What happened when I stopped seeing clients for therapy? How to evolve a business in adversity Welcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. Today is a bit of a different episode for me because I wanted to be honest with you about some decisions that I've made recently that are really personal, but that resonate a lot with decisions that I help some of my coaching clients to make, because it's rare that we go into private practice without some complicating factors happening in our lives.Full show notes for this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyEpisode Links:Episode 19: How psychologists and therapists can use an ideal client avatar to co create and market their servicesEpisode 103: Why you should specialise – old gold that is still importantEpisode 128: Who are you helping? Three ways to specialise your psychology or therapy practiceEpisode 152: Thinking differently about your practice: A tool to put the client firstLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistEvolve and Thrive Mastermind Have you been listening to this and feeling like the time has come for you to make a change in your practice? Maybe you are ready to grow with passive or semi passive income. Maybe you are ready to gain more time freedom, have that flexibility you always dreamed of, or expand your impact. If any of that sounds like you, you might be a really good fit for my Evolve and Thrive Mastermind.Our next cohort is starting in January 2026, and it's a small group, six-month coaching experience. The early bird rate finishes mid-December, so if any of that sounds good to you, make sure you check out the details over at psychologybusinessschool.com and book your free call with me now to secure the best price.ShownotesWhat happened when I stopped seeing clients for therapy? How to evolve a business in adversityI've spoken a bit here, and a lot more on my substack, about how I originally went into independent practice really because my children have additional needs. I wasn't aware of that at the time; all I knew was that nursery didn't work and that we didn't have other childcare options available to us. But looking back, nursery didn't work for the same reasons that school is very challenging now. And that was the beginning of me having to learn to evolve and adapt and be a clinical psychologist in a different way, and that's been very much the purpose of my business and what I love to help other people do too. So it felt only right that I should share with you about some of the recent evolutions that have had to be made in my business, my thinking behind it and the kind of strategy that I use every time I have to make a big change in my business. Because it has happened so often that I have developed a bit of a framework for thinking about it and helping my clients through it when it happens to them too. So, I thought it might be useful to share what's happened, but also my framework for thinking through and strategizing my way through those difficult moments that often lead to a change or an evolution in the business. Firstly, I want to acknowledge that there's a lot that I love about independent practice, and I am so grateful that I have this profession that enabled me to set up independently when the NHS wasn't going to work anymore. But it's a paradox because I also felt extremely sad about leaving the NHS. It was 2018, I was very young, I didn't feel anywhere near experienced enough to go into independent practice at that time. So, to an extent, my first journey into independent practice involved a big evolution of identity in and of itself, and I guess that's a context for many of us. Many of us feel a big wrench when we leave the NHS or when we even start to think about potentially leaving our public sector roles. So, I guess independent practice starts from that place for me, and for me it's always held this kind of paradox of opportunity and excitement alongside sadness and loss. I know that that's the case for very many of us in independent practice, and I suppose what I hope is that what I'm going to share today helps me and you, if you find yourself in this kind of situation, to use an actionable framework to find the opportunities and the excitement, even when maybe you wouldn't have chosen the situation that you find yourself in.What's been going on in my businessI'll let you behind the curtain a little bit in what's been going on over the past few years in my business, the harder bits perhaps. As I mentioned, I have children with additional needs and sometimes it's difficult to get those needs met by anybody other than me. I think if you've navigated the SEND system in the UK, then you'll know exactly what I mean by that. A few years ago, my children really couldn't cope with school, so suddenly I found myself needing to go back into the role of being the primary carer all of the time, and there was no space for my independent practice. It was very sudden, I hadn't anticipated that my children would struggle to that extent, that they couldn't be in the school environment. I'd never in my life met anybody that had a child that didn't go to school. I knew it happened for teenagers, I did not know that it could happen for five- and six-year-olds, but it really did. And in fact, it was a problem that lasted for more than a year as we tried to find flexibility and find ways of making school accessible and suitable for them. I should say that compared to a lot of families, we were very lucky. We’re in a lovely school with an amazing SENCO and a really compassionate and strong head teacher who have been flexible in ways that I do not think are normal in mainstream primary schools. They've bent over backwards to support us and that is not the story that I hear from a great many families that I work with. So, just to check my privilege on that one, I know how lucky we've been. But it still took a really long time to help the children recover and to find the adaptations that we could make to make some sort of school more accessible to them. We did get there, but it took all of me to do it. And so in a real hurry, and I'm not proud of how I handled it, because I don't think that I handled it in an optimal way whatsoever, I had to close down my clinical practice. It wasn't the first time it had happened, it happened to many of us in COVID as well, but it felt much more rushed, much more traumatic than that, because I went from expecting that I would be seeing my clients for years to come. I was really excited about the premises that I had, really excited about establishing a service in my local area, and all of that just ended really abruptly when I had this realisation that I'd had to cancel more clients than I'd seen in a week. And I can't overstate how painful it is to know that you're not being the psychologist or therapist that your clients need. As soon as I had that realisation, I knew the only ethical thing to do was complete closure and to hand people over in the best way that I could to other professionals in the area. But it was brutally painful and I still feel waves of trauma thinking about it and talking about it, so that's all I'm going to say about that. It was forced, it was hurried, it was crisis driven, it was not what anyone would hope for. So the practice stayed closed for probably at least 18 months, if not two years, while I just focused on recovering my children. I kept Psychology Business School going, because although there were parts of me that thought let's just retreat from professional life entirely, financially I didn't really have that option, or it would've been extremely difficult for us if I had chosen to do that. But I think more for me, I needed to feel that connection to my profession and to my colleagues and hopefully as anyone who's done coaching with me will know, I really enjoy immersing myself in somebody else's practice and somebody else's struggles, and solving the problems that come up in other people's businesses was the kind of relief from the rest of my life that I needed, and it also meant that I didn't lose contact with the mission that we have as mental health professionals and my professional values. So it was important for me to keep that going during that really difficult period, even though it was also extremely difficult, and I would find myself snatching hours of work at...

