We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Betsy Byler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Betsy, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
One of my great joys in my career has been the opportunity to be a clinical supervisor and the director of an agency. This wasn’t something I ever sent out to do but I ended up in that position out of necessity for the agency. It ended up being one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. Don’t get me wrong I love being a therapist. I love working with my clients and seeing people gain more freedom in their life. I also love helping other therapists feel more confident in their work and providing the support that they need to continue doing the job that they love.
Over the last decade I have had the opportunity to supervise a number of therapists and interns. When I went into private practice in the fall of 2019 I found that I missed doing that work. I also missed helping therapists understand how to work with substance use. When we go to graduate school to become a therapist we don’t really learn about addiction and substance use. It’s usually optional if it’s available at all. One of the main things I worked with my team on is to make sure that everyone felt competent to do this kind of work with people who were struggling with addiction.
I started thinking about how I might be able to incorporate that part of my career into what I was doing in private practice. As a person and long-term recovery I am passionate about helping people understand addiction and helping them find recovery for themselves. I decided that I wanted to encourage other therapists around the world to add substance use to their scope of practice. A lot of times therapists feel like it’s not in their wheelhouse and that they shouldn’t be talking about substance use. But I disagree. I feel like therapist have all the skills they need to do the work they just might need a little information. So the idea to start a podcast was born.
I began thinking about all of the things I would share and the kinds of topics that I wanted people to know. I thought about all the reasons why therapists might not want to do this and decided that I could talk about those on the podcast. I came up with a list of podcasts that would last me over two years. It seems that once I had the idea that things just started flowing. I figured this was going to be a future thing and not a current thing but then Covid happened. I found myself with more downtime and so I started planning.
What followed was that I would begin my podcast in October 2020. I launched the first few episodes of the All Things Substance podcast at the end of October. Since that time I have done over 125 episodes. I have had the opportunity to be a guest on other people’s podcasts and have gotten to know a number of other therapists who are doing their own passion projects outside of therapy. I always knew that I would want to offer a comprehensive training for therapist. Here I was telling them that they needed more information and sharing bits of it but I figured why not teach something that will give them all the things that they need to know. This is how I created Charting the Course-a six-week live taught course that will provide information and continuing education credits to mental health therapists. During the program they will get the information and support that they need in order to add substance use to the list of things they’re willing to work with.
Starting the podcast and my group program was a big risk. I had done a lot of training in person and in larger groups over the years but I’d never done anything that would be the state. The podcast has listeners worldwide and I’ve been able to share information with people I never would’ve met. It’s been a thrilling ride and been a lot of work but I am so pleased that I’ve been able to do this and so thankful to all the listeners that spend their time with me each week.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I knew from when I was in high school that I wanted to become a therapist. I was a very difficult adolescent and had gotten heavily into using drugs. I had been brought to a number of different therapists and hated all of them until the very last one. She had a certain way about her that helped me feel comfortable for the first time. During the time I saw her I had this epiphany that someday I could work with kids just like me. Fast-forward many years and I do just that. While I am a mental health therapist for more than just teenagers I also specialize in working with people in that age range who struggle with mental health and substance use.
My clients range in age starting at 14 on up. I have a variety of experience working in residential treatment centers, in-home therapy, outpatient therapy and now have been in private practice for the last three years. I am a trained EMDR therapist working with folks who experience trauma. For over half of my 20 year career I have spent as a person in management and supervision of other therapists. I have been a part of many community organizations and committees focused on substance use prevention and increasing access to substance use treatment.
Based on what I hear from others I think what sets me apart from other therapists is the way that I interact with people. It’s true that as a therapist we all have our own style. The people that are drawn to me are drawn to my direct, somewhat sarcastic and irreverent, kind and laid-back attitude. I have the clinical experience and expertise needed to work with very severe problems and with people who normally don’t like others and somehow they’re able to work with me. I’ve been told that I have a way of explaining things that makes sense and that is relatable. I’ve been asked often to speak at events and share my thoughts and techniques about a variety of issues.
I think the thing I pride myself on most in my career is being the same person no matter where I am. Certainly I have boundaries where I don’t share certain personal things outside of my nonprofessional life but wherever someone sees me I’m going to be the same person. I am myself and if that means that I am swearing in the middle of a session than that’s what happens or if that means that it might not always seem like the most professional thing to say I’ll still say it. I would say that I am brash just honest. The pride myself on doing things with kindness and generosity and integrity. When it comes to my work I want to make sure that I see what I mean, everything I say is as honest as I can make it and when it comes to sharing information that it is as fact-based as possible.
