All Things Private Practice Podcast

In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Thomas Kear and Lauren Sanderson, founders of neuroduo, about being in a mixed neurotype relationship, navigating ADHD and Autism, whether diagnosed or not. This conversation is packed with real-life reflections on neurodiversity, partnership, and communication.Here are 3 key takeaways:Understanding Yourself First is Crucial: Before you can support your partner, you need to understand and learn about your own neurodivergence—only then can you communicate your needs and work together.Communication Styles Can Be Wildly Different: The “Thunderstorm and Turtle” analogy for mixed neurotype partnerships (ADHD and Autistic) is a powerful reminder that urgency and withdrawal can clash, but knowledge and compassion make repair possible.Diagnosis Brings Validation, Not Instant Solutions: Getting an Autism or ADHD diagnosis doesn’t change who you are overnight, but it does give you the language and understanding you need to stop blaming yourself—and to ask for what you need.More about Thomas and Lauren:We’re Lauren and Tom, a neurodivergent couple living in Queenstown, New Zealand. After both receiving ADHD diagnoses as adults (Tom also with Autism and OCD a year prior), we launched neuroduo – a platform to share our lived experiences with ADHD and Autism. Through storytelling, humour, and real talk, we help others feel seen, understood, and empowered.Our aim is to educate, empower, and advocate for neurodivergent people by sharing real, lived experiences and building more inclusive spaces — one conversation at a time.Instagram: instagram.com/neuroduo–––––––––––––––––––––🎙️Listen to more episodes of the All Things Private Practice Podcast🎙️Spotify🎙️Apple🎙️YouTube Music▶️ YouTube✈️ Learn about Retreats🗨️ Join the free Empowered Escape FB Community🗨️ Join the free All Things Private Practice FB Community–––––––––––––––––––––Thanks to Our Sponsors: The Receptionist for iPad &

Episode 228: Spiritual and Energy Practices in Therapy: Law and Ethics [featuring Tina Vitolo]

03/1/2026 | 33 mins.

In this episode, Patrick Casale and Dr. Tina Vitolo, founder of The Black Sheep Therapist® movement, talk about bringing non-traditional modalities and spiritual practices into clinical therapy settings and the service side of therapy. This conversation tackles the gray areas, legal myths, and shame therapists face when paving their own path to offer services like tarot card readings, crystal work, and past-life regression.3 key takeaways:You Can Integrate Spiritual/Energy Practices Ethically: Dr. Tina Vitolo shares her nationwide research into actual state laws and ethics codes—there is rarely black-and-white language forbidding innovative approaches. If you use clinical competence, appropriate training, and client consent, your practice can be both ethical and innovative.Stop Letting Shame and Fear Lead Your Decisions: Therapists often get shamed online for using things like tarot or other unconventional methods. As Dr. Tina Vitolo says, "Shame doesn’t create change." If you’re transparent, informed, and focused on client values, there’s room to break the mold.Your Authenticity is Your Niche: Patrick Casale and Dr. Tina Vitolo both emphasize that our niches are often versions of ourselves. By owning your background and therapeutic style—even if it’s unconventional—you’ll attract the clients who truly need you.Dr. Tina Vitolo’s “The Black Sheep Therapist” movement is providing real support and proof that you can be both ethical and innovative. Whether you’re chasing integration or just tired of rigidity in the profession, this episode is your permission slip to show up as your whole self and try a new approach to therapy.More about Tina:Dr. Tina Vitolo is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, published researcher, and founder of The Black Sheep Therapist® movement—an online community of over 5,000 therapists redefining what ethical and innovative clinical practice looks like. Holding a Doctorate in Social Work from Florida Atlantic University and a Master’s from NYU, Dr. Vitolo is recognized as one of the only thought leaders in the mental health field developing tangible, legally grounded frameworks for integrating spiritual, energy-based, and unconventional practices into therapy.Through her Black Sheep Therapist Academy, Tina provides nontraditional, CEU-approved trainings that translate complementary and alternative interventions into clinically compliant, theory-aligned practice. As the creator of the Innovative Practitioner Accelerator®, she helps therapists navigate the gray areas of law, regulation, and ethics with confidence and clarity—transforming fear and confusion into empowerment and informed innovation.Dr. Vitolo’s work is built on the foundation of her doctoral research on the intersection of innovation, regulation, and ethical practice. She is the only clinician to have developed a comprehensive framework for ethical integration—rooted in a deep reading of state regulations, ethical codes, and informed consent standards—to support therapists in incorporating any and all nontraditional modalities into legitimate clinical work. Her mission is to dismantle outdated myths, elevate the profession, and prove that spirituality, intuition, and science can not only coexist—but thrive—within clinical practice.Check out The Innovative Practitioner Accelerator®: Dr. Vitolo’s flagship program, The Innovative Practitioner Accelerator®, helps therapists confidently merge traditional clinical practice with their spiritual, intuitive, or energy-based approaches—without fear of crossing ethical or legal lines. The program includes personalized guidance, templates for informed...