What's going wrong with social media? Welcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. I have been wanting to make a podcast for a while about the reasons that I've stepped back a little bit in my use of social media and the changes that I've made and that I've encouraged my clients in my coaching programs to make in the way that we view it and the way that we use it. Because I'm aware that for a lot of us at the moment, social media feels like a very heavy place. There's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of negativity, and if we're not mindful about how we are using it, it can take a really big emotional toll. I feel like because we talk on this podcast about the advantages of using social media to market, to reach your people who need you in your practice, it's also important to talk about how to manage our wellbeing as we do that, and also how to make sure we're putting content out there that feels aligned with our values and that feels professionally fulfilling, because in some ways I feel the platforms drag us away from those values. Full show notes for this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistEvolve and Thrive Mastermind Have you been listening to this and feeling like the time has come for you to make a change in your practice? Maybe you are ready to grow with passive or semi passive income. Maybe you are ready to gain more time freedom, have that flexibility you always dreamed of, or expand your impact. If any of that sounds like you, you might be a really good fit for my Evolve and Thrive Mastermind.Our next cohort is starting in January 2026, and it's a small group, six-month coaching experience. The early bird rate finishes mid-December, so if any of that sounds good to you, make sure you check out the details over at psychologybusinessschool.com and book your free call with me now to secure the best price.ShownotesIs there a helpful way for psychologists and therapists to use social media in 2026?The thing that I'm going to talk about the most in this episode is being mindful of the priorities of social media companies and developing an awareness that they're not neutral tools. They have business models that are designed to sell attention by amplifying the things which people can't resist, which are usually negativity and anger. That can be really detrimental to our own wellbeing, and if we're not careful, it can be detrimental to our client groups too. I’m also going to talk about the positivity and the nuance in that; it is not all bad, there's a lot of good that we can still do with social media, but only if we are mindful of its inherent design flaws and the pitfalls that I see a lot of us falling into.What we’re seeing on social mediaLet's start by talking about what a lot of us are seeing on social media. When I go to networking events and I meet up with my coaching clients, a lot of us are witnessing stuff on social media that's really upsetting. And I don't mean the stuff from unregulated people giving bad advice and misinformation. That's been going on as long as there has been social media and it's bad, but I'm not seeing more of it than I saw five years ago. I'm seeing about the same number of unqualified people telling me things that they have no business to tell me. But what I am seeing more of, maybe just because I'm spending more time looking than I was previously, but I feel like it is an upwards trend, are discussions or debates on social media, particularly LinkedIn and Facebook, between professionals who are properly qualified that turn into like skirmishes. Often these are on topics which are highly emotive for many of us. The ones which get served up to me all the time, because my children have additional needs, are usually around topics like neurodiversity, neuro affirmative practice, and causes and cures for autism, in particular. Those are all topics which I do know a fair amount about. Since my children started to struggle and I went through the diagnostic process, I think I've probably read more on those topics than I have on anything else in my entire life. I keep really up to date with the evidence base, and I have read most of the seminal texts that I've been able to get my hands on in those areas. And the thing that I have taken away from all of that reading and research is that it is really nuanced and complicated and nobody is really right. There's a lot that I like and that I think has a good grounding in evidence in neuro affirmative practice. Certainly, the positive impact on identity formation and the value of neuro affirmative therapy and coaching for people, I see that and I like it, and I recognise it, and I think it can't be ignored, and it shouldn't be ignored. But it's also true that a lot of the people putting out their views about neuro affirmation and the principles of neurodiversity, are spreading misinformation about the way that the brain works and about how solid the evidence base is for brain-based differences between particularly autistic and ADHD brains and neurotypical brains. And I don't like that. I don't like the kind of division that's created between neurotypicals and neurodivergence, because I don't think that is evidence-based, and I don't think that will help people in the end. But having said that, it's also not true to say that the evidence shows no brain-based differences. I've seen some really invalidating stuff on there where people who, like me, are a little bit sceptical about building identity around one particular label, have then taken it to the point where they're saying that people shouldn't be using these labels at all, that we are massively over diagnosed and that these labels are not helpful. And that's not true either. I mean, my children would not be okay without their labels. People need them to get what they need in a society that we have built around labelling people. And so the idea that people are wrong for finding those useful, or that clinicians are wrong for using labels in the system that we operate in is also bizarre. I suppose the reason that I've gone on this sidebar slightly is that this is a difficult and nuanced point. Nobody is really wrong, nobody is really right, and yet what I see on social media is really vitriolic, a lot of sound bites to grab attention, and no space given for this kind of both/and position, which is a painful one to hold. It isn't much fun being a parent of children that need a lot of additional support to be sitting here, bum on the fence, a spiky fence, being like, okay, I see the good, I see the bad, on balance we’re going to go with the labels because they're going to do more good than harm, but I can't fully commit myself to the idea of building a whole identity around any label. It feels uncomfortable. It feels like I don't have a home. But the reality