randall walks through the natural progression from spreadsheets to QuickBooks to a bookkeeper, breaks down the retirement account ladder (SEP IRA, solo 401K, SIMPLE IRA), and shares his rule of thumb for cash cushions. Underneath the mechanics, Sindee and Randall keep returning to the emotional core: the shame clinicians carry around money, the training that told them profit shouldn't matter, and how staying "on offense" rather than reactive can quiet a lot of that anxiety before it starts.   00:48 - Meet Randall Avery  03:05 - Finding the "Soul" in Financial Planning  05:30 - Running Two Sets of Books  06:22 - Building Business Equity Through Systems  09:10 - The Belief That Keeps Clinicians Stuck  11:15 - Nobody Cares What You Know Until They Know You Care  14:53 - Know Your Numbers: Budgeting Basics  15:53 - Where Taxes and Reinvestment Fit In  18:01 - From Spreadsheets to QuickBooks to a Bookkeeper  20:08 - SEP IRA, Solo 401K, and SIMPLE IRA Explained  27:25 - Building Your Cash Cushion  28:29 - Taking Care of Employees Financially  32:51 - Playing Offense Instead of Reacting  37:01 - Signs You're Ready for a Financial Planner  39:00 - What to Look for in a Fee-Only Fiduciary  40:20 - Actionable First Steps This Week  42:22 - Talking Money With a Partner Without Judgment  45:43 - Where to Find Randall Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Randall Avery:   Website: https://deasilwm.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randallavery/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rsadeasil50/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Deasilwm  Book: https://deasilwm.com/book/    Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky talks with Lacey Kelly, LCSW, therapist and author of The Process of Unbecoming: A Different Relationship to Being Human. Lacey didn't arrive at this work from theory — she'd felt an existential ache since she was a kid and spent years working through self-help books, trainings, and her own therapy practice before landing on the question underneath all of it: what if the thing we keep trying to fix was never actually broken? The two of them work through the core premise of Lacey's book — that we're all born whole and worthy, and that the patterns we hate about ourselves are evidence we once protected something valuable, not proof something's wrong. They get into how adaptation and personality form together in childhood, why that makes our protections feel like identity, and why capacity isn't a skill to build but something we already have and just lose access to. Lacey talks through how she brings this premise to clients who are deep in shame without invalidating what happened to them, why shame can actually be a doorway into feeling connected to other people, and what she tells clients who relapse and feel like they're back at square one. Sindee and Lacey also get into something bigger — the loss of a shared "third" that used to hold some of this weight for us, and what's filled that gap instead. Lacey closes with a message for therapists and helpers specifically: watch for the urge to fix the person in front of you, because it quietly reinforces the very belief you're trying to undo. Her bigger point lands simply — nothing is missing from you, and remembering that is the whole practice. 00:48 - Meet Lacey Kelly 04:18 - The Therapist as Eternal Seeker 06:46 - A Universal Belief in Brokenness 08:47 - How Adaptation Teaches Us to Forget Our Wholeness 13:12 - The Premise: You Are Born Worthy 17:17 - When Protection Becomes Identity 19:41 - Capacity Was Never Something to Build 26:53 - Shame as a Doorway Home 33:31 - Holding Multiple Truths at Once 38:26 - The Myth of the Finished Self 44:57 - For the Burned-Out Helper 50:27 - Where to Find Lacey Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Lacey Kelly:   Website: https://www.theunbecominghub.com/  Book: https://www.theunbecominghub.com/thebook    Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Katie La, a licensed professional counselor and supervisor whose work is grounded in trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and justice-oriented care. Katie came to therapy not by design but by what felt like destiny—a near-full scholarship tucked inside her graduation diploma pulled her into a field she hadn't planned to enter. What grew from that unexpected beginning was a deep, decades-long commitment to meeting clients where their histories actually live: in culture, in survival, in the parts of themselves they were taught to dismiss. Sindee and Katie cover what it really means to bring your whole self into the therapy room. Katie shares openly about growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in Houston — the shame of feeling not American enough, a household where emotions were never named, and a culture built around physical survival rather than feelings. That background shapes everything about how she works with clients today, especially those from minority and marginalized communities who carry guilt just for having a mental health struggle at all. The conversation moves through validation as the only real starting