therapist tea: imposter syndrome, healing, and keeping it real with Emily Powell

in this episode of all our parts, i’m joined by therapist emily powell — who’s keeping it real in both pennsylvania andmassachusetts — for a convo that hits deep.

we dive into:

🌀 what internal family systems (IFS) can teach us about our inner worlds

🧠 healing as an adult child of emotionally immature parents (it’s a thing)

💼 the messy, honest path of starting + growing a private practice

👯‍♀️ why finding a therapist community is everything

📱 showing up authentically on social media — and what it really costs

emily also shares her vision for 2025, the parts of herself she’s still learning to trust, and how she’s carving space for joy and impact in this work.

ready for therapist real talk + healing with heart? hit play.

connect with emily:

📲 Instagram

🎥 TikTok

🌐 Website

✨ Patreon

Transcript

 Hello, everybody. Welcome back to all our parts. I am so excited for my first guest of 2025. She is therapist based in  PA, Massachusetts area. Yes, and  I'm just so excited to have this conversation with her. I have been following her content for the better part of two years now. And so it's been such a pleasure to watch her grow and evolve in her work.

And I am excited to have Emily Powell here. Emily, thank you so much for joining me today. Yeah, thank you for having me. I can't wait. I'm so glad I'm your first guest. That's so exciting.  So tell me about your journey with IFS. What attracted you to that specific therapeutic modality? Yeah. So it evolved very naturally, it feels so during grad school, I thought I was more, psychodynamic. I really love getting to the deeper root of things rather than just focusing on the solutions. And I developed more of a relational lens and psychodynamic lens in grad school.  And it led really naturally into IFS because IFS is such a relational model, like relationship building with oneself, right?

And then being able to expand with the world around them. And I just love that it's so non pathologizing and it looks at  everybody as, a complex human made up of all these parts that have been trying to help them and adapt and survive in the world that they've been placed in. Yeah, it just evolved naturally.

I picked up No Bad Parts at some point, which is like the entry book to IFS. And I was like, oh my gosh, I love this. I have to learn more.  100 percent as a therapist who also really is attracted to the like relational model of therapy.  IFS just gives this space for us to look at the harder parts of our identities, the shame part, the guilt part, and it allows us to externalize it in a way and look at it as what is this part trying to teach us, show us how is this serving us versus seeing it as a hindrance to our personal growth.

Yeah, a hundred percent. That's such a good way of describing it. It totally shifts people's understanding of the parts of them that they dislike the most or judge the most are the parts of them that are working the hardest to try to keep them safe and keep them protected. Yeah, it gives it almost a little space to hold it.

It's like a little baby. It's I'll do the shame part. You're here to protect me and I don't need to feel bad that you are showing up. But what are you trying to show me by showing up in this specific moment? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So you do a lot of content also specifically around family dynamics and IFS.

How did that come about for you?  Yeah. So I really love working with adult children of emotionally immature parents. And the parts, I think it's very fascinating, like the parts that come up in response to emotionally immature parents and caregivers. So I,  noticed I really like working with and I guess I should say I think a lot of times we work with people that are, have similar parts to us without noticing it, right?

So I really like working with people with caretaking parts and perfectionistic parts and learning about where those come from, and I just noticed a pattern in my clients where, you know, if  They grew up with emotionally immature parents, they often have this like subset of protective parts that pop up over and over again.

And then, they feel like they're stuck in this similar relational pattern where they're disconnected from themselves and their own needs and people pleasing and taking care of other people's needs before their own. And then using IFS with people in that kind of family dynamic and relational pattern. 

It just works so well, like it's so powerful. So it's just, yeah, I guess like the niche  similar to IFS naturally evolved and felt really inspiring to me and energizing work and I just went from there. Did you ever imagine that one day you would be making content around mental health?

No,  not at all. I I did know that I wanted to start a private practice. Like it was always my goal. And then when I started my practice, I was like, okay, I guess I have to market this, learn that whole thing. And then. My like littlest brother was like, are you gonna, you're gonna, if you're gonna have your own business, like you need to be on TikTok, you know that, right?

