If you’ve ever ended the year thinking, “Why didn’t I get to my program?” or “How am I still drowning in clients?”, this episode is basically a loving intervention. Therapists don’t miss their goals because they’re unmotivated — they miss them because the system trains them to prioritise everyone else first. So their dream project becomes the “neglected child” of the business. Loved, wanted… always getting scraps.

In this solo episode, I’m breaking down why traditional planning fails therapists and how to design a 2026 that actually supports your nervous system, your business, and your desire to drop clinical hours without imploding. This is therapist-safe planning — honest, grounded, and built around your real life.

1️⃣ Why You Didn’t Hit Your Goals

We unpack guilt, urgency culture, emotional labour, and why clinical work always wins. Plus the real reason your program keeps getting pushed to “next term… next year.”

2️⃣ The 2025 Reflection Ritual

A three-part reflection to understand what drained you, what supported you, what made money, and who you don’t want to be again next year.

3️⃣ The Big Dream Dump

We explore what you actually want — dropping a clinical day, launching your program, taking real holidays, visibility, writing, creative work — without guilt or “be realistic” energy.

4️⃣ Your 3–5 Pillars for 2026

Not tasks — pillars. Diversification, money stability, schedule redesign, visibility, leadership, capacity. We map what this looks like for Escape, Stabilize, Expand, and Visionary stage therapists.

5️⃣ Mapping Your Nervous System Rhythms

School terms. Cycles. PMDD. ADHD. Grief dates. Low-capacity seasons. You plan for the real you, not the fantasy version.

6️⃣ Putting It on the Calendar

The therapist-safe way: non-negotiables first, then pillars, then buffers, then launches. I walk through how someone in the Stabilize Stage could safely drop a clinical day by September — without collapse or chaos.

Therapists Rising:
• The Incubator: therapistsrising.com/incubator
• The Collective Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/collective
• Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly

If this episode gave you permission to design a kinder 2026 — or helped you realise nothing was “wrong” with you this year except the way you were conditioned to plan — please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more therapists build businesses that don’t require self-abandonment or burnout badges.

If you've ever thought "scaling means selling out" or "growing a team means burning out," Dr. Catherine Hart is about to prove you wrong. She's built a 35-person psychology practice across five sites with a salaried employment model that actually retains clinicians—and she did it by breaking every rule.

In this episode, I'm talking with Dr. Catherine Hart, clinical psychologist, director of Succoris Psychology Group, and 2024 APS Supervisor of the Year. Catherine didn't set out to become an innovator—she started as a psychologist who felt like an outsider, too questioning, too bold. When she experienced how exploitative the contractor model can be, she made a decision: I'm building something different.

You'll hear Catherine's journey from one consulting room in 2019 to building an entire ecosystem—five sites, a training academy, business partnerships, and online courses. We dive into the salaried employment model revolutionizing retention, how to scale without losing your values, building systems that support humans, and what real leadership requires when you stop playing small.

HERE ARE THE KEY INSIGHTS:

1️⃣ The Salaried Model Revolution – Catherine breaks down exactly what her salaried employment model looks like and why it changes everything for clinician wellbeing and retention. You'll hear the real numbers, the pushback she faced, and the ripple effect on practice culture.

2️⃣ Scaling With Integrity – The real story of going from one room to five sites—the failures, pivots, and moments where she almost lost her way. How she uses innovation (AI note-taking, structured systems) to support clinicians, and her philosophy on scaling with purpose versus scaling because you can.

3️⃣ Permission to Want More – Catherine talks about being the kid who always asked "why," feeling like an outsider, and giving herself permission to want more than one-to-one work. She's now building clinical care, training academy, business partnerships, and courses—stepping into leadership and building legacy work.

4️⃣ The Business Education Therapists Never Got – Catherine is transparent about investing in herself, seeking business education (including The Incubator), and surrounding herself with community. Grad school taught clinical skills—not how to build sustainable, ethical businesses.

