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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 + @ndfamilyguide
• Website: Ndfamilyguide.com

–––––––––––––––––––––

🎙️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, Alma, & Resilient Mind Counseling!

✨ The Receptionist for iPad

Thanks to The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode.

The Receptionist offers an iPad list check-in option where clients can scan a QR code to check in, which negates the need for you to buy an iPad and stand. Go to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice and sign up for a free 14-day trial. When you do, you'll get your first month free. And don't forget to ask about our iPad list check-in option.

✨ Alma

Thanks to Alma for sponsoring this episode.

Building and managing the practice you want can be challenging. That’s why Alma offers tools and resources to help you build not just any practice, but your private practice. They’ll help you navigate insurance, access referrals who are the right fit for you, and efficiently manage administrative tasks — so you can spend less time on the details and more time delivering great care. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Visit helloalma.com/ATPP to learn more.

✨ Resilient Mind Counseling

My name is Patrick Casale, and I’m the founder of Resilient Mind Counseling, a neurodivergent-affirming group practice based in Asheville serving clients throughout North Carolina via telehealth and in-person sessions.

Our practice is passionate about supporting Autistic adults, ADHDers, and other neurodivergent individuals, along with the LGBTQIA+ community and folks experiencing anxiety, burnout, and life transitions. Many of our clinicians identify as neurodivergent themselves, and we pride ourselves on offering therapy that is affirming, authentic, and grounded in lived experience.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Receptionist for iPad

I want to thank The Receptionist for iPad for sponsoring this episode. From new patients faced with an empty lobby and no idea where to find their therapist to clinicians with a session running over time and the doorbell ringing, some of the most anxiety-ridden moments of a therapy appointment happen before a session even starts. The Receptionist for iPad, helps you tackle some of that pre-appointment apprehension and anxiety. The Receptionist for iPad is an easy-to-use digital client check-in system that helps your visitors check in securely to their appointments and notify their practitioners of their arrival via SMS, email, or your preferred channel. No more confusion, and less lobby checking or having clients sign in on paper logbooks. It can even help you upgrade and update your demographic information for your clients as well and even validate parking. Start a 14-day free trial of the Receptionist for iPad by going to thereceptionist.com/privatepractice. Make sure to start your trial with that link and you'll also get your first month free if you decide to sign up.

Alma

I want to thank Alma for sponsoring this episode. Building and managing the practice you want can be challenging. That’s why Alma offers tools and resources to help you build not just any practice, but your private practice. They’ll help you navigate insurance, access referrals who are the right fit for you, and efficiently manage administrative tasks — so you can spend less time on the details, and more time delivering great care. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Visit helloalma.com/ATPP to learn more.

Resilient Mind Counseling

It's Patrick. Some of you may know that I own a group therapy practice in North Carolina, Resilient Mind Counseling. We specialize in supporting the Neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, and Black, Brown, and Asian communities online and across North Carolina. We also have limited in-person openings at our offices in Asheville and Cary. We really love working with clients who are coming to terms with both Autism and ADHD discoveries later in life or questioning, as well as the intersections of race, gender, identity, and orientation. All of our therapists have lived experience and identify as AuDHD, Autistic, or ADHD. Our team of affirming therapists offers a safe, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, inclusive, and accessible space where you can show up exactly as you are—no masking, no judgment, and no need to make eye contact, just real connection and healing. We accept most commercial insurances like Blue Cross Blue Shield, United, Aetna, and Med Cost, as well as self-pay options. We currently have openings for new clients. Visit our website at resilientmindcounseling.com. You can also text or call our HIPAA-compliant phone line at (828) 515-1246, or email us at scheduling@resilientmindcounseling.com.