After 20 years as a practicing therapist, Annie Schuessler knew it was time to close her private practice and change her focus. She recognised the early signs of burnout and the alignment between her work and her values had shifted.

She decided it was time to support other therapists and healers build their own sustainable practices. So she turned her full focus to business coaching and started creating services to mentor other Rebel Therapists in running their businesses in ways that feel great to them and their values.

I am delighted to have Annie on the podcast. She was an absolute delight to speak with, and I'm excited to share the conversation with you.

Rebellion and Serenity
This is another episode that resonates with 'Serenity', which is the theme we are diving into around The Haven this month.

Annie sees rebellion as a compass for finding our best path. This parallels the idea of serenity as 'belonging to oneself'.

Gentle rebellion is not an indiscriminate antagonism or a blanket rejection of other ideas or people. Rather it is an awareness of what matters to us at our core.

Annie describes rebellion as adventure, exploration, and interest in what comes next. And a Rebel Therapist as a healer who wants to find their best path. This means building on the work of our mentors and influences, without necessarily following their way of doing things.

Rebellion is the courage to stop hiding ourselves.

Serenity is the point of convergence, where our core self integrates with the choices we make and the actions we take.

While she focuses on supporting therapists and healers in her work, Annie's insights are universally relevant to so many other areas of the human experience. This is definitely a conversation for quietly creative souls who desire meaning beyond the common metrics of success.
During our conversation we covered a range of topics including:

Why we often gravitate towards the bland and boring options - and what question to ask ourselves if we really want to access our own core truths
What people often get wrong when thinking about the 'vision' for their business, project, or life (and how to approach it instead)
The importance of getting comfortable with discomfort, especially when it comes to letting go of pleasing everyone
Why we should see marketing as so much more than selling (and how we can add value to the world THROUGH it)
Managing energy and actions in order to avoid burnout as independent creators and small business owners
The sources of burnout to be aware of and how to create a plan that guards against it
How to get off the Hamster Wheel of Tactics and Strategy - the importance of being intentional with the inspiring, cool, and compelling ideas we see other people using (how Annie filters options to make the best decisions)
What we can ask ourselves if we want to stop hiding and bring our inner-rebellion out into the world
And much more...

Over to You
What are your takeaways from this episode? What stood out to you? What were any "hmm interesting" or "aha!" moments? Leave your response in the comments below.
Links:
Annie's Website: https://rebeltherapist.me
Twitter: @AnnieS_Therapy
Instagram: @annieschuessler

If you want to continue the conversation and hear more of my takeaways you can listen to the Extended Play Private Podcast over on Patreon.com/AndyMort