This podcast is for therapists, helping professionals, and anyone curious about the human experience in the therapy room. We&#39;ll explore the realities of clinical work, professional growth, self-reflection, and the art of showing up authentically for others. Whether you’re a seasoned clinician, a student, or simply passionate about mental health, we can&#39;t wait to share these conversations with you.Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for therapy, clinical supervision, consultation, medical advice, or other professional services. We are not your therapists, supervisors or consultants and listening to this podcast does not establish a therapeutic, supervisory, or consultative relationship. Always use your own professional judgment and seek appropriate support for your specific clinical or personal needs.

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Therapists Ashley and Morgen introduce a new weekly format: an informal &#34;coffee chat&#34; where they check in with personal and professional highs, lows, likes, dislikes, and a &#34;middle finger&#34; moment in the mental health field.  Host bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Coffee with Ashley C. and Morgen V. (October 9, 2026)

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Morgen and Ashley talk with Crystal Hines, LPC, an EMDR and IFS therapist and trainer, about her path from foster care in Florida to building a Colorado group practice supporting other therapists through therapy, groups and consultation. Crystal shares her experiences with harmful mental health and school systems and how her own EMDR and IFS therapy changed the way she understands herself and works with clients. Crystal addresses what it means to do your own work as a therapist with honesty and humor.Guest Bio: Crystal Hines is a recognized thought leader who actively contributes to the advancement of mental health practice through her presentations, published resources, and educational workshops.She is trained at the highest levels in both Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), holding credentials as an EMDRIA Approved Trainer and Consultant and an IFSI Approved Clinical Consultant.Crystal’s style as a healer is rooted in intuitive wisdom informed by her own lived experience. She is open about being a complex trauma survivor with an ACE score of 10, and she embraces the value of being a client herself.She believes that each person is the expert of their own life and healing journey and is passionate about empowering others to tap into their inner knowing.Guest Contact Info: LinkedIn: <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-hines-lpc-emdr" rel="nofollow">www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-hines-lpc-emdr</a>Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/align_therapy_and_consultation/" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/align_therapy_and_consultation/</a>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/aligntherapyandconsultation" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/aligntherapyandconsultation</a>Website: <a href="http://www.aligntherapyandconsultation.com/" rel="nofollow">www.aligntherapyandconsultation.com</a>Host bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

The Parts That Know: A Conversation About IFS, Trauma, and Community

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Guest Alli Christie Disney, LPC, is a trauma therapist specializing in therapy intensives. She joins Ashley and Morgen to talk about what intensives are and shares about how multi-hour sessions have the potential to heal trauma faster than weekly therapy. Guest Bio: Alli Christie Disney, LPC, is a trauma therapist specializing in therapy intensives for high-achieving women who are ready for deep, lasting change. With more than 18 years of clinical training and extensive experience in EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Somatic Experiencing (SE), Alli helps clients get to the root of long-standing patterns, anxiety, self-doubt, and unresolved trauma, without spending years in traditional weekly therapy. Her unique intensive approach is designed to create meaningful breakthroughs in days rather than months, helping women cultivate unshakable self-trust, release the weight of the past, and move forward with greater confidence, freedom, and purpose. To contact Alli directly, her website is: www.allichristiecounseling.comHost bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

When 50 Minutes Isn't Enough: The Art of Therapy Intensives

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“Trauma-informed” gets used a lot, but what does it look like in practice? Morgen and Ashley talk through SAMHSA’s four Rs and six guiding principles, with examples of how we respond when clients miss appointments, express anger, use substances, or don’t want to talk about trauma. They discuss getting curious about what’s going on before making assumptions, what trauma-informed supervision looks like, and changes therapists can make in their everyday work.

Trauma-informed care: What does it ACTUALLY mean?

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Morgen and Ashley talk with Anna, a trauma and relationship therapist working with neurodivergent women and couples. Anna shares her path from corporate finance to private practice and how she built a business that actually fits her life.They talk marketing, self-disclosure, client fit, specialization vs. expertise, and knowing when therapy isn’t working.Guest Bio:Anna Khandrueva is a trauma and relationship therapist based in Broomfield, CO. She works with late-diagnosed neurodivergent women and couples navigating the beautiful complexity of neurodivergent partnership. Anna has a master’s degree in social work from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and a certificate in marriage and family therapy from Denver Family Institute. She uses EMDR, parts work, and mindfulness practices to help her clients change and grow. Anna also loves to help other therapists with marketing and search engine optimization. Outside of work, you can find her knitting, watching horror movies, and exploring local restaurants and food trucks.Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/couragetohealtherapy" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/couragetohealtherapy</a>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/couragetohealtherapy" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/couragetohealtherapy</a>Website: <a href="https://www.couragetohealtherapy.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.couragetohealtherapy.com/</a>Host bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Building a Therapy Practice That Reflects Who You Are

