In this episode of The Traveling Therapist, I dive into an enriching conversation with Christie Hays, who has revolutionized her therapy practice by transitioning to a fully virtual format. Christie, a solo practitioner, embraces telehealth to manage her chronic health conditions effectively and maintain a healthy work-life balance. She opens up about incorporating her intuitive skills into her therapeutic approach, enhancing her connection with clients and guiding them more profoundly. Christie also shares her journey of founding a coaching business aimed at helping therapists build sustainable virtual practices. This venture not only supports other therapists in navigating their professional paths but also empowers them to harness their unique intuitive gifts, ensuring their practices are as fulfilling as they are successful.
Key Points:
About Christie Hays:
Christie Hays (she/they) is a therapist and business coach dedicated to helping highly sensitive, empath, and intuitive therapists overcome burnout so that they can create thriving, sustainable, and full private pay practices. As a highly sensitive, empath, and intuitive person herself, Christie understands the unique challenges of running a healing business while feeling and expressing deeply.
After experiencing almost career ending burnout working in hospitals and agencies, Christie started her own private practice growing from just 3 clients every other week to full within 10 months. Combining her experience as a full private pay therapist along with a background in corporate training and public speaking, Christie founded the SoulFULL Practice Academy to provide business coaching tailored to the specific needs of the highly sensitive, empath, and intuitive healer in private practice. She brings a wealth of real-world experience to her coaching focusing on teaching therapists how to attract their ideal private pay clients, implement sustainable business practices while shedding the practices that contribute to burnout, and the importance of creating a mindset that empowers you and your business. Her compassionate approach and practical insights make her a sought-after speaker and coach in the mental health and wellness community.
Connect with Christie:
https://www.instagram.com/christiehayscoaching
https://www.facebook.com/groups/soulfullpracticeacademy
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Traveling Therapist Podcast. Really excited today to have Christy Hayes here with me. So glad to have you here, Christy. And before I do anything, my schedule is nuts. And as Traveling Therapist, the internet goes down all the time. So right before this, I was like 12 minutes late.
So I just want to really give a shout out to Christy for being so patient and kind about that. I'm glad to have you here. And I always start out and I say, How'd you go from being just like a traditional therapist to a traveling therapist, or in this case, a location independent therapist? Yes. Yeah. So I first started my private practice back in 2016 and had that goal.
Like I'm going to have my office very much. I'm going to put my shingle out, be that in person therapist. And. Was about 70 percent in person, very location dependent, commuting to my office four or five days a week, and I had a few clients that were always telehealth. So telehealth was something I was always fairly comfortable with before becoming a therapist.
I was a corporate trainer. Almost all of my training was virtual and online. So I was used to this format, being online, teaching, instructing through that. So it just seemed like a natural fit there. And I remember as the pandemic happened in 2020, a good chunk of my clients that were in person as we transitioned to telehealth were, we'll just wait till it's over.
I'm not sure how I feel about this telehealth, this online thing. Yeah. And about three weeks later, they're like, okay, let's try it out. Let's just, I'm going to need this. Let's just see. And then at the end of their first session, every time with telehealth being virtual at the end, they were like, oh, this isn't any different.
This was just fine. And so it really opened up my eyes to, I don't have to have. This location tying me to one spot. I don't have to deal with traffic and commute every day. I don't have to have the overhead, this physical location and what it takes to manage that. Cause I was managing the finances for the suites and paying all the bills and making sure everyone got their rent on time.
Oh, so you're managing other therapists in the same, like. All of that. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah, there were seven of us that shared I think it was like a five office suites and part of me moving into that office We was hey, can you basically be the office manager? And so I took on getting the finances in order setting up things like electronic payments We didn't have to use like paper checks those managing all of those expenses And having expenses myself, in addition to running my own solo practice.
Yes, that's a big change. Huh. And so then it became, okay, if I'm going to do this telehealth, I can't just shut my business down while this pandemic happens. So transition to telehealth, what does my office need to look like? How do I recreate that experience for my clients? In a consistent way, and it was really setting up my office so that it was quiet, so getting white noise machines, getting the right headphones, like all the like tech equipment stuff to set it up.
Yeah. And then it just became something I fell in love with. It became a way that, one, I get more time with my family and my spouse. I'm better able to take care of myself and my health. Yes. I have access to a full kitchen, so I can make breakfast. I can go and make lunch and relax with my spouse and enjoy time together.
