Episode Summary: Overcome Your Scarcity Mindset to Uplevel Your Income and Your Life!

Private Practice Startup Podcast, Episode 129 - March 31, 2019
Hosts: Dr. Kate Campbell & Katie Lemieux
Guest: Katie Read, LMFT (“Therapreneur” Coach)

Overview

This episode dives deep into the concept of the scarcity mindset—how it shows up for mental health professionals, why it persists, and, most crucially, practical, actionable techniques to shift into abundance. With Mindset March as a theme, the hosts and guest Katie Read offer up stories, reflections, and exercises for therapists who are ready to change their financial and personal narratives, level up their practices, and feel more fulfilled.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining Scarcity Mindset

• Scarcity Mindset: Seeing money, time, opportunities, etc. as limited, living in fear that “there won’t be enough” or feeling guilt or anxiety both at not having and at having more than others.
  • “For a lot of therapists, the opposite [is true]; whereas if I get more of the pie, I feel guilty because now you have less of the pie. And I think so many of us in the helping profession, we actually deal with guilt kind of on both sides of the spectrum.” (Katie Read, 05:53)
• Not to be confused with genuine need: “If you are starving on the street, no one should be walking by you going, oh, that's just your scarcity mindset… that's not what we're talking about.” (Katie Read, 06:37)

2. Personal Stories: How Scarcity Shows Up

• The hosts and guest share relatable anecdotes:
  • Accepting an apartment out of fear rather than intuition, leading to misery. (Katie Read, 07:35)
  • Childhood coupon-cutting, and deriving joy from “getting a deal.” (Katie Lemieux, 09:11)
  • Family patterns of bragging about discounts. (Dr. Kate Campbell, 09:53)
  • “For all of us that feeling of like, yay, I won if I barely spent any money...I beat the store...But the way they start to come up for us in our practices is that we tend to do things on the cheap.” (Katie Read, 10:15)

3. Daily Mindset Practices

• Noticing Your Triggers: Recognize what spurs the feeling of scarcity (e.g., reluctance to invest in your practice).
  • “What are the things that trigger your fear to come flying up?...Part of noticing very often is actually as simple as reframing.” (Katie Read, 12:11)
• Reframing: It’s not really about what’s “reasonable,” it’s about whether decisions are driven by fear or desire.
  • Example: Reassessing what it means to buy a Tesla (“You could; you’re just choosing not to.”). (Katie Read, 13:02)
• Future Self Journaling: Write for 15 minutes as if you’ve achieved your goals—feel the emotions, envision what life looks like.
  • “I write from the point of view, as if I've already adjusted, achieved all of my goals… try to create the feelings of being there.” (Katie Read, 14:12)
• Envisioning and Acting ‘As If’:
  • “Who do you need to show up as in order to live out that goal? Who do you need to be now in order to live out that goal?” (Dr. Kate Campbell referencing earlier conversations, 15:15)

4. The Power of Feeling

• Affirmations are only effective when paired with feeling.
  • “Affirmations don't work without the feeling. Like, the feeling is the fuel that pushes it.” (Katie Lemieux, 17:07)
  • Expansive metaphors: Looking at the sky while visualizing goals to create “expansiveness.” (Katie Lemieux, 18:02)
  • “If I can express to myself and feel freedom in the moment as I'm thinking about the money, that's what's going to drive it for me.” (Katie Lemieux, 17:39)

5. Micro-Uplevels & Permission to Enjoy:

• “Think of one small thing in your life that you could up level any given week that would make you feel like a million bucks. And maybe it costs a dollar and maybe it's free and maybe it's five bucks.” (Katie Read, 20:08)
  • Use the “fancy” things you save for “special”—placemats, soap, organic food.
  • “I bought organic milk for my family. Look at me. It made a huge difference.” (Katie Read, 21:38)
  • “I would want the steak salad, but... I'd order the chicken because it was like, I felt so restrictive...now as I’m purchasing [organic foods], I'm not worried about the total, I’m feeling the feeling.” (Katie Lemieux, 21:55)

