Episode Summary – Private Practice Startup Podcast

Episode 148: 6 Strategies for Ensuring Self Care is Baked Into Your Business Plan

Hosts: Dr. Kate Campbell & Katie Lemieux
Guest: Lynn Louise Wonders
Release Date: August 11, 2019

Episode Overview

This episode tackles the crucial subject of self-care for mental health professionals, focusing on how practitioners can strategically incorporate self-care into their actual business planning—making it non-negotiable and foundational to their personal and professional success. Guest Lynn Louise Wonders, a seasoned therapist, supervisor, and holistic self-care expert, shares actionable strategies for preventing burnout and fostering sustainability in private practice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Unique Need for Therapist Self-Care

• Therapists’ Professional Hazards: The helping profession is prone to burnout and compassion fatigue, stemming from constant focus on clients' needs and neglect of personal restoration.

  “Burnout and compassion fatigue can sneak up on us. So we have to make sure that we've got a plan in place.” – Lynn Wonders, 04:19

• Ethical Imperative: Self-care is not just a personal matter but a professional and ethical one; without it, the quality of care for clients suffers.

  “It's an ethical issue…somehow there seems to be a trend where psychotherapists neglect self care.” – Lynn Wonders, 04:19

2. Retreats & Holistic Self-Care

• Self-Care Retreats: Wonders organizes holistic self-care retreats for clinicians, emphasizing community and nature as healing agents.

  “There's something about the bond that happens because we have a very unique need for self care…it's good for the soul.” – Lynn Wonders, 02:48

3. Baking Self-Care into the Business Plan

• Commitment Parity: Therapists should honor self-care appointments with the same dedication as client sessions.

  “Make a commitment to your self care with as much dedication as you do to your clients...Honor it just like you would a client.” – Lynn Wonders, 07:09

• Layered Planning: Wonders teaches a system for self-care that spans daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual practices.

  “We break it down to the small things we need to do on a daily basis...then those things that you would do...monthly...quarterly and annually.” – Lynn Wonders, 07:09

• Calendar Integration: Self-care is scheduled and tracked using the same tools as business milestones—using time blocking, deadlines, and action steps.

  “You schedule them and put deadlines in just like you do for your interventions or...your action steps in your business plan.” – Lynn Wonders, 18:48

4. Mindset Barriers to Self-Care

• Societal Conditioning & Scarcity: Many therapists—women in particular—are socially conditioned to deprioritize their own needs, often viewing self-care as selfish rather than essential.

  “There's some belief…that to put ourselves first is selfish. And that belief is a false belief. It's not selfish, it's self preserving…” – Lynn Wonders, 10:37

• Scarcity Mindset: The belief that there isn't enough time or money perpetuates overwork and the tendency to squeeze out self-care.

  “We have a relationship with time…and we have to realize that…the concept of time is not necessarily linear…there is plenty of time for everything…” – Lynn Wonders, 13:18

• Practical Time Audits: Conducting a time study (like a budget for time) can reveal where time is lost and help re-align priorities.

  “You look at what are the beliefs…where are you spending your time?...what are the things you're spending time doing that are causing you to feel tired?” – Lynn Wonders, 14:51

5. Practical Self-Care Strategies

• Daily Practices: Hydration, nutrition, daily movement, meditation, spiritual or reflective reading.

  “Make sure you're drinking the right amount of water…getting enough vegetables…getting out and getting a brisk walk…devotional time…” – Lynn Wonders, 21:54

• Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly/Annual Practices: Yoga classes, medical checkups, scheduled downtime, retreats, and vacations that truly unplug you from work.

  “Quarterly…take a three day weekend. And then an annual thing might be going on a self care retreat or taking that long vacation where you're completely unplugged…” – Lynn Wonders, 21:54

6. The Importance of Presence

• Quality Over Quantity: Whether it’s a 10-minute meditation or a three-week vacation, true restoration comes from the quality of presence, not just time off.

  “It's the quality of that presence that makes all of the difference…in that presence we are able to realign and come back to true self…” – Lynn Wonders, 24:48

• Translating Therapeutic Presence to Self: The attuned focus therapists give clients is a gift they must also give themselves.

  “…the willingness to give that to our clients, you know, why aren't we giving that to ourselves more often?” – Katie Lemieux, 26:15

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Planned Self-Care:

  “Schedule everything, make it a priority and make it non negotiable.” – Lynn Wonders, 27:46

• On Self-Care as Success:

  “True success is feeling a sense of fulfillment and in the process of balance…if we don't make sure that we have a plan for self care, it's probably not going to get done.” – Lynn Wonders, 27:46

• On Boundaries & Business:

  “If you look at our schedule and be like, oh, I could just move this…chances are you're going to keep on moving it. So commit to yourself. That's the most important thing.” – Katie Lemieux, 28:13

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:48] – Lynn describes the power of self-care retreats for therapists
• [04:19] – Why self-care is a professional and ethical issue
• [07:09] – How to genuinely bake self-care into a business plan
• [10:37] – Societal and internal blocks to self-care for therapists
• [13:18] – Scarcity mindset’s effect on prioritizing self-care
• [14:51] – Conducting personal time audits to find space for self-care
• [18:48] – Structure: Using business planning tools for self-care
• [21:54] – Examples of daily, quarterly, and annual self-care practices
• [24:48] – The restorative power of true presence, even in small moments
• [27:46] – Final takeaway: Making self-care an integrated and scheduled priority

Giveaway Mentioned

• [25:39] & [28:36] – Lynn offers a complimentary 10-minute guided meditation (link in show notes) designed to help therapists relax and realign quickly.

Episode Takeaway

Self-care is not an afterthought or a luxury—it’s an ethical necessity and a core pillar of sustainable business success for therapists. By embedding self-care into business plans as rigorously as any other professional objective, practitioners can safeguard themselves against burnout, model healthy boundaries for clients, and reclaim the passion and presence that brought them into the helping profession in the first place.