And I'm like, what? Wait, seriously?  And then, I started posting content of like landscape with a quote on it and that didn't really work. And then quickly translated into posting, videos of myself talking about therapy content. And yeah, now it's like a huge part of, how I've built my practice and interacted with so many amazing like clients and also other clinicians.

So yeah, I love it. Yeah. I feel like we all start there where we're the landscape of the trees and like nature and not really our face because We don't learn in grad school how to market ourselves as therapists. We try to be so mindful and thoughtful of the ethics around it and how we are approaching people.

And I don't think this field ever imagined itself to be one that would take a front seat in the social media space. Yeah, totally. No I could have never imagined in grad school, this is how I would build my practice. But I also just love being able to reach more people outside of folks who are even in therapy and be able to talk about these topics that a lot of people struggle with but don't have the words or language to put to it.

I think it's great. As long as we're, like, ethical about it, I think it's great.  100 percent it's made, reputable information much more accessible and it's given a lens, I think, to people to see what kind of clinicians out there. Not everyone is a blank slate model. Not everyone being able to gravitate towards a therapist and see their personality kind of first hand without having to do the consultations call, it really, it takes away a barrier of one of the major hurdles of therapy and that's finding a therapist that you'd feel like you mesh with. 

Yep, a hundred percent. And I think that's so helpful to, so many people think that therapy is like you sit down with this like third party who's super objective and Not really human, bringing their humanness to the picture. And I think by being on social media, people realize that Oh, this is somebody that's relatable and that I can connect with.

And who seems like they would get it. So I think it's really helpful for both like the therapists and the clients too. Yeah. So you started your practice as an associate therapist while still working under supervision and now being fully licensed, which congrats, it's, that's a feat all of us hope to reach one day.

What would you say was your biggest learning lesson in 2024 around building your business?  There's so many. I feel like building a practice, we are not taught that in grad school. So  everything feels like a learning lesson. I think starting as like an associate or someone who is pre licensed was really hard.

I started in 2022, like pretty soon after I had graduated and I was still working for an IOP and a group practice. And then I like branched out a little bit on my own. But I think facing some of the like, More antiquated viewpoints in the mental health system of like you have to be in, you have to work in community mental health for 10 years before you like deserve to be in private practice, or you have to pay your dues and like coming up against some of those ideals from other clinicians or like just generally people in the field.

was really hard because I already had enough imposter syndrome, let alone dealing with other people's kind of judgment and projection onto me around it. So that was definitely the hardest in the beginning. And then in 2024 I think the hardest thing that I faced was, like, the process of getting licensed, and how Difficult that was I was living in Pennsylvania at the time and applied for Pennsylvania and Massachusetts at the same time and dealing with the totally different boards and like standards of each board was really demoralizing and confusing and like ambiguous.

So I think that's another niche of what I love doing is helping pre licensed folks like access licensure and then also realize that in some states you don't have to be fully licensed to start a practice. You need to be supervised and there's definitely a lot of things I would recommend around it, but you can do it.

And like they, I feel like they, the field in general kind of wants. You to not know that  for some reason, but you totally can and like it's so gatekept and I hope to spread awareness that it's not as hard as it's made out to seem in ways.  Yeah, you just spoke to so many points that especially the imposter syndrome, because again, we go through grad school and then the narrative is you go through grad school and then you are expected to work in a community based setting really earn your stripes to work in this more autonomous space, whereas  when we think about offering quality care, we have to work in an environment that is conducive to us being able to offer that.

And so at all.  Community is not for everybody. There's people who love it, and then there's people who will thrive in the entrepreneurship space of private practice. And there,  I think one of the narratives that I hope to expand on is that neither is good or, neither is good or bad. There's no qualifier to working in either one.

But if we as clinicians want to offer quality care, then we. should be encouraged to work in environments that are conducive to us being able to provide that.  Totally. And it's so much individual blame on the clinician when the whole system is so broken and backwards. And we could go on.

If insurance was a better system, then like more, there would be more access to therapy, but that's not on the individual clinician. Like we can advocate and we can try to do what we can, but we can't.  fix the insurance system. So I think similar with community mental health, like I'd love to be able to work with the, I worked in community mental health for my internship and I loved my clients and I loved the individual work I got to do, but the politics and the system and the burnout, like I left so depressed and so burnt out after one year in community mental health.

