Rebel Therapist

My guest today did some significant healing at a psilocybin ceremony at a retreat center in Mexico. She takes us there and explains why she was able to heal in that environment in ways she hadn't before. You'll also hear how and why she does psychedelic work as a therapist. Dr. Cheryl Tien, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who helps individuals navigate grief, identity, and life transitions with a culturally attuned, trauma-informed approach. She specializes in psychedelic integration—supporting clients in making meaning of experiences with medicines like MDMA and psilocybin in a grounded, evidence-based way. Her work centers on safety, ethics, and translating profound experiences into sustainable change in everyday life. Here's some of what we talked about: Deciding to get licensed, and the pros and cons of that as a psychedelic facilitator Advocating for psychedelic medicine accessibility Grieving the loss of a former client to suicide Getting racially assaulted Having fears, visuals and nightmares as a result of stressful events Hitting the limits of talk therapy in her own healing Choosing to attend a psilocybin ceremony retreat in Mexico Why the medicine is 10% of the experience Her internal experience during the ceremony Doing a sweat lodge the following day How she decides when to do a psychedelic journey and what medicine she needs Being "spiritually hopeful" Her advice to people new to psychedelics healing generational trauma Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/254  

Deb Benfield has helped hundreds of women heal their relationship with food, eating, and their bodies in her 35-year career as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She is a needed expert at the cross section of pro-aging and body liberation. Her new book, Unapologetic Aging, teaches us to navigate anti-aging and diet and wellness culture so we can enjoy our lives. As women enter perimenopause and menopause, we become more vulnerable to risk of disordered eating. This book is an antidote. I got an early copy of this book so I could prep for this interview. I want to get more copies for people I love. As I talk to a few friends about my conversation with Deb, they've admitted to me how much they struggle with their body image and how much they need to hear this conversation. This is a personal conversation about Deb's own journey with her body. Here we go. Here's some of what we talked about: Deb's journey from struggling with her body image to loving her aging body fully Seeing the harms of diet and "wellness" culture to her clients as a dietician Transitioning away from "body as project" thinking Perimenopause, Menopause and body-trust Why the mainstream messaging about belly fat is misleading Making body liberation her family legacy Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/253  

Before I jump in I want to invite you to a couple of things. If you've gone low contact or no contact with a parent or caregiver, this time of year can bring up a lot. I'm hosting a workshop for folks who are estranged from a parent or caregiver and want tools and support in creating your most meaningful and beautiful life. Every time I run this, folks experience belonging and a sense of hope. We'll meet online on Friday, December 5th from 1pm to 4pm Pacific. go to https://anniezam.com/estranged to register. No one will be turned away because of money. And for everyone, I'm hosting a year-end ritual to clear space in your life for what isn't needed for the new year and setting intentions and creating more space for what matters to you. We'll reflect on the year you've had and tap into the energy and values you want to make your next moves from. If you like internal family systems and parts work, you'll probably resonate with this. You'll have lots of time while we're together to reflect and feel into what's next. If you've joined me in the past for this, you'll notice this one will be less productivity oriented and more about anchoring into yourself. We'll gather online on Thursday, December 11th from 2 to 3:30 Pacific. This is a free gathering. Go to https://anniezam.com/ritual to register and get the link.   My guest today went through a huge personal transformation when she learned Internal Family Systems, or IFS. For example, the ways that she was incredibly productive and excelled at pretty much everything? For the first time in her life, that was not as celebrated. In fact it was something she was encouraged to stop doing. Alexis Roberson, licensed family therapist, provides psychotherapy and virtual parenting groups for families navigating the complexities of neurodivergent caregiving. As an IFS practitioner, she helps parents and children identify with their "parts" and become more of their true, authentic selves. You'll hear about her own healing and the way her life and work and family continue to evolve in the direction of freedom. Here's some of what we talked about: Finding Internal Family Systems right before COVID lockdown Switching to an IFS therapist as she learned IFS How Alexis's personality has changed since learning this model Opening up to more not knowing and playfulness in parenting and other relationships Using her body to check in with her parts and release tension throughout the day How she uses somatics in sessions with clients Having 2 autistic kids and the shifts their family made to meet their needs Getting back to prioritizing fun and pleasure Why the chapter she's in now of getting older is gold Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/252  

