Intentional Therapist: Putting You In Your Schedule
Self-care shouldn’t be another task on your to-do list! This is the show that helps you as a busy and dedicated female mental health therapist to redefine your approach to self-care. Because we need so much more than bubble baths and breathing exercises!
Hosted by Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen, clinical psychologists, founders of Intentional Therapist, and self-care advocates, our mission is to help you build a life where you thrive right alongside your clients, without guilt and without burning out. Join us as we explore practical strategies grounded in our 4 C’s model – Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity – to help you create more space for yourself while continuing to support your clients.
Whether you work in a solo private practice, within a large organization, are a new grad, or are nearing retirement, this show has something for you. Tune in for short but valuable episodes filled with relatable and insightful new perspectives, actionable ‘self-care experiments’, and the encouragement and permission you need to put more of you back in your schedule and create a life from which you don’t need to escape.
To learn more about Intentional Therapist and our 4 C’s model of self-care, visit us at: www.intentionaltherapist.ca
[Please note: This podcast was previously called Thrivival 101, and you can continue to find our original interview episodes in this podcast feed.]
Episodes
40 episodes
E8: How to use our values to work for our self-care, instead of against it
How often do you think of values when you think about self-care? If you’re like many of us, probably not very often or at all. Yet the reality is our values can play a huge role in our self-care, whether we think about them or not.&...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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19:24
E7: Let's embrace our differences instead of apologizing for them: 3 ways individual differences factor into personalized self-care
Do you ever find yourself wondering why self-care seems to come so easily for some of your colleagues or why you and your colleagues struggle in different ways with self-care? Or maybe you’ve been disappointed with the “one-size fits” all self-...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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15:48
E6: It’s not you, it’s your wiring: 4 ways our evolutionary wiring makes self-care challenging (but not impossible!)
We’re about to explore something that may surprise you—your brain’s survival instincts are still influencing how you approach self-care, and they might be working against you. Have you ever wondered why saying "no" feels impossible or why you c...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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13:48
E5: You are a human being, not a human giver: 3 ways the self-care game is rigged for women and how you can fight back
Ever feel like you’re always giving—whether it’s to your clients, your family, or even strangers on the street—and somehow your own needs get pushed aside? You're not alone. In fact, this might be part of a much bigger issue that’s rigged
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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16:20
E4: Feeling like an imposter and a perpetual student? You are not alone! And here are 4 things you can do about it
Do you often find yourself working hard, yet questioning your abilities, feeling like you’re just pretending to be competent, waiting to be found out? If you’re a female therapist wrestling with imposter syndrome and the pressures of a lingerin...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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15:33
E3: Our work should come with a warning label: How to navigate the #1 hazard of our work
Have you ever felt the weight of your clients' struggles lingering long after your sessions end? Spent evenings and weekends fretting over whether you used the right interventions, or should have tried something different? We sure have, a...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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14:53
E2: Treat your time like diamonds, not like sand: How to break free from toxic time messages
Ever feel like there’s just never enough time in the day? You’re juggling client sessions, family responsibilities, and maybe even a little bit of a social life—if you’re lucky. And yet, somehow, taking care of yourself always falls to the bott...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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13:31
E1: Traditional self-care is broken! How you can use the 4 C’s to *actually* take good care of yourself
When was the last time you felt truly in control of your schedule? Or had a day when your to-do list didn’t just overflow with everyone else’s needs, leaving yours at the bottom? If self-care feels like just another item you’re not qui...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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14:47
Introducing: Putting You In Your Schedule
Self-care shouldn’t be another task on your to-do list! Hosted by Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen, clinical psychologists, founders of Intentional Therapist, and self-care advocates, this podcast is for female mental health therapi...