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Morgen and Ashley talk with Maury, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) specializing in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Maury shares how she went from a bored high school student to crisis work, a graduate program disrupted by COVID, and eventually a private practice focused on couples. It’s an honest conversation about relationships, the realities of the therapy field, and what happens when the support is not there.Guest Contact info: Website: <a href="https://thrivefamilyservices.com/meet-maury-holliman/" rel="nofollow">https://thrivefamilyservices.com/meet-maury-holliman/</a>Guest bio: Maury Holliman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in Emotion-Focused Therapy and is certified in Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy. She is also an EFT Supervisor Candidate who provides supervision to LMFT and LPC candidates, as well as EFT and relational consultation. Maury is passionate about systemic thinking and believes therapy should explore the whole person, including their identities, relationships, and personal history. She also serves as the Peer Support Leader within her group practice, where she creates opportunities for connection and helps build a more inclusive and diverse culture.Host bios: Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Emotion-Focused Therapy and Attachment

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Morgen and Ashley talk with Leah Band, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Synergetic Play Therapist in Louisville, Colorado. Leah shares how her early work investigating allegations of abuse and neglect shaped her path toward becoming a play therapist and eventually opening her own practice.They talk about what Synergetic Play Therapy actually looks like—including why the “mess” left behind in the playroom may matter. Leah also gives her thumbs up, thumbs down, and middle finger to the mental health field right now.Guest Bio: Leah Band is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Certification in Synergetic Play Therapy, bringing nearly two decades of experience to her practice. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2011 and her clinical social work license in 2017. She’s worked in numerous settings over the years from child welfare agencies to residential treatment centers, schools, community mental health agencies and group and private practice settings. She currently has a private practice in Louisville, CO where she focuses on working with kids, teens and their parents. She has recently begun the next step in her career by providing clinical supervision to pre-licensed clinicians working towards practicing independently.Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Beyond Words: Inside Synergetic Play Therapy

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Morgen and Ashley sit down with Lindsey, a licensed MFT specializing in burnout recovery for therapists and caregivers. They discuss why burnout is systemic, not personal, how toxic supervision and grad school messaging train helpers to ignore their limits, and the radical idea that your business is for *you* (not the other way around).Guest Bio: Lindsey Boes is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and AAMFT Approved Supervisor based in Colorado, with over a decade of clinical experience specializing in burnout recovery, boundary work, and the particular exhaustion that comes from spending your life caring for others. She approaches her work through feminist, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist lenses — grounding her clinical practice in the understanding that burnout is systemic, not personal, and that the systems asking the most of helpers are rarely designed with their wellbeing in mind. Lindsey works with therapists, healers, and caregivers through her private practice, Guided Journey Therapy, and founded Guided Journey Studio to bring psychoeducational tools to people who give a lot and are learning they deserve care too. Resources for burnout recovery, boundary work, and between-session support are available at <a href="http://guidedjourneystudio.com/" rel="nofollow">guidedjourneystudio.com</a>.Guest Contact Info: LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-boes-ms-lmft-s-a1b22890/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-boes-ms-lmft-s-a1b22890/</a>Website: <a href="http://www.guidedjourneytherapy.com/" rel="nofollow">www.guidedjourneytherapy.com</a>Other website: <a href="http://www.guidedjourneystudio.com/" rel="nofollow">www.guidedjourneystudio.com</a>Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Permission to Do Less

