Episode #746: When Success Starts Feeling Like A Trap

Summary

Abundant Practice Podcast – Episode #746: When Success Starts Feeling Like A Trap

Host: Allison Puryear
Guest: Rebecca Smith (Limitless Practice program grad, premium fee private practice owner, Team Abundance member)
Air Date: April 4, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Allison and Rebecca address a listener’s question about feeling trapped by the very success of their private practice—a sensation of being “boxed in” despite having reached conventional benchmarks of a thriving therapy business. They explore why success can sometimes feel restrictive, how to identify the true source of this discontent, and what practical, incremental steps therapists can take to regain a sense of freedom and fulfillment in their work.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Question: When Success Feels Restrictive

• Listener’s Concern:
  • Reached a successful, full practice but feels boxed in and unable to change things ("golden handcuffs").
  • Fearful that raising fees or making shifts will jeopardize income or what’s been built.
  • Wonders: “Why do I feel trapped? What do I shift when success feels more restrictive than freeing?”
    (02:09)

2. Feeling Alone in Success

• Rebecca’s Insight:
  • Many therapists can’t discuss this form of discomfort because it seems out of place among peers still struggling to fill their caseloads.
    • “I feel like for this person, I really wonder if they can talk about this with anybody...I feel like they might feel really alone.” (03:19 – Rebecca Smith)
  • The problem is “not kosher for their normal friend group.” (03:27 – Rebecca Smith)

3. Identifying the True Source of Discomfort

• Exploring Underlying Factors:
  • Allison and Rebecca encourage self-inquiry:
    • Is the source of restriction the niche? The modality? Type of client? Schedule? Small operational details?
    • Even minor tweaks (schedule, policies) might help but fear prevents change when things “work.”
      • “There could be so many factors that even shifting a little bit might be more aligned...But they’re like, 'I can’t—I had set in stone. It’s actually working. Don’t touch it.'” (04:04 – Rebecca Smith)
  • Neurodivergent Perspective:
    • Suggests the importance of novelty especially for ADHD practitioners.
      • “That novelty really helps keep people feeling like life is worth living… For somebody like me who really loves a routine... that's not most people.” (04:27 – Allison Puryear)

4. Is It the Practice or Your Life?

• Blurring Work-Life Discontent:
  • Sometimes feelings of burnout or restriction in practice are projections from other areas of life.
    • “We project stuff onto our practices that are life stuff too.” (05:38 – Allison Puryear)
  • Suggests examining life outside work: Are you having fun? Is the rest of your life fulfilling?
  • Practices don’t have to be one’s core source of meaning.
    • “I don’t think our jobs have to be the thing that fulfills our sense of self and being and everything.” (06:07 – Allison Puryear)

5. Practical Shifts: Containment & Variety

• Rebecca shares her journey:
  • Leaving insurance panels and raising fees let her cut caseloads dramatically (from 35 to 20 per week), giving her more spaciousness and less mental weight:
    • “It’s not just hours—it’s like the heaviness of how much I’m thinking of and planning it and worrying about, like, trying to set up for it...it feels really contained so that I can go do the fun stuff.” (06:13 – Rebecca Smith)

6. Experimentation Without Overhaul

• Measured Adjustments:
  • Instead of radical change, try small experiments—carving out one day a week for new modalities or projects, maybe offering group work or intensives.
    • “You can add in variety without blowing everything up.” (07:46 – Rebecca Smith)
  • Allison foresees intensives becoming a bigger trend—offering a fresh way to deliver therapy and create new energy in the practice.
    • “It doesn’t just feel like back-to-back therapy...it has a different vibe that some people really, really love.” (08:16 – Allison Puryear)

7. Creativity in Marketing & Workload

• Reducing Client Load:
  • If current success is tied to a high client count, consider decreasing sessions—offsetting with raised fees and more creative marketing.
  • Marketing becomes a creative outlet that adds variety to the day.
    • “There’s a lot more variety when you do charge a premium fee because you need to be more creative in some of that marketing. That’s kind of freeing and exciting.” (09:09 – Rebecca Smith)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Why do I feel trapped? What about this is making you feel trapped?” (03:45 – Rebecca Smith)
• “We project stuff onto our practices that are life stuff too.” (05:38 – Allison Puryear)
• “I don’t think our jobs have to be the thing that fulfills our sense of self and being and everything.” (06:07 – Allison Puryear)
• “If they have a ‘successful’ practice, whatever those quotes mean, they’ve probably poured a lot of themselves into that practice. What would it be like to pour into your hobbies or your family or your friends?” (06:32 – Rebecca Smith)
• “You can add in variety without blowing everything up.” (07:46 – Rebecca Smith)
• “I think intensives are going to become an increasingly common big thing... up into the right trajectory for them.” (08:10 – Allison Puryear)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:09 — Listener’s question on feeling boxed in by success
• 03:19 – 03:41 — Feeling alone and unable to share this challenge with peers
• 04:04 – 04:21 — Fear of tweaking “what works”
• 04:26 – 05:37 — Novelty, neurodivergence, and burnout vs practice restriction
• 06:07 – 06:57 — “Practice as a small part of life” and what true alignment can mean
• 07:25 – 08:05 — Measured experimentation in practice; avoid all-or-nothing thinking
• 08:51 – 09:34 — Shifting to creative marketing with premium fees