is, when I talk to people in person, and I meet a lot of people that I've seen online in person, most people are falling where I am. Most people are really nuanced about it, a bit torn apart by it. They've read the same evidence that I have, and come to the same conclusion that actually we're in this really tricky grey space, but nobody is representing that online, even if it's what they think really. I think that's because the platforms encourage us to speak in a way that we wouldn't speak professionally if we were in a room together. Complex topics get reduced to these short, extreme, and often un-evidenced claims, like no brain-based differences, or CBT is harmful to people with autism. Those are the kind of statements which work really well on social media because they get an argument going and they get rewarded, and so we post more of them. But I actually think they're really doing a lot of harm, not just between professionals. I often really cringe when I see it happening on social media. I might start to feel a bit disillusioned with clinical psychology as a profession, or I might feel a bit shamed or upset if somebody's having a go at something that I've said. It can be difficult for us as professionals, but imagine what it is like if you’re a family going through the most difficult thing you've ever experienced, and then you go onto LinkedIn and you see a load of people who are supposed to be the people giving you advice and guidance, fighting each other. I can't stand it. I can't stand to think about what that experience must be like for people in their most vulnerable moments. And it's not just happening around neurodiversity, that's just the one I know more about. But I also see it happening a lot around gender identity, for example. I think sometimes when we're posting, we need to be mindful of the vulnerable people who might see it. Maybe they're not the person the post is intended for, maybe it's intended for a professional audience, but it's got your name, it's got your professional title. You are representing a clinical psychologist, or a CBT therapist, or a counsellor to the people that read it. So, if you are getting into a skirmish and having cross words with other professionals on there, that is really confusing to the...

Is it time for you to evolve and thrive?Welcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. This episode is all about that stuck on the fence feeling that I think is so familiar to so many of us. That feeling when you know that something needs to change, but you are not sure whether now is the right time to make that change.Full show notes for this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistEvolve and Thrive Mastermind Have you been listening to this and feeling like the time has come for you to make a change in your practice? Maybe you are ready to grow with passive or semi passive income. Maybe you are ready to gain more time freedom, have that flexibility you always dreamed of, or expand your impact. If any of that sounds like you, you might be a really good fit for my Evolve and Thrive Mastermind.Our next cohort is starting in January 2026, and it's a small group, six-month coaching experience. The early bird rate finishes mid-December, so if any of that sounds good to you, make sure you check out the details over at psychologybusinessschool.com and book your free call with me now to secure the best price.ShownotesIs it time for you to evolve and thrive?Hello and welcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. This episode is all about that stuck on the fence feeling that I think is so familiar to so many of us. That feeling when you know that something needs to change, but you are not sure whether now is the right time to make that change.I just want to acknowledge that often this happens when my clients are really successful; when they've built exactly what they set out to build, but now something about it just isn't feeling fulfilling or they're struggling with the day-to-day running of their practice, feeling burned out, maybe feeling like they're doing fine, but sort of spinning their wheels in time, and that's how it was for me. On the surface, I had built a really successful private practice. From the outside looking in, people would've seen fully booked, always busy attracting people to my specialism, tick, tick, tick, it all looks great. But in reality, I was really struggling to keep going with that pace of clients because it wasn't giving me the flexibility that I needed in my life, but also it wasn't really allowing me to use my skills as a psychologist in the diverse and interesting ways that I had been able to in my public sector roles. So for a number of reasons, I arrived at this point of feeling like I needed to make a change, but I sat on that fence for quite a while, and it can be quite an uncomfortable place. I've noticed that as I've been doing the calls for our next Evolve and Thrive cohort, which is really exciting, that a lot of people are sitting on that fence. And because the economy is in a challenging place, and I don't think that we're in a really optimistic frame of mind as a generation at the moment, often we might be sitting in that place for a bit longer, really agonising over when's the right time to jump off and do something a bit differently. So I wanted to record an episode to help you think that through. And it's not going to be, “you should always go for it, now is definitely the right time to make a change in your practice”, because actually one of the things that's really important to me as a business coach is that you are respectful of the season of life that you are in, and that you make decisions based on wherever possible, data, good information about the return on the investment that you're going to get. And I don't just mean investment in terms of money, I mean investment in terms of time, your creativity and your emotional wellbeing as well. So, I hope this episode is going to help you. If you are thinking that now might be a good time for you to step into something new, maybe create a new project, something outside the therapy room, or maybe expand and bring on associates, my aim with this episode is to help you think through whether now is the right moment to jump in with both feet and really go for it, or if actually you might be in a season that means that those things are all here for you, they're all going to happen, but they need to happen a little bit later. So I hope you're going to find this useful.I also hope that this episode will demonstrate to you that that evolution is possible, even if it's not the thing for you right now, I think there's a bit of pessimism out there sometimes that maybe we will miss the boat, that they are one to many offers, online courses, that kind of thing are only really