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Licensed professional counselor and serial entrepreneur Khara Croswaite-Brindle joins Morgen and Ashley to explore a topic rarely discussed in the therapy world: career trauma. Khara breaks down the six adverse career-altering events therapists face: client suicide, sudden client death, client violence, professional betrayal, subpoenas, and grievances — and introduces the concept of &#34;leadership trauma,&#34; the psychological toll of being made to question your self-worth by a supervisor or manager. The conversation covers confidential grief, the danger of mistaking private practice for a burnout cure, self-disclosure in the therapy room, and practical tools like the &#34;self-disclosure short stack&#34; and the &#34;DAP note Reuben sandwich.&#34; A candid, healing conversation for therapists navigating the hidden wounds of the helping profession.Guest Bio:﻿Khara Croswaite Brindle, MA, LPC, ACS, CFT is passionate about giving people aha moments that create goosebumps and catalyze powerful action. She is a TEDx Speaker, Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Financial Therapist, Certified Enneagram professional, Approved Clinical Supervisor, and journal therapist living in Colorado. Khara enjoys various roles as a serial entrepreneur, 2x Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author, professional speaker, professor, and consultant. Khara specializes in helping therapists and financial therapists create secondary income streams against burnout through consultation, courses, and supervision. She is originally from the Pacific Northwest and gets her best ideas walking outside and being around water. When Khara’s not writing her next book or supporting fellow professional helpers on their own self-discovery journeys, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, reading, and indulging in gluttonous, gluten-free desserts with her family.Guest Contact Info: LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kharacroswaite/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/kharacroswaite/</a>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kharacroswaite/" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/kharacroswaite/</a>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/khara.croswaite" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/khara.croswaite</a>Website: <a href="https://croswaitecounselingpllc.com/" rel="nofollow">https://croswaitecounselingpllc.com/</a>Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Leadership Trauma & The Courage to Heal

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Ashley returns with three more lessons on the art of being a therapist. She reflects on why we never fully leave ourselves behind—even while unplugging and shares takeaways from nine books she read on the road. Along the way: rest, identity, memory, categorization, and the power of perspective to change how we see everything, including our clients.Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

What Vacation Keeps Teaching Me Part 2

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Picture this: the same skills that make you great at individual therapy might be exactly what derail a couples session.In this episode, Morgen and Ashley sit down with Dr. Laura Eubanks Gambrel, a certified Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) couples therapist, supervisor, and trainer with more than 20 years of clinical experience.Laura breaks down what makes couples therapy fundamentally different from individual work—and why being a skilled individual therapist doesn’t automatically prepare you for what happens when there are more than one nervous system, attachment history, and an entire relationship dynamic.Guest Bio: Laura Eubanks Gambrel, PhD, LMHC (WA), LMFT(NC), LPC (CO) is a therapist, supervisor, researcher, author, and trainer with over 20 years of clinical experience specializing in couples therapy and therapist training. As a Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist and EFCT Supervisor-in-Training, she is deeply grounded in experiential therapy, attachment science, and the transformative power of EFT. She is also an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and a certified mindfulness instructor. Based on her experience supervising hundreds of therapists as a faculty member and in private practice, Dr. Gambrel brings a developmentally attuned approach that meets clinicians at their learning edge. Supervisees value her ability to hold clinical complexity with compassion, balance support with challenge, integrate soulfulness with science, and offer clear guidance that builds confidence and competence in the vulnerable work of couples therapy - particularly in learning to trust the EFT process. Dr. Gambrel has a private practice, Relational Mindfulness - Therapy and Consultation, where she provides therapy, supervision, and training in person in Bellingham, Washington and virtually around the world.Guest Contact Info: Website: <a href="http://www.relational-mindfulness.org/" rel="nofollow">www.relational-mindfulness.org</a>Email <a href="mailto:laura@relational-mindfulness.org" rel="nofollow">laura@relational-mindfulness.org</a>LinkedIn at <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/gambrel" rel="nofollow">www.linkedin.com/in/gambrel</a>﻿Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Holding Space for More Than One: Couples Therapy

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In this episode of The Art of Being a Therapist, hosts Morgen and Ashley sit down with guest (and Ashley&#39;s sister) Lindsay, whose winding path (early childhood education to school psychology to clinical social work) shaped her existential, LGBTQ+-affirming approach to therapy. Lindsay opens up about self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and learning to &#34;just be&#34; with clients instead of rushing to fix things. The conversation dives into boundaries and burnout, staying human as a therapist amid collective trauma and political stress, and what grad school did (and didn&#39;t) prepare her for.Guest Bio: Lindsay Colegrove, M. Ed., MSW, SWC, ADDC began her career in early childhood education, where she saw firsthand the impact that social-emotional and developmental challenges can have on children and their families. That experience led her to pursue graduate training in School Psychology before transitioning to Social Work in 2023 to more fully address the systemic and social factors that shape mental health and well-being. Today, Lindsay&#39;s work focuses on advocacy and policy, with a particular passion for LGBTQ+ mental health, anti-oppressive practice, and advancing equity through an intersectional lens. She believes healing happens when people feel genuinely seen, heard, and valued. Her therapeutic approach is warm, relational, and strengths-based, incorporating creativity, curiosity, and connection to help individuals navigate trauma, identity exploration, grief, anxiety, and life transitions while building deeper connections with themselves, their communities, and the possibilities for meaningful change.Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

