Many mental health professionals wonder if the traditional therapy career path is the only one available. In this conversation, Krysteena Wilson shares how she nearly left the field after years of low pay, exhaustion, and unclear direction, then rebuilt her entire professional life by questioning the norms she had been taught. Her story shows what becomes possible when clinicians stop defaulting to the expected path and start designing work that supports their actual lives.

Kym and Krysteena explore what it really means to be a modern therapist, from challenging fear-based messages in graduate school to finding mentorship, raising fees with intention, and creating supportive practice systems. Krysteena explains how she developed a boutique private pay group practice in Boise and why empowerment, authenticity, and flexibility became the core of her approach.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Krysteena’s turning point when therapy no longer felt sustainable.
• The mentors who helped her believe private practice was possible.
• The mindset shifts behind designing a career that fits your life.
• The outdated messages that new therapists still receive in training.
• The fee and insurance mistakes she made early on, and how she adjusted.
• How her boutique private pay group practice took shape in Boise.
• The three phases she uses to guide therapists in private practice growth.

Connect with Krysteena Wilson:
Website - https://aligntherapyshop.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/aligntherapyshop/
Threads - https://www.threads.com/@aligntherapyshop
FB Group - https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1HQkCMuoAF/
Etsy - https://aligntherapyshop.etsy.com
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AlignTherapyShop/

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

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Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

If you’ve been relying on traditional SEO advice to grow your practice, you may already be feeling the shift. With AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity changing how people search, mental health professionals are suddenly navigating a new landscape where visibility depends on more than keywords and blog posts. In this episode, Kym is joined by Chris Morin, a digital marketing strategist who bridges the worlds of healing work and search technology, to break down what actually matters now.

Chris shares how therapists can stay discoverable as AI transforms search behavior, why directory listings are becoming powerful again, and how to use AI tools to create content that ranks without burnout. He also explains the evolving role of Bing, Apple Maps, and social platforms, along with practical steps you can take this month to strengthen your online presence.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• AI search tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, and what they mean for therapist visibility.
• The rising influence of Google Business, Bing Places, and Apple Maps listings.
• Ways AI can help you create SEO friendly blog content that still feels authentic.
• Key SEO shifts mental health professionals should pay attention to as search evolves.
• The value of strong backlinks and realistic approaches to earning them.
• Simple options for repurposing one blog post into social and video content with AI.
• The SEO support Moonraker offers across content, directories, and search performance.

Connect with Chris Morin:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjmorin/

Mentioned in this episode:
Webinar - From Clicks to Clients (pt. 2): Strategies for Purposeful Traffic Generation in 2025 https://gamma.app/docs/From-Clicks-to-Clients-Part-2-Strategies-For-Purposeful-Traffic-G-ex32c3lodiatlqw

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

Many psychiatric nurse practitioners enter the field feeling unprepared, overextended, and unsure how to build a sustainable career in mental health care. In this episode, Dr. Lindsay Hill talks about the challenges new and transitioning psych NPs face, including the lack of structured mentorship, the emotional weight of patient care, and the pressure to follow traditional career paths that often lead to burnout.

Lindsay shares how her own journey through corporate mental health settings, new parenthood, and a traumatic injury pushed her to rethink what a healthy professional life could look like. She explains how private practice, diversified income streams, and intentional lifestyle design became the foundation for the Psych NP Bootcamp and the growing community she leads today.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Building clinical confidence in a field without standardized residency training.
• The realities of burnout in community mental health and corporate settings.
• How lifestyle goals can guide decisions about practice structure and income streams.
• Practical gaps between NP school and real-world psychiatric practice.
• The value of mentorship, transition support, and structured clinical guidance.
• How psych NPs are using technology and AI tools to streamline documentation.
• Why visibility, marketing, and diversified revenue can help prevent long-term burnout.

Connect with Lindsay Hill:
Website - https://klearcareprofessional.com/
Stan Store - https://stan.store/lindsayhill

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

Many mental health professionals meet clients with chronic illness but feel unsure how to fully understand the medical trauma, brain fog, fatigue, and identity loss these clients navigate daily. In this conversation, Kym and licensed psychotherapist Christina Kantzavelos explore what clinicians often miss and why chronic illness literacy is essential for ethical, effective care.

Christina shares her own health journey, the gaps she encountered in the therapy world, and the tools she eventually created to support clients between sessions. She discusses integrative care, medical gaslighting, neuroinflammation, nomadic living with chronic illness, and how her journal, app, and trainings help clients track symptoms, connect patterns, and reclaim a sense of agency.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• How chronic illness shapes mental health and why clinicians often overlook it.
• What medical trauma looks like and how to recognize it in session.
• Ways to collaborate with integrative and functional medicine providers.
• How to help clients track symptoms, patterns, and triggers between sessions.
• Strategies for supporting neurodivergent clients with chronic illness.
• What nomadic living with chronic illness can teach clinicians about pacing and capacity.
• How AI tools like Berries improve presence, documentation, and client care.

