The Practice of Therapy

[00:00:00] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: I find also people struggle with, I don't know how to meet new people, you know, and it's like if you join a running group or if you join a gym, you're going to start meeting people. You're going to start talking to different people and you're going to get connections and you're going to find that your inner, your circle is growing.
And even if they're not your best friend, it's still like, Hey, I have someone I know that can help me with this because it's another. contact.
[00:00:24] Gordon Brewer: This episode is sponsored by Therapy Notes. Therapynotes. com. Be sure and check them out and be sure and use the promo code Gordon, G O R D O N, and you can try them out for two months for free.
A little over 15 years ago, when I started my private practice, I had to learn a lot, and most of it the hard way, and I don't think you need to do the same. Hi, I'm Gordon Brewer, a licensed psychotherapist, and welcome to the Practice of Therapy podcast, part of the Psych Craft Network, a podcast. Join me in this journey of discovery as we have conversations with other leaders and professionals in both the mental and allied health fields.
Join us as we. Explore both the business and clinical sides of running a private practice.
Well, hello everyone and welcome to the podcast. This is episode number 368 of the practice of therapy podcast. I'm Gordon Brewer. And glad you've joined us for this particular episode. Looking forward to you hearing from Dr. Catherine DeFilippi and, uh, she and I talk about, um, how physical activity and just getting into running has helped her in her practice.
And it's really a, a very interesting story. I think, uh, one of the things that I know that a lot of us are not. really good at and that is our own self care. But, uh, you know, for me, part of my daily routine is getting out in the mornings with some kind of movement and whether it's going to the gym or getting out and walking on the green belt.
Uh, and it's really become kind of a non negotiable for me, but I'm really enjoying being out. Uh, As it, the days are getting longer and just, uh, I think Katherine brings a lot of insight into this for us and just thinking about it. Before we get to that though, um, I'd love for you to find out more about the Practice of Therapy Collaborative.
Uh, depending on when you're listening to this, the week of February 10th is when this comes out. Got just a few more days before the doors close on this membership community. The Practice of Therapy Collaborative is a, is a membership community that I started that in which we meet once a week to just talk about our practices.
We have guest consultants join us. Sometimes we do kind of some teaching and that sort of thing, but it's a great way for you to find the support that you need at an affordable rate. And, uh, doing some consulting and just having a community that will be supportive for you in your practice. You know, particularly in private practice, I think sometimes it gets kind of lonely, uh, particularly for solo practice.
practices and maybe even group practice owners at times of just having trusted colleagues that you can bounce things off of and just kind of learn, uh, different systems and processes and all of those things. So I would love for you to join the community again. If you'll go over to practice of therapy.
com slash practice collaborative, you can find out more about that. And there'll also be links here in the show notes and the show summary for you to get to that easily. And also, before we get to my conversation with Katherine, I'd love for you to check out mentalhealthweartn. com. It is an online store that sells all things swag around mental health recovery, or mental wellness and addiction recovery, along with some great professional items for, um, those of us in In the mental health fields.
If you're looking for that perfect LCSW t shirt or sweatshirt, you can find it there. My friend Ashley has done a great job in putting this store together and really trying to help her promote this and, uh, get things going with all of that. So check it out. Mental health where tn. com. And, uh, if you order more than 50 of worth of things, you can get free shipping.
So great deal on that. So also before we get to my conversation with Catherine, I'd love for you to hear from one of the members of the site craft network, along with some words from our sponsor therapy notes.
[00:05:13] Daniel Fava: Hey there, Daniel Fava here, and if you don't know me, I'm the host of the Private Practice Elevation Podcast, where I share online marketing strategies and interviews to help private practice owners attract more clients and scale their businesses.
The Private Practice Elevation Podcast is part of the Psych Craft Network of Podcasts, and I'm super excited to be a part of this network alongside Gordon and the great work he's doing. If you haven't discovered the private practice elevation podcast yet, you can find it wherever you listen to your podcast.
