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Welcome to Badass Therapists Building Practices That Thrive, the ultimate resource for mental health professionals ready to step into their power, grow their practices, and create a career they love. I'm Dr. Kate Walker, a Texas LPC/LMFT Supervisor, author, and business strategist who's here to show you the path to success.
Formerly Texas Counselors Creating Badass Businesses, we’ve rebranded because, well, we’re way too big for Texas now! This community of badass therapists is growing nationwide, and we’re here to help you create a career and practice you love, no matter where you are.
Every week, you'll get practical advice, proven strategies, and motivation to help you build a thriving practice—one that gives you the freedom to live your life on your terms. From mastering marketing to designing scalable systems and becoming a clinical supervisor, this podcast is your roadmap to leveling up without burnout.
Hit subscribe and get ready to unlock your badass potential. Your thriving practice starts now!
181 Episodes
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Are ethical practices and financial acumen at the core of your supervisory role? Join me, Dr. Kate Walker, as we navigate the intersection of ethics and money in the critical task of supervision. Discover how to steer your supervisees through the complexities of clinical work financially, from understanding the ins and outs of taxes to developing effective marketing materials. This episode is an indispensable resource for supervisors eager to mentor with integrity, ensuring that their supervi...
Avoiding hard conversations in supervision does not preserve the relationship. It weakens it. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ashley Stephens Durbin to talk about what really gets in the way of addressing issues with supervisees. We walk through the fear, the hesitation, and the common patterns supervisors fall into when something feels off but they are not sure how to say it. We talk about the difference between a hard conversation and a harmful one. Avoiding the conversation altogether...
More clients will not fix a broken business model. It will just exhaust it faster. In this episode, I sit down with business strategist Jenny Melrose to walk through what actually creates sustainable income in a therapy practice. We unpack why so many clinicians hit a ceiling, even with a full caseload, and how to shift from volume-based growth to a structure that supports your life. We introduce the CAFE framework, capacity, alignment, focus, and execution, and apply it directly to real ther...
If you have ever finished a long week, looked at your calendar, and thought, “I should have made more than this,” this episode is for you. Making more money in private practice is not always about raising your fee. Often it is about protecting the time you are already selling. When sessions run long, cancellations slide, and consultations spill over, your effective hourly rate quietly drops. And you feel it by the end of the month. In this episode, I walk through how to calculate what you are...
Spring cleaning is not just for closets. It is for your paperwork. In this episode, I walk you through a Spring 2026 paperwork shape up and show you exactly what to fix, what to update, and what to stop ignoring. This is not about panic. It is about systems. When your documentation is clean and current, compliance becomes steady instead of stressful. We start with the core clinical paperwork every counselor should review. Informed consent. Practice policies. Release of information. HIPAA Noti...
Most therapists do not burn out because they are bad at boundaries. They burn out because they are trying to fix structural problems with personal effort. In this episode, I break down the difference between leaks you can patch and systems that need to be rebuilt. We talk about what capacity ceilings in private practice really are, how inconsistent policies quietly drain income and energy, and why trying to “work harder” is often a sign you are forcing something that needs redesign. This conv...
January and September can feel like a wave. The calls increase. The emails stack up. And for a moment, it feels like momentum. But calls are not the goal. Kept first sessions are the goal. In this episode, I walk you through how to turn inquiries into actual booked clients without pressure tactics, without sales scripts that feel inauthentic, and without overcompromising your boundaries. Most therapists were never trained in sales. What we were trained in is structure, clarity, and expectatio...
There comes a point in many therapy careers where working harder is no longer the solution. You can raise your fees. You can tighten your cancellation policy. You can fill every slot on your calendar. And still feel financially vulnerable. In this episode, Ashley Stephens and I explore why supervision often becomes the smarter revenue stream at that stage. Not because it is easy. Not because it is trendy. But because it is structurally different from therapy income. Supervision is tied to lic...
Most therapists are not stuck because they lack insight. They are stuck because insight alone does not create change. In this special replay of a live training with Carolyn Robistow, we unpack Brainspotting basics and explore a bigger question many clinicians are asking right now: how can additional training increase your value without increasing your workload? This conversation is not just about a modality. It is about embodied knowing. The kind of shift that happens in the nervous system fi...