Connect with Christina Kantzavelos:
Website - https://www.beginwithintoday.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/beginwithintoday
Buenqamino (Travel + Gluten-Free Living) - https://www.buenqamino.com

Past Traveling Therapist Episodes that we reference in this episode:

• Celiac Disease and the Traveling Therapist Life: Navigating Food, Anxiety, and Health on the Road with Christina Kantzavelos and Erin Davis
• From Chronic Illness to Global Healing: A Therapist's Journey Through Panchakarma in India with Christina Kantveleous

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

AI is transforming how mental health professionals work, but it’s also creating new layers of uncertainty. For many therapists, it feels confusing at best and ethically risky at worst. Yet, when used with intention, it can actually help you feel more present, connected, and aligned in your work.

In this episode, psychologist and business coach Stephanie Thrower shares how she helps values-driven mental health professionals integrate AI in ways that support their voice and vision. From reclaiming time to making marketing feel more human, Stephanie breaks down what it really looks like to use AI without losing your authenticity.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Why AI feels overwhelming and how to get past the initial resistance.
• The difference between ethical and clinical use of custom GPTs.
• How AI can elevate your clinical skills and reduce documentation burnout.
• Building values-driven visibility without losing your voice.
• Tips for training AI to reflect your tone and style.
• Why starting with high-ticket offers can support sustainable growth.

Connect with Stephanie:
Website - https://www.throwerconsultingandtherapy.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/throwerconsultingandtherapy

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

If you’ve ever felt boxed in by the traditional 50-minute therapy model, this episode will expand your view of what’s possible. Therapist and coach Lucy Orton joins Kym to share how she built a global, intentionally spacious practice that serves high-achieving and neurodivergent clients through intensives rather than weekly sessions.

Lucy breaks down how she blends modalities like IFS, Brainspotting, and Relational Life Therapy to help clients do deep, focused work in a fraction of the time. She also opens up about balancing private practice with corporate consulting, pricing with confidence, and how AI tools like Berries fit into a sustainable, modern practice.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• How Lucy transitioned from coaching to therapy and built a global hybrid practice.
• Why intensives work especially well for high achievers and neurodivergent clients.
• How to structure and price therapy intensives without burning out.
• The ethical and practical realities of working internationally as a clinician.
• How to bring therapeutic skills into corporate consulting and land organizational contracts.
• What therapists can learn from coaches about money mindset and scalability.
• Ways AI tools like Berries can enhance client care and free up time for clinicians.

Connect with Lucy:
Website - https://www.couplesawaken.com/ & https://www.lucyorton.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lucyortontherapy
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyorton/

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

If you’ve ever felt torn between growing your private practice and staying true to your values, this episode is for you. Many mental health professionals step into solo or group practice hoping for more freedom, only to end up overwhelmed and unsure of how to scale sustainably.

Alicia Murray, therapist turned business consultant and founder of The Therapist HQ, joins Kym to talk about building a practice that supports your life, not the other way around. From niching with confidence to hiring help and leveraging AI tools, Alicia shares the mindset shifts and systems that helped her grow a thriving business while raising a young family.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Why starting with your values can prevent burnout later.
• How to niche down without losing flexibility in your work.
• Strategies for setting sustainable fees and honoring sliding scale options.
• When and how to hire help so you can actually scale.
• Tips for using AI in a private practice without compromising ethics.
• The mindset traps that keep therapists stuck in survival mode.
• How Alicia uses a custom GPT to support clinicians through Therapist HQ.

Connect with Alicia:
Website - https://stan.store/The_Therapist_HQ
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetherapisthq

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.

If you're feeling emotionally drained after back-to-back sessions, you're not alone. In this episode, Kym sits down with intuitive business coach Lauren Ashley to talk about nervous system care, energy protection, and why mental health professionals need more than bubble baths to avoid burnout.

With over seven years of experience helping impact-driven leaders align mindset and strategy, Lauren shares practical tools and mindset shifts to support emotional sustainability. From the power of movement to understanding your Human Design type, this conversation will help you reconnect with yourself so you can show up fully for your clients.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Why burnout often stems from nervous system dysregulation, not just overwork.
• How self-abandonment shows up in therapists and what to do about it.
• Tools like movement, sound, and cord cutting to reset your energy.
• What Human Design reveals about your energy patterns and capacity.
• How to use your sacral response to make aligned decisions.
• The role of self-mastery in building sustainable practices.
• Ways to integrate spiritual tools without crossing clinical boundaries.

Connect with Lauren:
Lauren's FREE Self-Mastery Starter Kit - https://coachlaurenashley.thrivecart.com/selfmastery-starter-kit/
Aligned & Magnetic Podcast - https://coachlaurenashley.com/podcast
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachlaurenashley

Join the Berries Community! A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook.
www.heyberries.com/community

______________

Join the Berries Community - A dedicated space for mental health clinicians to connect, share insights, and grow together. Look for Berries AI Official Community on Facebook at http://heyberries.com/community

Brought to You By Berries:
Ready to stop dreading your notes? Berries is your AI assistant for mental health professionals. Save time, stay compliant, and get back to the work you love. Learn more at heyberries.com.