103: Walking an uncommon career path with psychologist Caryn Seebach
The Uncommon Couch
103: Walking an uncommon career path with psychologist Caryn Seebach
Going out on your own with a business comes with a lot of trial and error. It can be easy to second guess your decision or know when to even take a leap. And if you don’t have role models to help you see that it’s possible, that makes it all the more difficult.
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Dr. Caryn Seebach, a health psychologist with a specialization in holistic management of chronic disease. She transitioned from working in male-dominated clinics to carving her own path in the online health space. She shares about the burnout that led to creating her own path, why it’s hard to pivot away from a career you’ve invested a lot of time into, and the importance of listening to her gut and opening herself up to a new path.
Simply making the decision to make a change can cause a shift. Doors open. The universe responds. There is beauty in finding your own path. You can break the mold of what your career space looks like, little by little. You can become a role model for honoring yourself in your work.
What you’ll find in this episode:
Caryn’s journey from traditional work to creating her own path
The burnout that led Caryn to realize it was time for a change
How Caryn turned her expertise into her own business
Why it can be hard to take a leap away from a career that isn’t right for you
The ripple effect of doing work that is aligned for you
Setting boundaries and thinking outside the box when it comes to finding work you enjoy
The importance of understanding that there isn’t one way to start a new career path
Choosing self-compassion and embracing discomfort throughout the process
How freeing it is to use her expertise in a way that aligns with what she wants out of life
How Caryn has been able to find balance and flexibility on her career path
How your journey does not have to look like those before you
Caryn’s Bio:
Dr. Caryn Seebach is a health psychologist with a specialization in holistic management of chronic disease. She has a deep interest in mind/body medicine and its applications for improving psychological health. She has worked in various clinical care settings including community health clinics, the US Veterans Affairs Department, and major academic medical centers. In early 2020, she transitioned her expertise to a broader digital health market to provide integrative health and wellness solutions for those living with headache and migraine. She now owns and operates CLS Consulting, providing consultation to companies seeking to reverse chronic disease through comprehensive, digital, integrative care.
Quotes:
And it's such a common story, I think, for those of us who just really go all in to the career. Right. And you make it a part of who you are and you really give a lot of yourself. And we don't always notice when we're kind of circling the drain, exhausted and unhealthy and unwell until it really gets to be pretty intense. [05:40] —Alyssa
And it was the most freeing thing that's ever happened to me, I will say, because I realized that, like, this is a little cliche, but once you open the box and step out of it, you now realize how much opportunity is there and how many different ways you can use your skills. [12:32] —Caryn
And I do think that part of this process for me has been to really allow myself, give myself permission to break it down into these tiny little steps that lean into the shade of gray. Because to your point, there is not one way to do this. I had to get my brain out of that because I was so used to the “right path.” [20:30] —Caryn
But to finally get to that place where you feel like you have something to contribute and you have an expertise that no one else in the room has and that's valued. Right. Rather than a more competitive feeling, it's a contribution feeling, which is an important shift. [23:53] —Caryn