Burned out, questioning everything, and wondering if you’re allowed to want something different from your work and your life? This episode is for therapists, group practice owners, and mental health leaders who have hit a wall and know they cannot go back to “business as usual.”

In this conversation, Sarah Olson opens up about slamming into burnout at full speed, even while her practice and life looked successful from the outside. She traces the moment everything stopped working, the fog that made it hard to think straight, and the reckoning that forced her to step back, rest, and rebuild her relationship to work, productivity, and worth.

You’ll hear her talk about how hard it actually is to delegate, release control, and trust a team when you’ve been holding everything together for too long. Sarah describes what it took to take real time off, reconnect with her body, and how healing her own trauma shifted everything.

Key takeaways:

➡️ Burnout can manifest unexpectedly, even when things seem to be going well.

➡️ Recognizing the signs of burnout is crucial for recovery.

➡️ Taking a break is not a sign of weakness but a necessary step for mental health.

➡️ Delegation can be challenging but is essential for sustainable practice management.

➡️ Self-care should not be viewed as selfish but as a priority for well-being.

➡️ Redefining success involves understanding personal limits and needs.

➡️ Quality work can be achieved in shorter, focused periods rather than long hours.

➡️ It's important to listen to your body and respect its signals.

➡️ Leadership styles can shift significantly after experiencing burnout.

➡️ Finding peace in professional life is a continuous journey.

➡️ Listening to your body is crucial for maintaining well-being.

➡️ Healing personal trauma can enhance professional practice.

➡️ Small changes can lead to significant improvements in well-being.

➡️ Prioritizing what truly matters can help manage stress and burnout.

If you've ever wondered what sustainable work-life balance as a clinician could look like, Sarah outlines a pathway there in this episode.

Episode chapters:

00:00 – The burnout experience

03:40 – Recognizing the signs of burnout

07:32 – The decision to step back

18:30 – The shift in mindset

24:58 – Finding community and support

26:45 – Recognizing personal limits and the need for rest

29:12 – The journey back from burnout

30:50 – Learning to delegate and trust the team

33:02 – Navigating the challenges of group practice ownership

35:47 – Understanding burnout and its impact

38:22 – Shifting perspectives on productivity

42:16 – Finding motivation and embracing change

46:03 – Dismantling old beliefs about success

53:33 – The evolution of leadership in practice ownership

01:03:02 – Leading with connection and inspiration

01:06:58 – Listening to your body: a journey to self-care

01:14:12 – Shifting therapy practices: from management to leadership

01:18:47 – Marketing and building a sustainable practice

01:21:31 – Advice for clinicians: small steps to avoid burnout​

If this episode speaks to you, hit subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations. Leave a review so other clinicians can find these stories, and share this episode with a colleague who is on the edge of burnout and needs to know they are not alone.​

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

TikTok: @offthechairpodcast​

Burned out, morally injured, and wondering if you’re the problem? Good news and bad news: it's not you, it's the system. This episode is for clinicians, group practice owners, and mental health leaders who feel trapped between their ethics, insurance demands, and the crushing weight of “doing it all.”

In this conversation, we unpack the evolving challenges facing clinicians in independent practice, especially the shift from “I’m just burned out” to recognizing true moral injury. We look at how systemic forces, insurance requirements, and changing rules in healthcare are reshaping what it even means to do ethical, sustainable clinical work.

You’ll hear how isolation in leadership, constant multitasking, and opaque power dynamics erode both capacity and integrity over time. The episode also explores why so many group practice owners feel like they “failed,” when in reality the rules changed without their consent or control.

What you’ll learn

➡️ Why your group practice didn’t fail just because you “couldn’t hack the rules”

➡️ The difference between burnout as a capacity failure and moral injury as an integrity failure

➡️ How clinicians become the vicarious “fall guy” for insurance companies and broken systems

➡️ Why burnout can stop being a phase and start to feel like an identity you can’t escape

➡️ How isolation at the top quietly harms clinical judgment, leadership, and well-being

➡️ What it looks like to reinvent your work using technology and AI without losing your humanity

➡️ Why “off the chair” means refusing to believe that suffering is the price of legitimacy in this field

If you’ve ever thought, “I can survive this if I can just see a way out,” this episode sketches the contours of that way out. It offers language, frameworks, and possibilities for clinicians who are ready to stop surviving in silence and start reimagining what practice can look like.