6. Learning & Giving: Expanding Abundance Beyond Money

• Building skills is also abundance: “It felt super abundant just to sit down and bootstrap and learn that new skill.” (Katie Read, 24:13)
• Give what you feel scarce about: Make donations or volunteer time, especially when feeling “I don’t have enough.”
  • “Give away the things that you feel most scarce about… prove to yourself yet again that the universe is abundant.” (Katie Read, 24:56)

7. Systems Create Freedom

• Discussing “Profit First” and personal systems that allocate money for “play.”
  • “The rules on the play jar are that you have to blow it at least every quarter. You can't save it…It's just really so liberating.” (Katie Lemieux, 26:24)

8. Consistency Matters

• Scarcity and abundance are like brushing your teeth—daily discipline, not a one-off decision.
  • “This is very much like brushing your teeth… You don't come to that point where you're like, oh, I’m better now…As you grow...you’re just going to hit a few more demons.” (Katie Read, 27:57)
  • “Every time you uplevel, every time you expand into a new area of business, or grow your practice…these issues come back up. It's never totally cured.” (Dr. Kate Campbell, 29:52)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Scarcity as Guilt, Not Just Lack:
  “For a lot of therapists, the opposite… if I get more of the pie, I feel guilty because now you have less of the pie. We deal with guilt on both sides.” (Katie Read, 05:53)

• Practicing Daily Abundance:
  “My daily mindset practice…is a bit of journaling. It has made the biggest difference for me of anything…from the point of view, as if I've already...achieved all of my goals.” (Katie Read, 14:12)

• Upleveling with Small Luxuries:
  “Why does the fancy soap sit under the cabinet in the spare bathroom...why don't you use it? Put it in your bathroom. Use the good stuff.” (Katie Read, 20:53)

• The Play Jar System:
  “You have to blow it...if I bought a $300 pair of shoes, whatever. And it was just really so liberating.” (Katie Lemieux, 26:24)

• Consistency is Key:
  “It really...takes that daily effort. You can't do this for a few days and be like, didn't really work, the end.” (Katie Read, 27:57)

Time-Stamped Highlights

• 05:03: Introduction of Katie Read; defining scarcity mindset and therapist-specific guilt
• 09:11: Personal anecdotes about early money messaging and frugality
• 12:11: Strategies to notice and reframe scarcity triggers
• 14:12: “Future self” journaling and its impact
• 17:07: The necessity of feeling emotions with affirmations/visualizations
• 20:08: Concept of “micro-upgrades” (e.g., using the ‘special’ placemats all month)
• 21:38: Permission to buy small luxuries like organic milk or decorative items
• 24:13: Bootstrapping as empowerment/abundance
• 24:56: The abundance of giving what you feel scarce in
• 26:24: The “play jar” money system for fun and emotional freedom
• 27:57: Mindset work as ongoing, never fully “done”

Actionable Takeaways & Gentle Challenges

• Notice and reframe your scarcity triggers
• Do one small thing each week to feel abundant (buy flowers, upgrade a product, use something “fancy”)
• Practice future self-journaling; write as if you’ve already achieved your next big goal
• Pair affirmations with the actual feeling you want (e.g., freedom, gratitude)
• Learn new skills or give your time/resources when you feel lack
• Set up systems (like a “play jar”) to reward yourself regularly

Giveaway & Resources

Katie Read’s Freebie: 5 Tools to Overcome Scarcity Mindset and Up-Level Your Income & Life

• Available at katieread.com/scarcity (link also in show notes)

This lively, honest, and encouraging episode reframes common therapist money “hangups” and arms listeners with practices both big and small to move toward abundance—not just in business, but in daily life. The message is clear: mindset work is ongoing, but even the smallest changes create powerful ripples.