point, the difference between projecting your lived experience onto a client and letting it make you more attuned, and why curiosity is a more powerful clinical tool than any certification. Katie also pushes back on the self-regulation-only model most therapists learned in grad school, making a quiet, convincing case for co-regulation — community, culture, karaoke with friends — as equally necessary for healing. This one is for any therapist who has felt the pull between their training and their humanity. Katie's perspective is expansive but her delivery is grounded and real, and what stays with you is something simple: the most important thing you can offer a client isn't a technique. It's the willingness to walk alongside them — not ahead, not behind — and not look away from what's true. 00:49 - Meet Katie La 02:40 - Growing Up Vietnamese in Houston: Assimilation, Shame, and Survival 06:32 - Why So Many Minority Cultures Deprioritize Mental Health 09:38 - Holding Your Own Culture While Sitting With a Client's 13:00 - Walking Alongside, Not in Front 17:08 - Radical Honesty in the Therapy Room 21:12 - Collective Care and Justice-Oriented Care 25:04 - Co-Regulation vs. Self-Regulation 28:50 - What We Need to Unlearn from Grad School 34:11 - Concrete Ways to Be More Culturally Attuned 40:27 - Where to Find Katie and Cognitive Revival Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Katie La:   Website: https://cognitiverevival.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cogrevpllc    Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes AJ Coleman, author of Keep Those Feet Moving: A Widower's Eight-Step Guide to Coping with Grief and Thriving Against All Odds. When AJ was in what he thought was the prime of his life, his wife Cory lost her battle with brain cancer at just 33-years-old, leaving him a single father to their one-year-old daughter, Zoey. What followed was a crash course in grief, single parenthood, and the quiet, relentless work of rebuilding a life. Rather than stay silent, AJ turned his journey into a book—one that became unexpectedly therapeutic, forcing him to confront insecurities and hard truths he hadn't planned to share with the world. Sindee and AJ trace the full arc of his story: the whirlwind romance with Cory, the devastating diagnosis, and the tender, often unglamorous reality of raising Zoey alone—forms with no "widower" box, school letters addressed to a mother who wasn't there, and the quiet overcompensation of a dad determined not to fail. AJ speaks with candor about the guilt of eventually moving on, the conversation with a nine-year-old Zoey that cracked him open, and what it took to finally say yes to love again. Woven throughout is the insight that his whole life—the hearing impairment, the anxiety, the job loss—had been preparing him for this. That nothing was wasted. That the hardest setbacks signal the greatest rewards waiting on the other side. This is a conversation for anyone sitting inside a loss they can't see their way through—therapists and clients alike. AJ's framework is practical and his delivery is warm, but what lingers is something harder to name: the quiet insistence that mourning is not the enemy of healing, it's the beginning of it. His invitation is simple and earned—stop waiting to feel ready, accept the mourning, find your closure, and keep those feet moving. 00:49 - Meet AJ Coleman 03:06 - Cory: The Love Story 06:40 - The Decision to Start a Family 09:06 - Raising Zoey: Keeping Her Mother's Memory Alive 11:31 - The Invisible Obstacles of Widowed Parenthood 14:58 - Resilience Forged Before the Loss 17:17 - The Keep Those Feet Moving Philosophy 18:08 - Closure: Why It Matters and How to Find It 23:37 - The Book, the Healing, and Going Deeper 31:21 - What It Means to Touch a Life 37:53 - Letting Go of the Past Without Erasing It 47:07 - Guilt, Remarriage, and Learning to Love Again 50:19 - First Steps for Anyone Feeling Stuck 51:58 - Where to Find AJ and What's Next​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with AJ Coleman:   Website: https://keepthosefeetmoving.com  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/keepthosefeetmoving  Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/keepthosefeetmoving/    Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky sits down with Nima Rahmany to explore how to break trauma bonds, heal codependency, and create secure love. Together, they unpack the roots of relationship triggers, the anxious-avoidant dynamic, the often-overlooked fawn response, and how unresolved trauma shapes adult relationships. Nima shares his personal healing journey and explains what it really means to become trigger-proof—not avoiding triggers, but learning to regulate, repair, and respond differently. This conversation is especially valuable for therapists and anyone working to heal attachment wounds, stop toxic relationship patterns, and build emotionally safe, secure connection. 