In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Sabrina Longley about what it means to truly build a fat-affirming therapy practice. This topic is especially important as we head into the new year, and toxic resolution/fitness culture starts ramping up.Here are 3 key takeaways:Assume Less, Listen More: Approaching clients from a place of curiosity rather than assumption is crucial. Don’t make judgments about health, habits, or desires based on body size.Representation Matters: The resources, images, and stories we use in our practices should reflect the identities and lived experiences of all bodies—including larger bodies. Take the time to diversify your media, office environment, and marketing materials.Challenge Industry Narratives: The weight loss industry cashes in on insecurity and shame—often with little focus on actual health. As providers, let's not become agents of these narratives. Instead, support every client’s autonomy, dignity, and humanity.More about Sabrina:Sabrina is passionate about offering lived and clinical experience support to both clients and other mental health providers related to topics including racial justice, neurodivergence, fat liberation, teen mental health, and DBT. She works to honor her own lived experience and the lived experiences of other marginalized folks to promote ethical and just mental health care.Radical Insights Consulting Facebook: facebook.com/radicalinsightsconsultingRadical Insights Consulting Instagram: instagram.com/radicalinsightsconsultingPodcast Facebook: facebook.com/acesupyoursleevepodPodcast Instagram: instagram.com/acesupyoursleevepodWebsite: Radicalinsightsconsulting.com–––––––––––––––––––––🎙️Listen to more episodes of the All Things Private Practice Podcast🎙️Spotify🎙️Apple🎙️YouTube Music▶️ YouTube✈️

Making intentional pivots and facing the unknown can be daunting—especially as therapists and entrepreneurs.In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Yunetta Spring Smith about the evolution and burnout of entrepreneurship, as well as the importance of not defaulting to "factory settings" when faced with big transitions.Here are 3 key takeaways:Don’t just survive—seek sustainability. There’s a difference between what helps us survive and what actually builds a sustainable business and life. Sometimes survival habits served us in the past but are no longer a fit for who we’re becoming.Your old ways got you here, but they won’t always take you forward. Restoring “factory settings”—going back to hustle and burnout—can feel tempting during uncertainty, but intentionality and mindfulness help us create with more ease, not just urgency.Face the wave, don’t turn your back. When obstacles and change come, it’s natural to want to run to what’s familiar. But if we face the wave instead of turning away, we create opportunities to ride it consciously and learn from the process.If you or anyone you know is navigating entrepreneurial pivots or feeling pulled between old habits and new growth, this conversation is for you.More about Yunetta:Yunetta Spring Smith is a thriving Therapreneur, blending her expertise as a therapist and entrepreneur. She is the owner of Spring Forth Counseling, Ground Breakers Coaching and Consulting, and the founder of the first BIPOC EMDR Therapy Directory.Yunetta is a Licensed Professional Counselor, EMDR-certified therapist, approved consultant, trainer, and international speaker. Specializing in supporting the healing of resilient children residing in adult bodies, Yunetta helps clients navigate intersections of historical neglect, coupled with childhood, racial, and religious trauma. Passionate about BIPOC and marginalized communities, she emphasizes the importance of race, culture, and identity in her consultations, training, and overall therapeutic approach.Nationally recognized as a mental health media expert, she spreads awareness through the “Talk It Out Tuesday” mental health segment on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, her upcoming rebranded podcast “Rewired, From The Ground Up,” and her self-published self-care workbook, “Take the Struggle Out of Self-care: Six Weeks to Create Your Self-care Strategy.”Yunetta is a groundbreaker, stigma breaker, and cycle breaker who plants seeds of encouragement with every encounter. She strives to cultivate spaces where individuals can realize they aren’t broken—they are breaking throughInstagram: instagram.com/yunettaspringsmithYunetta's Events and Trainings: groundbreakerstherapy.com/eventsAruba Cruise 2026: counselingcomm.kartra.com/page/aruba_cruisePortland, Maine Summit 2026:

Navigating private practice as a neurodivergent therapist, parent, and business owner is complex—and sometimes, the most important growth comes in those moments when we allow ourselves to pause, reassess, and adapt.In this episode, Patrick Casale talks with Amanda Losch, neurodivergent therapist and mother, about the choice to step away from direct client work to focus on family, health, and community impact, and how this shift has come with grief, relief, and a redefining of professional identity.Here are 3 key takeaways:Grief and Relief Can Coexist: Stepping back from a role you’ve worked hard to build may bring up conflicting emotions. Allow yourself to hold both the grief of letting go and the relief of honoring your needs without shame.Redefining Impact: Our ability to help doesn’t end when we step away from direct practice. Supporting the neurodivergent community, advocating for accessibility, and sharing lived experiences creates ripple effects—sometimes bigger than one-on-one sessions.Work with Your Energy, Not Against It: Accepting the natural ebb and flow of creativity, motivation, and energy can lead to better self-compassion. Instead of striving for an unrealistic “balance,” meet yourself where you are, appreciate your unique rhythms, and give yourself permission to rest.If you’re in the thick of change or burnout, you’re not alone. Sometimes the best way forward is through curiosity, flexibility, and a little less self-judgment.More about Amanda:Amanda is an AuDHD therapist and private practice owner living in the Chicago suburbs, specializing in developmental trauma. Amanda recently took time away from direct practice to become a caregiver to her neurodivergent family. Between drop-offs and naps, she is building a resource network in her community for neurodivergent families, as well as providing education on safety, accessibility, and inclusion to local organizations. She enjoys exploring the intersection of neurodivergent parenting, chronic health, and developmental trauma. You can find content about the realities of parenting a neurodivergent family on Instagram @complex.motherhood, and you can find local resources (if in the Chicagoland area) on @ndfamilyguide.Instagram: @complex.motherhood + @ndfamilyguideWebsite: Ndfamilyguide.com–––––––––––––––––––––🎙️Listen to more episodes of the All Things Private Practice Podcast🎙️Spotify🎙️Apple🎙️YouTube Music▶️ YouTube✈️