Stop Guessing. Run Your Therapy Practice With a Clear, Doable Business Plan.
Traction Pods are small, expert-led business coaching groups for therapy practice owners who are done winging it and are ready to bring structure, clarity, and business fundamentals to their practice. Get proven business tools, hands-on “learn and apply” sessions (not lectures), and a peer network that lasts.
Join a FREE informational meeting to learn more about traction pods and ask questions. Regularly scheduled for the 2nd Friday of each month.
2026 Schedule
Traction Pods for Practice Owners
Traction pods take place over Zoom, in 6 live sessions (2 hours each), over 3-months.
Scaling Your Practice
(For group practice owners)
September 10 – November 19, 2026
Thursdays, 9 – 11:00am (CST)
Solo Practice Fundamentals
(For solo practitioners)
TBA
“Since the knowledge is available, why try to struggle along without it? The difficulties of not knowing are always much greater than the effort of learning.”
– Andrew Loomis, Author of Successful Drawing
Is This You?
You’re a skilled clinician. But running a business? You’re figuring it out along the way.
You know you should have systems, understand your numbers, and plan ahead but you never learned how. So you’re improvising and reacting more than you’d like, and it’s hard to see the big picture.
Most therapy practice owners feel this way. You’re not failing. You just never got the business training you needed.
Solo practitioners
You’re booked solid but aren’t sure if you’re actually profitable… and you don’t know how to find out. You’re spending more time on paperwork and admin than with clients. You want to reclaim time and add business structure (know-how).
Small team leads
Your newer therapists have empty spots while you’re overbooked, and you can’t figure out how to balance the load. You’re trying to see clients AND lead your team, and it feels like you’re failing at both. You want an actionable plan to move forward.
Group practice owners
You’re putting out fires every day instead of building systems that prevent them. You’re losing good therapists to burnout or better offers, and you can’t seem to build a team that stays. You want clarity, predictability and freedom.
Traction Pods give you the structure and tools that grad school didn’t. Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D., who’s owned two therapy practices spanning 25+ years, will guide you through understanding your practice as a business, creating meaningful strategy and plans alongside peers who are building the same foundation.
Traction Pod Facilitator
Meet Cindy Trawinski, Psy.D.
I understand exactly what you’re dealing with because I’ve owned and run two therapy practices in Chicago spanning 25+ years. The difference? I came to practice ownership with 17+ years of business and marketing experience from private industry. I help practice owners build what they envision by bringing practical business tools to the unique challenges of therapy practice ownership.
What makes Traction Pods different?
How Therapy Business Coaching Groups Work
Right now, you might be feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, out of control. You know the way you’ve been working isn’t good for your business, but you don’t know where to start.
Expert-Led, Not Peer-Only
You get proven business know-how, templates and frameworks – not just commiseration. Cindy brings 25+ years of practice management expertise and useful tools to traction pod sessions.
Working Sessions, Not Lectures
We don’t just talk about business concepts. You’ll write your business plan, look at your numbers, and build systems with feedback and guidance.
Peer Learning That Reveals Your Strengths
Working alongside others helps you see where you’re strong, where you’re struggling, and what’s possible.
Live & Interactive, Not Pre-Recorded
Real conversations with real-time feedback and problem-solving together. Plus a mid-point 1:1 session with Cindy.
You don’t need an MBA. You need a simple way to see what’s working, what’s not, and what to do next. Traction Pods turn on the lights, helping you to finally see and organize your practice clearly so you can make confident decisions and move forward.
Traction Pod Testimonials
What Other Therapy Practice Owners Say
You’re not doing this alone anymore. You’ll work with peers who understand your challenges, share openly in a confidential space, and get expert guidance throughout.
Traction Pod Benefits
What to Expect From Your Coaching Traction Pod
Traction Pods aren’t about passive learning or homework-heavy coursework. With a structured curriculum, expert guidance, diverse peer perspectives, and group support, you’ll leave each session with something concrete you’ve built for your practice that can grow with your business.
During our 6 live working sessions you will:
- Write your business plan in real-time with expert guidance
- Assess the financial health and capacity of your practice using proven tools
- Build systems and processes while getting immediate feedback
- Set clear, concrete goals and create your roadmap with input from peers
- Proven curriculum and tools tailored to your cohort’s challenges – no traction pod is exactly the same. Your group determines the topics and goals we address.
Between sessions:
Beyond our live sessions, you’ll spend about 2 hours per week on focused work (gathering your practice data, organizing materials, and building on what you created in sessions).