Yeah, people will say to me sometimes, I cannot wait to get back in the office, and that has been something I've never been able to comprehend. It's not to disrespect anyone, because I'm sure some people are like, in my house, I'm super distracted. People tell me that my kids are at me. I just to go somewhere different, but for me, Oh my gosh, the thought of having to ever go back to an office would be a nightmare.
It just feels like a nightmare. Yeah. So I'm just really relating when I'm hearing you say that now you can do your laundry between clients, you can watch TV, you could go for a walk, you could do whatever you want. I love that, yeah. And there's another part to your story that I would love to touch on, and that's you also have been managing a chronic illness through all of this.
Which, as a traveling therapist, I have an autoimmune disorder, I have celiac disease, I also get diabetes. Terrible psoriasis. I've got many autoimmune issues. So that's always a problem for me is trying to manage my chronic illness because some days I feel great some days I don't so I would love to talk about that I feel like being all online too makes it a little bit easier But as a traveling therapist sometimes it's harder because it's harder on your body So I would love to just talk about your journey with that a little bit and how you've learned to manage that piece of it And hopefully anybody listening will be able to get some good ideas on how to manage it too because I know it's a roadblock for a lot of people The chronic illness.
Yeah. Absolutely. So I also have celiac and manage that in terms of autoimmune. So there's a combination of endometriosis, migraine, celiac, all effects, gut, appetite, digestion, all those things. So food is a big, important piece of my life in terms of managing my chronic illnesses and managing my health as well as rest and the environment that I'm in.
Yes. And. I find that being out of the office, being home or being wherever my home is, having access to my kitchen so that I can make food instead of, if I'm in an office, is it a frozen meal or am I getting takeout, probably getting cross contamination, like how safe is that food? Yep, so being home allowed me new ways to be able to take care of my body and take care of my health.
I love that. And then also being virtual allowed me to continue working. I had a really significant flare up in my endometriosis and for about four years, many surgeries, lots of chronic pain. And there were days that I would say to myself, if I had to get up and drive to an office, I couldn't work today.
It just would not happen, sitting in the car, commuting, having to be in that office space. But I could be in my telehealth office, see a few clients, go rest, and then have time and space and energy to go to doctor's appointments or do my physical therapy exercises. Absolutely. And for celiac, I don't know about you, but if I get cross contaminated even a little bit, it's not to be too graphic, you guys, but it's like bathroom safe for me.
It's about if it's not too bad, it's not vomiting, but it's definitely diarrhea. It's like the whole thing that happens if you just get like one breadcrumb by accident on a restaurant. And I used to hate that like at work, cause you're like stuck. like eight hours. It's okay. There's a community bathroom.
I'm not trying to get too gross with it, but it's like that whole thing. It's nice to have like my own bathroom or to go lay down in the bed and I'm having a really bad day where I got cross contaminated with gluten. That's what I'm talking about for anybody that doesn't know what celiac is. But yeah, so I'm just, Relating to you big time and then being a travel therapist.
I'm in a different kitchen like every couple of weeks So that's tough too because it's you never know You think we bring our own pots and pans and I try to be careful But still there's risk of cross contamination with that celiac and it gets you man. You're tired your joints ache You feel sick and it's like the thought of having to get up commute Sitting in office all day, community bathroom, like all of that was super stressful when I was in a brick and mortar.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and definitely the community bathroom piece, like just an element of embarrassment. And is there enough time like in between sessions? Because if something happens, and then just the unknown, right? I think, yeah, when you're in a physical office, the unknown of managing that it's so hard.
Is my breakfast going to settle? Okay. Exactly. Oh my gosh. If I get cross contaminated at lunch, can I finish my sessions? What symptoms am I going to have? And I don't know about for you, but the further away I get from my original diagnosis, the stronger my reactions to cross contamination get. Yes. Oh my gosh.
Yes. And they become so much more severe. And so you've got to figure out, okay, what do I need to do to actually be able to take care of myself? And having a microwave dinner, is that microwave in the communal office safe? Or is there gluten all over that? So there's so many outside factors that when you're in an environment that you can control more, just makes life easier.
I didn't realize the energy drain and stress of Being in person, what it was doing for my body and my health. Yeah, I could not agree more. It's so stressful and even, this is like only people It's a kind of thing, but like with celiac, I don't know if your stomach does this, but if I get cross contaminated, it's that.
What is that? It starts with a B. It's like B O L B or something. It's like this loud gurgling thing that happens when you've got gluten in your system, and it used to happen to me when I ran live IOPs. It was so embarrassing. It's just this loud noise, and now I have noise canceling headphones. So even if something like that's going on, it's so much less stressful for me because I don't have to worry about like body noises, which used to really stress me out.
