We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I come from a long lineage of entrepreneurs from my great grandmother to my grandparents, uncle, parents, and my brother so I wonder if it’s in my genes?! When I moved from California to Arizona it became clear to me that I was going to be specializing in couples and relationship therapy. As I fell in love with the model I work from, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) created by Dr. Sue Johnson, I became excited about the possibility of creating a center where we can offer the most effective couples therapy as well as a space for therapists to work where they receive extensive training and supervision to support their learning and growth as clinicians. And that was when Therapy With Heart was born! Now, over sixteen years later, we are the largest EFT center in Arizona and we have 16 therapists providing quality therapy to individuals, families, and of course couples.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I love being the owner of Therapy With Heart! I am in awe of what we have created in offering the best couples and relationship therapy whether that be for teenagers and their family, individuals who are struggling with grief and/or dating and navigating the relationships in their world, and helping couples of all walks of life find connection and healing. There is nothing “easy” about running a business but I have found that if I didn’t know how to do something, to quickly find the resources and people to help me. I recognize that I’m in the position of owning the business, but I also value and respect all the professionals that help support the success of Therapy With Heart in creating a safe space for growth. We have an incredible Clinical Director that has helped me be more clear in my policies and procedures and is such an integral part of our team. We have a great team that support marketing and helping us get the word out about the powerful work we do. Finances and numbers are not my strong suit so I have a group of professionals who help me in this arena as well. So one of the most powerful lessons I learned is that I don’t have to do it all myself to be successful and if anything, part of the success of our team and the culture we created is the common humanity and respect we all have for each other and the work we do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love living in Arizona and the backdrop of the beautiful mountains in any direction you look. So if I had someone visiting, I would want to invite them on a small hike with me and we might even bring a small picnic to have on top of the mountain depending on where we went. If I had enough time I would want to bring them to Flagstaff to see the beautiful trees and the cooler weather and maybe even go visit my daughter who is currently attending NAU and heading to downtown to grab a coffee and stroll the streets.
If they were to come in season, I would bring them to a Cardinals, Diamondbacks or Phoenix Rising game because it’s great to support our teams. I would also want to bring them to the multiple restaurants in the Phoenix area that have amazing culinary cuisines. We could try different ones throughout the week. And lastly, we would need to head to Top Golf to have some game time too. So fun!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m beyond grateful to have found the powerful model of Emotionally Focused Therapy created and developed by Dr. Sue Johnson. In addition to the model itself, it offered me a community of mentors and professionals who are like minded in working from an authentic and attachment based approach to our work with clients. I am so honored to have colleagues from all over the world that I have been able to connect with in their journey as therapists. In my own training, I have had the good fortune to have incredibly skilled and brilliant mentorship along the way including Dr. Lisa Palmer Olsen, Kathryn De Bruin, and Dr. Jim Furrow. What I appreciate the most about them is their encouragement of me to be my most authentic self as a therapist, supervisor and now EFT Trainer.

As a business owner I have had to learn how to be the CEO of my company. I quickly realized the importance of creating connection with other therapist business owners which has been priceless in the support of my decision making but also the emotional impact running a business can have on me. So, I would love to give a huge shout out to Laura Cross and Allison Rimland for being my “mastermind” buddies for so many years now.

Website: https://www.therapywithheart.com

Instagram: https://therapy.with.heart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/therapy-with-heart-pllc/?viewAsMember=true

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therapywithheart

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/therapy-with-heart-scottsdale?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.