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Resources & Next Steps

• "You're the CEO" Worksheet: A tool for making strategic, aligned practice decisions.
• Limitless Practice Program: For established therapists feeling trapped despite full practices.
• Contact & Support: Free checklists, worksheets, and team email for personalized help.

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Closing Tone

Warm, practical, and validating—Allison and Rebecca offer both reassurance (“You’re not alone—it’s okay to feel boxed in by success!”) and pragmatic strategies for gradual, meaningful change. The conversation normalizes these late-stage challenges and empowers therapists to make measured, creative adjustments for a more fulfilling practice and life.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome to Ask Abundance. Y' all ask the questions about having a fun and thriving practice. We answer them. We have a worksheet for you today so you can bring this answer into your life. If you want support in your practice, we have you covered with on demand or one on one support. Links for the worksheet and support are in the show notes. Can't get enough. Ask Abundance. Check out our YouTube channel for the entire library. Therapists whose practices are full. Is this actually the practice you want? If you're secretly stuck, you're cramming in evening sessions, glued to insurance panels, unable to raise rates. Limitless practice is your way out. Over 12 weeks, you'll make the changes you've been thinking about making for months so that you can work fewer hours while making more money. You'll design a schedule that actually fits your life and you'll say yes to only the clients you love. Together, we'll release you from your golden handcuffs. We're capping the cohort at 10 people because I'm personally running every individual call, every group call, and every accountability check in. People on the waitlist will get first dibs on those spots and then the opportunity to sign up will go out to the rest of my audience. So join the waitlist now. Going to put the link in the show notes and I look forward to helping you get your practice exactly where you want it. Welcome back to Ask Abundance. Today I'm joined by Rebecca Smith. Rebecca is a limitless practice grad who came aboard Team Abundance. She has a premium fee private pay practice in New Orleans and is great at helping Abundance therapists imagine what's possible for them. All right, so here is today's question. I feel almost guilty saying this, but the more successful with my practice has gotten, the more boxed in I feel. I'm full, I'm busy. I should feel proud, but it also feels like I can't charge anything without risking my income or messing up what I've built. I keep thinking, well, this is what I wanted. And then immediately thinking, so why do I feel trapped? How do I know what to shift when success starts? Feeling more restrictive than freeing?

[A]

Oof.

[B]

Deep. All right, before we answer, I want to thank Therapy Notes for sponsoring Ask Abundance. I've talked about them for years. You know their features by heart. But what. What really sets them apart is that they genuinely care about your experience. It's not just about troubleshooting. They actively implement user suggested features like Therapy Search, Clinical outcome tracking, and their AI Notes feature, Therapy Fuel. Everyone at Therapy Notes believes in the product and wants you to love it too. Plus, they're independently owned, which means no venture capital and no pressure to prioritize investors over their customers. This independence allows them to keep their prices fair, to focus on innovation, and to prioritize customer experience. With over 100,000 therapists already on board, they've proven you don't have to compromise success for quality. If you're ready to see for yourself, try Therapy notes, free for two months with the code [e-mail]. all right. And I should note this person said the more successful with quotation marks. So it's all on paper successful. Right. And they're feeling boxed in.

[A]

So golden handcuffs for sure.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. So what's standing out to you with this?

[A]

This one is so interesting because I feel like for this person, I really wonder if they can talk about this with anybody.

[B]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[A]

I. I'm imagining they have these therapist friends who are like struggling and so this problem is not kosher for their normal friend group.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

One of my guesses. So I'm. I feel like they might feel really alone.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's hard. I. I feel like.

[B]

What?

[A]

I feel like I am having the same questions they're having. Why do I feel trapped? What about this is making you feel trapped? And I feel like figuring out is it the niche? Is it the modality? Do I want couples versus individuals versus is the schedule? Is it little things like the cancellation policy or different policy things? There could be so many factors that even shifting a little bit might be more aligned mind. But they're like, I, I can't. I had set in stone. It's actually working. Don't touch it.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. And I wonder too if this person might be neurodivergent.