00:49 - Meet Nima Rahmany 05:03 - How a Trauma Bond Begins: The Co-Rescuing Operation 10:45 - The Drama Triangle and the Anxious-Avoidant Trap 15:00 - A Note for Therapists Who Won't Touch It 20:48 - The Fawn Response: The Most Insidious Attachment Strategy 22:43 - The Villain's Journey and Integrating Shame 25:54 - Writing the Book for His Son 28:00 - Trauma Is Not What Happened—It's What Happens Inside 31:17 - Triggers as Portals: The Trigger-Proof Model 32:56 - What to Do If You're Stuck in Your Relationship 36:27 - Find a Guide Who's Living It 40:22 - Connect With Nima at becometriggerproof.com​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Dr. Nima Rahmany: becometriggerproof.com/ https://www.instagram.com/nimarahmanyofficial/  https://www.facebook.com/groups/triggerproof/ https://www.youtube.com/user/chironimz   Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Jonathan Robinson M.A., M.F.T., former psychotherapist, bestselling author of 16 books, and one of the earliest pioneers of MDMA-assisted therapy. Since conducting groundbreaking research on MDMA in 1984, Jonathan has guided over 700 individuals and couples through structured MDMA-supported experiences—healing trauma, reducing anxiety, and creating the kind of deep connection that traditional therapy can take years to build. His brand-new book, Ecstasy for Couples, reveals how a single guided session can unlock breakthroughs that often surpass decades of conventional couples work. Together, Sindee and Jonathan explore what makes MDMA so uniquely powerful in the couples' therapy room—how it quiets the amygdala, dissolves ego defenses, and creates a felt sense of safety and empathy that no amount of communication skills training can replicate on its own. Jonathan opens up about his own journey with the medicine, from his early research in the 1980s to guiding his own parents through a session, to the moment he realized he could create two years of therapeutic progress in a single day. He shares why he now conducts almost no couples therapy without MDMA—and why, in his experience, understanding your partner on this level can change everything. This conversation is packed with wisdom for therapists and couples alike—from how MDMA compares to other psychedelics and why it works over Zoom, to navigating mismatched buy-in, working with trauma in the room, and the Acknowledgement Formula: a simple fill-in-the-blank tool that de-escalates conflict and validates feelings in seconds. Jonathan reminds us that romantic relationships are the gymnasium where we learn to love under pressure—and that with the right tools, that growth doesn't have to take as long as we think. 00:49 - Meet Jonathan Robinson 02:41 - Why Couples Therapy Can Be a Long, Slow Slog—And What Changes That 05:05 - What MDMA Does to the Brain 12:42 - The Predictability of MDMA 14:28 - Is It Illegal? The FDA, Big Pharma, and What's Next 16:39 - Why Sessions Work Better Over Zoom 20:20 - Inside a Five-Hour Journey 25:39 - Blame, Ego Defenses, and What Never Works 26:03 - The Acknowledgement Formula 30:30 - Working With One Traumatized Partner 34:08 - Into Me See: Intimacy, Curiosity, and Spiritual Paths 39:50 - When Only One Partner Takes the Medicine 44:06 - What to Discuss Before a Journey 46:29 - A Note for Therapists Who Are Curious 48:40 - Connect With Jonathan at xtcforcouples.net Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Jonathan Robinson:   Jonathan Robinson Email: [email protected]  Ecstasy for Couple Ecstasy as Medicine MDMA Training Facebook Instagram Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Dr. Dan Sneider—EDD, LCSW, couples therapist, educator, and founder of Growth and Gratitude Therapy. With over 15 years of clinical experience and training in emotionally focused therapy and the Gottman method, Dan has created his signature program, the Intimacy Shift, a blueprint for helping couples move from conflict and emotional distance to deeper, lasting connection. Together, Sindee and Dan explore what it truly means to be a wounded healer—how Dan's own avoidant attachment style, shaped by childhood emotional abuse, followed him into his marriage, his divorce, and ultimately into his clinical work. Dan opens up about infidelity, the collapse of emotional intimacy, and how those hard-won lessons became the foundation for the tools he now teaches couples every day. Drawing on Gottman research and EFT, Dan shares the skills he uses with his couples alongside the deeper relational work that creates real and lasting change. This conversation is packed with wisdom for therapists and couples alike—from the power of scheduled check-ins and the 5-to-1 positivity ratio, to navigating blocks in the therapy room, addressing physical intimacy directly, and maintaining a growth mindset when sessions don't land the way you hoped. Dan reminds us that showing up, even imperfectly, is an act of bravery—and that small steps toward connection matter more than we think.   