I don't know about you. Somebody's crying in your office if you get this It's oh my gosh. I hate that so much. It takes away from the session. It's distracting. It's embarrassing for me. Anyway, yeah So just heard you talk about this It's just bringing up all those old things that I had gotten really away from not being in an office anymore.
But yeah I had a very vivid memory flashback in high school that used to happen to me. It was an English class one year and we had lunch in the middle of that period. So we'd start and then we'd go to lunch and then we'd come back and usually after there would be like reading time and I remember reading my stomach just doing and then everyone in the room just looking at me.
It's loud. It's uncomfortable. And you're like, why will my body stop? Yes, it really is. Oh my gosh. Now I'm like, now I'm triggered. I'm remembering all this. Okay. Deep breath grounding. Maybe to somebody else, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it really is psychologically having illnesses like this where your body's making noises or anything like that.
It's hard. It's really tough. So I appreciate you bringing that up and just sharing your story, having this. Virtual option is so important for that. A lot of people have chronic illnesses that they have to deal with and it's a very unpredictable and very Psychologically stressful. So if you can make an environment like this where it feels safer to deal with that stuff I think it's amazing for us as therapists.
Yeah, absolutely And I was also surprised by How much less I got sick. I didn't realize the exposure in the office To like how many colds was I getting throughout the year just how my immune system was It's getting attacked over and over again, being in that environment. Absolutely. Cause I was just like, Oh, I just get colds easy.
It's no, maybe you have an autoimmune condition and you're overexposed to a lot of people. Such a good point. Yep. Oh, that's so true. Like you could, I could have counted like every year I would have like severe bronchitis like three times a year, no matter what, but I don't get that anymore. Really. I'm not sick like that anymore.
I hadn't even really thought of that, but yeah, that's a huge plus for the online thing for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so we could talk about this probably forever Every time I talk to somebody with chronic illness i'm like at this and then this but what else so I was reading in your Bio too that you do have this cool aspect that you incorporate into your work and that's the intuitive piece I just that really stood out to me and I just I don't even know if you wanted to talk about this today But I think that's super cool.
And i'm just curious how you incorporate that in because a lot of people still I have a hard time, therapists have a hard time sometimes getting out of the box of I have to be CBT, I have to do this. I wonder if you incorporate that into your work with the clients or if it's just like Part of you, and you don't really talk about that piece with your clients.
I'd love to talk about that some if you're interested yeah, absolutely the Intuitive piece fully accepting that has been really a journey from I grew up in a very conservative high control religion And so early on feeling like maybe I had these gifts was taught that they were really bad and evil and demonic, even like really scary language around.
Why am I having these feelings? Why do I know these things? Why am I having dreams where I'm talking to people I haven't met and then realize they actually exist and that's what they look like. So there was lots of fear around that intuitive piece of me for a very long time. And. Then in grad school, as I became this healer, getting into therapy, wanting to help other people, there was also this message of Those things are maybe pathologized.
Those things are maybe delusions. So then it became very shame based. Yes. No, you shouldn't have these things that maybe they do mean you're mentally ill and it was like, okay, all so these things are bad. So there was that continued message of these things are bad and they're not true. They're not good.
And then become very much you have to be this blank slate, this blank canvas. In there. And then some things started happening. I would be in session and I would be like, I know we're talking about this, but I wanna ask you about this thing. And I had no clue where it'd come from. Or I would just know, Hey, we're gonna talk about something really deep today, or just start hearing things in my head of maybe I need to say this or do this.
So they're just, the gifts just started showing up in different ways. And as I continue to heal from hate, maybe this really high control religion did you harm and told you wrong things, then it was, oh, okay, this is a gift I have, they aren't evil, they're not bad. Why are we pathologizing things that are maybe innate?
What, in what ways, Has this been oppressed through generations? And so I haven't been allowed to have this piece and express it. Wow. And so it's been a journey to even accept and add that intuitive label on myself. Yeah. And then one openly use it in sessions. Some of my clients totally for it.
Yeah. Yeah. So it's one of those like meeting your clients where they're at fully respecting their value systems Like i'm not gonna push this on them Even though I know that my gifts are part of why I am a helper and a healer And it's helping them in session I'm not gonna push that narrative on them because I don't think it's helpful and they haven't consented to that as well Yes Good point.
Yeah. So you started noticing it, you started to accept it, started to fully embrace it. And then did you do any trainings or anything to help grow it stronger? Or is it just like I'm just working with myself to just be more in tune with what I'm picking up on? I just am so fascinated with this stuff because as a therapist, I think most of us listening can relate to that empathic, like intuitive.