This podcast is about therapists and healers doing their own healing work. So now it's my turn to talk about some of my healing. Sarah Buino, host and creator of the podcast Conversations with a Wounded Healer interviewed me recently, and I'm sharing that conversation with you. I love the questions Sarah asks me and I just love Sarah and I know you will too. We talk about a pivotal psychedelic journey I went on, estrangement, authenticity, and how my own healing led to a recent career pivot. Here's some of what we talked about: My pivotal psychedelic healing journey My personal experience with estrangement and how I also help estranged people Learning about Internal Family Systems What Sarah and Annie both have experienced with unconditional love from our spouses Sarah's reflections on how Annie has changed and healed more since our conversation in 2021! Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/251  

Sonya Brewer is a trauma specialist and relationship expert who specializes in creative life and relationship design for overachieving trauma survivors and their partners. She helps trauma survivors feel more alive, connected and authentic so they can create the lives and relationships they truly want. In this conversation Sonya shares vulnerably about doing her own deep work, including the processes she went through to heal her childhood emotional neglect and other traumas. She also talks about how her own healing has changed her work as a therapist and healer. Here's some of what we talked about: Discovering Breath Work and somatics Finding the right therapist and sticking with her for decades! Becoming a healer and leaving corporate behind Healing and retrieving young parts of herself Understanding and healing from emotional neglect Feeling the help, love and healing of her ancestors The limits of talk therapy in accessing some of our deepest healing Insights on Couples and Complex PTSD (and an upcoming book!) Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/250

You're going to hear some courageous and vulnerable stuff right now. My guest today is a therapist who uses two methods to help her clients heal trauma. Her own healing journey started in an unexpected way. Helen Beynon is a somatic therapist and IFS-informed practitioner. She loves working with folks to transform trauma and build their capacity to navigate a tumultuous world. I met her when she was a teacher in my IFS learning. She's based in British Columbia. Here's some of what we talked about: How she found Somatic Experiencing as a client Doing deep emotional and physical healing she didn't expect Her personal experiences that led her to learn both IFS and Somatic Experiencing as a practitioner How she integrates the 2 methods How she now listens to and uses her anger rather than pushing it away Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/249

Before I jump in, I want to share a workshop I'll be running for people who are estranged or distant from their parent or caregiver and are needing support while they work to create a beautiful life and heal. This is a judgment free zone where you'll be with people who get it, and you'll learn tools to truly show up for yourself. Join me on Friday, August 1st. Go to https://anniezam.com/ to learn more and sign up. I can't wait to see you. On to today's interview! Today's guest shares deeply and vulnerably how she's done her own healing through big stuff, including childhood sexual abuse, realizing she's a lesbian while married to a man, and the death of her father. You'll hear about the beautiful process she guides people through, why she took a sabbatical recently, and why she's working with a shaman now. Meet Samantha Fox. As a sexuality coach, she works with women around the world to support them as they discover that they are not as straight as they might have thought. She's developed an experiential method called Unbox Your Sexuality that creates a monumental transformation. She's also an LMFT in New York. Here's some of what we talked about: How therapy failed her at one point Healing from childhood trauma Uncovering her lesbian sexuality Becoming a guide for other women in their coming out journeys Coping and growing in the loss of her father Taking a sabbatical Why she's working with a Shaman How she changed her work to feel more right for her The power of IFS and why she uses it with her clients Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/248