00:49 - Meet Dr. Dan Sneider  03:18 - The Wounded Healer: Dan's Origin Story  08:23 - Tools Influenced by His Experience 12:07 - Looking Outside the Relationship  15:53 - The Power of I Language  17:33 - Bridging Emotional and Physical Intimacy  18:47 - Getting Unstuck with EFT  22:45 - Working Through Blocks in the Room  32:12 - Blind Spots Couples Therapists Miss  35:17 - Staying Regulated When It Gets Heated  38:37 - The Growth Mindset Every Therapist Needs  40:30 - Connect With Dan at intimacyshift.com   Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month   Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Dr. Dan Sneider: Dr. Dan Sneider Website Intimacy Shift Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Linda Ugelow—speaking confidence and vocal coach, podcast host, and author of Delight in the Limelight. Once paralyzed by public speaking fear herself, Linda now helps therapists, entrepreneurs, and professionals transform their relationship with visibility from dread to genuine delight. Drawing on her master's degree in expressive arts therapy and four decades performing with the women's world music group Libana, Linda brings therapeutic insight and embodied practice to help people reclaim the joy of speaking. Together, Sindee and Linda explore why public speaking anxiety isn't random—it's rooted in past experiences of being silenced, compared, ridiculed, or made to feel unsafe in the spotlight. Linda shares her personal story of being kicked and called stupid by her sisters whenever their mother praised her, revealing how she learned that visibility meant danger. She introduces her "reveal and heal" framework: investigating root causes, doing the deeper healing work through EFT tapping and forgiveness practices, and preparing like a performer with vocal warm-ups and embodiment.  This conversation is full of permission to stumble, practical tools for warming up your voice and befriending the camera, and a powerful reminder that speaking is our birthright—we're designed to express ourselves with delight. Linda reminds us that perfection isn't the goal, that we can pick one tiny thing to practice, and that the joy of self-expression is waiting on the other side of our fear. 00:48 - Meet Linda Ugelow: Speaking Confidence Coach and Author of Delight in the Limelight 03:16 - Why Public Speaking Fear Isn't Random—It's Rooted in Past Experiences 09:21 - Linda's Story: Racing Heart Teaching and Performing for Decades 16:00 - Reveal and Heal: Linda's Framework for Overcoming Speaking Fear 19:57 - Healing Modalities: EFT Tapping, Forgiveness, and Creative Visualization 27:38 - Root Causes vs. Management Techniques 33:54 - Facing Camera Fear: Techniques and Practices 41:26 - Why This Matters for Therapists: Visibility and Building Your Practice 45:35 - Permission to Stumble and Not Find the Perfect Words 49:07 - Connect With Linda at lindaugelow.com Check out Berries: https://heyberries.com/heart-centered Use Discount Code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Linda Ugelow:   Linda Ugelow LinkedIn Delight in the Limelight Book Delight in the Limelight Podcast Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, 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. Calling in from Honolulu, 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 with staying professional, why cultural curiosity matters more than competency, and what happens when a client's values directly challenge your own. Gino shares a powerful moment working with a client who rejected DEI principles—and how getting curious instead of defensive opened the door to actual therapeutic work. He breaks down why rigid treatment models burn clinicians out, how to know when you're over-identifying or under-identifying with a client's culture, and why caring for your therapists is the foundation of caring for clients.  This conversation is full of permission to stop performing, real talk about vicarious trauma, and a reminder that reflection isn't optional—it's essential. Gino challenges us to ask whether we still love this work and to build practices where clinicians can laugh, bring their specialties to the table, and actually want to show up. Because sustainable therapy starts with remembering you're a person too.   00:49 - Meet Gino Titus-Luciano: Leader in Culturally Grounded Care  03:39 - Life and Practice in Hawaii: Culture, Cost, and Community  05:51 - Hawaii's Cultural Melting Pot and What It Means for Therapy  08:11 - Gino's Background and Identity: Shaping His Path as a Therapist  10:06 - The "Customer Service Voice" and Cultural Code-Switching  13:50 - Clinical Journey: From Autism Care to Prison Work to Private Practice  18:53 - Building Kokua Mental Health and Wellness Group  20:03 - Why Real-World Experience Before Private Practice Matters  23:50 - Self-Care Struggles: Why Therapists Feel Guilty Having Fun  27:14 - Balancing Professional Neutrality and Authentic Presence  30:10 - When a Client Rejects DEI: Choosing Curiosity Over Defensiveness  39:47 - Nevada as the "Ninth Island" and the Hawaiian Diaspora  42:39 - Cultural Over-Identification vs. Under-Identification in Therapy  48:54 - Expanding Access to Trauma-Informed Care Through Group Practice  52:27 - Giving Clinicians Freedom to Lead From Their Specialty  55:40 - Where Clinicians Need the Most Support Right Now  01:00:30 - Final Wisdom: Reflecting on Your Path and Reigniting Your Spark  01:02:55 - Connect with Gino and Kokua Mental Health and Wellness Group Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Gino Titus-Luciano:   Gino Titus-Luciano Kokua MHW Group Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Carla Titus—finance expert, founder of Wealth & Worth Within, and fractional CFO who helps practice owners build sustainable, profitable businesses. Carla brings warmth and clarity to a topic many therapists avoid: money. She shares how financial burnout starts with not paying yourself at all and why the "everyone else first" mindset is quietly destroying your business.  