available to people that built their audiences back when it was easier, like in 2016 for example, but actually that's not true. I am supporting day in, day out, I'm supporting psychologists and therapists who are doing it right now in this tricky climate and making it work. So I also hope that this episode is going to give you a little bit of that hopeful optimism that I have the privilege of sitting alongside in my coaching practice regularly.Signs that you might be ready to evolve your practiceThere are some signs that you might be ready to evolve your practice that are worth paying attention to. I got these from my existing participants in Evolve and Thrive. The first sign is that you start craving one to many. You start craving more scale and more variety in your work. Maybe you are fully booked or well established, but you really miss using the other parts of your brain that one-to-one therapy doesn't always utilise. And this is how Dr Grace Lee-Brindle, who is currently in Evolve and Thrive described it to me. She noted that after leaving the NHS, she missed other parts of her work. She was well established with one-to-one clients, she's got a brilliant specialism, but she felt like she was ready to branch out and use other skills. So I think that's really important. Dr Kelly Young also shared something on this theme. She said that she wanted to move from a one-to-one, to a one-to-many model to increase the revenue in her practice, but also to make more impact for more people while working fewer hours. So, I guess the takeaway from that is if you resonate with those things, if you feel itchy to use your skills in a different way and you're wanting to make more impact with more people, then that could be a sign that you are ready for that recurring income strategy, and to develop a business model that takes you outside the therapy room.Another theme that came up as a sign that you might be ready to make that change in your practice was a feeling that Dr Melita Ash, another one of our evolve and thrivers, put really well, I thought it was a really nice analogy. She said she felt like she was running fast, but standing still. I guess this is about the issue of sustainability, it's that feeling like I have, that you are working incredibly hard, but the business isn't really growing in a way that gives you any more time, flexibility or financial security. So it can feel a bit like you are running on a treadmill. Melita described it as like running fast, not getting anywhere, constantly working hard and feeling really stuck. And she felt like she needed to come on a program that would give her a structure towards getting unstuck because it can be such a difficult place to be when you are running that fast, that you're exhausted and sometimes unable to think outside of that fast pace of work that you're doing every day. That's something that Dr Victoria Wallace talked about too. She really prioritised sustainability and looking to avoid those boom and bust cycles we can often get into when we are relying on just one-to-one therapy and that referral rollercoaster in private practice.I guess what this tells us is that if taking regular time off or flexibility for family is really important to you, and the business model you have at the moment isn't delivering that, then you really need a plan. Putting more effort into the model you already have is not going to take you somewhere different or more sustainable than where you are right now. So if where you are right now doesn't feel sustainable, if you feel like you're heading for burnout, you have to make a change. Sometimes what I hear from people is that they're sort of waiting to feel better before they make a change. But actually, if we formulate for ourselves in the exact same way that we would for a client, that's like waiting to stop feeling depressed before you go out for a walk. Sometimes we have to put the cart before the horse and get out, make the change that's going to allow us to feel better. So I think that's a really important point. If you're already on the road to burnout, hop off now. Do something different now before you get fully in the pit of it.So sign number three that the current Evolve and Thrivers talked about was feeling like you kind of get stuck in contemplation mode. So maybe you have ideas, but procrastination, peer fear, or imposter syndrome stop you actually executing them. A lot of people talk about this as like shiny object syndrome, like the magpies or butterflies flitting from one

Carving out an unknown specialism: Sports and Exercise Psychology with Paula WatsonWelcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. I'm really pleased to be welcoming my guest today, Dr Paula Watson, who is an applied sports and exercise psychologist specialising in health behavior change relating to eating, exercise, and weight. Paula spent 18 years in academia including working at Liverpool John Moores University as a reader in exercise and health psychology, before dedicating herself fully to her private practice, Made Up To Move. The concept of an exercise psychologist in private practice is one that might feel quite new, and I know that exercise psychologists qualifying now often feel unsure about how to introduce a less known about psychological service to the market. Paula's story is one that's all about forging a new path, embracing the unknown, and defining her own value when the public didn't even know that she existed. We're going to explore today how she built her practice when the public wasn't even aware of what exercise psychology was, and there's so much that we can all learn about really solid business and marketing skills from Paula's journey. Full show notes and a transcript of this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks:Episode 41: How to set your fees in your psychology private practice with “pricing queen” Sally FarrantLinks for Paula:Website: madeuptomove.co.ukYouTube: www.youtube.com/@DrPaulaWatsonLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/paula-watson-weight-loss-therapyLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistThe highlightsPaula tells us what drew her to sports and exercise psychology 01:34Paula talks about her academic career 06:59We discuss imposter syndrome 14:30Paula tells us about her decision to move from academia to the applied space 20:10I ask Paula about choosing private practice versus a job 24:35Paula tells us what a week in her practice looks like 36:14I ask Paula about her YouTube channel 45:20Paula speaks about the learning curves and mindset shifts required when setting up in private practice 51:06Paula tells us how we can connect with her 56:38Evolve Your Practice: The map to more income, impact and flexibilityAre you craving more flexibility in your practice? Maybe you've built something amazing and you're proud of your business, but it's also bringing you to the brink of burnout. Maybe you want to use your skills differently and create recurring revenue outside the therapy room. Whether your priority is financial stability or flexibility, or both, adding recurring revenue streams into your business is essential.If you want time, freedom, more income, and to make a bigger impact for your client group, join me for a free masterclass on Monday, the 17th of November at 11:00 AM and I'll show you how I use my values, voice and impact framework to create income, impact, and flexibility in my own business, and for the hundreds of psychologists and therapists I've supported over the last five years.I'd love to see you there. You can sign up here: https://psychologybusinessschool.mykajabi.com/offers/fnr6d7si/checkout