Episode chapters

00:00 – Introduction to the journey of clinicians

06:46 – The illusion of freedom in group practice

09:05 – The changing landscape of healthcare

10:26 – The new power dynamics in healthcare

12:53 – The burden of multitasking in practice management

13:11 – Understanding moral injury vs. burnout

17:55 – The impact of moral injury on clinicians

21:13 – The isolation of leadership in healthcare

25:07 – Navigating workplace turmoil

27:48 – The burden of leadership in mental health

30:27 – The impact of insurance on mental health practices

36:43 – The journey to selling a practice

40:24 – Reinventing mental health care in a changing landscape

45:58 – Embracing technology for sustainable practice

48:33 – Finding hope and healing in the chaos

50:33 – Understanding human behavior and cues

51:24 – Taking action for change

If this episode resonated with you, hit subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations. Leave a review to help other clinicians find this show, and share this episode with a colleague who is quietly burning out or carrying moral injury alone.

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

TikTok: @offthechairpodcast

In this conversation, the hosts discuss the challenges of leadership in group practices, emphasizing the importance of trauma-informed leadership and building a culture of trust. Dr. Colleen Long introduces Poonam and Julianne from Level Up Leaders, who share their journey from clinicians to leadership consultants. The discussion covers the significance of understanding group practice owners, navigating isolation, and integrating culture into daily practices, especially in remote work environments. They highlight the costs of neglecting culture and the need for compassionate accountability in leadership, ultimately encouraging leaders to embrace their humanity and foster relational ecosystems within their teams.

Key takeaways:

• Trauma-informed leadership is essential for sustainable practices.
• Turnover is costly, affecting both finances and morale.
• Survival mode hinders effective leadership.
• Building a culture of trust is crucial for team cohesion.
• Daily practices can automate culture cultivation.
• Compassionate accountability balances empathy with expectations.
• Honesty in leadership fosters trust and growth.
• Neglecting culture leads to high costs and low morale.
• Everyone in a team shares responsibility for culture.
• Transitioning from clinician to entrepreneur requires strategic planning.

If you are in the thick of it, you are not alone. And you are definitely not the only one trying to survive inside something that was never built to support you.

Connect with us!

Julianne and Poonam:

Website: https://www.levelupleaders.org/

Newsletter: https://levelupleaders.myflodesk.com/newsletter

Off the Chair:

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

If you’ve ever whispered I don’t have time while drowning in back-to-back sessions, paperwork, and payroll, you’re not alone. The truth is, most clinicians stay stuck in therapist burnout and therapist fatigue, convincing themselves they’ll “figure it out later.” But later never comes.

In this conversation, we unpack the Shawshank Conundrum - the hamster wheel every therapist knows too well - and reveal how to chip away at the walls keeping you trapped in a model that doesn’t serve your life.

This isn’t another pep talk about hustling harder. It’s about naming the reality: trading every hour for dollars will never create the freedom, joy, or sustainability you crave. Whether you’ve Googled jobs for burned out counselors at midnight or secretly wondered about alternative careers for therapists, this episode offers both solidarity and strategy.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why the phrase “I don’t have time” is the biggest lie fueling therapist burnout
• The hidden cost of staying on the hamster wheel of therapist fatigue (and why most clinicians never escape it)
• How carving out non-negotiable CEO time each week is the first step toward alternative careers for therapists
• The power of accountability, masterminds, and community when exploring jobs for burned out counselors

This episode will challenge your assumptions about what it means to be a “successful” clinician. You’ll walk away with permission to stop hustling, tools to reclaim your time, and inspiration to explore jobs for burned out counselors and alternative careers for therapists that align with your values.

Ready to stop living in therapist burnout and start carving your way to freedom? Press play now.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO EPISODE HERE!