This podcast is changing because my work is changing! I'm still offering business coaching, and you can find out how I help therapists and healers with their businesses at rebeltherapist.me. AND I've stepped back into working with clients as a healer. I have been on a HUGE healing journey of my own that started with a guided psychedelic journey in January of 2023. I then received Brainspotting, first from my friend, Alicia Taverner. Hire her if you can. She's at *https://www.ranchocounseling.com/.* Then I received some parts work. I have gotten so much help from these modalities. They really get to the root of my trauma in a way that nothing else has. I felt this magnetic pull to learn these modalities myself and to start working as a healer again. I work with people who are estranged from a parent or caregiver and other folks who want to do some big healing. I also have a workshop coming up later this summer for people who are estranged from a parent or caregiver and are working to build their most beautiful life. If you're interested in checking out any of that, find it at AnnieZam.com. Let's get to today's amazing therapist guest who I adore. My favorite kind of practitioner is the kind that wouldn't ask their client to do anything they don't do themselves. I'm SO excited to introduce Jaclyn Tyson, a therapist and spiritual companion who helps people reconnect with their inner wisdom through spirituality, creativity, and healing practices. She weaves together approaches like Brainspotting, parts work, energy healing, and expressive arts to support personal and collective transformation. In our conversation, you'll hear about how she uses these modalities with her clients AND how they're central to her own growth and healing. Here's some of what we talked about: How Jaclyn processed her grief after her father passed and she knew she needed something beyond the tools she already had Jaclyn's mentorship with a Shaman How she brings Reiki, Brainspotting and IFS together all at once with her clients The rituals she does before and after sessions Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/247

My 2 guests today created and will co-facilitate The Hour Before Dawn A Program for Inheritors of Wealth with Family Ties to the Nazi Regime who want to take ancestral responsibility and create a more just world. (https://www.irisbrilliant.com/the-hour-before-dawn) Iris Brilliant is a money coach based in Berlin, Germany. She guides wealthy people who are confused or conflicted about what to do with their money to create a deeply liberating vision and plan for their wealth. She has recently shaped her career to fight fascism globally. Justine Epstein is a facilitator and mentor for people with inherited wealth who want to examine the histories of their ancestors and money, and take meaningful action to address these legacies. Her approach combines ancestral research, contextual history, political education, wealth redistribution and divestment, with embodied mindfulness, ritual, connection to the natural world, and creative expression. They both come from wealthy families. You're about to hear how they've done intense personal work AND justice work. I'm swooning on that combination and it's a combination of work I aspire to do. You'll hear me ask them some challenging questions. You know, the stuff people who have wealth don't usually talk about in public? They talk about that stuff with a ton of transparency. I think it's courageous. Here's some of what we talked about: Iris and Justine's journeys with generational examination and healing around wealth Navigating wealth and relationships Shame, guilt, and transformative healing and action Building their collaborative partnership Creating and facilitating their program: The Hour Before Dawn Addressing the Palestinian genocide Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/246

I've been regularly creating content to build and nurture my audience for 10 years now. This strategy has worked really well for me. It's been a huge part of how I've drawn people to my work and built their trust. My content has also helped thousands of people who I'll never have the pleasure of meeting. AND…creating content week after week can be overwhelming. Daniel Fava had me on his podcast, Private Practice Elevation, and we dug into all of my insights about how to create content that matters. I realized this conversation includes a lot of things I haven't shared with you, and I asked Daniel if I could release it as a Rebel Therapist episode as well. Daniel Fava is the owner of Private Practice Elevation where his team helps therapist with all things website and SEO. He got into this particular niche because his spouse is a therapist. Here's some of what we talked about: How to figure out what to create content about (and the questions I go back to every week) Finding your voice by using your voice What to do if you're overwhelmed What to do if you think you're annoying people with your emails Creating your content ritual My actual process Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/245

When you engage in your own healing, how does your work change? Today I'm talking to Judy Hu. They've created a group process to alchemize generational trauma, and in this episode she talks all about her own path to healing and finding this way of working. They also guide me through an unexpected and powerful process during the interview. Judy Hu is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor turned Boundary Coach based in Massachusetts. Judy is the author of bestselling book, The Boundary Revolution: Decolonize Your Relationships and Discover a New Path to Joy, which documents the framework Judy developed to guide her clients through their boundary healing. They're also a Rebel Therapist grad. Here's some of what we talked about: Transitioning from therapist to boundary coach Developing a group process to alchemize ancestral trauma Bringing playfulness and creativity to their groups How a ketamine journey influenced her path Her big life changes and healing Collective healing and group dynamics Decolonizing our work Why the way Judy works now does not cause them to burn out Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/244