The most critical feedback from our retreat and what we've learned about running events with Dr Claire PlumblyWelcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. I'm really pleased to be here today with friend of the podcast, Dr Claire Plumley. Claire's been on the podcast a few times now, sometimes talking about her experience of working in burnout and writing an amazing book about it. Sometimes we've been talking about the cool and exciting stuff that Claire does in her practice, like EMDR intensives and working with people online. But today we are getting together to talk about our joint venture, a retreat that we ran for the first time last year and we're running again in 2026, because so many of you tell me that you've got a real craving for in-person connection. Getting people together in a room feels like something amazing that we can do to enhance wellbeing, but in-person events feel really different, especially when we've been working predominantly in the online space since 2020. Claire and I thought it might be helpful for us to let you in behind the scenes of what it was like running a retreat and the learnings that we've taken from a super successful one last year, and how are we going to make this year even better based on those.Full show notes and a transcript of this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks:2026 Psychologists Business RetreatGet in touch here.Links for Claire:LinkedIn: Dr Claire PlumblyFacebook: @drclaireplumblyInstagram: @drclaireplumblyTikTok: @drclaireplumblyWebsite: www.plum-psychology.comLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistThe highlightsWe talk about our reasons for wanting to run a retreat 01:26We discuss the different skills we brought together, and liaising with the right venue 06:56We look at how we got the right mix of people 13:08We discuss costing an event 16:35We talk about marketing something with this much logistical planning 19:55We look at what will be different for 2026 25:22Claire gives her advice to anyone thinking about planning their own event 35:10I tell you how to find out about the 2026 retreat 37:11Evolve and Thrive Mastermind Have you been listening to this and feeling like the time has come for you to make a change in your practice? Maybe you are ready to grow with passive or semi passive income. Maybe you are ready to gain more time freedom, have that flexibility you always dreamed of, or expand your impact. If any of that sounds like you, you might be a really good fit for my Evolve and Thrive Mastermind.Our next cohort is starting in January 2026, and it's a small group, six-month coaching experience. The early bird rate finishes mid-December, so if any of that sounds good to you, make sure you check out the details over at psychologybusinessschool.com and book your free call with me now to secure the best price.

Fulfilment through writing together on Substack with Clare VenusWelcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. This week I'm joined by Clare Venus, who is a wonderful creator over on Substack, and who also teaches other people how to Substack well. I'm really excited to bring you this chat, because in it we talk about why you might want to choose Substack, and why it might be a good home for psychologists and therapists who are looking to bring a bit more nuance than social media platforms generally allow. We also dive into Clare's personal journey with Substack, what attracted her to it, and how it allows her to use her creativity in a way that she might have been struggling to do in other places, which I think a lot of us can relate to. Finally, we also talk about the business side, and how Substack can fit into the business and the practice that you’re running, which I think is a really important consideration when we're thinking about embarking on any new social media platform or marketing strategy.Full show notes and a transcript of this episode are available at The Business of PsychologySubstack Links for Clare:@clairevenusCreatively ConsciousSparkle on SubstackSubscribe to Sparkle on Substack - Listener 30% Discount LinkLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistThe highlightsClare tells us a little bit about how she ended up on Substack and why she chose it 01:50I ask Clare about the ways that she’s seen psychologists and therapists using the platform 09:12Clare ​​walks us through the various bits of Substack and also how their like payment system works 16:07We talk about the different opportunities Substack provides us with 23:31We discuss membership models and structures 30:17I summarise the models you can have on Substack 33:50 Clare talks about SEO with Substack and other tips for setting up 36:03I ask Clare what is the first best step to take for a psychologist or therapist who thinks Substack could be a good place for them 39:24Claire give us her Substack links 42:14Evolve Your Practice: The map to more income, impact and flexibilityAre you craving more flexibility in your practice? Maybe you've built something amazing and you're proud of your business, but it's also bringing you to the brink of burnout. Maybe you want to use your skills differently and create recurring revenue outside the therapy room. Whether your priority is financial stability or flexibility, or both, adding recurring revenue streams into your business is essential.If you want time, freedom, more income, and to make a bigger impact for your client group, join me for a free masterclass on Monday, the 17th of November at 11:00 AM and I'll show you how I use my values, voice and impact framework to create income, impact, and flexibility in my own business, and for the hundreds of psychologists and therapists I've supported over the last five years.I'd love to see you there. You can sign up here: https://psychologybusinessschool.mykajabi.com/offers/fnr6d7si/checkout