What is the meaning of life? Existential Therapy

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/7/9/14/679f7de0-f041-49de-8c5d-1ea810bb50f9_what_vacation_keeps_teaching_me.mp3

In this solo episode of The Art of Being a Therapist, host Ashley Charbonneau reflects on lessons from her recent travels through London and Southern Africa. As a therapist who&#39;s always juggling client care with her own well-being, Ashley shares what taking real time off keeps teaching her.She unpacks five lessons that emerge every time she leaves town. 1. Work hard, play hard isn&#39;t sustainable.2. Be a student of the world.3. Clients and supervisees are usually fine when we are OOO (confronting the fear of being indispensable)Be sure to listen for the other lessons on the list. Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

What Vacation Keeps Teaching Me

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In this episode, Ashley and Morgen sit down with Kellee, founder of Wild Transformations Therapy, to explore how the personal and professional intertwine throughout a therapist&#39;s career. Kellee shares her journey from high-caseload agency work to private practice, the hard lessons of setting limits, and how becoming a mother reshaped her sense of balance. The conversation dives into the power of therapeutic rituals — including the closing of the bones ceremony — as a complement to traditional therapy, and how reclaiming her own spirituality has enlivened Kellee&#39;s clinical work. The episode also touches on neurodivergent &amp; LGBTQ+ affirming care and the unexpected joy of hip hop dance as self-care.Guest Bio: Kellee Myers, LPC, LAC, Clinical Supervisor, EMDR-CertifiedAfter a decade working in various mental health settings, including hospitals, case management organizations, and 90-day residential Intensive Outpatient Programs for adults engaging in substance use recovery, Kellee established her private practice, Wild Transformations Therapy, in 2018.Her specializations include trauma, anxiety, neurodivergence, and the LGBTQ+ community. Kellee is passionate about using EMDR to help process the remnants of childhood developmental trauma that can get in the way of healthy, fulfilling relationships, as well as providing EMDR supervision.In addition to EMDR, she is &#34;parts work informed&#34; and trained in AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Processing), a modality that focuses on increasing one&#39;s ability to fully feel emotions and be with the parts that come in to protect through shut-down, etc., with curiosity and compassion.Kellee offers individual therapy, group therapy, clinical supervision, and therapeutic rituals, which are similar to therapy intensives and can help honor and hold space for both grief and celebration during times of big transitions.Outside of work, Kellee is a proud mamma to a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, a self-proclaimed cat lover and coffee addict, and her favorite new form of self-care is hip-hop dance classes.Currently, she has three open spots in a biweekly &#34;LGBTQ+ for 40+&#34; therapy group held on Saturday mornings in Broomfield, as well as openings for therapeutic rituals.Guest Contact Info:LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellee-myers-95352a70/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellee-myers-95352a70/</a>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/wildtransformations/" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/wildtransformations/</a>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WildTransformations" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/WildTransformations</a>Website: <a href="https://www.wildtransformations.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.wildtransformations.com/</a>Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Ritual and Wild Transformations

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In this episode of The Art of Being a Therapist, hosts Morgen and Ashley sit down with licensed clinical social worker and trauma therapist Maria Jensen. Maria shares her unconventional path from industrial engineering to trauma-informed clinical work, and how her analytical background shapes her approach to EMDR, brain spotting, and nervous-system-focused healing. The conversation explores attunement, co-regulation, the limits of what can and can&#39;t be taught in therapy and working with neurodivergent clients.Guest Bio: Maria Jensen, MSW, LCSW, is a trauma therapist specializing in anxiety, OCD, trauma, shame, and neurodivergence. Before becoming a therapist, Maria worked as an industrial engineer, an experience that shaped her ability to blend analytical problem-solving with deep empathy and human connection.Drawing from specialized training in EMDR, Brainspotting, and shame resilience, Maria takes a nervous-system-informed approach to healing that emphasizes brain-body integration, self-compassion, and sustainable change. She is passionate about helping clients better understand themselves, reconnect with their strengths, and move beyond survival mode toward lives that feel more authentic, meaningful, and aligned with their values.Originally from Baltimore and now based in Las Vegas, Maria believes healing happens when people feel truly seen, supported, and empowered to create lasting change.Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

From Engineer to Therapist: Nervous Systems, Neurodivergence, and the Art of Attunement