Before I share the replay of this open coaching call I want to tell you… Wednesday, April 2nd is the last day to sign up for Create Your Program in 2025. Do you have a sense of what having your own course or program could do for your career? If you've been sitting on an idea for a while, I want to invite you to create your program with me. This is the process where you take your incredible strengths as a therapist or healer and you create a signature program so that you can serve more people, make more money, and get your best ideas out of your head and into a unique container you'll be able to offer over and over. We go through an 11 week process together step by step so that you are actually launching your program during our time together with my support. I ran a free and open coaching call recently for everyone in our audience, including clients and listeners. We had such great questions that I decided to share the recording with you. Here are some of the questions I answered and expanded on: Can I create my first program with minimal tech? How can I carve out time to work on my program when I've got a full private practice? I have a few ideas for programs. How can I choose one? Is it best to wait to do CYP until I have a fully formed program idea, or do plenty of people figure it out along the way? How do you support therapists like me who are constantly taking courses and never creating? How far in advance of my course should I start promoting it? I sometimes think "I have no good ideas." How do I get past this and tap into an offer I feel clear and confident about? How do you support therapists in being visible. I'm worried how my therapy clients might react if I share more of my personal story in a newsletter. With the economy quickly changing, how do we factor that in as we choose which program to create? Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/243

Got shame? When shame shows up, it's overwhelming and contagious. My guest has created a process to help therapists transform shame with their clients. You're about to hear how she created her program, how her process works, and how she transformed her own shame in the process of building her business. Tatra De La Rosa is a therapist and educator with a private practice in Northern California where she provides supervision and training to associate therapists, and teaches graduate students on the path to becoming therapists. She's been working with clients in her private practice to heal shame at its source and is passionate about teaching other therapists how they can learn to do so as well. She's also a recent grad of Create Your Program. Here's some of what we talked about: Why we get frustrated when we work with shame protectors How shame gets activated in the therapist, a.k.a. "I'm a terrible therapist!" or imposter syndrome Why shame is actually a misunderstanding The and modules of her program and how she teaches it Using a recorded session of her work as well as live group coaching to teach participants the method How she filled her pilot program Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/242

Sometimes you have to unexpectedly step away from your business. When you return, it's really helpful to have a program you've created that you can dive back into. Having your own program separate from your private practice gives you a way to serve people and make money from anywhere, and you don't lose that branch of your business, even if you move to a different part of the world. That's the story of this week's guest. Kate Ahl is a therapist and coach with over 20 years' experience of working with writers, researchers and academics, in the UK and the US. For many years she was an in-house therapist for faculty and staff at Cambridge University and in her private practice she continues to serve people who live by their brains, struggling with perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and creative block. She's also a grad of Create Your Program and Rebel Therapist Marketing Intensive. Here's some of what we talked about: Helping people with restless, problem solving minds The challenges and fun parts of working with extremely brainy humans Diving back into her program after months away because of life issues AND a transatlantic move Her feeling of relief that her program was ready for her to pick up and run again Returning to the container and structure she learned in Rebel Therapist programs so she could stay out of overwhelm in her business Dripping curriculum out little by little so that participants don't get overwhelmed Offering asynchronous as well as live coaching during her program How she's marketing her program using content and guesting on podcasts Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/241