YOU'LL ALSO HEAR:

• Her catalyst: exploitative contractor models in Australia
• Building team systems: onboarding, supervision, psychological safety
• The Succoris Academy and Clinical Psych Registrar pathway (launching Jan 2026)
• Business partnerships helping therapists build, grow, or exit ethically
• Launching DBT Launchpad and online course creation
• The Dolly Parton philosophy: business as a vessel for social impact
• Honest talk about leadership struggles and advice to her 2019 self

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Catherine Hart:

• Succoris Psychology: https://succoris.com.au/
• Instagram: @succoris_psychology
• DBT Launchpad: https://succoris-psychology-site-ecc8.thinkific.com/courses/DBT-Launchpad

Therapists Rising:

• The Incubator: therapistsrising.com/incubator
• The Collective Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/collective
• Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW:

If this episode showed you what's possible when you give yourself permission to build differently—or inspired you to rethink what scaling could look like in your practice—please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

If your business feels like it's draining you instead of filling you up, you're probably recreating the same patterns from therapy practice that burned you out in the first place. The endless availability, saying yes to everyone, undercharging out of guilt, and the resentment that builds when you're trying to be generous but running on empty.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the 4 specific business boundaries that changed everything for my business: Energy, Systems & Containers, Money & Sustainability, and Visibility & Emotional Energy. These aren't clinical boundaries—these are business owner boundaries that protect your capacity, profitability, and sanity.

You'll hear real stories from my business (including the wake-up call that made me choose sustainability over people-pleasing), learn why "service over profit" is actually destroying your business, and discover why building systems is more important than relying on willpower. If you've ever felt resentful of clients you're trying to help or found yourself responding to DMs at midnight, this episode will show you exactly where your boundaries are leaking.

HERE ARE THE 4 KEY BOUNDARIES FROM THIS EPISODE:

1️⃣ Energy Over Everything – If something consistently costs you more energy than it gives back, it's a no. Learn why ignoring red-flag clients always ends badly, how to be ruthless about fit, and why protecting your energy is fiduciary responsibility (not selfishness).

2️⃣ Systems & Containers (Because Willpower Is Bullshit) – A boundary without a system is just a wish. I'll share my DM boundary story and show you how to build infrastructure that holds boundaries for you—so you're not white-knuckling your way through every client interaction.

3️⃣ Money & Sustainability (Profit Funds Service) – When service constantly comes at the expense of profit, you're not being generous—you're being extractive toward yourself. Hear my wake-up call story about removing overdelivery, why people got upset, and how I chose sustainability anyway. Martyrdom is not a business model.

4️⃣ Visibility & Emotional Energy – Not every conversation deserves your nervous system. Learn how to handle criticism, hate DMs, and projections without defending yourself or losing sleep. Your job isn't to manage other people's discomfort with your boundaries.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Join The Incubator Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/incubator
Subscribe to my Newsletter for weekly insights on therapist entrepreneurship
Follow me on Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly

MORE FROM ME

Follow me on Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly
Visit my website: therapistsrising.com

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If this episode helped you see where you're recreating burnout in your business—or gave you permission to want profit and boundaries without guilt—please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more therapist-entrepreneurs who need this message. 🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Therapists Rising! See you next week!

"You just need more self-care."

That's what I kept hearing when I was burnt out, seeing 30+ clients a week, barely breaking even. I tried bath bombs, meditation apps, yoga breaks. None of it worked.

Because the problem wasn't my self-care routine. It was the business model.

In this episode, I'm dismantling the 7 lies that keep therapists overworked, underpaid, and stuck in unsustainable practices. The toxic narratives about burnout, pricing, marketing, and what it takes to build a therapy practice that doesn't destroy you.