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

Colleen Long, Psy.D.

Website: www.claritypsychologicaltesting.com

LinkedIn: Dr. Colleen Long

Jennifer Politis, PhD, LPC

Website: www.wellnesscounselingBC.com

Instagram: @wellnesscounselingnj

TikTok: @wellnesscounseling

LinkedIn: Jennifer Politis

Erika Bugaj, MA, MSW, LICSW

Website: www.dandelioncounselingcare.com

Instagram: @dandelioncounselingcare

LinkedIn: Erika Bugaj

Feeling fried, curious about therapist retreats, or secretly dreaming of side hustles for therapists that will actually restore you? We get it - and we made this episode for clinicians who want rest and revenue without the shame spiral.

We sit with Amy Johnston, founder of The Exhale Collective, to unpack how a practicing clinician builds therapist retreats into a life-saving creative business. We get candid about therapist burnout, the logistics of running international retreats, and how to launch side hustles for therapists alongside your clinical work.

This episode balances the hard numbers (deposits, payment plans, marketing) with the softer, lifesaving stuff - how a well-designed wellness trips for women rekindles joy, reduces overwhelm, and gives clinicians permission to exhale.

Here’s what you’ll hear:

• How Amy turned weekend cabin experiments into full-scale therapist retreats - and the exact planning step that stopped her from losing money on a trip (yes, there was an “oh-shit” moment)…
• The real anatomy of therapist burnout for mid-career clinicians - why time off alone isn’t enough and what ritualized presence looks like in practice…
• Practical ways to fund side hustles for therapists without quitting your day job
• How to design therapist retreats experiences that heal versus just “vacation”

Ready to hear the messy, honest roadmap - the wins, the disasters, and the exact next steps Amy used to get from idea to an alternate stream of income? Press play and listen to the full episode now.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO EPISODE HERE!

Connect with us!

Podcast Website: www.offthechair.com

Colleen Long, Psy.D.

Website: www.claritypsychologicaltesting.com

LinkedIn: Dr. Colleen Long

Jennifer Politis, PhD, LPC

Website: www.wellnesscounselingBC.com

Instagram: @wellnesscounselingnj

TikTok: @wellnesscounseling

LinkedIn: Jennifer Politis

Erika Bugaj, MA, MSW, LICSW

Website: www.dandelioncounselingcare.com

Instagram: @dandelioncounselingcare

LinkedIn: Erika Bugaj

Amy Johnston

Website: www.the-exhale-collective.com

Instagram: @the-exhale-collective

Ever wonder if you're the only one silently struggling while running a practice? You're not. This episode dives deep into the raw reality of therapist burnout - and what comes after.

In this episode, we pull back the curtain on our personal journeys through therapist burnout, the emotional toll of leadership, and the hard-earned lessons we’ve learned from building and breaking our therapy businesses. We’ve led teams, scaled services, and weathered some serious storms inside our own group therapy practice models. And we know firsthand how often clinician mental health is sacrificed in the process.

Whether you're dreaming of launching a side hustle for therapists, reimagining your practice, or dying to explore fresh mental health business ideas, this is your space.

• How we recognized therapist burnout and why we finally decided to stop pushing through
• What’s missing in most conversations around clinician mental health, and how to center your own
• Why traditional paths aren’t sustainable - and how we started building mental health business models that actually support us
• How a side hustle for therapists can offer freedom and purpose when the 1:1 model starts to wear thin
• The real-life mistakes, wins, and mental health business ideas we’re exploring now

If you’re holding space for everyone but yourself, questioning whether you can keep going, or wondering if it's possible to run ethical, profitable therapy businesses without breaking down - this conversation is for you.

We’re sharing our stories not because we’ve figured it all out, but because we know someone else needs to hear them.

Subscribe and listen now. New episodes every Tuesday.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO EPISODE HERE!

Connect with us!

Podcast Website: www.offthechair.com

Colleen Long, Psy.D.