The most valuable lesson from Evolve and Thrive: The real reason psychologists and therapists burnout and procrastinateHello and welcome to another episode of The Business of Psychology podcast. Today you've just got me, it's a solo show and it's going to be a short and sweet one. Full show notes for this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistEvolve Your Practice: The map to more income, impact and flexibilityAre you craving more flexibility in your practice? Maybe you've built something amazing and you're proud of your business, but it's also bringing you to the brink of burnout. Maybe you want to use your skills differently and create recurring revenue outside the therapy room. Whether your priority is financial stability or flexibility, or both, adding recurring revenue streams into your business is essential.If you want time, freedom, more income, and to make a bigger impact for your client group, join me for a free masterclass on Monday, the 17th of November at 11:00 AM and I'll show you how I use my values, voice and impact framework to create income, impact, and flexibility in my own business, and for the hundreds of psychologists and therapists I've supported over the last five years.I'd love to see you there. You can sign up here: https://psychologybusinessschool.mykajabi.com/offers/fnr6d7si/checkout ShownotesThe most valuable lesson from Evolve and Thrive: The real reason psychologists and therapists burnout and procrastinateI wanted to talk about something which has been really troubling me for the past few months, maybe even longer. It's the most valuable lesson that I've learned from my group coaching program, Evolve and Thrive, which is a coaching program designed for people ready to take the next step in their practice. Maybe they've already built something successful and they're ready to move beyond the therapy room or start bringing in different income sources. These are all people that I respect hugely. There is not a single person in Evolve and Thrive that I'm not slightly intimidated by because of their amazing careers and the expertise that they're bringing for their clients. But there has been something really striking that is holding most of the people in Evolve and Thrive back, and what we've spent most of our time on together as a group. I wanted to bring it into the light because I've noticed that almost everybody thinks that they're alone with this, and if you're struggling, you are absolutely not alone with this.I want to start by saying that all the knowledge that we need to be successful in business is already out there. This was not the case when I started this podcast back in 2020, but it very much is the case now. You've got AI at your fingertips to search the web for you. You've got YouTube, podcasts, good old-fashioned books, any question you have, you can find the answer to all of them. And psychologists and therapists are always intelligent people who can find the things that they need if they're looking for them. Despite this, I keep hearing the same things over and over again, the things which are getting people stuck are burnout and a tendency to overwork even when they can feel that that burnout is close, and paralysis or procrastination, often both. I've been coaching other mental health professionals for over five years now, and I've realised that although it kicks in at different moments, for different people, there are two things that hold people back in growing their practices, there are two things that lead to that procrastination pattern and that continuous dance on the edge of burnout, and neither of those is being bad at tech.Sometimes it's that their bodies and minds have acclimatised to a punishing and relentless workload, so a more relaxed working week, the thing they often tell me that they want more than anything, actually it doesn't feel safe, so they avoid it by breaking boundaries, saying yes when they know it should be a no, or never making the time to think about changing their practice.Or maybe they've absorbed stories and identities that they'd have to give up if they created a more comfortable working life for themselves. That ‘suffering public servant’ narrative, the ‘selfless helping professional’, even the ‘on the brink of burnout professional’, they're all identities that we worked hard to wear and giving them up can feel like a rejection of the more positive aspects of those identities. You know, I remember thinking to myself, if I'm not burning out in the NHS, maybe I don't get to feel like the selfless helping professional anymore. Maybe that makes me a selfish helping professional and that doesn't feel comfortable and it's something I wrestled with a lot and continue to; you know, this is not something that you work through once and get to the other side of, and for many of us, that leads to paralysis that looks a lot like procrastination. Because you're torn in two different directions, so staying uncomfortably on the fence instead is safer than pulling yourself apart. For others, it leads to undercharging and often that very real financial fear. When you are riding that rollercoaster of never quite feeling secure financially in your practice, maybe on a good month, it's great, but then the next month is a bit slower and suddenly you are panicking again. That fear then leads to the breaking boundaries, saying yes to everything, ironically, avoiding and never looking at the numbers in the business, or you know, never allowing yourself the luxury of looking for new ways of doing things, or reviewing your financial plan. And so instead, you're maintaining this constant state of near burnout, which is kind of what you got used to. There are other stories too that stop people from building the lives that they want to live. Things like, ‘I'm too old’, or ‘I'm not the kind of person who…’, ‘I'm not confident enough’, ‘I'm not good enough with tech’, ‘I hate marketing’. All of these stories just shut down the things that we think are possible for ourselves. And what I love about coaching is that once these patterns and stories are brought to light, my clients are all really well equipped to tackle them and to support each other as they move through the discomfort of making those changes. It is such a pleasure to work with psychologists and therapists because as a group, we are just as susceptible as anyone else to blind spots and avoidance, but it is absolutely awesome to get to work with people who already have amazing skills and full up toolkits to make that change once they've recognised it and decided to make it.Something I have noticed though, which again is maybe a bit unique to mental health professionals, is that the stories that stick with us, the trickiest ones to move past, are the ones that we've absorbed from our professional culture. The ones that lead to that dreaded peer fear that comes up in at least 80% of my coaching conversations. What are