Here's what I cover:

• Lie #1: "If you're burned out, you're just not cut out for this work" — Why burnout is a business design problem, not a character flaw
• Lie #2: "Good therapists don't talk about money" — How pricing shame keeps therapists broke and resentful
• Lie #3: "You need to work at the pointy end of the spectrum to be a good therapist" — Why helping people flourish is just as valuable
• Lie #4: "You have to be beige and invisible" — Why your personality is your competitive advantage
• Lie #5: "Marketing is sleazy and unethical" — Reframing ethical marketing as informed consent
• Lie #6: "If you just keep pushing through, it'll get easier" — Why waiting isn't a strategy
• Lie #7: "Wanting more means you don't care" — Dismantling the false binary between money and integrity

💡 3 Powerful Takeaways:

1. You cannot self-care your way out of a broken business model.
Burnout isn't proof you need more resilience—it's evidence the system wasn't designed for your wellbeing. Business redesign helps you survive your career.

2. Money talk isn't dirty. It's data.
Financial safety IS client safety. When you're stable, you show up grounded and present. Ethical pricing isn't greed—it's sustainability.

3. The model doesn't get easier. You have to make it different.
Different boundaries. Different pricing. Different client selection. Different revenue streams. The future requires you to build it.

💻 Resources & Links

• 🔗 Join the Incubator Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/incubator
• 📱 Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review

If this episode helped you see that your exhaustion isn't a personal failing—please subscribe, rate, and review Therapists Rising.

Your words help reach more therapists who need to hear: You're not failing. The model is broken. And you can build something different.

For 12 months, I’ve been sober, and until a recent doctor’s appointment, I’d completely forgotten.

No countdown. No recovery story. No before-and-after moment. Just life, without alcohol.

When my doctor asked, “None? Not even socially?” and looked at me like I’d just confessed a crime, something clicked. His disbelief wasn’t about alcohol — it was about the quiet pressure we all feel to play along. To do the thing that makes everyone else comfortable, even when it doesn’t feel good to us.

That moment made me realise: sobriety isn’t really about alcohol. It’s about truth. It’s about self-trust. It’s about noticing all the ways we abandon ourselves - in business, relationships, and life - just to belong.

If you’ve ever found yourself saying yes when you meant no, discounting your prices to avoid seeming greedy, or over-giving because you don’t want to disappoint, this episode will hit home.

This is a conversation about emotional and professional sobriety - and what happens when you stop performing belonging and start building it from integrity instead.

Here’s what I cover:

• Why my doctor’s disbelief revealed how deeply social conditioning shapes our choices
• The invisible contracts of belonging: how family, therapy culture, and business all reward self-abandonment
• The moment I realised I was trading authenticity for acceptance — and how that changed everything
• My Uni Games story: performing belonging by being the “responsible one” in a binge-drinking culture
• Why people-pleasing isn’t kindness — it’s your nervous system trying to keep you safe
• What emotional sobriety looks like in business (through a real example from an Incubator student)
• The paradox of safety vs. control: why we keep performing even when it hurts
• How to stay with yourself when your truth disappoints others
• What sobriety has taught me about leadership, capacity, and self-trust

💡 3 Powerful Takeaways:

1. Belonging that costs you your self is counterfeit.
   If you have to abandon yourself to belong — in a team, relationship, or system — it’s not safety. It’s survival.
2. Your nervous system isn’t broken.
   When you find yourself overgiving or performing, that’s not weakness. It’s your body trying to protect attachment. Healing starts with awareness, not shame.
3. Sobriety is self-trust.
   You don’t have to quit drinking to practice sobriety. You just have to stop leaving yourself when things get uncomfortable.

💻 Resources & Links

• 🔗 Join the Incubator Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/incubator
  
  
• 📩 Subscribe to my Newsletter: for weekly reflections on therapist innovation, ethical marketing, and leading with integrity.
• 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly
  for insights on business, boundaries, and belonging for therapists.

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review

If this episode helped you see your patterns differently or reminded you that you don’t need to perform to belong, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review Therapists Rising.

