If you've ever headed into a break thinking "I'll finally catch up on everything," only to feel guilty the entire time—this episode is for you. Dr. Hayley Kelly breaks down why the pressure to be productive over holidays backfires, and gives you a practical framework to actually rest (or maintain minimal momentum) without the guilt.

This is the final Therapists Rising episode before a two-week break, and it couldn't be more timely. For therapists in Australia staring down six weeks of school holidays—or anyone facing year-end break pressure—Hayley shares the exact decision-making tool that helps you choose between full rest or minimal maintenance, and actually feel good about your choice. No fluff, no "just be kind to yourself" advice. This is a teachable framework you can use immediately.

HERE ARE THE KEY INSIGHTS:

1️⃣ The Capacity Audit – Learn how to accurately assess what's actually available to you during a break (spoiler: it's about one-fifth of what you think). Hayley walks you through the exact questions to ask yourself about time, nervous system capacity, and competing demands—so you're working with reality, not fantasy.

2️⃣ The Inertia Calculation – The framework for deciding whether to maintain minimal momentum or take full rest. You'll learn the specific criteria for each path, why there's no universal right answer, and how to make the choice that fits YOUR reality right now.

3️⃣ Implementation Strategies – If you choose minimal maintenance: how to define your minimum, reality-check the time required (double your estimate!), match it to actual capacity, and set a ceiling so it doesn't creep into becoming your whole break. If you choose full rest: how to do a clean stop, set boundaries, and use the "That's for January-me" mantra.

4️⃣ The Guilt Release Protocol – The missing piece that makes either choice actually work. Learn how to acknowledge guilt when it shows up (it will), return to your decision, and practice releasing pressure throughout the break—not as a one-time event, but as an ongoing practice.

YOU'LL ALSO HEAR:

• Why breaks don't expand capacity—they change it
• The chronic underestimation problem therapists have with time and tasks
• Why we overestimate available time and underestimate how long things take (recipe for self-loathing)
• The timeline reality check: actual vs. fantasy timelines for building a business
• How pressure sneaks in quietly and compounds over the break
• Why rest is not falling behind—it's what makes everything else possible
• What January looks like when you actually rest versus dragging guilt forward

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Therapists Rising:

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

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW:

If this episode gave you a framework to approach your break without pressure—or helped you give yourself permission to actually rest—please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your reviews help more therapists find these conversations.

See you in the new year. Rest well.

If you've ever felt unsafe speaking up, shrunk your practice to avoid regulatory scrutiny, or wondered if the system designed to protect you is actually harming you—this conversation will validate everything you've been feeling but haven't said out loud.

I'm speaking with Dr. Julie Sladden, a medical doctor, writer, and advocate who walked away from clinical practice, handed in her medical license, and became one of Australia's most vocal advocates for practitioner wellbeing and regulatory reform. You might know her from The Spectator, The Daily Declaration, and as co-founder of Australians for Science and Freedom.

HERE ARE THE KEY INSIGHTS:

1️⃣ The Public Protection Paradox – By silencing and harming doctors, regulatory bodies effectively harm the public. When practitioners are too afraid to speak or are strategically planning their exit from clinical work, patients lose. Workforce wellbeing isn't separate from patient care—it's the foundation of it.

2️⃣ The Line in the Sand – Julie shares the moment she realized she couldn't stay silent. She had three choices: walk away quietly, continue practicing and hope she didn't get caught, or close her practice publicly and speak out. She chose the latter, despite the financial devastation (her family income halved overnight) and fear of regulatory retaliation.

3️⃣ The Culture of Fear – We dive into how practitioners are shrinking their practices, deregistering entirely, and self-censoring out of fear. Julie shares why she ultimately surrendered her medical license—she realized AHPRA would likely come after her, and she didn't have capacity to fight that battle while doing advocacy work.

4️⃣ Finding Your Tribe & Rebuilding Healthcare – Julie discusses the critical importance of community. After mandates were announced, she connected with 500 practitioners who were thinking the same way. She also shares her vision for a better system: grassroots health education, protecting social connections, and shifting from sick care to true preventative care.

RESOURCES:
* Australians for Science and Freedom: scienceandfreedom.org
* The Collective Waitlist: therapistsrising.com/collective
* Instagram: @dr.hayleykelly

A NOTE FROM HAYLEY:

This episode might be controversial. I knew that going in. But I believe we're at a point where the cost of silence is higher than the cost of speaking up. Practitioners are burnt out, shutting down, deregistering, and strategically planning their exits from clinical work. That's not a retention problem—that's a system problem.

You don't have to agree with every position Julie holds. I don't either. But this conversation isn't about ideology. It's about the system we're all practicing inside, the weight it places on us, and what it costs to work within structures that often feel opaque, punitive, and misaligned with actual care.

If even our most capable, thoughtful practitioners are planning their exit, something needs to change. And change starts with conversation.

Thank you for listening with curiosity, compassion, and courage.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW:

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

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

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

1️⃣ Why You Didn’t Hit Your Goals

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

2️⃣ The 2025 Reflection Ritual

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

3️⃣ The Big Dream Dump

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

4️⃣ Your 3–5 Pillars for 2026

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

5️⃣ Mapping Your Nervous System Rhythms

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

6️⃣ Putting It on the Calendar

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

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

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