Sky Maree Steele

I didn’t walk away from psychology.
I walked away from the version of it I had created.

The practice was growing.
There were employees.
There was success.

On paper, it looked like I had built exactly what I was supposed to build.

But behind the scenes, I was asking myself:
“Do I actually want this anymore?”
And that question was uncomfortable.

Because how do you admit you don’t want something you worked so hard for?

How do you let go of something that other people would probably love to have?

How do you tell yourself that changing direction doesn’t mean you failed?

I had to strip it back.
Let employees go.
Change the structure.
Rebuild.

And, more importantly, start figuring out who I actually was underneath the identity I had built around being successful.

Because sometimes growth doesn’t look like adding more.
Sometimes it looks like taking things away.
Less people to manage.
Less pressure.
Less proving.
Less of what I thought a “successful psychologist” was supposed to look like.

And more of what actually fits me.

I didn’t lose my career.
I stopped letting the career I had built decide who I had to be.

Sometimes you don't need a new strategy.
�You need permission to build something that actually belongs to you.

What if that idea you keep having isn’t random?

You know the one.

The idea that keeps coming back.
The thing you keep talking about.
The topic you keep reading about.
The project you keep thinking “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” about.

And then your brain immediately starts telling you all the reasons it won’t work.

You’re not ready.
You need more training.
You need to figure everything out first.
Someone else is already doing it.

So you shut the idea down before it ever gets a chance to become anything.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Therapy Room, we’re talking about what happens when you start paying attention to that pull to create something beyond 1:1 therapy.

Because you don’t always need to know exactly where the idea is going.

Sometimes you just need to capture it, give it some space and take the first tiny step.

🎙️ Episode 11 – Inspiration Calls: Following the Pull to Create Beyond the Therapy Room

Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts or watch the full episode on YouTube – Beyond the Therapy Room Podcast.

🎧 Don't forget to download the free Reflection Guide linked in the episode description.

Nobody talks enough about how weird it feels when the life you want requires you to stop being the person everyone knows.

Because people get comfortable with a version of you.

The reliable one.
The helper.
The good girl.
The one who says yes.
The one who keeps everything together.
The one who doesn’t make things difficult.

And then you start changing.

You want more.

More freedom.
More money.
More creativity.
More visibility.
More space to actually be yourself.

And suddenly… you’re doing things that don’t fit the old version of you.

You say no.

You disappoint someone.

You take up more space.

You change your mind.

You stop explaining yourself.

And it can feel **wrong**.

Not because you’re doing something wrong.

Because you’re doing something **different**.

That discomfort?

It doesn’t always mean stop.

Sometimes it means:

**“I’m becoming someone I haven’t been before.”**

That’s an identity shift.

And honestly, it can feel bloody weird before it feels like freedom.

WomenInBusiness Psychologist ADHDWomen BecomingYou

Let’s start a podcast.

Us, with absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into:

🎙️ “How hard can it be?”

Cut to…

Recording equipment everywhere.
Trying to remember what we were supposed to say.
Talking for WAY too long.
Laughing at inappropriate moments.
Editing.
Swearing.
Questioning our life choices.

And somehow…

we made a podcast. 😂

Beyond the Therapy Room 🎙️

Because apparently we decided talking about psychology, careers, business and what happens when therapists want *more* from their professional lives wasn’t enough…

We needed to put microphones in front of ourselves too.

And honestly?

We’re having so much fun!

More coming soon.

BeyondTherapy TherapistHumour PsychologistLife

And before the business people come for me 😂 — yes, strategy matters.

I needed strategy.

I needed to learn how to market.
How to sell.
How to build systems.
How to lead.
How to make better business decisions.

But for me, that wasn’t where the biggest shift happened.

What came first was growing **outside the version of myself I already knew.**

Because I had a pretty clear idea of who I was.

The good girl.
The people pleaser.
The one who worked hard.
The one who didn’t want to disappoint anyone.
The one who made sure everyone else was okay.

And then I started wanting things that didn’t fit neatly inside that identity.

More freedom.

More money.

More visibility.

Different work.

Bigger ideas.

And honestly?

That was fu***ng uncomfortable.

Because growing isn’t just learning new strategies.

Sometimes it means becoming someone who can actually **hold the life you’re trying to create.**

Learning to make decisions without needing everyone to agree.

Being visible without feeling like you’re doing something wrong.

Charging more without questioning whether you deserve it.

Changing direction without seeing it as failure.

Taking up space without apologising for it.

The strategy helped me build the business.

But **expanding who I believed I was allowed to be** changed what I thought was possible.

And that’s the part I wish we talked about more.

Sometimes you don’t need another strategy.

You need to understand the identity that’s currently making the decisions.