Your words help this message reach more therapists who need to hear:
You’re not too sensitive. You’re not too much. You’re just done performing safety at the expense of yourself.

Thanks for listening — and for choosing truth over performance.
You don’t need to earn belonging. You just need to stop performing it.

In this episode, I'm tackling one of the biggest fears holding therapists back from building sustainable online practices: the terror of being "too salesy."

If you've ever frozen at the end of a webinar, mumbled through your offer, or avoided pitching your program altogether because you're worried about pressuring people who've already been through so much — this episode is for you.

Here's the truth: Your fear of being salesy isn't actually about sales. It's about identity, worth, and deeply ingrained beliefs about what it means to be a "good" therapist. And until you unpack those beliefs and make some critical identity shifts, no amount of perfect pitch scripts or marketing tactics will make you feel comfortable making offers.

So today, we're going deep. We're talking about the mistaken beliefs sabotaging your ability to serve, the five identity shifts that transform selling from a threat into an act of service, and the practical framework for making offers that feel aligned, authentic, and effective.

Whether you're a therapist launching your first online program, a coach struggling to convert webinar attendees, or a clinician who knows you need to make offers but feels gross every time you try — this conversation will meet you right where you are.

Here's what we cover in this episode:

• The mistaken beliefs keeping you stuck — including why you think making an offer equals manipulation (spoiler: it doesn't), why you're waiting for people to chase you down instead of leading them forward, and why you think talking about your program "takes away" from the value you're giving.
• The four identity shifts that change everything — from Healer to Guide, Helper to Advocate, Clinician to Creator, Transactional to Transformational, and Rule-Follower to Ethical Innovator. These aren't just mindset tweaks — they're fundamental rewirings of how you see yourself and your role.
• What you're not seeing when you don't make offers — the real consequence of staying silent about your programs, and how your fear of being pushy is actually denying people the agency to choose their own path forward.
• The reframe that makes pitching feel like service — including the coaching questions that reveal whether you have a sales problem or a conviction problem, and why treating your webinar attendees differently than you'd treat your best friend is costing you (and them) transformation.
• The 5-step framework for making offers that convert — from getting clear on your conviction first, to setting up the pitch at the beginning, using consent at offer time, making it about them (not you), and trusting them to decide for themselves.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

📩 Join the Incubator Waitlist: Be the first to know when doors open for therapists ready to create their first online program that actually converts — therapistsrising.com/incubator

More From Dr. Hayley Kelly:

📱 Follow me on Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly
For daily insights on therapist innovation, building sustainable online practices, and making offers that feel good.

🌐 Visit the website: therapistsrising.com

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review:

If this episode helped you see your fear of selling in a new light — or gave you permission to finally make that offer with confidence — please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review. Your words help us reach more therapists ready to build practices that don't burn them out.

Thanks for tuning in to Therapists Rising. Now go make that offer like you MEAN it. See you in the next episode!

After losing her teenage son Ethan to T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, psychologist Kimberly Stevens faced the unthinkable — and chose to transform her grief into something that would help thousands of others.

In this conversation, Kimberly shares the story behind Kids Connecting Parents, an app she created to help bereaved parents find local, peer-based connection and support when professional services fall short.

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of child loss, grief, and bereavement. Please listen when you feel ready and have support available.

Her honesty cracked something open in me — and reminded me why I started Therapists Rising in the first place. Because when the system doesn’t work, we have two options: collapse under it, or build something new.

If you’ve ever questioned how to move forward after loss, burnout, or heartbreak, this episode will meet you right where you are.