other people, other professionals, usually going to think if we try something new? Am I going to be labelled as money grabbing or a sellout? And the fact is, I can't reassure people that they're never going to face judgment from other psychologists and therapists. Instead, we have to get into our compassionate selves and think about what that judgment and our reaction to it does and does not mean. Together we think about whether the feelings we have about it might be useful because sometimes they are, they can encourage us to seek peer debate over some ethical concerns we have. And you know, I think that peer debate is the only way to resolve ethical concerns when we're working at the frontier and we're trying out new things where there's not an obvious precedent for us to follow. But we also think about what that judgment is most likely to mean in the context it was given. And often when we do that, we recognise that there are many factors well outside of our new product or our new service, or even ourselves, that might have led somebody to make those judgemental comments that they've made. It's so much easier to accept and move through the anxiety that inevitably comes up around judgment from our peers when we can look at it in its full context and think about its true meaning.I hope that gives you some food for thought. If you feel like it's time to make a change in your business, but something keeps holding you back, maybe you've been blaming yourself for continuously burning out, or maybe you've had advice before and are beating yourself up all the time because you haven't felt able to take it. Maybe you've called yourself names like procrastinator, or got frustrated over your paralysis. I just want you to know that it's not unusual, it's not about your knowledge, it's not about your skills, it's not about who you are as a person. It's that you are working through something that is really difficult and that many of us have to work through, over and over and over again, and it's part of the vulnerability of being in business and you deserve support with...

Stop spending money on social media: The biggest mistake private practice owners are making in digital marketingHello and welcome to the Business of Psychology Podcast. This series is all about what we can do when we have that tugging feeling that our practice needs to change, but we're not quite sure what to do about it. Full show notes for this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks/references:Episode 103: Why you should specialise – old gold that is still importantEpisode 127: What matters to our clients in private practice?Episode 128: Who are you helping? Three ways to specialise your psychology or therapy practiceEpisode 129: How to make sure your marketing actually works: How to use authority for psychologists and therapistsEpisode 152: Thinking differently about your practice: A tool to put the client firstEpisode 158: How to find your ideal clients in 2025: SEO for psychologists and therapists with Chris MorinLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistEvolve Your Practice: The map to more income, impact and flexibilityAre you craving more flexibility in your practice? Maybe you've built something amazing and you're proud of your business, but it's also bringing you to the brink of burnout. Maybe you want to use your skills differently and create recurring revenue outside the therapy room. Whether your priority is financial stability or flexibility, or both, adding recurring revenue streams into your business is essential.If you want time, freedom, more income, and to make a bigger impact for your client group, join me for a free masterclass on Monday, the 17th of November at 11:00 AM and I'll show you how I use my values, voice and impact framework to create income, impact, and flexibility in my own business, and for the hundreds of psychologists and therapists I've supported over the last five years.I'd love to see you there. You can sign up here: https://psychologybusinessschool.mykajabi.com/offers/fnr6d7si/checkout ShownotesStop spending money on social media: The biggest mistake private practice owners are making in digital marketing Today we're focusing on social media, because one thing I have noticed about people that come into my Evolve and Thrive program is they've often already been spending money or time trying to build a social media audience because they think it's a prerequisite for adding additional income streams into their practice.Firstly, it is not true that you always have to do social media to add new revenue streams. Even passive income doesn't always have to involve social media. But what we're focusing on today is the danger of spending loads of time or loads of money on social media before you've done the work on your marketing strategy, because I see so much waste when that happens. First, I'm going to talk a bit about the perils, and then I'm going to give you some practical strategy advice using my Values, Voice and Impact framework that I use with all my coaching clients so that you can invest in social media safely and effectively and actually make your investment back from it. The MistakesLet's get started by thinking about the mistakes, because honestly, my heart hurts when I meet a new client who has already outsourced their marketing or hired a new social media manager or one of those fancy, all-inclusive marketing agencies. And it's not because those are bad things to do, but they are usually bad if we do them too soon.Social media is just a way of reaching people. It's a marketing channel, just in the same way that a poster on a lamppost is a marketing channel. Except in 2025, every lamppost you pass has a thousand posters, blue-tacked over the top of each other competing for your eyeballs. You wouldn't expect the fact you had a poster on a lamppost to do anything for your marketing, would you? You'd probably think that the content of that poster was quite important. You'd probably also consider the position of the poster; whether it was on a lamppost outside a busy coffee shop or in a country lane, whether you were at the top or three sheets deep at the bottom, you'd instinctively know that all of those things were really crucial.Social media managers tend to have no idea how to tackle good quality content or positioning for mental health professionals, so they mostly post content that is so bland and uninspiring, you might as well be sticking up a blank sheet of paper in a country lane. I am afraid that you have to be fully in charge of the marketing strategy for your business. Strategy cannot be delegated. Graphic design can be delegated, copywriting can be delegated, but the strategy is all yours.  