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Andrea never planned on becoming a death investigator. A forensic psychology internship led to her spending 12 years notifying families of loved ones&#39; deaths. In this conversation with hosts Morgen and Ashley, she explains why her therapeutic training made her better at her job even though she wasn&#39;t practicing therapy. She opens up about the toll of investigating child deaths, going through an experience with a toxic supervisor that forced her to rebuild from scratch. It&#39;s a raw look at burnout, resilience, and how mental health training shows up in the most unexpected corners of public service.Guest Bio: Andrea McGinnis has a Master of Art in Forensic Psychology from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology and a Bachelor of Art in Psychology from Hood College. She briefly started her career working with juveniles across school and home settings doing applied behavioral analysis before settling in Denver, CO in the non-clinical world. Andrea worked for 12 years as a medicolegal death investigator for the Medical Examiner’s Office where she obtained state and national certifications and organization memberships. Andrea has presented at local and state levels on a variety of topics including: Introduction to Death Investigations; Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths and Child Death Investigation; and Victim Advocacy and its Role in Death Investigations. She has spent the last two years as an assistant in Autism Support for elementary-age students with high behavior and speech needs. Andrea is currently exploring the world of education in a variety of capacities.Host Bios: Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Life as a Death Investigator

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/8/19/18/c0befe3a-7de5-480b-a431-631051fce88f_ls__community_mental_health_centers__and_jails.mp3

With the Clancy trial bringing renewed public scrutiny to mental health systems, we wanted to step back and look at what actually happens inside the systems therapists refer clients to every day.  In this bonus episode, Morgen and Ashley talk about three settings: psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, and jails. They break down what intake looks like, how the language we use casually can feel alienating to someone in crisis, how autonomy and power function in each setting, and why stabilization alone doesn&#39;t fix the circumstances that led to someone ending up there.  They also share practical steps clinicians can take including: explaining jargon, acknowledging repetition, offering small choices, and staying curious about power dynamics to make these systems more humane for the people inside them. Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide, mental health crises, and other potentially distressing topics. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Inside Psychiatric Hospitals, Community Mental Health Centers, and Jails

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Hosts Morgen and Ashley sit down with Kelsi, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Addiction Counselor with over 11 years in community mental health. Kelsi opens up about her path into addiction counseling, what actually makes a good addiction counselor, the blurred lines between substance and behavioral addictions (including the ones we normalize, like caffeine and vaping), and her recent move into a supervisor role. The conversation dives deep into what human-first supervision looks like, navigating grief and personal crises while showing up for clients, the frustrations of working within a broken mental health system, and how Kelsi balances her career with over a decade of volunteer leadership in Alpha Phi. It&#39;s an honest look at burnout, joy, self-care beyond the clichés, and what it really means to hold two truths at once as a therapist.Guest bio: Kelsi Klug, LPC, LAC is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Addictions Counselor (LAC) in Colorado with more than 11 years of experience in community mental health. She began her career as a clinical case manager and residential counselor while earning her Master&#39;s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado.Throughout her career, Kelsi has worked across a wide range of settings, supporting children, families, justice-involved youth, and adults experiencing co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. She currently serves as a Clinical Supervisor at Sage Ridge Supportive Residential Community with AllHealth Network, where she oversees outpatient behavioral health services and supports both clients and clinicians.Kelsi is passionate about accessible, compassionate mental health care and believes that strong therapeutic relationships are at the heart of meaningful change. Outside of work, she enjoys life with her husband and their three beloved pets—dogs Rylie and Poppy, and their cat, Tini. She also volunteers with Alpha Phi, the sorority where she first met Ashley.Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Addiction Counseling, Supervision, and Holding Two Truths at Once