Side that probably a lot of it happens. Yeah, I get feelings too, but it's hard to trust it If you're not like really in tune with this stuff's pretty accurate or right on so i'm just curious Was there a process to? Growing that intuitive side and trusting it more and how did that go for you for people that might be listening?
Yeah, I think for me my own personal therapy was really helpful My therapist is also intuitive and gifted in that way. It was not something she told me from the get out It was not something I told her from the start out But as we continued to work together, those things showed up. And so it's really deepened our work that I've been like, I want to explore these things.
And I want to see what are these really gifts I have? So it was just curiosity about them. Being curious from a place that isn't pathologizing it, that isn't shaming it and making it evil and demonic. Just genuine curiosity. And then her questions to me of, Kristi, what if you believed yourself?
Does this feel real for you? Love that. And so really just validating myself. And then, it's just, how can I incorporate this as more daily practice? Yeah. From even my movement when I'm outside in nature, doing things like talking to trees. Yeah. Hi tree, how you doing? Hey butterfly, what's happening? Just really looking for connections, energy around me.
In my meditations, in journaling, I've got crystals on my desk. So being curious and learning, I've been working with some Oracle cards recently. So exploring that curiosity and experimentation and letting myself have fun with it. Instead of serious, more, Oh, I've got to go and get this continuing education on it.
And I've got to have the certification program on it. What if it's just. And me and I believe it and have fun and get to explore and see what it does. I love that. Yeah, do you ever pull out the oracle cards in a session? I have a few times, but those have been really open and in it. I do it with my therapy clients and then with my business coaching clients.
I've been pulling it out in there too. It's helpful. It's fun. Sometimes it really resonates and sometimes it's not, it doesn't work. No, I love that so much. That's amazing. I did have the Traveling Therapist membership open for almost a year and every month I tried to incorporate what I called like a woo topic in there like a dream analysis or a tarot card reader or something fun like that because I just, I love that side of it and I just love therapists that can be so open to that and embrace those other modalities that might not be like evidence based per se.
That's awesome. Oh my gosh. Thanks for sharing that. My friend Gabby just got a Practitioner certification, which I didn't even know existed, but she just got that. I'm like, that's awesome. I love it. I've always been intuitive, but I've never really like fine tuned it. A lot of people do it sounds like you've done a lot of work with that.
So I just really respect that you're incorporating that into your therapy and talking about it on here and to let others know, Hey, if you've got that piece, it's okay to do that. Yeah, it's a beautiful gift and it can be a beautiful asset for your business. Like when we talk about like, how are you going to market yourself?
How do you know what your clients need to hear? I tend to call them soulmate clients because who were you really meant and called to work with? What is that sort of knowing intuitive connection you have with them out there? And then that can make your marketing so much easier. What does your website need to say?
Where do you need to be visible? Is it Instagram, Tik Tok? Like, where are they? And then the authenticity, when you just show up and say from that place of knowing from your soul to them, like it, it simplifies a lot of things. If you can just embrace it. I love that message. I really do. And that's the whole message of this podcast.
Really? Okay. You don't like being stuck in the same house in the same environment. Like me. I've always had that like wonder lust. Like I got to go. I want to go. I want to explore. I want to be like doing something different all the time. Embracing that instead of thinking you have to be in this traditional therapist box that.
Whatever grad school taught us or whatever, you could be whatever kind of therapist you want to be. So I love that story. Yeah. And there's not a right or wrong way. I think we all left grad school terrified. Yeah. Terrified. This is what it had to be and this is what it had to look like. And I still see that in the therapist community so much.
It's not okay to be intuitive. It's not okay to be private pay and charge this much. It's not okay to be super niched. It's not okay to refer. There's just. The expectations of what the quote unquote good therapist is so limiting, so restricting, and not only harmful for us in the industry as a whole, but it's super harmful for our clients.
Totally. Yes. Oh my gosh. Yeah, we're that closed often, but what kind of work are we doing with clients, not to judge anybody, but just saying, what's that saying in group therapy, you're only as open as your most closed member. I don't know if you've ever heard that before, but same goes with therapists, I think you're only doing as much work as you can.
With how open you are. Yes, I had always told myself and I can only take my clients as deep as I'm willing to go. So the further I am able to go in my own healing, my own exploration, the further I can help my client. And if I can free myself from these expectations, I know that they're in pain and struggling because of the expectations that they're trying to live up to.
I need to be in process of that work to show them and help them do that. And to even be open to going there, like you said, even go in there with a client, right? Yeah. I love that message so much. Yeah. Thank you. Did we talk about, I'm trying to think, is there anything else you wanted to talk about today?