Together, Sindee and Carla explore why profit isn't selfish, how to stop being scared of your own bank account, and the difference between revenue that looks good on paper versus actually having money left over. Carla breaks down her five-part framework—pay, capacity, cash flow, planning, and profit—and why you can't save your way out of trouble when the real issues are payroll structure and rent. She shares her detective approach to diagnosing what's broken in your numbers and why December coming every year should not be a surprise.  This conversation is full of real examples, practical strategies, and permission to stop treating your business like a volunteer position. Carla's honesty reminds us that sustainable practice ownership means paying yourself with intention, learning about money in ways that work for your brain, and building financial self-care so you can actually sleep at night.   01:29 - Meet Carla Titus: Finance Expert Who Champions Therapists  03:58 - Financial Burnout: Why Practice Owners Aren't Paying Themselves  08:08 - How Carla Found Her Way to Supporting Mental Health Practices  10:59 - Real Stories: When Group Practice Owners Tap Out  17:11 - The Numbers That Actually Matter: Payroll and Rent  20:26 - The Five-Part Framework: Pay, Capacity, Cash Flow, Planning, Profit  28:48 - How to Start Paying Yourself (Even If You Have No Profit Yet)  34:43 - Seasonal Planning: Preparing for Slowdowns and Surprises  37:09 - What Financial Peace of Mind Actually Looks Like  41:31 - Learning About Money in Ways That Work for You  43:47 - How to Work with Carla: Free Resources and CFO Services Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Carla Titus:   Carla Titus Wealth & Worth Within CEO Financial Clarity Corners Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | TikTok | YouTube Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Lorain Moorehead, LCSW—psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, EMDR consultant, and host of the Self Careapist Therapist Podcast—for a conversation about burnout, perfectionism, and why most therapists are doing self-care all wrong. Lorain shares how she reverse-engineered her own self-care after realizing her TV binges left her feeling worse, not better. Together, Sindee and Lorain explore how childhood wounds of "be the role model" drive our over-functioning, why competitive athletes can't just "work out" and feel restored, and the difference between self-care that fills you up versus self-care you think you're supposed to do. Lorain breaks down her detective approach to finding what actually restores you and why video supervision is the most powerful (and most avoided) tool for growth. This conversation is full of real examples, practical tools, and permission to stop doing self-care that doesn't work for your system. Lorain's warmth reminds us that sustaining ourselves as therapists means knowing what truly replenishes us, embracing imperfection, and getting curious about what actually resonates—not what we're told should.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​   01:18 - Meet Lorain Moorehead: Therapist, Supervisor, and Self Careapist  03:22 - How a Book About Bellevue Led to a Career in Mental Health  06:32 - Early Experience: From Retirement Homes to Twin Research Labs  09:10 - The Self Careapist Model: Reverse Engineering Self-Care That Works  12:16 - Values-Based Self-Care vs. What You Think You Should Do  16:27 - Rest Can Be Values-Driven Too: Puzzles, Patterns, and Repetition  20:18 - Perfectionism, High Achievement, and Childhood Wounds  24:27 - The "Role Model" Trap: When Fun Feels Like Failure  30:25 - Supervision as Development: Beyond Just Meeting Requirements  37:44 - The Power of Video: Why Watching Yourself Is the Best Teacher  44:15 - Podcasting as Connection: The Self Careapist Origin Story  47:58 - Final Message: Examine Your Self-Care with Hope and Curiosity Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Use Discount Code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Lorain Moorehead: Lorain Moorehead Self Care Worksheet The Self Careapist Therapist Podcast | Apple Podcast Instagram | Facebook | TikTok Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this deeply reflective episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky sits down with Alyssa Scarano to talk about what it really means to care for ourselves while doing emotionally demanding work. While Alyssa's background in family therapy shaped her clinical lens, this conversation goes far beyond technique. Together, Sindee and Alyssa explore how a therapist's internal emotional experience — the