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Morgen and Ashley sit down with Lydia Schneider, LCSW, a child-centered play therapist, to explore her winding path into social work — from a rocky first job at a group practice to finding her people at Heartspace Kids and co-founding a therapist collective.Lydia opens up about standing up for herself after a difficult employer, the power of mentorship, and why kids simply aren&#39;t wired for talk therapy. She takes us inside the playroom, talks about how parents also need to do their own work to understand their children, addresses how to build a sustainable private practice, and what it really looks like to follow a client&#39;s lead.A heartfelt, funny, and deeply moving conversation about resilience, creativity, and the profound relationships at the center of good therapy.Guest bio: Lydia Schneider, LCSW, is an independently practicing Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in Colorado Springs, where she was born and raised. She earned her bachelor&#39;s degrees in Sociology and English from Western Colorado University before completing her Master of Social Work at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Lydia specializes in working with children, adolescents, and families navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, identity development, self-esteem, and relationship challenges. Her work integrates Child-Centered Play Therapy, EMDR, CBT, TF-CBT, DBT, Narrative Therapy, Family Systems Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and TBRI, with advanced training in Child-Centered Play Therapy. As part of The Heartspace Collective, Lydia is passionate about creating compassionate, developmentally informed spaces where young people and families can heal, strengthen relationships, and build lasting resilience. To learn more about Lydia or contact her, visit theheartspacecollective.com.Host Bios:Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, evaluator, clinical supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her clinical expertise centers on working with individuals impacted by the legal system, grounded in a commitment to offender accountability, survivor healing, and restorative justice.Ashley has developed multiple 45-hour training programs on clinical supervision and is the author of The Resilient Therapist (Bloomsbury, 2026) and Supporting Clients of Sexual Trauma: Establishing Safety, Processing Shame, and Fostering Healthy Intimacy (PESI, 2026). She provides training nationally on restorative justice, addiction, clinical supervision, working with individuals who have committed sexual offenses, professional boundaries in therapy, and mandatory reporting.To contact Ashley directly, her website is: https://www.ensopllc.com/Morgen Villegas, LCSW, LAC, ACS, is a therapist, writer, consultant, and an EMDR International Association Approved Consultant. Through her practice, Vida Idílica Therapy &amp; Consulting, she specializes in helping women heal from trauma, attachment wounds, emotional neglect, and the lasting effects of overfunctioning and caregiving. Using a blend of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she helps clients reconnect with themselves and create lives that feel more authentic, spacious, and connected.Morgen also provides consultation to EMDR therapists seeking greater confidence and nuance in working with complex trauma. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she is passionate about helping people move beyond &#34;faking fine&#34; and toward lasting healing. She is the author of Shadows to Light, a collection of stories and reflections on emotional neglect, motherhood, and breaking intergenerational cycles. Morgen lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, rescue dog Raven, and an ever-growing stack of library books waiting to be read.To contact Morgen directly, her website is: vida-idilica.com

Play, Presence, and the Art of Delight: Child-Centered Therapy

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2026/7/28/21/a93f7563-fbfc-4917-b8a2-68adbfdfc25e_motherhood__military_life___mental_health_work.mp3

Ashley and Morgen sit down with guest Whitney, a licensed clinical social worker and military spouse. Whitney opens up about navigating grad school as a parent, being pushed out of jobs that couldn&#39;t accommodate her family, and ultimately learning that no one else was going to prioritize her wellbeing; she had to do it herself.The conversation dives deep into self-care beyond bubble baths: setting boundaries, peer support, therapy for therapists, and the daily work of staying resilient in a field that constantly asks for more. Whitney also shares candid reflections on life as a military spouse.Guest Bio: Whitney is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in anxiety, ADHD, trauma, and the unique experiences of military members, veterans, and their families. Trained in EMDR and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), she incorporates evidence-based approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), to help adults build resilience and create meaningful, lasting change.Known for combining a warm, down-to-earth style with a love of clinical research, Whitney enjoys translating evidence-based mental health concepts into practical strategies people can actually use. She is passionate about supporting the military community and helping others better understand and navigate anxiety, burnout, ADHD, and trauma so they can move toward lives that feel more grounded and fulfilling. Whitney is also the founder of Sunrise Wellness Collective, a group therapy practice in coastal North Carolina. She believes that great therapy is grounded in both science and genuine human connection.Outside of work, Whitney enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and taking advantage of coastal living.To reach Whitney directly, you can visit her website at: <a href="http://sunrisewellnesscollective.com/" rel="nofollow">sunrisewellnesscollective.com</a>

The Elusive Balance: Motherhood, Military Life & Mental Health Work

The space between training and real life

This podcast is for therapists, helping professionals, and anyone curious about the human experience in the therapy room. We'll explore the realities of clinical work, professional growth, self-reflection, and the art of showing up authentically for others. Whether you’re a seasoned clinician, a student, or simply passionate about mental health, we can't wait to share these conversations with you.

*Disclaimer:* This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for therapy, clinical supervision, consultation, medical advice, or other professional services. We are not your therapists, supervisors or consultants and listening to this podcast does not establish a therapeutic, supervisory, or consultative relationship. Always use your own professional judgment and seek appropriate support for your specific clinical or personal needs.