I'd love for you to join me as we explore topics like building an effective website for your private practice, search engine optimization, content marketing, and copywriting, as well as my conversations with experienced private practice owners about scaling a practice, outsourcing, team leadership, and all things that will help you elevate your business and create the life you love.
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Enjoy the show.
[00:07:21] Gordon Brewer: Well, hello everyone and welcome again to the podcast and uh, I'm looking forward to you meeting Dr. Katherine Philippi. Catherine, welcome. Glad you're here with us.
[00:07:32] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
[00:07:34] Gordon Brewer: Yes. And so as I start with everyone, why don't you tell folks a little bit more about yourself and how you've landed where you've landed?
[00:07:43] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: So I was never an athlete in high school or anything. I didn't always start running until I was in college, but even then it wasn't like anything that I was doing super serious. I always had in the back of my mind, I wanted to do a marathon. And, and finally in 2015, I ran my first marathon and from there it kind of just took off in terms of like the overall feeling that I noticed I was small running group.
And I noticed that everybody in my running group was super productive. You know, they had busy lives and it's almost like, how do you manage physical activity like training for a marathon to, you know, being like a CEO of a company, you know, and I kind of just like thought about it and it's like, it has to be like.
A magic potion there of like, you know, if you, if you have more, if you're more physically at exercise, if you're more physical, you know, you're more productive, you can manage your time better, you can manage stress better, you know, you can kind of feel like, Oh, I can do this instead of being like, Oh, it's going to be so long to do this.
It's going to be over an hour and I don't have time. So, you know, and I kind of just grew from there in terms of like running From marathons to ultra marathons, and, you know, I kind of did feel that way, that the more I trained, the more I ran, I kind of created a schedule. I'm very routine in my schedule.
And It just, it works, it fits, you know, and if I didn't run, I think my day would be completely off because it's like, I'll be out of my routine, but also I wouldn't feel as good. I wouldn't feel as productive.
[00:09:17] Gordon Brewer: Right, right. Yeah. It's, it's interesting as you were saying all that, I was thinking about my day so far this morning, I went to the.
Went to the gym and had a really good workout. I mean, it would just seem like it was, you know, a little more intense than I normally do. And it just, I think it does just, it helps the endorphins and just increases our, all the feel good stuff. And particularly this time of year, here we are in January and just the darker days here in the, you know, the Northern hemisphere, just, I think the exercise helps.
[00:09:51] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Yes, I definitely agree, even with the darker days. I get up early, even in the summertime when I get up and run, it's dark out, but it's still, it's part of my routine, and Just going from there, it just, I just feel better. I don't feel as stuck in the house, even if it, I don't know where you are located here in Pennsylvania.
It was a couple of like negative eight degrees couple of days here. So, but it still felt better to be outside doing something versus trapped in the house.
[00:10:17] Gordon Brewer: Right, right. Yeah, it's well here where I'm located in northeast Tennessee. It's been pretty, pretty cold for us over the last, the last few weeks. And it's just hadn't gotten above freezing many days.
So, I mean, that's right. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so you ended up doing some kind of your dissertation work on this whole topic. And so what were some of the things that you've learned and maybe were surprised by?
[00:10:45] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: So the title of my dissertation was the relationship between exercise, self efficacy and workplace productivity.
And I found a lot, especially, you know, looking back at COVID. You know, it kind of provided, you know, a like a social network and even though people were saying, you know, don't socialize But if you I found like in my girl running groups, we had like our own little bubbles So if there was three of us that ran together, we stayed together because we knew we were like not sick Versus like, you know, mixing and having a whole bunch of people.
Um, so I learned that, you know, it was that, and then it was also like a part of the workplace where, you know, you can be in a healthy way, competitive, you know, even, you know, some places will have like step challenges, um, and that's probably the most common one, but the idea is like, it can make kids competitive.