My goal with my podcast audience is that they will be able to trust that what I share with them is as accurate as I can make it. But I will tell them when it’s my opinion versus when a science. That they can trust that I won’t be overly cautious or inflammatory or tried to manipulate them in any way. I want the therapists that are in my audience to feel as though they can trust me and that they would be willing to ask me for consultation if they needed and to trust me enough to attend trainings that appeal to them.
Ultimately I want people to have more freedom in their lives from the things that keep them held down. That could be trauma or substance use or mental health issues or relationships. I believe that we tend to stay stuck because we can’t see a way out and it is my great joy in life to help people find the door that they didn’t realize was there. As an addict in recovery I know how much substance he can cover-up issues and make it seem like there’s no way out. I want my fellow therapist to be able to help their clients manage their relationship with substances and I want to provide the information so that the therapists feel confident in doing so.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
The best advice I was ever given about managing a team is from my mom. My mom was an officer in the Navy and when I took my first role in management she said “okay Elizabeth (that’s how I knew we were in serious business using my first name) then she said loyalty up and loyalty down.” She went on to explain that as a person in the middle that my job was to show loyalty to the brass or those in upper management and to be the buffer between upper management and my team.
I didn’t realize and I’m certain she didn’t realize how important this quote would be to me over the years. I took her very seriously and walked this middle line. My staff with report feeling supported by me, safe telling me things, being able to be vulnerable about mistakes and fears and know that I would go to bat for them and make things happen that will help them in their jobs.
It wasn’t an easy line at sometimes. There were times when the upper management wanted me to do a thing and I knew that it wasn’t going to work or it was going to be very difficult. I had to find a way to compromise and negotiate with upper management and have them trust that I knew what I was doing. I also made sure that my team was able to meet the budgetary demands that we had so that upper management knew that I was still doing what my job was. Encourage them to ignore my methods if they didn’t totally align with their policies as long as I got the job done and my staff were happy. This took gentle finessing.
It meant trying new things and being willing to be as transparent with my staff as I could while still holding the boundaries of management. I had to learn how to manage each personality and our industry. I learned how to step into things that work typically in a therapist realm like learning about when claims fail and how to fix it. I showed interest in the overall running of our agency and in my departments such that I was able to earn the trust of upper management that they didn’t need to worry about my department because I knew what I was doing.
Because of this I had a level of autonomy that I didn’t truly understand wasn’t normal. Because of that my staff felt safe and cared for and as though I was paying attention to them and their needs. In turn this made them loyal to me and they were willing to follow me from one agency to another. Putting their own jobs on the line to trust that I knew what I was doing. That kind of loyalty isn’t something that’s created easily but through servant leadership and diligence.
I read an article once about how the way that the banks acted in 2008 during the crash angered so many. It talked about how the boss got paid more got the bigger office and that the unspoken contract is that when things came crashing down that the boss protect the staff. That didn’t happen and the executives and bosses broke the social contract by saving themselves. I made sure that I didn’t do this. I wanted my staff to know that when things got real and hardships came that I was in it with them and would shield them as much as I could. I never asked my staff to do anything I was not willing to do.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. It was normal to not know a lot of folks outside of your own neighborhood. You wouldn’t just run into people in random places. When I moved to a smaller area I learned what it was to be on the in crowd or to be a local. I knew that I had to earn the trust of the community. When I took my management position I decided that I was gonna make sure that everyone in town in the professional sphere knew my name. I went around to all of our referral sources and met with them and ask for their feedback. I recall meeting with one referral source and when I showed up they presented me with a two page singlespaced list of complaints. It was everything from appointment times two documentation difficulties and other issues. I promise them that I would fix it. I remember the look on one of the people space suggesting that she did not believe me. I’m happy to say that after the 10 years I spent doing all of this she did believe me and my name became part of all of the conversations happening in the professional sphere in my field. I became a trusted source and would continue to be sought out by the community even after I had left the main professional world.
I was careful to make sure that I answered phone calls and emails. I went out of my way to make sure that I showed up for things and remembered details about other agencies and what they were up to. I made it my business to make personal connections with the other leaders in the area. I worked hard to not get into conflicts and to be supportive of different agencies and their various ventures. I kept my finger on the pulse of our customer service and resolved things as quickly and capably as I could. Making sure to do all things with integrity and transparency.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.betsybyler.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betsy.byler.39
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-byler-66128b203/