What you’ll gain:
Engage and master important business-building tasks you’ve been avoiding
- Build your practice dashboard to track key metrics at a glance
- Create your operational calendar so you’re planning proactively, not reactively
- Forecast your practice’s productivity and revenue over 3 years
Build systems that work (not just ideas you never use)
- Define your long-term vision
- Identify the milestones that reflect significant progress
- Zero in on yearly stepping stones
- Map your top quarterly priorities (Rocks) with clear action steps
Gain clarity on the numbers that matter
- Understand the numbers that actually matter for your practice
- Anticipate your unrealized capacity and sustainable caseload
- Start where you are and create an achievable forecast
- Know your numbers well enough to make confident hiring and growth decisions
- Increase your income while protecting your time and energy
Move forward with confidence instead of hoping things work out
- Learn to use the essential tools to plan, evaluate, and guide your practice
- Delegate without micromanaging every detail
- Ground your specific 90-day roadmap in a 12-month future-forward context that drives decisions and promotes clarity and focus
- Identify your 3-year milestones to keep you driving in the right direction
- Create a practice culture where your clinicians want to stay and grow
Build relationships that last beyond the 3 month Traction Pod
- Connect with 4-6 practice owners who understand your challenges
- Many Traction Pod participants continue cross-referring clients, offering trainings to each other’s staff, and serving as trusted sounding boards for big decisions
Choose Your Traction Pod
Traction Pods: Business Coaching for Practice Owners
Solo Practice Owners
Solo Practice Fundamentals
Dates: TBA
Times: Mondays, 9 – 11:00am (CST)
Location: Six (6) virtual, 2-hour sessions, with option to meet in-person
Investment: $1800
This group is for you if:
- You’re the only clinician (or working with one close colleague)
- You want to stay profitable without adding therapists
- You’re balancing clinical work with business tasks
- You’re setting up systems to work smarter, not harder
- You want to grow your practice on your terms
- You’re drowning in admin work and need to reclaim your time
Group Practice Owners
Scaling Your Practice
Dates: Sept 10 & 24; Oct 8 & 22; Nov 5 & 19
Times: Thursdays, 9 – 11:00am (CST)
Location: Six (6) virtual, 2-hour sessions, with option to meet in-person
Investment: $2000
This group is for you if:
- You’re managing 2-12 therapists
- You’re working on systems to reduce bottlenecks
- You’re trying to balance seeing clients with running the business
- You’re learning to delegate without losing quality
- You’re planning to expand or add service lines
- You need to lead your team while staying profitable
- You want to create a practice where clinicians thrive, not just a place to collect a paycheck
Traction Pods are limited to 6 participants. A 50% deposit is requested at time of registration. Payment by credit card, Zelle (preferred) or check accepted.
Frequent Questions about Business Coaching Traction Pods
Traction Pods are small peer learning groups (4-6 practice owners) that meet 6 times over 3 months. The curriculum is designed to address specific tasks of practice growth and management but adapts to the interests and challenges of participants. You’ll do hands-on work on your practice in a collaborative environment, sharing resources, feedback, support and learning.
Plan for 2 hours per session (6 sessions total) plus approximately 2 hours per week between sessions. The between-session work includes minimal reading and is primarily gathering and organizing practice data, completing relevant research, and networking with others as needed. I strongly recommend you commit to attending every session and doing the work outside the sessions to get maximum benefit.
The curriculum, tools, and process are similar for both. The key difference is who you’re learning with and the target and vision for your practice.
Solo Practice Fundamentals brings together practitioners who want to run lean, sustainable, focused practices—often with no plans to add staff, or working with only one close colleague or part-time therapist.
Scaling Your Practice puts you into a cohort with other owners managing teams of 2-12 therapists who are systemizing, delegating and growing.
Being with peers with similar objectives means you’re working through the same types of challenges, which makes the learning, feedback, and support more relevant.
In 1:1 consulting, you get one expert’s perspective tailored to your situation, moving at your pace. In Traction Pods, you get a structured curriculum with defined outcomes, expert facilitation plus diverse peer perspectives, shared wisdom, and group support—at a more accessible price point. Many participants find that hearing how other owners approach similar challenges sparks insights they wouldn’t have discovered alone.
That said, consulting and Traction Pods serve different needs. Some owners benefit from both at different times.
I strongly encourage you to attend all sessions. The group continuity and momentum are part of what makes Traction Pods effective. If you must miss a session, let me know ahead of time, and we’ll make sure you get caught up on what you missed.
Sessions are live and interactive, not pre-recorded webinars. Virtual sessions are only recorded if all participants consent, and recordings are shared privately within the cohort only. In-person sessions are never recorded.
You’ll leave with clarity, systems, and a roadmap that you built yourself.
Traction Pod graduates also have exclusive access to join AIM Groups—our ongoing program for accountability and implementation. Many participants continue in AIM to maintain momentum and make sure they actually use what they learned. Learn more about AIM Groups here.
Just you or you and one other clinician, want to stay profitable without growing staff? Register for Solo Practice Fundamentals. If you are an owner who works with 2-12 therapists, Scaling Your Practice is the best fit.
Still not sure? Join a free info session and let’s talk.
You’ll be working on understanding your practice numbers as part of the curriculum, and sharing your learnings and challenges helps the group. However, the specific details you share are always up to you. The group operates with confidentiality and mutual respect.
– Withdrawals 2+ weeks before start: 100% refund
– Withdrawals less than 2 weeks before start: 75% refund
– Withdrawals after the Traction Pod begins: Prorated refund for 50% of sessions not attended
– No refunds after the 4th meeting.
Registration requires a 50% deposit at time of registration, with the balance due before the first session. We accept credit card, Zelle (preferred), and check. If you register during Early Bird registration periods, AND pay in full, you can save up to $200.
The best time to start was six months ago. The second best time is now. Join a free info session — ask questions, meet Cindy, and see if a Traction Pod is right for you.
Still have questions?
Join a free info webinar – Held once a month, you’re invited to come and ask questions, meet Cindy, and see if a Traction Pod is right for you.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Schedule a complimentary call with Cindy to discuss your practice, your challenges, and whether a Traction Pod is the right next step.