I'm going to use my values, voice and impact framework that underpins the coaching in my group programs like Startup and Evolve and Thrive to show you what you need to have in place before you go hiring help.ValuesWe start with the values. To put together a strategy, you first need to understand what you want from your business and what your clients needs from you. Here is where we do all the work on personal and professional values, picking a specialism, narrowing to a client group and really understanding what matters to that group. I've recorded episodes before on the tools that we can use here, like the customer persona and the value proposition that can help us get that really deep understanding of the priorities of our client group. And that work can only be done by you because it's psychological work, and actually the majority of people who work in marketing are used to marketing products, which don't involve anything like the emotional investment that we are asking our clients to make, even if we're selling them a book or an online course. And so we need to be using our skills as mental health professionals to really get under the skin and understand our clients in the way that most marketing professionals aren't used to doing. I do find peer discussions very helpful here though, so do use your colleagues, but more importantly, as I talk about in all the episodes around customer personas and value propositions, get out and talk to your actual client group and test ideas out with them. Voice The second stage is about voice, because what content you should post is also determined by your expertise. Everything you produce should be aiming to build your authority with your client group. You should be proud of the body of work that you put out there into the world on social media. It needs to carry your authentic voice, and most importantly, you need to be spreading the messages that your client group need to hear from you, specifically. If you've done your values work well, you'll have a good idea of the things that your ideal client group desperately want to hear about, and you'll know the language that they use too. Pick three to five of those things that align with your expertise and make those your content pillars - the things that you always talk about online. I always suggest writing out about five to ten stories that illustrate that you really understand those things, that you understand the struggles that your clients face related to those topics, and you can link them directly to the things that they want to hear you talking about. For example, if you think that they want advice from you about burnout, write out some compelling stories that show you really understand burnout; either stories from your personal life, anonymised client stories, it could be anything, but stories are so much more compelling than how-tos or advice lists. So making sure you've got some of those in your back pocket that you can repurpose over and over again for various posts on social media is really helpful.ImpactThe final stage is impact. In order to make your marketing

Evolve and Thrive: Starting before you're ready - the Supervisor Platform with Natalie StottWelcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. Today I'm joined by clinical psychologist in independent practice, and founder of a fancy new supervision platform, Dr Natalie Stott. I'm really excited to have her here today because we’re going to talk about the journey of putting something innovative out there into the world, especially something that is designed to support independent practitioners. I think this is really important because it's very often a mindset issue that stops people from getting started with something innovative, and I know Natalie is really well placed to talk to us about those mindset issues that crop up and how we can plow through them.Full show notes and a transcript of this episode are available at The Business of PsychologyLinks for Natalie:Supervisor Platform: supervisorplatform.comLinkedIn: Dr Natalie StottMastering Therapy Podcast: masteringtherapy.comWebsite: www.drnataliestott.comLinks for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologistThe highlightsNatalie tells us about herself and her practice 01:02I ask Natalie about the problem she saw that needed fixing, that let to creating Supervisor Platform 02:42We discuss the importance of supervision and community 06:33Natalie talks about the difficulties with advertising your services as a supervisor when you are in independent practice 11:36We discuss the importance of visibility and personal branding 20:08Natalie talks about how she pushed through the discomfort of being visible 29:25Natalie highlights the power of feedback 35:40Natalie tells us how to get in touch with her 39:17Evolve Your Practice: The map to more income, impact and flexibilityAre you craving more flexibility in your practice? Maybe you've built something amazing and you're proud of your business, but it's also bringing you to the brink of burnout. Maybe you want to use your skills differently and create recurring revenue outside the therapy room. Whether your priority is financial stability or flexibility, or both, adding recurring revenue streams into your business is essential.If you want time, freedom, more income, and to make a bigger impact for your client group, join me for a free masterclass on Monday, the 17th of November at 11:00 AM and I'll show you how I use my values, voice and impact framework to create income, impact, and flexibility in my own business, and for the hundreds of psychologists and therapists I've supported over the last five years.I'd love to see you there. You can sign up here: https://psychologybusinessschool.mykajabi.com/offers/fnr6d7si/checkout

Is it time to Evolve? Welcome to the new series of Business of Psychology! It's Autumn, so it must be time for a new series of the Business of Psychology. I'm really pleased to be back behind the mic, and this time I'm going to be sharing my thoughts on the changes that are happening in mental health and the inspiring stories of psychologists and therapists finding fulfilment in new and exciting ways.We start the series talking about software development with the amazing Natalie Stott, who you might know from her podcast, Mastering Therapy. Over the series, we'll be looking at writing, social media, and unpacking the stuff that often keeps us stuck, in independent practice. I really hope that this series will be the springboard you need if you've been wanting to evolve your practice into something new that meets your needs and lets you live your personal and professional values, maybe in a slightly different way.So I'll see you right here in your podcast feed next Friday for the new series of the Business of Psychology podcast.Links for Rosie:Substack: substack.com/@drrosieRosie on Instagram:@rosiegilderthorp@thepregnancypsychologist