Here’s what we cover

• Kimberly’s journey from psychologist and grieving mum to tech founder and advocate
• The moment she realized traditional therapy models weren’t enough for bereaved parents
• How she turned her personal loss into a mission-driven innovation that’s changing lives
• What it means to blend lived experience with professional training — ethically and powerfully
• The courage it takes to build something for the community you’re also healing within
• The emotional and practical realities of launching a mental-health app from scratch
• How grief can be a catalyst for purpose, leadership, and systemic change

3 Takeaways for Therapists

1. Purpose can grow from the hardest things.
   Your pain doesn’t disqualify you — it can inform the most meaningful, ethical, and innovative work you’ll ever do.
2. The system won’t always meet the need.
   Kimberly’s story is proof that when traditional models fail, therapists can create new pathways — apps, programs, communities — that fill the gaps.
3. Lived experience is a superpower, not a liability.
   When we stop hiding the human behind the professional, we create safer, braver, more connected spaces for healing.

💻 Resources & Links

• Learn more about Kids Connecting Parents: kidsconnectingparents.com
• Follow Kimberly on Instagram: @kidsconnectingparents
• Join the Incubator Waitlist for therapists ready to build ethical, impact-driven programs: therapistsrising.com/incubator
  
  

💬 Connect with Dr. Hayley Kelly

• Follow on Instagram → @dr.hayleykelly
• Subscribe to Therapists Rising for weekly conversations about therapist innovation, leadership, and building sustainable impact beyond the therapy room.

⭐ If this episode moved you…

Please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and leave a review here.
Your words help this show reach more therapists who need to hear that their story, their pain, and their purpose all still matter.

For 230 episodes, I've referenced my "kitchen floor moment" without telling you the full story. After interviewing psychologist Kimberly Stevens about transforming her grief into purpose, I realized: if I'm asking therapists to be brave enough to step outside broken systems, I need to be brave enough to tell you why it matters so much to me.

This is the story of my suicide attempt, the months after, and the moment on my kitchen floor—with my young son's hand on my shoulder—that changed everything.

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicide attempt, suicidal ideation, and mental health crisis. Please listen when you feel ready and have support available.

If you're a therapist who's ever felt like the system is breaking you, this episode is for you.

Here's what I cover:

• What therapist burnout actually feels like: panic attacks before every clinic day, doom scrolling between clients, the impossible math of being a new mum with a medically complex child while maintaining a full caseload
• The resentment that builds when you're holding everyone else's pain with nowhere to put down your own
• Living with undiagnosed autism and ADHD while trying to function as a "successful" psychologist
• The day I attempted suicide—and why surviving didn't immediately fix anything
• The kitchen floor moment: my son's hand on my shoulder asking if I was okay, and the realization that changed everything
• The shame of being a psychologist who couldn't keep her own mental health together, and the terror of being found "incompetent"
• The 18-month transition from full clinical load to zero: how I strategically reduced complexity, raised fees, and built coaching alongside clinical work
• Why leaving traditional practice felt like professional suicide but staying felt like actual suicide

3 Powerful Takeaways:

1. Therapist burnout isn't a personal failing—it's a system failure. If you're struggling, you're not broken. The system we were trained in hasn't caught up with the demands of modern practice. The guilt, shame, and isolation you feel? You're not alone.

2. Surviving a crisis isn't the same as healing. I got help after my attempt. I went to therapy. But I was still having panic attacks for months because I was still in the same impossible life. Real change required changing the system I was working in, not just managing symptoms.

3. You don't need permission to build something different. Leaving traditional practice doesn't mean you're abandoning people. It means you're choosing to help people in a way that doesn't require you to be on a kitchen floor to admit something has to change.

If You're Struggling Right Now:

You are not alone.

Crisis Support:

• Lifeline (Australia): 13 11 14
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US): Call or text 988

💻 Resources & Links:

📩 Join the Incubator Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/incubator

More From Dr. Hayley Kelly:

📱 Follow on Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly for insights on therapist innovation and building sustainable practices

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review:

If this episode made you feel less alone or gave you permission to consider a different path—please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review. Your words help us reach more therapists who need to hear: You're not broken. The system is. And there's another way.

Thanks for tusting me with your time. I see you. I've been you. You're not alone.

Thanks for tuning in to Therapists Rising!