[A]

Oh yeah.

[B]

Because I think about how important new experiences are for our ADHD buddies. And that novelty really helps keep people feeling like life is worth living. And for somebody like me who really loves a routine and content towards the rigid, like I'm fine doing the same thing every day like the rest of my life, that's not most people. And so I might ask this person if there's some novel thing they can bring into their practice. You were talking about modalities. Maybe they could run groups. Maybe it's a modality, like a clinical modality that they could get into and nerd out on. Maybe it is a niche shift. There are so many little tweaks that we can make or new fun learning experiences we can have. And I don't know, I just Kind of have an intuitive sense with this person too. Do they feel trapped in their life or just in their practice? I'm seeing this a lot with people talking about burnout and their practice isn't so bad, but just the combination of everything is burning outy. But we blame it all on our practices.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Um. Like, I feel like our. We project stuff onto our practices that are life stuff too. So with this person, I would wonder, are you feeling trapped elsewhere? Are you having fun in your life? Because if you have the resilience that comes from having a really rich, full life, then I don't know, not everybody agrees with me on this. That's fine. I don't think our jobs have to be the thing that fulfills our sense of self and being and everything.

[A]

Yeah. When I. So limitless. My goal was to go off insurance and raise my rates. And in doing that, I massively decreased my caseload, which abs. I went from 35 a week to 20 a week. Holy moly. That was great. And it might sound like a duh now on the other end of the line, that story, but I feel like my practice in a really beautiful way is a very small part of my life now. Like, I can like about. I. It's. And it's not just hours. It's like the heaviness of how much I'm thinking of and planning it and worrying about, like, trying to set up for it versus when the practice does work. Like, it's just sort of. It feels really contained so that I can go do the fun stuff. And so like, kind of like what you're saying. If they have a successful practice, whatever that those quotes mean, they've probably poured a lot of themselves into that practice. What would it be like to pour into your hobbies or your family or your friends or sleep or something? Right. And does that alleviate the pressure on the practice?

[B]

Right. Yeah. I think it's a really good question for them to be asking. Mm.

[A]

I think too, the. If they genuinely do want to shift something in their practice, I wonder if they can shift it in a measured way. So I'm. An example would be I still do want to see X number of individual run of the mill clients a week. But I'm so curious about these intensives or I'm so curious about a group. What would it be like to just shove the whatever the practice is now into, like, slightly less time, cut a few slots maybe, and then have one day a week for, like, experimentation. So if you're like, maybe they're bored and maybe they need some variety. You can add in variety without blowing everything up.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. I like that idea that it's not all or nothing. Yeah, right. Not everything has to change. It might just be intensives. I think intensives are going to become an increasingly common big thing going forward. I really think that there's a clear up into the right trajectory for them. And so I like that example. That's a whole new way of delivering therapy to learn, which is exciting. It feels really different to provide. It doesn't just feel like back to back therapy to provide an intensive. It has a different vibe that some people really, really love. So I think it's really worth looking into what are some creative, not blowy, uppy things that you can do to make your practice feel fresh.

[A]

Yeah. And if your practice is successful because you are seeing 40 people a week, the other way to be creative is to say, okay, if I, if I were to decrease, how much marketing would I need to do to sustain a rate that could let me see 20 clients a week? Marketing feels so creative and just. It used to be just like session, session, session, session all day. Right. And now it's like, okay, I have four sessions and I also get to like write this blog post or chat with my friends and network or whatever it is. There's a lot more variety when you do charge a premium fee because you need to be more creative in some of that marketing. That's kind of freeing and exciting.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you, Rebecca. You're welcome. I appreciate you being here.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

And for, for people who heard this question and also feel like they feel similarly trapped in their practice. If you've got a full practice, limitless practice might be a good fit for you. I'm going to put a link for that in the show notes and in the caption, depending on where you're linked, listening or watching. And we have a free worksheet for you today. I'll also put the link for that and that is you're the CEO, so it helps you kind of like step into your, your big girl panties or your big boy boxer briefs, I don't know, something or whatever you're wearing and kind of make some of the harder decisions in your practice and look at things a little bit differently.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Thanks, Rebecca. I'll see you later.

[A]

You're welcome. Bye.

[B]

Bye. If you're ready for a much easier practice, Therapy notes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code abundant for two months free. I hope that helped. Please get in touch with any of your questions for Ask Abundance. If you're listening, you probably need some support building your practice. If you're a super newbie, grab our free checklist using the link the Show Notes. I'd love for you to follow, rate and review, but I really want you to share this episode with a therapist friend. Let's help all our colleagues build what they want.