And I was like, I can't, this isn't sustainable for me. I wish it was, and it's not.  Yeah, it's, I love this shift now where we're looking at what does it look like to be in this field in a sustainable way? What does it look like for us to not only wake up, go to work and like just do the bare minimum, but what does it look like for us to still sustain ourselves while offering the best care?

to clients. And that shift, I think, is empowering so many clinicians, especially as they're going through grad school, to see people like you who are dismantling these ideas of what it means to work your first couple of years outside of grad school. Yeah, totally. And I think, I always say the reason I am able to show up, 100 percent most days for my clients is because I have probably half the number of clients that I would if I was in community mental health, and I'm niching in the area That feels energizing to me.

I'm not this general person seeing all sorts of, different presentations and, I'm able to work from home most of the days and do my laundry between sessions. Like, all of those things feel really important to me and my ability to Like,  continue to be inspired by the work rather than burnt out and drained by it.

Yeah, I found the second you feel that energy, like that flashlight go out a little bit is when it's time to reassess. Is there a different niche that I want to explore? Is there a different area of population that I want to start working with? Us feeling equally as energized and excited about the work is what allows us to convey that message to our clients and it what it's what gravitates clients like to work with us and to want to be in therapy.

Yep, 100 percent agree.  What would you say was your big a huge contributor to you navigating your imposter syndrome? I know you brought that up earlier and I feel like it's something that always is in the back of our minds for us. It never goes away. But what has been a huge support for you and being able to quiet that noise and continue moving forward? 

I think  I had the privilege of amazing supervisors. I did have one supervisor who wasn't a fit. But like outside of that, I really Loved my supervisors and I felt like they  believed in me. Like during moments, not to sound super cheesy, like I didn't believe in myself and I didn't know if this was like for me or if I was cut out for this.

So definitely having that, whether it's supervision or mentorship of some sort. And then I have this peer consultation group that I meet with once a month and we all use PartsWork and Relational frameworks and just having other, folks in the field who get it. And talking about private practice and all the things that come with that, too, is really helpful.

So I feel like what I'm getting at is community of other clinicians who get it and who use similar frameworks and just look at therapy in a really similar way as I do. I think those. Things have definitely helped me realize I'm not alone, imposter syndrome is so normal. It also comes and goes this is the first week of January, I got back, and I was like, I don't know if I remember how to be a therapist.

It's been a full week I don't know if I can do this. And I think I dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome even in the beginning of the week. So just knowing that it's definitely an ebb and flow. You sit with certain clients and maybe relational stuff happens and you question yourself I don't know if I'm being a good therapist to this person or it just feels like it's  imposter syndrome is like a part that's always in the background and sometimes it steps in and sometimes it settles back.

Yeah, that, everything you just said resonated so much, especially  the idea that we are who we surround ourselves with. So having really great supervisors, building a community of clinicians who share similar perspectives and theoretical orientations, being able to  converse with clinicians who support challenge and just give you that space and understand a lot of the nuances that A regular person just wouldn't understand.

Like we  can't always go to our partners about things. We can't go to friends who are in the field about this. And sometimes being able to have a space where you don't have to explain the nitty gritty and you can just get to it and the other person really understands is so beneficial and being able to move forward in this work.

Yeah, totally. And another thing I'm thinking of is  you know, in terms of the imposter syndrome question, is I think the more I realized that therapy is not about the intervention and the solution,  and it's way more about your humanness and you, the therapist, as the tool, as the resource,  I think that's allowed me to realize that It's okay.

It's enough to just show up as my human self. That's actually what people are needing. They need somebody to witness them, to hear them, to listen. And I don't have to know everything. I don't have to know the answers. I don't have to predict the future in order to be a therapist. And so I think that in order to be a good therapist, and so that's also helped me like settle my imposter syndrome.

Whereas in grad school, I'm like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna remember the protocol for ACT or whatever, it's not about that. And That's really helped me just continue showing up and, moving through the imposter syndrome.  Yeah I reflected on this idea that the more we show up genuine, sincere,  and human in our sessions, that is part of the,  that is part of the intervention.