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2:07
Replay: Owning Your Therapist Sensitivities: A Conversation with April Snow
As regular listeners know, we are (still!) in the process of working on a new format for our podcast which we hope to share in the very near future. So please stay tuned!Until then, we are continuing to go into our podcast archives to re...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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46:31
Replay: This is NOT an Episode About Benedict Cumberbatch: A Conversation with Tabitha Carvan About Reclaiming Our Passions
As you may already know, we are in the process of working on a new format for our podcast which we hope to share in the very near future. So please stay tuned! Until then, we are continuing to go into our podcast archive...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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58:27
Replay: Fitting Finances Into Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Linzy Bonham
As we shared last month, we are busily working on a new format for our podcast which we’re planning on unveiling in the next few months. Until then, we’re continuing to go into our podcast archives and resharing episodes on topics we thou...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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34:57
Replay: Documentation IS Self-Care! A Conversation with Dr. Maelisa McCaffrey
We are very excited to share that we are in the process of reformatting our podcast! We are aiming to launch the new format in the coming months, and in the meantime we will be sure to share more updates as well as we would love to get yo...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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40:51
Thriving in Our Parenting and Professional Roles: A Conversation with Lori Mihalich-Levin and Arianna Taboada
Many women at some point in their careers will experience the major milestone of becoming a mother. It's a life-changing experience, yet how often do we talk about how this transition impacts our work?In this month's episode of Thriviva...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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46:38
You Are Fabulous AND You Need a Resilience Plan: A Conversation with Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier
As clinicians we’re familiar with the concept and importance of resilience but how many of us actually think about resiliency for ourselves? In this episode we speak with award winning workplace mental health expert and psychologist, Dr. ...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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40:02
Courage is a Requirement for Self-Care: A Conversation with Our Intentional Therapist Community
In this special podcast episode, we, Dr. Melissa Tiessen and Dr. Karen Dyck, dedicate our discussion to what is perhaps our favourite 'C' from our 4 C's model of self-care—Courage. We provide a quick overview of our 4 C’s model of self-ca...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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43:02
Leading Ourselves Through the Body: A Conversation with Courtney Amo, Dr. Julie Beaulac, and Casey Bergland
Listening to the wisdom of our body is an essential component of self-care, yet how often do we truly embrace this? Do we even know what that would look like? In this episode we speak with Courtney Amo, Dr. Julie Beaulac, and Case...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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56:20
“No” is a Complete Sentence: A Conversation with Kim Long about the Importance of Boundaries
As clinicians we often speak with our clients about the importance of boundaries but how often do we actually apply that same wisdom to our own self-care? In this episode we speak with psychologist Kim Long about the incredibly im...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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49:34
The Impact of 'Scripts' and Oppressive Systems on Our Self-Care: A Conversation with Silvana Espinoza Lau
As female mental health clinicians we receive multiple messages or “scripts” through our socialization as women and mental health clinicians about things like professionalism, productivity, caregiving and even what it means to be a “good therap...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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47:04
Behind the Scenes of Intentional Therapist & Thrivival 101: A Conversation with Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen
In this long overdue episode, we, Dr. Karen Dyck and Dr. Melissa Tiessen, discuss the factors that led us to start Intentional Therapist and begin hosting this podcast, Thrivival 101. We also explain why we believe self-care is a four-let...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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53:27
Intentionally Incorporating Self-Care to Create Sustainable Success: A Conversation with Dr. Stephanie Grunewald
In this episode we connect with Dr. Stephanie Grunewald, psychologist, coach, and entrepreneur, to learn more about her RESET model and how she helps her clients achieve a life and business aligned in purpose. Stephanie shares some of the...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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44:49
Embracing Spiritual Self-Care: A Conversation with Whitney Owens
For those of you who are familiar with Intentional Therapist and the 4 C’s model of self-care you know our Connection pillar includes not only connecting with others but also connecting with our own values. For many people, faith and spir...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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32:42
How Supervision & Consultation are Fundamental to Self-Care: A Conversation with Shannon Heers
Supervision and consultation are important components of mental health clinicians’ training and professional development. These activities can also play an important role in clinician wellness and self-care. In this episode we speak...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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49:27
This is NOT an Episode About Benedict Cumberbatch: A Conversation with Tabitha Carvan About Reclaiming Our Passions
Remember that feeling you had as a kid, when your interests were held with such intensity and passion that they couldn’t help but bring you joy? When was the last time you experienced - or allowed yourself to experience - that typ...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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55:05
Developing an Authentic, Energy Protecting Lifestyle: A Conversation with Enid De Jesus
Female mental health clinicians face many barriers to engaging in truly meaningful self-care practices, perhaps the most powerful of which are societal messages that encourage us to adopt a self-sacrificing way of being that focuses primarily o...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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43:12