Or you wanted to share? I would love for you to talk about that. Yes, please. Let's share about that. Amazing. Yes. Yes. Along those lines, my journey to accept myself as an intuitive person. All the things in terms of my chronic health, recognizing that I am this very sensitive person. I have a lot of needs to be able to care for myself.
I knew that Therapists needed a really specific and different type of business coaching. Deep in the pandemic, I just got this stirring and calling of, I want to have a bigger impact. Who is helping the helpers right now? I remember feeling very alone as a therapist. It was like we were getting lots of love and support for doctors, nurses, essential workers.
And rightfully where we were frontline too. Yes, we were frontline and holding everybody else together while collectively going through it. And I was like, where's the help support for us? What do we do here? So there was this just stirring in me of, I really want to help therapists. I want to help these helpers, but I didn't really know how, and it took a few years of exploration and development, but really wanted to help therapists have long term, sustainable private practices that really support them and uplift them, get them out of that cycle of burnout that happens.
Because we're so high risk, not only being in a helping profession, but also being business owners. And then, what other intersectionalities do you have? Do you have chronic illness? Are you sensitive to your environment? Or maybe neurodivergent? There's so many different intersections that make us super high risk for burnout.
And if we aren't careful in how we set up and run our businesses, then we're not going to be able to run them for very long. Because they will run us into the ground. Yes. Yes. I love that. So what does your coaching look like? Is it one to one or is it like a container, like a group container for coaching or how does it work?
Yeah. So it is a group coaching program. So we have recorded course where you can go at your own pace, walk you through really going through and doing an audit of your business. What are the things that are causing you burnout? Where do we maybe need to make adjustments? Do a lot in terms of embracing your gifts and yourself.
Working, working on the mindset that gets in the way of you accepting that mindset that gets in the way of money and finances. How do you do marketing that won't exhaust you, won't wear you out, that still feel aligned and not icky. Walk you through website, what does your directory listings need to look like, what is your social media presence, all of those things.
And then there's also group coaching calls. You get access to me twice a week for group coaching calls, Facebook, email support. So really you get the self paced piece and then you get access to me and the community of other sensitive, intuitive therapists in there. Wow. What's the name of your program?
I don't think we said. Yeah. Yeah. So name of my program is Soulful Practice Academy. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Yeah. So soulful, that's my little play on words there. I love that. Oh, that's so good. Yes. Amazing. Is it something you could join all the time or does it have times when the doors open and the doors close?
Enrollment is open. You can join at any time. You can get into my free Facebook group. I do weekly live trainings in there. I've got some free resources if you want to take a look there. Just get an idea of me, how I work, how I operate, and see if it's a good fit for you. What's the name of the free Facebook group in case people want to join us?
Yeah, so the free Facebook group, you'll find it under Soulful Practice Academy. Gotcha. Oh, fantastic. Yes. And we'll put all this in the show notes too so you Have access and click through and hang out with Christy and her free group and her pay group, if you want to. I love that soulful piece and really nurturing that there's like innate abilities in parts of us that we try to suppress so much.
So that's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause there's such valuable assets in your business. If you embrace it and if you allow it, it can really help you and. So many decisions. Yeah. Love it. I'm going to go join if I'm not already a member. I'm a member in a lot of Facebook groups, but if I'm not, I'm going to go join right now.
I'm excited to actually be a part of that. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much for taking the time today and also me being like 12 minutes late to this. I really appreciate that. Anybody listening if you want to go check it out, of course, everything will be in the show notes and Chrissy Thanks so much for sharing.
I especially love that chronic illness piece and that you have that in that really deep like knowing about how much it impacts people because Everybody's got something probably they're struggling with health wise. Yeah It's so important to incorporate that piece, and I'm sure you must talk about it, your membership and your groups and all that stuff.
Yeah, because we're not paying, our body's trying to tell us, and if we're not paying attention, it's just going to keep shouting at us until it makes a stop. And so how can we pay attention sooner? really love and have lots of compassion for our bodies, even if we have chronic illness, which is hard sometimes.
And that not, yeah, that not like powering through message. It's the message I keep hearing over and over again, because I'm so guilty of that. I feel like crap, but I felt like crap my whole life. Pretty much. I just learned that like power through, just do it anyway, even if you feel bad and hearing you talk about it just as a good reminder for me to today to just calm down, slow it down, take a break and don't push so hard because my body, I'm tired.
I get tired. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. It was wonderful having you as a guest today. Thank you. It was great to be here. I appreciate your time. Thanks so much.