As a mental health therapist, do you ever secretly think, “How did I even get here… and do I actually know what I’m doing?” 👀

This episode is for every new, provisionally licensed, early-career therapist or even someone who's been doing this a while, who’s quietly spiraling over imposter syndrome, boundaries, and “faking it till you make it.”

In this episode, we welcome our very first guest, Jamie Adler, a therapist at The Cord who went from intern, to provisional, to a fully licensed clinician and practice leader at our Fremont location.

Jamie gets honest about:

• What it was really like going from grad school to the therapy room.
• The moment she told her supervisors, “Just tell me what to do,” and got both a loving cheerleader and a gritty reality check.
• Why “fake it till you make it” was actually grit in disguise.
• How her primal question, “Am I wanted?”, fed her imposter syndrome as a new therapist
• Cringey, funny early-therapist moments (hello, doing dishes and teaching double-boiling on telehealth 👋).
• Learning to invite rupture and repair instead of avoiding conflict with clients, colleagues, and supervisors.
• How she learned to protect her time and set boundaries with work, email, and after-hours crisis texts.
• Finding “her one person” for mentorship and how that changed everything.
• Using RO-DBT work to understand herself and support her clients.

If you’re a therapist who:

• Feels like a rookie and is terrified someone will “find out” you don’t know enough.
• Wants mentorship, consultation, and real-talk more than another theory chapter.
• Struggles to turn work off when you get home to your partner, kids, or pets.
• Is trying to balance being a “good therapist” with being a whole human with a life.

…this episode will help you see that you’re not failing, you’re growing, and that discomfort is actually your confidence showing up.

You’ll walk away with:

• A new way to think about success vs. failure (hint: it’s really about growing vs. staying stuck).
• Practical language for talking about rupture and repair with clients.
• Permission to set boundaries around your time without abandoning your clients.
• Encouragement to seek mentorship, supervision, and community instead of white-knuckling it alone.
• A grounded reminder that you belong in this field, even on the days you feel like you don’t.

✨ Check out our freebies and our NEW Grit School:

• Therapist AF: Grit School for the Real World, practical skills, nervous system grounding, and the reps grad school skipped
• The Gritty Therapist freebies, tools, and support: thegrittytherapist.com
• The Cord Where Science Meets Connection attachment/trauma-focused therapy.

Follow along on Instagram @grittytherapist and go get your gritty on. 💛

Ever find yourself checking your phone at 10 p.m., heart racing after a client text, wondering if you’re a “bad therapist” for not replying right away? You’re not alone. In this episode of The Gettin’ Gritty Podcast, we get real about our own internal voices that drove us to over-respond, over-give, and over-worry and how learning to wait can actually make you a stronger, more confident, more grounded clinician.

From defining what really counts as a crisis to setting boundaries that support both you and your clients, we unpack the messy middle of therapy work...you know where the real growth happens. We laugh about Cathy's Taylor Swift dream and reflect on our own “I’m not good enough” moments. You'll walk away with practical tools to build confidence, self-trust, and your grit.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to tell the difference between a big deal and a crisis
• Why slowing down your response can actually improve client outcomes
• How to manage imposter syndrome and self-doubt in the therapy room
• A simple intervention you can use now
• Why “waiting” might be your most underrated clinical skill

💜 Visit our website and grab our Freebie 7 Ways to Get Gritty

Join us on instagram @grittytherapist

Are you too nurturing with your clients, too structured or just right?

In this episode of The Gettin’ Gritty Podcast for Mental Health Therapists we unpack the Goldilocks Principle for therapists, finding that “just right” balance between structure and nurture, both in the therapy room and in your own life.

Drawing from our transformative experience with TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention), we explore how every therapist leans naturally toward one side, either low structure/high nurture or high structure/low nurture and how self-awareness can bring the two back into balance. Through humor, storytelling, and relatable “been there, done that” moments, we show that true therapist grit grows from reflection, not perfection.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What the Goldilocks Principle teaches about structure and nurture in therapy
• How to recognize whether you lead with nurture or structure (and when to rebalance)
• Insights from TBRI that transform how you connect with clients and yourself
• How to use self-reflection and consultation to grow your confidence and presence
• Why grit is about balance, patience, and self-compassion—not toughness

If you're a mental health professional who wants to strengthen your confidence, avoid burnout, and find a healthy rhythm between caring and containing, this podcast is for you!

👉 Follow us @grittytherapist on Instagram for grounded tools and therapist real talk.
💻 Get resources, trainings (coming soon!) and “gritty nuggets” at thegrittytherapist.com