That's its own intervention in and of itself because there are so many people in this world who don't Receive that in their personal lives from family, from friends, from their relationships, whatever the case may be. So offering a space where they get to be seen and cared for just as they are, to be treated as whole, just as they are.

And we're simply allowing the person to evolve in their own way and being a co collaborator in their healing is. It's like such a privilege.  Totally. I love that. I love that co collaborative idea. And yeah, the therapeutic relationship in my perspective is the healing vessel. That is where the work lies. 

Yes, when I am with you, I, and I'm grateful to have a supervisor that also shares in that sentiment. And so when you have a supervisor that  also understands you, it allows you to grow in a way that feels aligned with who you are. And she is a huge proponent in that there is no intervention that is going to be successful if the therapeutic relationship isn't there.

Yeah. And when things get Hard or like with a client. I feel like whenever I feel stuck with a client or like something Isn't feeling great. Like I always go back to the therapeutic relationship just checking in the simple question of like How are you feeling in the relationship? How are you experience How did you experience me last session?

Whatever it might be, and I feel like that always propels people or, our relationship into a new dimension, a new stage, just by checking in. Cause again, a lot of people don't have that experience of being checked in on in a relational way.  And being allowed to offer feedback without it imploding or exploding  into a conflict or a potential rupture in the relationship.

Not many people get to say, this is what I need in their relationships. And the other person is You know what? You're right. Let's course correct. Let's figure this out. Thank you so much for sharing that with me. Being able to offer that model, that corrective experience is again, a privilege and it is its own intervention  within the space.

Yeah.  So my closing question, I'm trying something new with all of my guests this year. What is your commitment to yourself in 2025?  I love that question. Oof, I feel like I have many. I'm not, and I love the way you phrase that because it's so not what's your New Year's resolution or what are your goals for this year, but what's your commitment to yourself?

 My commitment to myself is that I actually just found my own IFS therapist. Because I moved from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts and I had to go through the whole ending the relationship with my Pennsylvania therapist and finding somebody new in Massachusetts. But it gave me the opportunity to Find somebody who's specifically IFS trained, and, I do this work all day every day with my clients, and I do it on the side on my own, but I haven't had my own IFS therapy, so  I'm really excited to Get to know all of my parts a lot better, and yeah, hopefully to be able to continue building self compassion through the lens of IFS.

I think that's my, I'm really excited about that this year.  Congrats. The commitment gets to be the commitment to yourself to continue to grow and evolve and making sure you are taking the absolute best care of yourself to also take care of your clients because they both work hand in hand. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm excited.  What's yours? Can I ask? I said, what's yours? Can I ask? You absolutely can. My commitment this year is  to be present.  And I, to elaborate on that, I was working on my vision board this year. The very physical, tangible one. And  it wasn't coming to me. And typically I am a planner. I am like, you know what? 

I need to have the vision right now, but I'm like what if the vision is still evolving? What if I am right now in the right spot of the vision? And it's going to continue to grow because there's so much potential in the year. It's only January and we have this high expectation to have our. goals, locked in, ready to go when  reality we get, there's potential, things change, we shift, we grow as people.

And so allowing the space for opportunity is definitely a commitment for myself this year.  I love that. And I feel like when we're open, like this wealth of opportunities. comes to us, whereas when we're, like, constricted and so confined to certain goals and rigid, it's when we close ourselves off subconsciously without even noticing it.

Absolutely, because we're working towards this one idea, this one aspect when a completely different picture might be unfolding that we're not allowing ourselves to be open to because we have closed ourselves off to this very specific idea of what we're supposed to be doing. So true.

Yeah, I love that. I'll share that intention with you too, being more present. I need that. Emily, thank you so much. How can people find you if they want to connect with you? Yeah, so I'm on Instagram and TikTok as Emily Powell Authentic Self.  I just changed my username. So I hope that's right. 

But yeah, those are the Instagram and TikTok.  All of her links will be linked in the description. So it is definitely okay. If that wasn't the right one. You all can find her again. Thank you all so much for tuning in to all our parts. Please share it with your friends and I'll see you all next week.

Thank you.  📍