frustration, ache, exhaustion, or even invisibility felt after a session — can become valuable information rather than something to push away. Alyssa shares a pivotal supervision moment that reframed her understanding of countertransference and helped her see that the emotions we carry out of session are often signals asking for attention, care, or boundaries. They discuss how therapists can learn to sit with emotion without absorbing it, and why ignoring our internal world is one of the fastest paths to burnout. This episode also offers a grounded, realistic reframe of self-care — not as spa days or perfection, but as discernment, listening to the body, and responding to what truly restores us. Alyssa opens up about what self-care looks like in her own life as a clinician, business owner, parent, and human, including how her yoga practice has evolved into something quieter, more internal, and deeply sustaining. If you're a therapist feeling emotionally spent, blurred at the edges, or unsure how to keep showing up without losing yourself, this conversation offers permission, language, and reassurance: your emotions are not a liability — they're part of the work. In this episode, we explore: Using your emotional experience as clinical information rather than self-judgment How feeling "invisible" or ineffective in session can reveal important relational dynamics The difference between empathy and emotional over-identification Recognizing when something feels "sticky" or achy — and what that means for self-care Why self-care is about discernment, boundaries, and listening to your body How therapists can stay emotionally present without burning out Small, realistic first steps for bringing emotional awareness into your work Why supervision and personal reflection are essential for sustainability   03:56 - From "Never Doing Family Therapy" to Falling in Love with It 08:20 - How to Track Family Dynamics: Seating, Body Language, and Roles 16:28 - The Invisible Session: A Supervision Moment That Changed Everything 22:06 - What Is Your Emotion Trying to Tell You? 28:58 - The Stickiness and the Ache: Knowing When It's Yours vs. Theirs 36:49 - Alyssa and Her Yoga: What Self-Care Actually Looks Like 40:42 - First Steps for Bringing Emotional Awareness Into the Room 44:23 - Where to Find Alyssa and The Collective Therapy and Wellness​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Alyssa Scarano:   Collective Therapy & Wellness Instagram (@live.collective.wellness) Facebook  LinkedIn | Alyssa Scarano Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]

In this episode of A Simple Therapy Podcast, Sindee Gozansky welcomes Dr. Jason Branch—therapist, educator, podcaster, and self-proclaimed Gator—for a conversation about burnout, authenticity, and becoming the best version of yourself. Dr. Branch shares his raw journey through severe burnout as a new clinician and how an unexpected detour into bartending school helped him evolve into "Him." In this fun episode, Sindee and Jason laugh, get real, and go deep as they explore the beliefs that keep us stuck, the power of doing something different, uncomfortable, and new (DUN), and why most of us are walking around as Salamanders when we could be living as Gators. Jason breaks down his three parallels framework, the four P's of Salamander life versus the five C's of Gator life, and why therapists desperately need their own therapists. This conversation is funny, relatable and full of bold frameworks, concrete examples, and permission to stop apologizing for being you. Jason's energy, spirituality and wisdom remind us that healing requires becoming comfortable being uncomfortable, listening to your future self's whisper, and celebrating every single day.   00:49 - Meet Dr. Jason Branch: Therapist, Professor, and Founder 03:00 - Burnout, Vulnerability, and Becoming "Him" 06:20 - The Three Parallels: Who We Were, Who We Are, Who We're Becoming 12:06 - Going Deeper with the Junk Drawer: Tangible and Internal 16:29 - The Four P's of Salamander Life 19:47 - Therapists Need Therapy Too: Jason's Call to Action 23:28 - Stop Apologizing and Stop Telling Yourself No 28:40 - DUN: Different, Uncomfortable, and New 36:08 - The Five C's of Gator Life 41:56 - The ESPM Model for Self-Care 43:20 - Jason's Burnout Story: The Job That Almost Killed Him 52:11 - The Gator Lab Community, Resources, and How to Connect Check out Berries: Berries Referral Link: heyberries.com/?via=heart-centered Discount code: Sindee50 for $50 off your first month Shop Mental Health Threads: https://mentalhealththreads.etsy.com   Connect with Dr. Jason Branch: Dr. Jason Branch J. Branch & Associates Instagram (@dr.jasonbranch) Gator Scales Journal 3 Parallels Podcast Spotify | YouTube | Instagram Connect with Sindee Gozansky: Visit my website: asimpletherapypodcast.com/ Join the Heart-Centered Therapist Community FB group: facebook.com/groups/478651669638167 Instagram: 
instagram.com/heartcenteredtherapist/ YouTube: youtube.com/@asimpletherapypodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sindeegozansky/   Want to be a guest on the podcast?  Email Sindee: [email protected]