Pivoting to work beyond private practice usually means getting more visible. And getting more visible can bring up a lot of vulnerability for people, especially people who are therapists. Today's guest is putting himself out there in new ways, and finding that while he grows his audience, he also finds there's a way it is contributing to his own healing. Jose Aleman is a therapist-turned-coach with over 20 years of experience. As the creator of Loving Your Awkward Self, Jose offers confidence-boosting content tailored to queer, first-generation, and BIPOC individuals, while welcoming all. Passionate about authenticity and safe spaces, Jose is dedicated to helping people embrace their true selves and grow. Here's some of what we talked about: Creating "Loving Your Awkward Self" Reels as a resource to reach people in an accessible way AND to work on his own healing by being seen Working with people who tend to shut down emotionally, particularly BIPoC, first gen and queer folks Creating a group for queer, BIPoC men about increasing confidence Jose's step-by-step posting process Annie's advice about repurposing content Honing the skill of grabbing people's attention quickly (a necessity for social media) How he chooses his topics for posts Annie's suggestions for growing his audience Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/240

Here's a really cool idea: create a program that helps your write your book. When you create a program you get to take your best ideas, turn them into a clear process, AND help a group of people in real time. You get feedback and make adjustments along the way so that your process gets even better. Then you write your book knowing that you're writing something that really helps people. Both your program and your book allow you to help more people and get known for your work. That's what today's guest, Dr. Christen Mullane has been up to. She's a clinical psychologist and certified meditation teacher. She is the owner of Ginkgo Leaf Health Services, a psychotherapy practice aimed at providing services for those who have experienced medical stress and trauma. She offers a therapy program called RISE, which specifically focuses on trauma-informed mindfulness within this population. She's also the author of Medical Stress & Trauma. I'm proud to say that she's a grad of Create Your Program. Here's some of what we talked about on this week's podcast episode: The process Christen went through to publish her workbook and create her group program How running her program is different from her therapy sessions How she brought a trauma informed lens to her program and her book Annie and Christen's young parts showing up when they get more visible How Christen finds safe spaces to get honest, actionable feedback The lightbulb moment when Christen realized she needed to work in a new way Finding the uniqueness of her message while giving credit to all of her sources How she got participants for her program through networking, list building and SEO Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/239

We're out of balance with how much of our brain energy we give to certain numbers. Like when this happens in my brain: "How many likes did I get for that post?" A few minutes later…"How about now?" Not useful. I want the numbers I track and encourage my clients and listeners to track to be highly meaningful and helpful in making real business decisions. I never want those numbers to make us feel bad or to help us assess our worthiness. Fuck that. Useful numbers help us make decisions and pay attention to what we care about. Less useful numbers stress us out and distract us from what matters to us. Most people I know don't like to spend much time tracking or analyzing numbers in their businesses. I, on the other hand, can tend to OVER track and analyze. I sometimes like to cope with my anxiety by pretending I have some control. Tracking and analyzing numbers on spreadsheets can sometimes feel soothing. But as a company of one, NOT a huge corporation, I don't have time or energy to track every single number in my business. Using my intuition AND useful numbers helps me resist some of the most damaging traps we tend to fall into when making decisions. Useful numbers help me resist things like recency bias, confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy, and shiny object syndrome. In this week's podcast episode, I talk about the numbers I ALWAYS pay attention to, the numbers I pay attention to just during an experiment, and the numbers I try to ignore. If you want to get my help creating your signature program beyond therapy sessions, head over to https://rebeltherapist.me/create. I'd love to support you. People mentioned in this episode: Podge Thomas  https://smallbusinesscopilot.com/ Bari Tessler  https://baritessler.com/ Thea Monyee  https://theamonyee.com/ Show notes at  https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/238

