"You just need more self-care."

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

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

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

Here's what I cover:

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

💡 3 Powerful Takeaways:

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

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

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

💻 Resources & Links

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

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s what I cover:

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

💡 3 Powerful Takeaways:

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

💻 Resources & Links

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

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's what we cover in this episode:

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

Resources & Links Mentioned:

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

More From Dr. Hayley Kelly:

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

🌐 Visit the website: therapistsrising.com

⭐ Subscribe, Rate & Review:

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

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