Website: www.claritypsychologicaltesting.com

LinkedIn: Dr. Colleen Long

Jennifer Politis, PhD, LPC

Website: www.wellnesscounselingBC.com

Instagram: @wellnesscounselingnj

TikTok: @wellnesscounseling

LinkedIn: Jennifer Politis

Erika Bugaj, MA, MSW, LICSW

Website: www.dandelioncounselingcare.com

Instagram: @dandelioncounselingcare

LinkedIn: Erika Bugaj

Too many practice owners fall into the trap of treating their staff like family.

It feels caring, but it blurs boundaries and leads to therapist burnout and business chaos. We’ve been there, and we’re sharing how to reset your team relations.

As three entrepreneurial therapists, we know the tension between compassion and leadership. In this episode, we explore what happens when empathy goes too far, why clarity matters more than kindness, and how to lead with confidence. These are conversations about team relations and hiring and firing that every entrepreneurial therapist needs to hear.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why confusing team relations with family loyalty backfires
• How over-identifying with staff fuels therapist burnout
• Real talk about hiring and firing without guilt or people-pleasing
• Ways therapist training complicates leadership and how we’ve learned to adapt
• The leadership reset that protects both your practice and your people

If you’re an entrepreneurial therapist ready to lead with clarity, hold boundaries, and create a sustainable business, you’re not alone; we’re figuring it out right alongside you.

👉 Follow Off the Chair, leave us a review, and share this episode with a colleague who needs a reset.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO EPISODE HERE!

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

Colleen Long, Psy.D.

Website: www.claritypsychologicaltesting.com

LinkedIn: Dr. Colleen Long

Jennifer Politis, PhD, LPC

Website: www.wellnesscounselingBC.com

Instagram: @wellnesscounselingnj

TikTok: @wellnesscounseling

LinkedIn: Jennifer Politis

Erika Bugaj, MA, MSW, LICSW

Website: www.dandelioncounselingcare.com

Instagram: @dandelioncounselingcare

LinkedIn: Erika Bugaj

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO EPISODE HERE!

This one is personal. In part one of our deepest dive yet, we begin the autopsy of a seven-figure practice that rose fast, broke even faster, and exposed what happens when the realities of a broken mental health system collide with raw human limits. This is not a business teardown. It is a confession, a reckoning, and a mirror for every therapist pushing through clinician burnout while trying to hold an entire organization together with grit and fear.

We unpack how early conditioning shaped a lifelong scarcity mentality, how that scarcity mentality fueled a grind that looked like ambition from the outside, and how scarcity mentality quietly infected every decision behind the scenes. The result was a domino effect of fear-based decisions, the kind of fear-based decisions that feel logical in the moment but corrosive in hindsight, the type of fear-based decisions that eventually collapse even the most profitable seven-figure systems.

We name what clinicians are rarely allowed to say out loud. We name what happens when clinician burnout becomes an invisible job requirement. We name what happens when the broken mental health infrastructure pushes good providers into survival mode. And we name the emotional cost of carrying all of this while trying to convince yourself you are fine inside something that looks like a thriving seven-figure business from the outside.

This is part origin story, part accountability, and part solidarity with every therapist who ever wondered if they were the problem when in reality they were operating inside a system that is fundamentally the problem. If you feel the weight of clinician burnout, if you have made fear-based decisions out of desperation, or if you are navigating the fallout of a broken mental health landscape, this episode will land exactly where it needs to.

• The early imprint that wired a lifelong scarcity mentality and how it shows up in leadership
• How clinician burnout becomes an identity instead of a warning sign
• The quiet ways a broken mental health system shapes everything from hiring to ethics
• Why fear-based decisions masquerade as responsibility and feel impossible to avoid
• The moment a seven-figure practice revealed its fault lines in real time

If you are in the thick of it, you are not alone. And you are definitely not the only one trying to survive inside something that was never built to support you.

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

Colleen Long, Psy.D.

Website: www.claritypsychologicaltesting.com

LinkedIn: Dr. Colleen Long

Jennifer Politis, PhD, LPC

Website: www.wellnesscounselingBC.com

Instagram: @wellnesscounselingnj

TikTok: @wellnesscounseling

LinkedIn: