Scaling Therapist Podcast: More Income, More Independence, More Impact (Not More Hours)

James Marland
  • 5.0 (14)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

The Scaling Therapist Podcast exists to inspire therapists to scale their business with systems, people, community, or opportunity so they can have more income, impact, and independance without giving up more of their life.

  1. 1d ago

    STP 179 | Make Hard Conversations Easier: Games for Grief, Feelings, and Connection

    Make Hard Conversations Easier: Games for Grief, Feelings, and Connection What do you do when a child, teen, or client answers every question with “fine” or “okay”? In this episode of the Scaling Therapist Podcast, James talks with Krista Smith-Larson, founder of Winning Communications, about using games to make difficult conversations feel safer. Krista shares how her own family experiences with divorce, blended families, grief, anxiety, depression, and trauma led her to create games that help people talk about feelings without making the conversation feel forced. If you work with kids, families, or clients who have a hard time finding the words for what they are feeling, this episode will give you some new ideas to try. 3 Reasons to Listen Help kids get past “fine.” Learn why games can lower the pressure and help kids start talking without feeling like they are being questioned. Make hard topics easier to approach. Hear how Krista uses games to talk about grief, divorce, anxiety, trauma, relationships, and other big feelings. Add something practical to your sessions. Discover simple game ideas therapists, parents, churches, and family ministries can use to build trust and start better conversations. Timestamps 00:00 Why games can help people open up00:23 HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop with Dr. Natasha Guess01:15 Meet Krista Smith-Larson of Winning Communications02:00 Why Krista and James both love games04:00 How games take some of the pressure out of conversation05:15 Using games with kids, adults, grief groups, and DivorceCare06:00 Krista’s story of divorce, blended family life, and helping her kids communicate08:00 How her first communication game was born09:15 Turning grief and loss into a way to help others10:30 Getting past “fine” and “okay” with kids11:20 The Slippery Slope game and why Grace Cards matter14:00 Adapting games for children, teens, and adults16:00 Why parents do not always need to have the right answer17:00 Who can use these communication games?18:00 Why games can help therapists build trust faster18:45 Krista walks through several of her games20:30 Connect Blocks for divorce, grief, anxiety, trauma, and more22:45 Helping kids connect words with feelings24:00 Krista’s favorite go-to game24:40 Where to find Winning Communications25:40 Scaling Therapist Services sponsors and resources26:30 Final HIPAA workshop reminder HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop If a HIPAA issue happened tomorrow, would your practice know what to do? Join Dr. Natasha Guess for The HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop on Friday, September 18 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. This is a virtual workshop designed to help you apply the toolkit to your practice, work through your questions, and turn scattered policies into a system you can actually use. Go to CourseCreationStudio.com for workshop information and registration. Resources Winning CommunicationsLearn more about Krista Smith-Larson’s communication and play therapy games at:WinningCommunicationsMN.com Scaling Therapist ServicesLooking for businesses that can help you work through a therapy practice bottleneck?ScalingTherapistServices.com Course Creation StudioCourseCreationStudio.com

    STP 179 | Make Hard Conversations Easier: Games for Grief, Feelings, and Connection

  2. 4d ago

    STP 178 | Big Dreams Need Small Steps

    The Small-Step Strategy for Achieving Big Dreams Maybe you have been thinking about a workshop, a course, or paid speaking. Then you start trying to figure out the whole thing before you even take the first step. I learned this lesson the hard way. The expensive way. I spent months building an online course before I really knew if people wanted it. The better question would have been much smaller: Can I get 10 people interested in a workshop? That is what this episode is about. Your dream can be big without your first step being big. Small steps give you evidence. You learn something. Then you know what to try next. In This Episode Why being an expert can make it hard to become a beginner again What I learned after spending six months building a course that sold only a few seats Why I needed a faster way to learn, not a bigger course How Leo Debrock and I tested an idea with one live workshop Why evidence builds confidence Small ways therapists can test workshops, speaking, and courses Timestamps 00:00 - Your first step does not need to match the size of your dream00:44 - The Friday afternoon HIPAA breach phone call01:22 - How to prepare before a HIPAA problem happens03:00 - Why becoming a beginner again feels uncomfortable05:08 - Trying to figure out all ten steps07:07 - Why I went all-in on an online course08:17 - Six months of work and about four sales10:20 - What I really needed was a faster way to learn11:03 - Make the experiment smaller, not the dream11:17 - How Leo Debrock and I tested an idea with one workshop12:49 - Why 20 registrations gave us more than sales14:21 - Evidence builds confidence16:16 - You do not need certainty before you begin18:20 - One small step you can take this week HIPAA Compliance Toolkit Workshop Friday at 3:30, you do not need a binder. You need to know what to do next. You bring the toolkit, and Dr. Natasha Guess walks you through putting it to work in your practice. Learn more here:https://www.coursecreationstudio.com/HIPAATOOLKITWORKSHOP Resources Scaling Therapist Services:https://scalingtherapistservices.com Workshop creation and paid public speaking resources:https://www.coursecreationstudio.com/workshops Your Next Step What is one small step you can take this week? Make the step smaller. See what happens. Then take the next right step. Your dream does not need to get smaller. Your next step does. Put your mission in motion.

    STP 178 | Big Dreams Need Small Steps

  3. Aug 20

    STP 177 | How to Turn What You Know Into Paid Speaking

    STP 177 | How to Turn What You Know Into Paid Speaking Therapists explain useful ideas every day. You teach clients how to understand anxiety, communicate better, set boundaries, work through conflict, and make sense of hard seasons. After years of doing this work, you may have a talk inside you already. The question is: how do you take what you teach in the therapy room and turn it into paid speaking? In this episode of the Scaling Therapist Podcast, I talk with speaker and coach Dustin Rivenbark from Built Different Speakers Academy about how to choose a message, figure out who needs to hear it, and start finding places that will pay you to speak. Dustin also shares why your reason for speaking matters, how to build a simple follow-up system, and why your first speaking gigs may already be sitting in your phone. Top 3 Reasons to Listen Learn how to turn the ideas you already teach into a clear speaking topic. Get clear on who you want to help and what problem your talk should solve. Hear a simple way to find speaking gigs, follow up, and start getting booked. What You’ll Learn If you want to get paid to speak, Dustin says you need to start by knowing why you are doing it and who you are trying to help. You also need to stop trying to talk to everybody. As Dustin says, “A speaker who speaks to everyone is a speaker who does not have an audience.” From there, you need a simple system for finding people who could hire you and following up with them. That could be HubSpot, or it could be a basic spreadsheet. Nothing fancy. You just need something you will actually use. Dustin also talks about creating a speaker one sheet, getting clearer about what you want to say, and following up instead of giving up after one email. And one of my favorite reminders from the episode is this: Your first few speaking gigs may already be sitting in your phone. Sometimes we think we need a bigger audience. Sometimes we just need to start with the people we already know. Timestamped Highlights 02:30 – Dustin shares why everyone has a story, even if it has not been refined yet. 04:30 – How loss, faith, and a hard season changed the direction of Dustin’s life. 08:07 – Where to start when you know you have something to share but do not know the first step. 08:55 – Why knowing your “why” has to come first. 10:53 – Why trying to speak to everyone can leave you without an audience. 13:00 – How to figure out where your audience already gathers and whether there is a market for your topic. 14:00 – Why copying other speakers makes it harder for people to see what makes you different. 17:24 – Why systems matter when you are tired, busy, or do not feel like doing the work. 17:44 – How to build a simple speaker pipeline. 18:56 – Why you do not need expensive tools or a fancy website to get started. 19:18 – What a speaker one sheet is and how to make one. 23:00 – How to track prospects and follow-up with a simple spreadsheet. 25:05 – Dustin’s three-week follow-up system and breakup email. 28:41 – Why most speaking gigs come from follow-up. 29:03 – Your first speaking gigs may already be in your contacts. 31:00 – How to build a talk that gets attention and keeps people listening. 32:18 – Why getting in the room and building relationships matters. 34:21 – How speakers begin thinking about pricing and getting paid. 34:44 – How to find places to speak and turn contacts into bookings. 35:06 – How Built Different Speakers Academy helps speakers narrow down their message and content. 36:47 – Dustin’s closing reminder: you already have a story and people you can help. 37:28 – Details about the upcoming live paid public speaking workshop. Resources & Mentions Built Different Speakers Academy The Science of Scaling by Benjamin Hardy American Association of Christian Counselors Live Workshop: Turn Your Experience Into Paid Public Speaking Friday, August 28 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Central https://www.coursecreationstudio.com/Paid_Public_Speaking Take One Step If you have explained the same idea to clients dozens of times, pay attention to that. That may be the beginning of your speaking topic. Write down one problem you help people solve over and over again. Then ask yourself who else needs to hear it.

    STP 177 | How to Turn What You Know Into Paid Speaking

  4. Aug 17

    STP 176 | Ways to Stop Losing Time and Money to Insurance Billing

    If you are a therapist, you know the feeling of opening an envelope or checking a portal, only to see another claim denied. It’s exhausting, it’s frustrating, and honestly, it’s one of the biggest reasons therapists lose money and burnout in private practice.   I sat down with my friend Jeremy Zug from Practice Solutions to talk through this. We didn't want to just talk about the "what," we wanted to give you some real hope that this doesn't have to be your constant reality. We unpacked why you might be getting underpaid, how to spot the cracks in your billing process, and when it’s actually the right time to stop doing it all yourself.   The "Hidden" Money You Might Be Missing You might be leaving thousands on the table without even realizing it. We talked about one practice that found out they had been underbilled by $30 per session for twelve years straight. Twelve years. We walk through how you can check your own rates against the market so you aren't stuck in that same position.   The Real Cost of Doing It Yourself We tend to think that doing our own billing saves money, but Jeremy breaks down the "opportunity cost." If you are spending your most productive hours fighting with insurance companies, that is time you aren't spending with clients or growing your practice. It is often the most expensive hour in your week.   Fixing the Denials The number one reason for denied claims is usually the most avoidable one: duplicate claims. We go over a simple process fix for this that could save you a mountain of headaches and help you get paid faster.   Key Moments from Our Talk 6:18 – The "rate transparency" rule: Why insurance pricing was kept a secret for so long and what changed in 2020. 7:33 – The story of that practice that lost $30 per session for twelve years. 10:17 – "Noble poverty": Why we think therapists should undercharge, and why it is okay to actually make a profit. 17:23 – The honest conversation about when you should keep billing in-house versus when to outsource it. 19:23 – A simple way to look at opportunity cost that changes how you view your time. 27:31 – Stopping those duplicate claim denials for good. 31:13 – Where to find Jeremy and the tools he recommends. Resources Business Workshops for Therapists: https://www.coursecreationstudio.com/workshops Practice Solutions: https://www.practicesol.com The Claim Game Podcast: https://www.practicesol.com/podcast Scaling Therapist Services: https://www.scalingtherapistservices.com

    STP 176 | Ways to Stop Losing Time and Money to Insurance Billing

  5. Aug 10

    STP 175 | How Practice Owners Can Improve Hiring, Onboarding, and Retention

    Hiring your first therapist feels like the next obvious step. But this is where a lot of practice owners get tricked. We spend so much time looking for the right person that we forget to ask why we're building a group practice in the first place. In this conversation, James sits down with Brie Chrisman and Allison Dixon from Bosco to talk about hiring, onboarding, and retention. More importantly, they talk about building a practice people actually want to be part of. Because helping more people shouldn't mean creating a business that wears you out. Who This Episode Is For   Solo practice owners getting ready to hire their first therapist. Group practice owners who are tired of hiring the same position over and over. Practice owners who want to build a team that stays. Therapists who want to grow their impact without giving away their whole calendar. Why Listen?   Why your "why" matters before you hire your first clinician. How a healthy culture starts long before someone joins your team. Simple ways to hire well, onboard with confidence, and help great therapists want to stay. In This Episode Why every practice owner should know why they're growing before they hire. How your mission shapes every hiring decision you make. Why the right fit matters just as much as the right resume. A simple three-step hiring process Bosco uses with therapy practices. Why onboarding should feel like a welcome, not a checklist. What your new clinician needs during their first 30 days. How honesty and authenticity build trust from the very first interview. Why retention starts with treating people like people. Common hiring mistakes that cost practice owners time, money, and energy. Episode Highlights 00:00 Why therapist retention matters more than most practice owners realize. 01:43 Meet Brie Chrisman and Allison Dixon from Bosco. 05:02 The first question every practice owner should answer before hiring. 09:33 How your mission shapes culture and helps great therapists stay. 11:49 The policies and systems to have in place before you hire. 15:00 Why hiring one person at a time usually leads to better results. 17:37 Bosco's three-step hiring process. 22:00 Why transparency during interviews builds trust. 26:25 The real reason many therapists leave practices. 28:24 How to create an onboarding experience people remember. 31:42 One thing that makes therapists want to stay. 33:00 Learn more about Bosco and their work with therapy practices. Resources Mentioned Boss co The Science of Scaling by Benjamin Hardy The Scaling Therapist Podcast Connect with boss co Learn more about Bosco and how they help therapy practices improve hiring, onboarding, operations, and retention: https://heybossco.com/

    STP 175 | How Practice Owners Can Improve Hiring, Onboarding, and Retention

  6. Aug 3

    STP 174 | How Better Systems Reduce Decision Fatigue and Improve Client Care

    How Better Systems Help You Stop Carrying Everything in Your Head with Brie Chrisman Episode Description Most therapists don't dream about building systems. They dream about helping people. But after a while, the business starts asking for more of your attention. Emails pile up. Paperwork waits. Little decisions follow you home at the end of the day. If you've ever felt like you're carrying your entire practice around in your head, you're not alone. In this episode, James sits down with Brie Chrisman, CEO of Boss Co, to talk about why good systems aren't about making your practice more corporate. They're about helping you stop carrying everything in your head so you have more energy for the people sitting across from you. Every unfinished task is like leaving another browser tab open in your brain. After a while, everything slows down. This conversation is all about closing a few of those tabs so you can get back to the work you were called to do. Why You'll Want to Listen Learn why simple systems can help you stop carrying your entire practice in your head. Discover how the little things behind the scenes shape the care your clients receive. Hear practical ideas that can help your practice feel calmer, simpler, and easier to manage. In This Conversation You'll Discover Your brain wasn't designed to remember every task in your practice. Simple systems free up your attention so you can focus on the person sitting across from you. The way you welcome a client is part of the care you provide. From the first phone call to onboarding and follow-up, every interaction builds trust before therapy even begins. Doing everything yourself isn't a badge of honor. Letting go of the right tasks creates more space for the work only you can do. Inside This Conversation  00:00 – Why therapists often feel like they're carrying everything in their head 01:36 – Why building a practice requires more than clinical skills 03:15 – The hidden weight of all the small decisions you make every day 06:45 – Why systems aren't about being more corporate 09:20 – Every unfinished task is like leaving another browser tab open in your brain 11:45 – How simple processes create a better experience for your clients 14:30 – Why doing everything yourself eventually becomes the bottleneck 17:10 – The role delegation plays in building a healthier practice 20:40 – Small operational changes that make a big difference over time 23:50 – Practical first steps to simplify your practice One Thing to Try This Week  Choose one task you repeat every week, like onboarding a new client or responding to inquiries. Write down each step as a simple checklist. You don't need to build the perfect system this week. You just need one less thing competing for your attention so you can spend more of your energy helping the people who need you most. Check out Brie Cressman at Boss Co James Marland at  Course Creation Studio Scaling Therapist

    STP 174 | How Better Systems Reduce Decision Fatigue and Improve Client Care

  7. Jul 28

    STP 173 | The Couch Trap: Locked to One Location

    What if the biggest limitation in your practice isn't your schedule... but where your business is allowed to create value? In this final episode of the Three Traps series, James explores what he calls The Couch Trap. It's the belief that your expertise only has value when someone is sitting across from you in the therapy room. This isn't about replacing therapy. It's about asking a better question. What if some of the wisdom you already share every day could help people beyond the therapy couch? If you've ever felt like your knowledge is trapped inside one-on-one sessions, this episode will help you see your work a little differently. In This Episode Why the therapy couch isn't the problem—but believing it's the only place you can create value might be. A story from James's work in a children's day hospital that changed how he thinks about service delivery. Why your knowledge, experience, and education go wherever you go, even if your business doesn't. The moment James realized many therapists already know enough to teach workshops, trainings, and other resources. How one therapist's Facebook post showed that helping people doesn't always require someone sitting on the couch in front of you. One small challenge you can try this week to begin sharing what you already know. Highlights 00:00 — Why the therapy couch can become a hidden business limitation. 01:00 — Why James created the Launch a Workshop in 30 Days workshop. 02:02 — A quick review of the Clock Trap and Calendar Trap before introducing the Couch Trap. 03:00 — Why this isn't about replacing therapy or criticizing the profession. 04:00 — A story from a children's day hospital that exposed the limits of location-based services. 07:03 — What the Couch Trap really is—and what it isn't. 08:26 — Why your business stays where your couch is. 10:00 — Does all of your knowledge have to stay inside the therapy room? 11:46 — The training session that changed how James viewed therapist expertise. 16:55 — The Facebook post that sparked a new way of thinking about sharing knowledge. 19:08 — Why you don't have to build an online course to start helping more people. 21:00 — The bigger lesson behind all three traps. 23:00 — This week's challenge: share one helpful idea with the people who need it. Resources Mentioned Launch a Workshop in 30 Days — Live workshop on July 31 for therapists who want to turn what they're already teaching into a workshop. Scaling Therapist Services — Find business resources and trusted partners at scalingtherapistservices.com. Previous episodes in this series: STP 167 — The Clock Trap STP 170 — The Calendar Trap One Key Takeaway Your value doesn't come from your couch. It comes from your knowledge, your experience, and your willingness to help people. The therapy room is where therapy happens, but it doesn't have to be the only place your wisdom makes a difference. Put Your Mission in Motion This week's challenge is simple. Write one Facebook or LinkedIn post about something you wish everyone understood about trauma, anxiety, relationships, or another topic you care deeply about. Pay attention to what happens. The response you get might point you toward a new way to help people beyond the therapy room.

    STP 173 | The Couch Trap: Locked to One Location

  8. Jul 20

    STP 172 | Why Waiting on Compliance Could Put Your Practice at Risk w. Dr. Natasha Guess

    STP 172 Show Notes Why Waiting on Compliance Could Put Your Practice at Risk No one starts a therapy practice because they're excited about policies and regulations. You start because you want to help people. But here's the trap. The longer you put compliance off, the more you're putting at risk. In this conversation, James sits down with Dr. Natasha Guess, founder of Guess Compliance & Consulting, to talk about why compliance isn't just about checking boxes. It's about protecting your clients, your team, your reputation, and the practice you've worked so hard to build. One line from the conversation sums it up well: "You can't fix what you don't know about." That's why every compliance journey starts with understanding where the gaps are before they become bigger problems. If you've ever thought, "We'll deal with compliance when we get bigger," this episode is for you. Who This Episode Is For If you own a therapy practice, lead a behavioral health team, or hope to grow your practice without creating bigger problems later, you'll find this conversation helpful. What You'll Walk Away With Why compliance protects more than your business. It protects your clients, your staff, and the practice you've worked so hard to build. Why waiting until you're bigger usually makes compliance harder, not easier. The common mistakes that leave small practices exposed to unnecessary risk. How a compliance assessment helps you find problems before they become expensive ones. Why role-based access, clear policies, and regular reviews matter more than most practice owners realize. How good compliance gives you something many practice owners don't have—peace of mind. Why bringing in an expert can save time, reduce stress, and help you stay focused on serving people. Show Highlights 0:00 – Cold open: Natasha on the gap between big healthcare systems and small/mid-size practices drowning in regulations 0:42 – Upcoming workshops: Launch a Paid Workshop in 30 Days (July 31) and Natasha's compliance workshop (September) 2:13 – Welcome back to the Scaling Therapist Podcast; intro to Natasha and today's topic 3:37 – Natasha's origin story: growing up in a country with no healthcare structure or governance 5:22 – Why she started Guess Compliance Consulting 6:48 – Why compliance feels like such a burden for small practices wearing many hats 8:07 – The myth that compliance can wait until you're "big enough" 10:24 – Why regulators don't scale expectations based on headcount — same HIPAA obligations for everyone 11:55 – What's at stake: patients, staff, reputation, and the business itself 13:11 – How following HIPAA protects you even when breaches or lawsuits happen 15:49 – The "three gaps" Natasha finds most often: informal access, role-based access, and informal communication 20:06 – How Natasha helps practices: diagnostic compliance check, gap analysis, and implementation 23:25 – One-time projects vs. ongoing monthly compliance services 24:46 – Where to find Natasha: Guess Compliance Consulting LLC, LinkedIn, free compliance strategy calls 25:28 – Natasha's final words: don't wait until it's too late 27:24 – James's closing thoughts and outro 27:50 – Sponsor thank-yous and workshop reminder Book Recommendation Natasha is a Published Author and wrote the book on compliance. You can find it on Amazon.  The Compliance Trap: How Not to Get Fined, Sued, or Shut Down: The Operational Compliance Guide for Small and Mid-Size Healthcare Organizations Resources Mentioned Guess Compliance & Consulting LLC Scaling Therapist Services Directory Course Creation Studio Launch a Paid Workshop in 30 Days The Growing Practice Compliance Checklist PDF One Thing You Can Do Now If you've been putting compliance on the back burner, don't wait until you receive a complaint, an audit notice, or a security breach. Take one honest look at your practice and ask yourself, "Am I protecting the people who trust me?" Helping people is too important to leave that to chance.

    STP 172 | Why Waiting on Compliance Could Put Your Practice at Risk w. Dr. Natasha Guess
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The Scaling Therapist Podcast exists to inspire therapists to scale their business with systems, people, community, or opportunity so they can have more income, impact, and independance without giving up more of their life.

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