Today's guest is a grad of CYP. If you want this to be the year you finally launch your course or make a pivot to coaching, do what she did. Get my support in a step-by-step process to create and launch it. Head over to https://rebeltherapist.me/. Don't know what your topic will be? No idea where to start? You'll be in good company. You do have a program in you. As this is going live, you can still get into the cohort that's about to start. You'll be launching your course by a few months from now. If you're too late, get on the notification list for next time. That's https://rebeltherapist.me/create Now to today's conversation: Dr. Jenn Kennedy is a clinical sexologist and licensed marriage and family therapist based in Santa Barbara. Dr. Jenn supports clients in the areas of relationships, sex, addiction and LGBT. In 2023, Dr. Jenn launched The Pleasure Project, which is dedicated to helping us all have a better sex life. Through this venture, Dr. Jenn hosts a podcast called Pleasure Project: Sex & Relationships and she offers small group intensives for women and couples. She is coming out with an asynchronous course in 2025. Dr. Jenn has been quoted in Redbook, Reader's Digest, Forbes Health, DailyOm, Shondaland, Parade, Allure, Yahoo!life and others. She is often tapped to discuss intimacy and sexuality for therapists and physicians. And she's a grad of Create Your Program. You're about to hear why she created a program called The Pleasure Circle, to help women who want to want sex more. Here's some of what we talked about: Creating a program for women 40 and over about desire Emotional barriers Dr. Jenn experienced in creating and sharing the program Getting feedback partway through and making adjustments each time How she handles sharing her personal stories (which she does more of in this program than in therapy). Being out as lesbian How she markets her program and brings in participants Annie coaches Dr. Jenn on a pain point around making sales calls Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/237

I met recently with a group of therapsits and healers who are getting ready to create high quality and life changing courses, workshops and programs. Each of them has a beautiful and unique glimmer of what they will create and they've got so much love for the people they're creating for. Each creator has great personal reasons for creating their offerings: preventing their own burnout, making money without more sessions, having an outlet for their creativity, and creating a body of work that can be shared beyond the privacy of therapy sessions. I talked to them about how to get ready for this big project. I shared what has worked for me and tons of other people accomplishing self-directed projects. When YOU are the boss of whether you do this thing or not, you need to set yourself up well! I'm going to share that with you. Whatever project you're getting ready for, this is good stuff. And it is NOT about productivity as usual. A project is something with a particular start and end point. For example: Creating and launching your course for the first time. Launching a podcast. Once you've launched your course once, you've completed that particular project. Once you've launched the first episode of your podcast, you've completed that project. We can each take on only one or two projects at a time, because we've got a lot of other things we're already busy with. In this episode I talk about how to: Question productivity as usual, and and step into sovereignty instead Be the boss of your to do list rather than it's employee Make sovereign rather than default choices Identify something to quit so you can free up energy Identify something to do badly so you can free up energy Partner with your nervous system in this project Set aside blocks of time for your project Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/236

Join me for my annual free planning workshop: Plan Your Aligned Year. December 10th 11 am to 12:30 pm PT https://rebeltherapist.me/plan I take therapists and healers through a process to create their own courses and programs. That's my whole job. When I recently got inspired to create a program that's totally about healing and personal growth I took myself through my own process. I want to share that experience with you as a case study. In this episode, I share my process with you, both what steps I took and also what came up for me emotionally in that process. I'm sharing this to make it easier for you to create and share YOUR program. Estranged is a workshop for adults who are estranged or have disengaged from a parent or caregiver and who are working on building their most beautiful lives and relationships. It's happening on Thursday, December 12th and Thursday, December 19th from 2 to 3:30 pm PT. Learn about it here: https://rebeltherapist.me/estranged I really could have used this workshop myself many times. I'm one of these people who is estranged from a parent. I've also supported a ton of people through letting go of family members when I was a therapist for 20 years. Too often the assumption is that whenever there is estrangement, the goal should be reconnection. Spaces of mental health and personal growth often gets this wrong and do harm. My strong belief is that we get to create the most beautiful and honest lives we are capable of. If a past relationship holds us back from that life, we have every right to let it go or to find the amount of distance that allows us to create that life. I know that having distance from a parent can be an incredibly important part of healing. It has been for me and for so many people I've worked with. I believe that every great program has a clear purpose. The purpose of this workshop is to give folks who are estranged support in creating their most beautiful life and relationships. I want participants to practice some tools that help with that process, and to hear from each other so they are reminded how NOT alone they are in their experience. Here's some of what I talk about: Choosing the structure of the workshop Setting the price How I spread the word The mindset stuff that came up for me in creating this Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/235