There's competitiveness at work that's not not related to like the actual, you know, job, but just something fun and it kind of brings camaraderie that way together. And, you know, I just found overall people. We're like the, for one example, I think it was in Brazil, it's like they have these really long work days and, you know, having like an, like a gym accessible in the office helped people work better, you know, even if it's like a standing desk, I wish I could have a, uh, a treadmill underneath my desk, but I'd probably drive my clients crazy talking on zoom and like moving with a treadmill,
but
[00:12:17] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: just in terms of You know, moving around that way and adding that to your day, like having it available to your Employees makes it so much better and then the employees feel appreciated because you're offering them a gym You're offering them this outlet, you know, even if it isn't like a gym it's still like maybe you know having an extra lunch break where you can go for a walk and You know, just get outside more.
So allowing that kind of aspect to the workday definitely, you know, makes people more, they, well, the over, they're gonna feel better. They're gonna feel better overall, you know, and even just even getting sick, I found that like when I exercise, I very rarely get sick. So even that helps too with, you know, insurance companies in not having like high premiums because your employees are gonna be overall healthier.
You know, you're not gonna have so. You know, you're going to have more obesity, you're going to be able to, it's going to help the, I guess, the other umbrella of the, you know, the insurance aspect of it.
[00:13:20] Gordon Brewer: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what, so in working with people, how do you kind of approach this just in your practice and that sort of thing?
[00:13:29] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: So the name of my company is called Running Alchemy, but by all means, it doesn't mean you have to run. I just use that because I mean, that's mine. Mine is running. But for other, I mean, it does not have to be running. It can be. You know, weightlifting, it can be yoga, it can be meditation, you know, and actually to me, I find running to be very not meditative because like, especially in the morning when I run, I run the same route, so I don't have to think about where I'm going and I kind of just lose track of what I'm doing and I think about my day, I think about like what's going on if I had a bad day yesterday, if I have a stressful day coming up with clients, it's like it's almost meditative to me and it kind of puts me in that zone of like that calmness.
Thanks. It sounds kind of, you know, weird, like you mean like running is a meditative, but yes, I think it's a very much meditative and can clear my head better and make me think more rational. So,
[00:14:25] Gordon Brewer: yeah, yeah, well, I know that I know there's been some research into, um, the, uh, how bilateral, uh, bilateral stimulation kind of helps with mental health.
Uh, and so we think about walking and. You know, just getting people that are struggling with depression, just getting them moving has a huge benefit.
[00:14:49] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And like you said, you mentioned depression, but even just anxiety. And then the other aspect, as I kind of mentioned already, is the camaraderie.
You know, you have that you do it with or you make new friends. You don't feel, and I find also people struggle with, I don't know how to meet new people, you know, and it's like, if you join a running group or if you join a gym, you're going to start meeting people, you're going to start talking to different people and you're going to get connections and you're going to find that your inner, your circles growing.
And even if they're not your best friend, you know, it's still like, Hey, I have someone I know that can, you know, help me with this, you know, cause it's another contact.
[00:15:27] Gordon Brewer: Yes. Is there a particular kind of training regimen or I guess method to how you use, get people into running and, or just doing exercise?
[00:15:38] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: So I'm kind of different with how I do my, when I'm training for a race, I don't follow a plan. I don't follow a, you know, it's different, like, you know, weekly plans for a marathon. I get to just be miles and everything. So I don't follow that. And I kind of do what feels good for me and I kind of recommend that to people as well, you know, like you don't have to have a specific, you know, I mean, sometimes people will want to have a goal, so it's like, yeah, I'll give them that in sessions to say like, okay, you do have to, if you do want to go, I'll give it to you, but for the most part, I encourage like listening to your body, your body will tell you a lot, you know, sometimes it's going to tell you it's sore, but you know, you got to work through the soreness.
But at the same time, it's like, what feels good for you? You know, you don't have to, unless you're training for something specific and need to have a certain volume, even if it's weightlifting or running, it's still, you know, it's listening to what you want to do. I feel like the best approach.
[00:16:35] Gordon Brewer: Is there any correlation around intensity?
