How can group work positively affect clients’ behavior and decisions? What makes a really good listener? What are the essentials that every leader needs to receive and implement feedback?

In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok discusses how to unlock the secret power of groups in your private practice with Dr. Colin M. Fisher. 

Podcast Sponsor: Headway















I want to thank Headway for sponsoring this episode. If you run a group practice, you know that accepting insurance can be overwhelming. Between credentialing, billing, and payroll, the admin side can easily take over your week. Headway was built to help you handle this — and they’re the only platform designed specifically for in-network group practices.

Whether you’re growing your team or running an established practice, Headway makes the business side easier with faster credentialing, higher per-session rates, and biweekly payments your team can count on.

They work with therapy, psychiatric, and hybrid groups — and there are no subscription fees. Just the support you need to run your practice with ease.

Run your best group practice with Headway — trusted by thousands of group practice leaders to simplify insurance admin and reach more people through in-network care.

Curious how Headway can work for you? 

Meet Dr. Colin M. Fisher















Colin M. Fisher is a leading expert in group dynamics, holding a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Harvard and having served as an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Boston University’s School of Management. His work explores how groups form, function, and thrive — and his book The Collective Edge offers research-backed insights into making teams more than the sum of their parts.

Visit Colin’s website and follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn.

In This Podcast



* A group can impact behaviors and decisions 

* Challenging evolutionary behaviors in modern times 

* Being a bad versus a good listener 

* Dr. Colin Fisher’s advice to private practitioners 



A group can impact behaviors and decisions 

Human beings are social, and that means that groups, wherever they may be in our lives, have an impact on us. 



When we’re in different group situations, we are conformity-seeking creatures … There’s this paradox in human behavior, where we deeply want to feel like we belong, we fit in, we’re accepted, and at the same time, we want to stand out from the crowd and be seen and acknowledged by the groups of which we are a member. (Dr. Colin Fisher) 



In human evolution, being kicked out of the group was tantamount to an early death, and these parts of our brains are still active today in modern times. 

Without even consciously noticing, we are always semi-aware of our position within the group, and we want to maintain it. 



That’s why when we’re in a meeting and someone says something we disagree with, maybe we don’t express that disagreement. We say, “I don’t want to rock the boat. I don’t want to be the one who stands out” … That tendency is what I have spent most of my job fighting! (Dr. Colin Fisher)