Most therapists and supervisors do not struggle because they care too much. They struggle because helping quietly becomes the business model. In this episode, Jennifer Marie Fairchild and I unpack why overfunctioning, loose boundaries, and undercharging slowly erode authority, ethics, and sustainability in both counseling practices and supervision. We talk about what we see every day in supervision contracts and group practice growth, how good intentions create real risk when demand is not as...
Most therapists don’t burn out because they’re “too sensitive” or need better self-care, they burn out because they’re doing high level emotional labor and business labor that is not being paid for in a sustainable way. In this episode, Dr. Ashley Stephens and I name the therapist burnout nobody talks about, the burnout that shows up when your practice looks successful on paper, but you feel exhausted, resentful, and stretched thin behind the scenes. We talk about the invisible workload that ...
Most therapists don’t struggle with marketing because they’re doing it wrong—they struggle because they’re exhausted. In this episode, I break down the difference between shiny marketing (the tactics that look good but burn you out) and sticky marketing (the strategies that actually build trust, referrals, and consistent caseloads). We talk about why chasing algorithms, keywords, and trends often leads to panic posting and random visibility—and how to shift toward a relationship-based approac...
Most practice owners head into a new year by adding more—more offers, more marketing, more hustle. In this episode, I’m asking you to do the opposite. We’re looking at what actually worked this year, what just felt important, and what quietly drained your time without growing your practice. This is about cutting what doesn’t move the needle and doubling down on what does. I walk you through a simple audit you can use to evaluate your services, your marketing, your schedule, and even your habi...
If you want 2026 to feel different, your systems have to change — not your personality, not your caffeine intake. In this episode, I’m walking you through the practice systems that actually save time, reduce chaos, and keep you out of that constant “I’ll fix it later” mode. I break down what a system really is, why most private practice owners don’t realize what’s broken, and how overwhelm usually shows up right when your practice starts growing. Whether you’re brand new or already busy, this...
If running a group practice feels like herding highly educated cats, this episode is going to feel like someone finally put words to what you’ve been living. I’m joined by Amanda Esquivel, a Texas group practice owner who’s scaled to 50 clinicians across seven locations—and she’s breaking down why most “staff problems” aren’t actually staff problems. They’re leadership-role problems. Amanda names the four roles practice owners bounce between when growth accelerates: babysitter/manager, bottle...
If the idea of delegating in your practice immediately brings up fear about HIPAA, confidentiality, or losing control, this episode is for you. In this solo episode, I’m breaking down exactly what you can delegate right now (and what you shouldn’t) so you can protect your license while still getting critical tasks off your plate. I walk through real-world examples of delegation, from marketing tasks and intake calls to inbox management and follow-ups, and I clear up a lot of the myths therapi...
If the idea of hiring help in your practice immediately brings up fear about HIPAA, confidentiality, or losing control, this episode will bring a lot of clarity. Dr. Kate Walker breaks down exactly what therapists can delegate right now, what you should never hand off blindly, and how to protect your license while still getting critical tasks off your plate. Kate walks through real-world examples of delegation—from marketing and intake calls to email management and SOP creation—while explaini...
If your practice feels like it’s running on chaos, Post-its, and crossed fingers, this episode is going to be a breath of relief. I’m walking you through the first five SOPs I believe every therapist should have, because these are the systems that gave me my evenings back, lowered my stress, and stopped my practice from falling apart every time I hired someone new. I’m sharing the real mistakes I made when I first started working with VAs, like assuming they could read my mind, or handing ove...
If you’re trying to become an LPC Associate in Texas, this episode is going to save you stress, money, and a whole lot of confusion. I invited Dr. Tara Fox to walk us through the entire Texas LPC licensure process, because no one breaks it down more clearly than she does. Together, we unpack what future counselors actually need to know—how to pick the right LPC supervisor, how to avoid supervision nightmares, and how to navigate the NCE or NCMHCE without getting blindsided by outdated or inco...
What actually goes wrong in supervision, and how do you prevent it before it snowballs? In this episode, Dr. Ashley Stevens and I dive into the most common supervisor mistakes we see across counselor and social work settings. From over-hiring your very first month to being impossible to reach when supervisees truly need you, we unpack the decisions that create risk, rupture trust, and leave new supervisors feeling overwhelmed or blindsided. We also name the often-ignored realities of su...
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