Because I think about the idea of running a marathon, for me at least at this point in age and life, just seems like it might be a really difficult thing. It would require a lot of intensity, um, to get there. But what have you found with all of that?
[00:16:57] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: I wouldn't use intensity. I would use consistency.
[00:17:00] Gordon Brewer: Okay.
[00:17:01] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: You don't have to be, you know, I have a friend, she's a very seasoned runner, uh, she just turned 70, and, you know, she's looking at PR ing in her age, taking the age group for the next marathon coming up here in Pittsburgh in May, and, you know, she's not running at a high intensity. You know, she's. Mm hmm.
Going at her pace and it's like, so, I mean, a lot of marathons, you know, you have a decent amount of time unless it's like a Boston type thing. You don't need to have that like speed work. I mean, it does help, but you don't have to have that so high intensity that you get hurt, you know, you want, but the idea is consistency and keeping it moving.
And the more consistent you are, the more you make it a routine, and it doesn't feel like, oh, I have to go running. It, you know, it becomes like, oh, I, you know, I get to go running.
[00:17:48] Gordon Brewer: Yeah, yeah, that, that's, yeah, that's, uh, so, so important, I think, is the mindset. I just, yeah, think, uh, thinking about the times in the past when I've had a lot of success with, you know, either changing my eating habits or just, you know, that whole exercise routine.
I think you're exactly right. Is the consistent season important and yeah, and just stay the mindset in particular, like, oh, I get to do this instead of, oh, I have to do this. Yeah.
[00:18:19] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Yeah. Um, and I've also found to like, I went really early in the morning and I didn't do it every day. at about the same time.
And some people are like, Oh, it's so it's going to be so cold in the morning. And I'm like, sometimes it's actually warmer in the morning than it is midday. And I've seen that happen that like, you know,
before
[00:18:39] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: 6am, it's maybe, you know, 30 degrees, but then by midday, it's like the temperature is dropping, you know, and it's like, Oh, so I'm not cherry picking my hours, I'm doing it at the same time.
And I'm actually kind of winning in terms of like, Oh, I'm getting the better part of the day, versus like, Oh, I'll wait till later. You know, and sometimes waiting till later doesn't work. Uh, one funny story I have, I remember one time it was lightning out, and I was like, oh, it's gonna storm. And I was like, I can wait for the storm to pass, you know.
But then I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna go run. If I need to run home, I will. And I found a storm never came. So it's like, if I would've waited it out, I would've been waiting, you know, hours. And I maybe would've missed the window to go running. So sometimes it's like, you know, don't wait. You know, do it.
[00:19:26] Gordon Brewer: Yeah, yeah. You had mentioned at the beginning that you weren't an athlete. What's kind of got, what was it that got you kind of going down this road? I mean, what was it that just kind of inspired you or kind of made it, Oh, this makes sense for me.
[00:19:43] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Ironically enough, I, when I was in college, I did OCS with the Marine Corps.
So OCS is Officer Candidate School. And so Dean's kind of taught me how to run. Now, granted. You know, they don't run far. It's only like a 5k you had to do, but it still got me into the, into running. It got me moving. And then after that, I still had, I just like in the back of my mind, this goal to run a marathon, you know, I don't know where it came from, but I had this, I mean, this huge goal that I thought, you know, it seems impossible, like running a marathon is like the ultimate thing, you know, and, you know, so I was like, Oh, I'll do it eventually.
I'll do it eventually. And I would, you know, start running and then I'd fall out of the habit. You know, and then finally it just clicked, you know, click to keep it consistent and doing this and it just, and then it made sense. And I was able to complete my goal, you know, I'm running ultra marathons, which, you know, up to a hundred miles, if not more, and it's just kind of just grew.
[00:20:41] Gordon Brewer: So that's incredible. I, the, the thought of running a hundred miles just seems so, so huge of a goal. Yeah. So, yeah, is there, when you, when you are preparing for something that big, what, what is, what has been helpful for you?
[00:21:00] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Making it fun. You know, so, you know, having the running group helps, as in having, I also like to run alone.
And when I run alone, that can be dangerous because it's like, I find weird things to do. I like to do hills. So I'll do hill repeats. I know from my 40th birthday, I did 40 hill repeats. And if I would have asked anyone else to do that, they would have been like, no. And meanwhile, I did it on my own, you know, and it was fun.
Like it was, I'm saying it now, it was fun. Not like in the moment it was. But it was still like making my own route. You know, like being able to like, especially if I'm running trails. It's like, I wonder where that goes and then just going on it and see what happens. So it's kind of just, you know, making it fun, not making it torturous in terms of like, I have to run three miles at this pace, you know, and that just sounds like work.
[00:21:50] Gordon Brewer: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you had mentioned, um, Catherine, before we started recording that you also do some consulting and coaching work. You want to say some more about that?
[00:22:03] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Yeah. I'm trying to grow my coaching business. So, you know, that's still, I mean, I'd like to, so as I mentioned, it's not all running. So like coaching business, I want it to be more around, you know, what is it, what kind of movement do you need to have in your life to improve your, you know, mental health, your overall wellbeing.
So that's where that is. Some of the consulting work that I've done isn't really running related or exercise related. I've done like crisis work when it's been a crisis at a company coming out that way and when it's a crisis, I'm not going to tell people, well, I mean, I tell people to take care of yourself and do self care, which can be definitely movement.
[00:22:46] Gordon Brewer: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So with, with your day to day practice, are you in solo practice or with a group or how are you, how are you doing all of that?
[00:22:57] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: So I actually work for two different companies. I work remotely. So that kind of makes it easier that I can do that. But then I also have my own.
[00:23:07] Gordon Brewer: So I have actually
[00:23:08] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: three jobs.
[00:23:09] Gordon Brewer: Oh, okay. Okay. And yeah, so. Doug, with the running, as you had mentioned, that helps you stay a little more organized and productive.
[00:23:19] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: Yes. Yeah. I can definitely dissect my day in the morning. You know, I kind of think about who I have, you know, client wise, what my day looks like, and I kind of map it out and, you know, you know, process that during the run.
[00:23:33] Gordon Brewer: Yeah, tell folks how they can get in touch with you if they want to find out more about your work and what you're doing.
[00:23:39] Dr. Kathryn Defilippi: My website is runningalchemy and I have an email on there. You can definitely email me and contact me that way. I do have a freebie audit. It's like a workbook on just keeping yourself on track with your goals and And when I say goals, it doesn't have to be winning a marathon.
It could be anything. Your goal could actually be getting a new job. And I feel like, you know, the movement part of it is, you know, adding that you're going to get that new job. You're going to, you know, reach that goal of yours, whatever it might be. Through adding some kind of physical movement to your life.
[00:24:14] Gordon Brewer: Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's great And we'll have links in the show notes and the show summary for all of this and well Catherine I hope you stay warm when you're out early running at this time of year and I, I, I really admire you being devoted to all of that.
Well, big thanks to Catherine for joining me on the podcast. Do, do check out her things. You'll find links in here in the show notes in the show summary to get to her website and, uh, the things that. She has going on and also love for you to check out the practice of therapy collaborative again It's a membership community and the doors are open for just a few more days depending on when you're listening to this episode so I'd love to have you join me and If you'd like to reach out and just have a conversation about whether or not you think it would be a good Fit for you do that and I'd love to have a conversation with you about that also Would love for you to check out our sponsor of the podcast, Therapy Notes.
They are the leading electronic health record system for mental health providers. They're who I use in my practice and I'm always impressed with all the new features that they're adding and also their support is really second to none. So be sure and check them out by going to practice of therapy. com slash therapy notes and use that.
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So be sure and do that wherever you might be listening to your podcasts. And, uh, thanks again for joining me and got lots of great, uh, guests lined up for some more episodes of the practice of therapy podcast.
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